Sirius and NPR announced earlier today that they have created a new channel, only available on Sirius Internet Radio, that collects select NPR programming and makes it available to SIR subscribers. http://www.sirius.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Sirius/Page&c=Channel&cid=1186052421026

Sirius describes the channel as follows…

NPR SIR-1 offers in-depth news, features, and entertainment produced and assembled by NPR for SIRIUS Internet Radio. Featuring public radio favorites like Talk of the Nation, Day to Day, Marketplace and the Diane Rehm Show as well as new productions from independent producers and public radio stations nationwide.

This is a great add for users of wi-fi enabled radios like the Stilletto (although early reports are some are having trouble getting it on the Stilletto).

Thanks to member, dlnester for the find!!

Earlier today, Steve Jobs wrote a long open-letter on apple.com that he titled “Thoughts on Music”. The letter details his thoughts on encrypting music with DRM and why Apple does not want to license out its FairPlay DRM.

One point that he addresses at the end is that it would not only be very beneficial for the record companies to get rid of DRM, but that “Apple would embrace it in a heartbeat”. It would mean that all downloads would be unprotected, could be played on virtually any MP3 player and bought from any music store. As Steve Jobs notes: “2 billion DRM-protected songs were sold worldwide by online stores, while over 20 billion songs were sold completely DRM-free and unprotected on CDs by the music companies themselves”. Doing this would only make online music the same type that you get on a CD: unprotected.

This could easily benefit Sirius, as well as XM. With this happening suddenly people can buy music in iTunes, then load it onto their Stiletto or S50. Suddenly those who don’t want a portable satellite radio player because they want something that can play iTunes will have a choice. It will also make the satellite radio companies and their hardware partners step up even more, as they will want to market their devices to more than just the people who are actively interested in satellite radio. Instead of having an MP3 player be a side benefit to the satellite radio, they can make satellite radio a side benefit to unlocked MP3 players.

Sirius has updated their rebate program for hardware. It is similar to the previous rebate they ran through the holiday season. The notable exceptions are that the Starmate Replay and its Xact Clone are no longer eligible hardware. The Stiletto rebate is continuing as before, $70 back with purchase of a Stiletto and home/car kit.

The rebate is good for radios purchased through February 24th, activated by 3/10, and the rebate is sent in and postmarked by March 24th.

Eligible radios:

Radios from Walmart, Walmart.com, Sam’s Club, and Target(but not Target.com) are not eligible for the rebate.

$20 - Starmate 4, Streamer GT

$30 - Conductor, Sportster 4, Streamer Replay

$50 - Tivoli, Alpine Tuner

$100 - S50

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Yesterday, Stiletto’s started arriving around the country at Circuit City locations (NOTE: Crutchfield has shipped them out, TSS Radio expects to begin shipments next week, and no word on when Best Buy will receive them). Backstage members are the first to review the Stiletto and provide pictures. Reviews for the most part have been good, with the occasional gripe that the wifi doesn’t work well or live on the go reception isn’t good. However, surprisingly, lots of people are reporting that live on the go reception works well.

Backstage members will remember all of the S50 problems, and early reviews seem to indicate that the Stiletto is virtually bug free. As more people receive them we will see if this holds true.

Keep watching our Stiletto forum for more reviews and pictures.

*UPDATE*  SIRIUS Direct now has the Stiletto up for $349, they will begin shipping on October 4th.

Sirius.com now has the Stiletto up. The page shows a “Buy Now” button but Sirius Direct does not have it up yet.

Prices:
Stiletto: $379
Home Kit: $79
Car Kit: $79
Slim Battery: $29
Extended Battery: $49
Executive System: $149
Replacement Antenna Headphones: $39

There’s not really any new information to report.

Comment here.

Thanks XMECUTIONER!

Yep, the Stiletto has once again returned to TSS-Radio and Crutchfield.  The cause of the delay was Sirius simply awaiting an ID number from the FCC so they could market the Stiletto.  TSS Radio still predicts the Stiletto to arrive in late September to early October.

There’s some more info (including the Stiletto manual) and a link to some pictures at Satellite Radio TechWorld.

Comment here.

Many theories have been presented as to why Sirius asked retailers to remove the Stiletto from websites but Satellite Radio Techworld has more than likely found the answer.  The FCC.

From Satellite Radio Techworld:

(from Section 15.1 of some FCC document)
(c) Unless specifically exempted, the operation or marketing of an intentional or unintentional radiator that is not in compliance with the administrative and technical provisions in this Part, including prior Commission authorization or verification, as appropriate, is prohibited under Section 302 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, and Subpart I of Part 2 of this Chapter. The equipment authorization and verification procedures are detailed in Subpart J of Part 2 of this Chapter. 
So, what does this mean?  It means that Sirius can’t market the Stiletto until it’s approved by the FCC.  And that means retailers too.

Comment here.

TSS-Radio has put of a video of the Stiletto. Good stuff.
Edit: TSS Radio has removed the video but you can still view it here.

Comment here.

SatelliteStandardGroup (SSG) has found a new picture of the Stiletto showing off 2 angles:

Comment here.

From Orbitcast.com via Dealerscope

Lots of the stuff in the article is repetitive so we’ll highlight the new stuff…

The Stilleto 100 will MSRP for $349 and the Stilleto 10 will retail for $249. What’s the difference? The S10 will only feature 10 hours of record time and does NOT feature WiFi. Supposedly the two devices look simillar.

Just to clear something up regarding the two batteries that come with the Stilletos. The extended life battery will give you 4 hours live, 14 hours on Wifi, and 20 hours on recorded content. The smaller power battery will have half the power.

Both of the radios will NOT come with a home kit nor a car kit, they will have to be purchased extra for $69 each (both will be available in September). But, I wouldn’t be surprised to see retail and online stores doing a buy the Stilleto and get a home kit and/or car kit free type of deal.

There will also be a boombox and executive docking station, both retailing for $149.

Comment here.