Well, we now have our answer about who the manufacturer is for the upcoming Sirius Live Wearable satellite radio receiver. No, it's not Toshiba, or Sony, or even Archos as we were all speculating - the manufacturer distributor is the same as that of the Sirius S50 (pictured above) - Directed Electronics. Surprise!

During the Q&A session of Directed's conference call yesterday, the question was posed by a representative of CIBC World Market about a more specific release date of the new device. While there was no definitive answer beyond "this summer" it's the first public confirmation that Directed is indeed the manufacturer of this device. Directed seemed to only have intended on speaking about the Sportster 4 during this call, but during the Q&A session it appears the cat was let out of the bag.

Below is a transcript from the conversation:

Q: "Just a quick question, first of all on the timing of the new live wearable product. I think you guys said summer, but is there a [more precise] launch date at this point?"

A: "That's about as precise as we can be at the moment. The development is nicely on track but [we want to] be very careful to make sure that we answer that question when we know it very definitively, but we're very comfortable to say 'summer' at this point. I'm sorry I can't improve upon that at the moment."

Listen to an audio snippet of the conference call for yourself.

So what of the mysterious "leaked" shot on Sirius' homepage? Most likely... just stock photography. I'm sure the web-guys over at Sirius didn't expect the storm of speculation to ensue as a result of a simple pic of headphones. :)

Speaking of speculation, additional rumors are coming in that the new device will be black (like the S50) and will contain an iPod-like clickwheel (probably a spinoff of the Media Dial from the S50). The device will also have a docking station that will hold an extra battery said to allow for a 25 hour playback time, according sources familiar with the matter. As further rumors, speculation and all around malarkey occurs, I'll be sure to make it public.

[DEI 1Q06 Conf Call via GSI]
Thanks to everyone who sent this in!