StilettoStiletto...it's not just for shoes. Come here to talk about the new SL2, the SL100, or the SL10. Share tips, tricks and pointers, all available via WiFi...just like your music!
Sirius and XM are in a war which will likely ultimately kill one of them. Up to this point, XM has had a real advantage over Sirius on at least one front – Sirius hasn’t offered live satellite radio on the go when you are outside of your car, while XM has with the Inno and Helix. Sirius seems poised to narrow that gap with their new Stiletto 100.
Besides playing live radio, the device will have storage for 100 hours of Sirius programming and a further 50 hours that you have downloaded from other sources. It also seems to have WiFi to give you more options. Battery life is good for 22 hours of recorded playback, but just four hours of live radio.
When it hits store shelves, the Stiletto is expected to cost $399. There is no specific word on availability because Sirius has not yet acknowledged that the device actually exists.
Whoever said anyone HAS to buy one? 2 different manufactures and 2 different concepts and styles in tuners. The S50 was problematic mainly because it was a 2 piece design. The chipset was in the media player, but the other components required to receive reception is in the cradles. If these two things don't sync just right, then you have problems. This new unit will not have this issue and will a much better design right out the gate in my opinion. Will there be issues? Of course one thing I can tell you is that some aren't going to be happy with reception, but XM's tuners already prove that reception in areas not served by a repeater can be hit or miss.
Sirius and XM are in a war which will likely ultimately kill one of them.
I realize that this is a quote from someone from MobileMag, but I wanted to say that I disagree. There are some unstable duopolies, in which the company with slightly more market share ultimately wins everything. Newspapers are the classic example. But I think the key is that newspapers are advertising-driven (about 80% of revenue). And advertisers pick the newspaper with 55% market share far more than 55% of the time. In the end, the paper with 45% share goes broke.
But satellite radio is subscriber-driven, and subscribers don't care about market share. They care about content (and hype). It remains to be seen where market share will end up, but there is no reason to believe that this duopoly is unstable. It could even be the case that there is room for two different business models: high cost and high revenue (Sirius) and medium cost and medium revenue (XM). If money gets tight for either service you could see a third business model: low cost and low revenue. All three models could be wildly profitable (or wildly loss-generating).
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Up to this point, XM has had a real advantage over Sirius on at least one front – Sirius hasn’t offered live satellite radio on the go when you are outside of your car, while XM has with the Inno and Helix.
I love portable radio. But I also walk instead of drive whenever I can. That makes me mighty unusual. I doubt that the lack of a live portable has had any noticeable effect on Sirius subscriber figures.
I have both an Inno and an S50. I constantly struggle to decide which I want to take with me. I love having a live connection to the satellites and feeling in touch with the world. On the other hand, the frequent dropouts in live mode are very frustrating, and even with the Inno in hand I find myself listening to mostly recorded programming. And XM sound quality on the talk channels (the very ones that give me a feeling of connectedness) is miserable. So I generally carry the S50.
It will be fascinating to see how I react to the Stiletto. I will certainly get one, but will I find it unpleasantly bulky next to the sleek Inno and S50? Or will I finally get connectedness and sound quality together!?
A little more official speculation on the SL100 and SL10:
Sirius unveils its first 'live' portables
Sirius Satellite Radio will ship in September and October the Stiletto models 100 and 10, respectively -- its first portables capable of playing live Sirius broadcasts. The company, in a preliminary showing of the products at a New York press event in August at which photography was prohibited, also unwrapped a suite of car and home accessories for the Stiletto line, to be sold under the Sirius and other labels.
Both deep-black models feature a bottom-situated touch-sensitive wheel that will seem familiar to iPod users, and a large, easy-to-read color display screen. The Stiletto 100 ($349) offers 100 hours of total storage capacity, and can also download and store MP3 and WMA files. It also features WiFi capability, according to Gary Dorfner, product manager for portables. A unique antenna headphone, an included accessory, supplements reception in areas that aren't optimum. Two lithium-ion batteries are supplied; the full-size one provides four hours of live sat-radio listening and up to 20 hours of pre-stored-content listening and the slim version has half the power of its full-size counterpart. Other included accessories are an AC charger, earbuds, and a PC cable.
The Stiletto 10 ($249), offering 10 hours of storage, does not support WiFi.
Two lithium-ion batteries are supplied; the full-size one provides four hours of live sat-radio listening and up to 20 hours of pre-stored-content listening and the slim version has half the power of its full-size counterpart.
This is the first I've seen that said the regular battery has half the power.
That's actually better than I was expecting. I had visions of some old Sony MD players which had an extra battery pod. That was the "extended" battery, and it added a huge clunky extra thing on the side, very easy to snap right off.
Two hours live with the slim battery is OK. Not great, but anytime I'm listening for more than two hours I'm probably in an environment where a "battery bulge" is acceptable. Normally, I don't listen for more than an hour at a time. A charger at home and one at work, and I'm all set. Buy an extra extended battery, and I can make it coast to coast live (assuming Sirius on a Plane works as well as XM on a Plane).
Sirius Stiletto 100
Buy the Stiletto?
Linear Mode
