RSSXM Debuts First Color Screen Radio
By Ed Oswald | Published August 13, 2007, 2:05 PM
XM debuted its latest radio Monday, complete with a full-color screen and various recording capabilities.
The XpressRC features a split-screen color display that shows the currently-playing song title and information to the left, and data on what's playing on up to three other channels to the right. The device, while produced by Delphi, will only carry the XM brand name.
XM's line of radios became somewhat stagnant in the wake of issues surrounding the FM modulator that allows users to play their radios on open FM frequencies. However, in recent months, the company has begun to refresh its lineup to better attract subscribers.
Delphi's XpressRC is a more souped-up version of a similar player recently released by Audiovox called the XpressR. That player features only a 30-minute pause and play along with a black and white screen. The XpressRC on the other hand includes a 60-minute pause and play with a color screen.
Another feature allows a subscriber to save up to 10 of his favorite songs for later listening, and a FrequencyFinder option helps locate a clear FM frequency on which to use the radio. XM said docks for car and home use will be available at launch, expected in October.
"The XpressRC is vibrant and offers a wealth of features and functions, ensuring the richest satellite radio experience available," said Vernon Irvin, XM Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer in a statement.
The expected retail price of the XpressRC will be $169.99 USD, XM said.
$169.99. It's a really great deal, ain't it? Has all the classiness of the used car industry.
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|Wow.. a color screen for radio.. Soon we will have HD LCD screens to listen to radio... amazing..
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|"Wow.. a color screen for radio.. Soon we will have HD LCD screens to listen to radio... amazing.."
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Yep, and folks will buy it, too. Many a graduate student has written a doctoral thesis on color in various settings and devices. Baker-Miller Pink ring a bell with anyone?
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|I'll stick with my MP3 player that already has a color screen. If I'm going to pay for a subscription, I'd rather do something like Urge or Yahoo! Music where I can download all there music for about the same price is Sirius or XM.
Urge has something that's kind of cool, you can search for an artist you like and it'll sometimes have an 'Auto-Mix' and come up with a playlist of songs with various artists that you can download.
I also like Pandora.com. It's a free internet radio. You can also type in an artist or song you like and it'll play songs simular to that artist or song. I'll listen to that then download the songs (with Urge or Yahoo music, ect.) then transfer them to my MP3 player and listen to it too. I'll end up buying the CD if I like the artist.
I heard that satellite has only a bitrate of about 96kbit/s too.
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|Dear Pandora Visitor,
We are deeply, deeply sorry to say that due to licensing constraints, we can no longer allow access to Pandora for most listeners located outside of the U.S. We will continue to work diligently to realize the vision of a truly global Pandora, but for the time being we are required to restrict its use. We are very sad to have to do this, but there is no other alternative.
_______________________________________________
You mean that site?:P
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|Well that kind of sucks. I dind't know it was only for the US. It's a shame though, it's a pretty good service, to bad you can't experiance it.
I'm not trying to rub it in your face or anything though. There is another service that I heard called last.fm (that's the website last.fm, no .com on the end). I haven't used that one that much though, I seem to like Pandora.com better. But other people swear by it [last.fm], so maybe you'll like it better anyway.
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|Bows to Bobthegoat2001. Lets try not to tell those royalties morons about last.fm, just in case they decide to force them to stop streaming outside the U.S. Still, I don wonder how come some stations still stream outside the U.S Is it a choice that is made by the stations themselves? (Sorry to be off topic here.) By the way, even before that problem with royalties, i had to cheat to listen to Pandora by using an american zip code.
As for those radio displays? Call me old school but I would be happy to have one only if it also was used for GPS since I usually never look at my radio as though it was a TV screen. :P Still, if it's useful for some, why not have it. I'm all for innovation.
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|Finally. Shouldn't everything have color screens these days?
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|The Inno from XM was the first with a color screen. I've had one since they first came out. It's a great little radio. It's on about 15 hours a day and I haven't had any trouble with it...just a little screen burn-in of XM 202.
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|Yeah Inno and Helix has it too.
Frrrrrrunkis!
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|LOL... I still have my old Delphi (from 4 years ago) with 202 burned in... A-1 on my presets ;-)
As for the new radio... I have thought a few times about upgrading, but my old Delphi has yet to give me any issues. Add to that the fact that I live in phoenix and it has endured car temps of over 130 degrees on some days and you realize why I don't want to upgrade it.
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|Looks really good. Hopefully Sirius will follow suit.
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|Very nice...I just upgraded my Sirius receiver and you know they aren't too far behind on the full color screen too. /sigh
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|Interesting. I like the idea of the color screen display.
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