Ford will be the first auto manufacturer to offer Sirius' new data services product, which is officially called Sirius Travel Link.
Sirius' technology is being showcased at the annual Los Angeles auto show.on the 2009 Lincoln MKS (pictured above).
I had the chance to play with the retail version of Travel Link, which streams information like weather, local fuel prices and movie time information direct to your vehicle. This is essentially the OEM version of the technology.
Features include:
- Traffic Data - Real-time traffic speed and flow data with accident and incident information
- Weather - Displays current conditions plus 5-day forecasts, as well as storm cell info, hurricane/tropical storm tracking, local wind speeds, and event ski resort conditions.
- Fuel Prices - Sirius Travel Link sorts fuel options by price, distance, or alphabetically from over 120,000 gas stations
- Sports - Stream scores and schedules personalized to your favorite teams
- Movies - Movie times, theater addresses, ratings, and run lengths from over 4,500 movie theaters
Travel Link is impressive because it's really a jump in technology for Sirius, and it takes the data services a step further than most anything we see currently on the market.
It's also nice to see that Ford has solidified its dedication to their partnership with Sirius. With the Ford SYNC and HD Radio partnerships, there was an air of skepticism that Ford is really devoted to satellite radio. The introduction of Sirius Travel Link through Ford is a good sign that the partnership between the two is healthy.
Thanks Rich!
It's pretty cool stuff. We're making baby steps, but slowly, the full impact of the technology is staring to be seen. It's not just radio, but we can have steaming media and news content, and there's the television stuff. It's any guess what the future technology will be capable of, but most would admit that it will likely only continue to get advanced it the types of data they can beam.
Great! Sound quality goes down, but at least I can find out what time the movie starts. I can't hardly stand to listen to the music any more but I can find out it is raining. Now. Where I am at. I find myself carrying my iPod more for the sound quality of the music but now Sirius can tell me that gas is expensive and I won't even have to look up at the big f'ing sign.
I came to Sirius and XM both for the music. Both are killing it for me. Sound quality was much better on Sirius when I first signed up. Then again, they weren't using what precious little bandwidth they have to beam cartoons and traffic data then either. XM sounded like crap when I got it and it sounds only slightly better now.
I would really like for these guys to be satellite RADIO companies and forget about all of this bandwidth hogging junk. Won't happen though.
Um, dualsub, are you nuts? How is the sound quailty unbearable to listen to? You are smoking something for sure.
Satellite radio needs to promote products like this - because it looks like they're starting to saturate the market for people who are just interested in the music, and they're not exactly having much success converting iPod fanatics.
XM's sound quality is awesome now. Dualsub obviously has a shit audio system is his car. I don't mind the sound quality on Sirius except for some of their talk channels. Music channels are fine though.
Nuts? Hardly.
Shitty sound system? Aux connection in the Land Rover. Not exactly top of the line audio gear but it ain't shit either. Sportster 4 radio. Shitty radio? You tell me.
The sound quality on the music channels is horrible TO ME. The sound quality TO ME has gone DOWN HILL since I subscribed. SQ improved, and has gotten worse. TO ME. I know I am not alone in feeling this way.
You guys say how great this kind of crap is and how Sirius needs this. They are going to lose my $40 a month at the rate they are going.
But that's just me and apparently I am nuts.
banff, most of my XM listening is through my Inno using Shure SE110 earbuds. Not exactly top of the line stuff, but the included buds can't compare.
Maybe that's it. I should go back to the included, shitty headphones so that I can't actually HEAR how bad the sound quality is. I'll try that tomorrow and report back.
dualsub2006, geeee you are smoking shit?? I bet you'll get the sound quality you want by tripping on shrooms and listening to phish
dualsub2006, geeee you are smoking shit?? I bet you'll get the sound quality you want by tripping on shrooms and listening to phish
dualsub2006, geeee you are smoking shit?? I bet you'll get the sound quality you want by tripping on shrooms and listening to phish
you people are crazy!! I've had SIRIUS for4 yrs. Have a 2001 dodge ram , stock sound system. have seen increased sound quality over the years. You need to get rid of your 60s sound systems. SIRIUS rules. As for all the other tech, it will just put satellite radio way ahead of shit radio. Charles Scott, mikemscott@hotmail.com
one more thing, i really think all tne negative comments must be coming from NAB employees. Anyone who has this tech knows where its going. Its the future. Wake up!!!!