In a stunning move that will shock absolutely no one it appears as if Sirius and Yahoo! have indeed teamed up for the upcoming Stiletto.  The Stiletto Home Kit manual was made public by the FCC and the secret was let out, here’s the experpt:

During installation [of My Sirius Studio Software] you will be given the opportunity to install Yahoo! Music Engine™ software. The Yahoo! Music Engine software will recognize the Stiletto and enable you to manage playlists and download music files. Yahoo! Music Engine will also allow you to view the songs and artist saved by you as “Favorites”. By using the Yahoo! Music Engine software, it may be possible to purchase or download this content. 

The Manual also shows the first picture (if you want to call it that) of the home kit and remote.

PDF Manual

Via Satellite Radio TechWorld and Orbitcast

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That according to a post on Orbitcast.com who claims they have learned of the partnership via sources familiar with the matter.

From Orbitcast:

Gee, who saw this coming? Apparently the elusive music partner that will fulfill song purchases made off of the Sirius Stiletto is… wait for it… Yahoo! Music, according to sources familiar with the matter.

While not much of a surprise to us fanboys tracking this from Day 1, the Yahoo! Music partnership is nice to hear anyway. Back in February, Mel Karmazin mentioned that there will be “buy button” functionality for the Stiletto - since then we’ve been speculating who the partner will be.

Much like the XM+Napster partnership, Yahoo! Music integrated in the Stiletto will supposedly give the user the ability to “tag” a song heard and then allow them to purchase it (presumably when they get within WiFi range). More on this as information comes in…

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Add SIRIUS Satellite Radio to the list of luxury features including Viking kitchens and custom bathrooms, that a Brooklyn, New York condo developer plans to add to their new Lookout Hill Condominium project.

According to Multi-Housing News, Alchemy Properties would become the first real estate developer to offer satellite radio in a multifamily complex.

The service would be free for the first year; the developer is targeting 30- to 40-year-old buyers.

The 11-story building, which has been under construction since last year, will be completed in December. It has one- two- and three-bedroom units that are priced from $470,000 to $995,000 and are between 677 and 1,653 square feet.

In addition to the satellite radios, The Lookout Condominium will also have video intercom systems and pre-wiring for high-speed Internet access. The units, which feature nearly 10-ft. ceilings, have white oak flooring along with Maytag washers, Viking appliances and Kohler Purist bathroom fixtures. Residents will also have access to a backyard, live-in superintendent, 24-hour lobby attendant and recreation room on the ground floor.

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Mitsubishi Motors North America and SIRIUS Satellite Radio (Nasdaq: SIRI) today announced that Mitsubishi will offer SIRIUS as a standard feature or factory option on four models this fall, and throughout the entire 2008 Mitsubishi model line, available in the United States next year.

This fall, SIRIUS will be standard equipment on the model year 2007 Galant RALLIART, Endeavor SE and all Raider LS and DuroCross double cab pickup trucks. On most other trim levels of the Galant, Endeavor and Raider and on the all-new Outlander, SIRIUS will be available as a factory option. All SIRIUS-equipped vehicles will include a six-month, pre-paid subscription.

“Mitsubishi is excited about adding SIRIUS to more of its vehicle lines as a standard feature or a factory option,” said Mike Krebs, Vice President of Product Strategy at Mitsubishi Motors North America. “Our goal is to offer Mitsubishi customers the very best in-vehicle experience possible, and we believe that SIRIUS’ unique programming greatly enhances our quality offering.”

“Mitsubishi has been a great partner in the growth of SIRIUS, and we are very pleased that they have decided to expand the number of vehicle lines offering SIRIUS,” said Mel Karmazin, CEO of SIRIUS. “Now, more Mitsubishi drivers will be able to experience for themselves the best programming available on radio.”

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Microsoft recently announced (after much leakage) their Zune media player. This player will be in direct competition with the iPod, although it will offer more features but as to what those are have not been confirmed. It is rumored, however, satellite radio may be one of them.

ThinkSecret.com recently wrote an article containing the following…

“Along with Wi-Fi, Microsoft is said to be considering a satellite radio receiver option for the device…”

A partnership with a large company like Microsoft would certainly help Sirius. It is safe to note that any partnership with Microsoft’s player would more than likely wipe out any future chances at a partnership with Apple.

We’ll keep you updated if anything develops.

Original image courtesy of Engadget.

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Comprehensive factory installation program launching with 2007 model year vehicles

Virtually all Ford vehicles will be equipped with SIRIUS by 2008

TORONTO – (July 13, 2006) – Ford of Canada and SIRIUS Canada today announced an exclusive long term agreement that will make SIRIUS Satellite Radio receivers factory-installed equipment in virtually all Ford vehicles sold in Canada by 2008. Starting with 2007 model year vehicles, Ford of Canada will offer the factory-installed satellite radio receivers bundled with a subscription to SIRIUS Canada’s premium 110 channel satellite radio service. The majority of the Ford Motor Company brands in Canada - Ford, Lincoln Mercury, Land Rover, Jaguar, Volvo and Aston Martin - are covered by the agreement.

Multiple Ford of Canada vehicle lines are being targeted to have SIRIUS Satellite Radio in the 2007 model year including Ford Fusion, Mustang, Five Hundred, Freestyle, Ranger, Explorer, Sport Trac, Expedition, Expedition Max, Edge, Lincoln Navigator, MKZ, and MKX. By 2008, virtually all Ford Canada vehicles will be equipped with SIRIUS Satellite Radio.

“We are thrilled to start Ford of Canada’s factory program for SIRIUS and excited about establishing a long term agreement,” said Mark Redmond, President and CEO, SIRIUS Canada Inc. “SIRIUS offers customers an unparalleled radio experience and it will now be even easier for Ford drivers in Canada to experience SIRIUS Canada’s premium content featuring the most channels and most commercial-free music.”

“This announcement is great news for Ford customers,” said Bill Osborne, President and CEO, Ford Motor Company of Canada. “SIRIUS Canada is the country’s leading satellite radio provider and we look forward to its Canadian debut in an unprecedented number of Ford of Canada vehicle lines.”

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SIRIUS Music, a streaming service available on the Sprint Nextel wireless network, is one of the Top 5 most popular mobile applications according to a new study from Telephia.

Music applications Music Choice and Sirius Music each garnered 4.8 percent of the total revenue share to round out the top five, said Telephia.

The study shows that about one-third of first-time purchase revenues came from entertainment applications, particularly streaming music applications.

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Earlier this month we learned of SIRIUS’ partnership with digital media platform developer ZING.

Rather than launching a “swiss-army-knife” radio, we predict SIRIUS has opted for an “it just works” philosophy, dramatically improving the out-of-the-box experience and focusing on ease-of-use and reliability. All of the power will be under the hood and seamless to the user.

ZING VP of Hardware Development Michael Gifford “believes a product needs to look as beautiful on the outside as it does on the inside.” Gifford had a hand in producing the Mac mini and the XBOX.

To fully understand the SIRIUS-ZING collaboration, look no further than ZING CEO Tim Bucher.

A former Apple Computer executive, Bucher headed up Macintosh Engineering, where he produced the Mac mini. Bucher was also directly involved in technology development for the iPod, and helped with Microsoft’s UltimateTV.

However, probably the most overlooked figure at ZING is visionary Arthur van Hoff. van Hoff was the guy who started Strangeberry, a Internet content distribution startup that was eventually acquired by TiVo.

The beauty of Strangeberry, and the reason TiVo gobbled them up, is that “it will recognize incoming programming (JPEG images, video, MP3s, or whatever) and route it to the appropriate device in your living room.” This was the holy grail of the so-called “digital hub.”

Here’s some commentary on the top-secret Strangeberry:

So what are they really building? My best guess is that Strangeberry crew, all former Sun folks, developed a piece of software that actually makes finding devices on the home networks as easy as turning on the power switch. And it is using some variant of Apple’s Rendezvous technology. I remember these guys had released some variation of Rendezvous for Java in the early days of their operation. Rendezvous is a technology which can and does work with all sort of networks - Wi-Fi, Ethernet or powerline networks.

After joining TiVo, van Huff launched TiVoToGo, a service that allows the transfer of shows from TiVo to personal computers and portable devices.

So, How does this all affect SIRIUS?

The ZING platform is described as “the first portable audio and entertainment solution that can combine wireless and satellite radio capabilities.”

With this in mind, we can only imagine the great engineering going on at ZING. The potential features of a ZING-enabled SIRIUS Radio may include:

1. Automatic roaming from Satellite to WiFi (hotspots become SIRIUS repeaters)
2. Always connected / Updates downloaded via the Internet
3. Timeshift SIRIUS shows / Download Songs
4. Automatic discovery of music on your network
5. Create dynamic playlists mixing the SIRIUS service and your personal music collection

A combination of TiVo’s simple-yet-powerful interface, recording capabilties, with Apple’s hip and minimal style, the SIRIUS-ZING Portable Media Player may be something out of this world.

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Ryan over at Orbitcast.com has discovered a great review on CNET about the Zing Player.

Rafe Needleman at CNET said that the SIRIUS-branded Zing player is scheduled to ship later this year.

It appears that the new device will receive SIRIUS content over the Internet, rather than the satellite network.

This opens up the possibility that SIRIUS may extend the service to a variety of Internet radio devices.

Digital music company Sonos already has a sophiticated package that allows you to stream WiFi Radio throughout your home, along with a slick full-color controller.

This opens up the possibility of SIRIUS coming out with a WiFi powered repeater, so you can have a SIRIUS zone in each room of your home. The possibilties are endless with an established standard such as WiFi.

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