Is Broadcast Radio Dead Yet?

genlock · Post by **genlock** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 4:22 pm

STILETTO 2 Portable Satellite Radio

Model#: SL2PK1

Stiletto 2 combines SIRIUS radio with your own personal MP3 music library for the ultimate portable audio entertainment experience - wherever you go. Enjoy live SIRIUS radio from our satellites or via WiFi, listen to stored
SIRIUS programming or to your favorite songs from your personal music collection.

Add microSDâ„¢ memory for even more personal media storage - or optional accessories for customized performance in your vehicle, home or office.

Enjoy SIRIUS radio plus your own personal MP3 music library anywhere â€“ in one compact device.
Schedule and record up to 100 hours of your favorite music, shows or programs.
Hear it â€“ Love it: Easily store up to 10 hours of individual songs from SIRIUS radio's commercial-free music with one touch of the 'Love' button.
Listen to standard or premium* SIRIUS Internet Radio over an available WiFi network
Store and enjoy your personal MP3 music library with microSDâ„¢ memory card support
Bookmark favorite songs to buy using a compatible online music service
Purchase and download songs easily using a compatible online music service
Control live radio with SIRIUS Replayâ„¢: Pause, rewind and replay up to 60 minutes of live radio
Store hours of fresh programming automatically from your favorite SIRIUS music channels with Radio Replays - so you always have something great to listen to
Track your favorite sports action with a Personalized Sports Ticker, Sports Alertâ„¢ and My Game Zoneâ„¢.
Optimize your listening experience with SRS TruBassÂ® and 3D FocusÂ® technologies
Lock and unlock channels easily with parental controls.
Surf channels or media files on the fly with large, bright-color display and enhanced media dial
Add accessories to maximize the experience in your vehicle, home, office or anywhere in between
Complete kit includes radio, earbuds, headset antenna, battery, AC power adapter, PC cable and My SIRIUS Studioâ„¢ software

$329 plus Sirius fees.

goradiomic · Post by **goradiomic** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 5:11 pm

Local radio fee - $0.00

genlock · Post by **genlock** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 7:01 pm

I wonder if they can combine the Stiletto with a cell phone/camera/Blackberry device?

Pez dispenser/calculator/translator/floss dispenser/handgun?

sportsvoice · Post by **sportsvoice** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 10:18 pm

Sounds neat. I still have my trusty Audiovox PNP2. The office doesn't have the Sirius streams blocked, so I can get them on the computer...but I like the wifi option. I could get the streams off the 'net around the house.

Right now I have a second PNP dock on the big stereo with the antenna run outside.

I hate to replace the PNP2 because then I have to replace the accessories...

SPIKE NESMITH! · Post by **SPIKE NESMITH!** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 2:18 pm

There are aaaallll sorts of restrictions to the Stiletto, though. Chief amongst them being that if you go inside a building that has no wi-fi, you're screwed. Don't get me wrong, I love my SL100. It really is a very neat little device, but there are some restrictions that, had I known them at the time, I would have thought twice about plopping down the cashish (plus monthlies) for the radio.

Listen to standard or premium* SIRIUS Internet Radio over an available WiFi network
Standard is listenable, but not great, at 32 kb/s. Premium is $2 per month extra, 128kb/s, but incredibly unstable unless you have a wide broadband connection and are doing nothing else online at the time. There are major stations missing from the internet line-up too. No live sports, for example. Of the 153 channels Sirius offers, just 75 are available online.

Store and enjoy your personal MP3 music library with microSDâ„¢ memory card support
...using just half of the card's storage. The other half is for Sirius storage. So if you buy a 4gb card, you can only use 2gb for your own stuff.

Control live radio with SIRIUS Replayâ„¢: Pause, rewind and replay up to 60 minutes of live radio
...unless you're listening over wi-fi, in which case the timeshifting is disabled, as is "love"ing songs, where the song you're listening to is recorded and added to your music library. In wi-fi mode, the timeshift buttons just mute the stream and the Love button tags the song and adds it to your Yahoo Music wishlist for you to purchase later - if you installed it with the software, and if they happen to have the song.

Store hours of fresh programming automatically from your favorite SIRIUS music channels with Radio Replays - so you always have something great to listen to
So long as your favourite music channel is owned by Sirius. If it's any of the CBC stations, or Radio 1, or even the 1-band channels like the Greatful Dead or Springsteen, forget it. You can't "love" songs from them either. Radio Replays is a cool feature, though. I have about 30 hours of First Wave stored on my machine, even though every couple of hours I miss 4 or 5 songs because of the spotty satellite coverage. If your radio is set on one of the music channels (not talk or sport) for more than half an hour, it uses the spare storage in your memory to discreetly record the channel. You can flip through the songs one by one, too.

Track your favorite sports action with a Personalized Sports Ticker, Sports Alertâ„¢ and My Game Zoneâ„¢.
....again, unless you're listening online. Being able to scroll around and view what songs are played on other channels without switching channels is out of the question on wi-fi, too. Artist seek and song seek are non-existant on every stiletto but the SL10, which has 10 hours storage and NO wi-fi.

Add accessories to maximize the experience in your vehicle, home, office or anywhere in between
Translation: want to dock it in your house or car? Give us some more money. Twice if you want both. Unless you plan on holding the device in your hands or wearing the incredibly bluky antenna headphones the entire time you're listening from the satellite, plan on spending another $60. Per dock.

Sirius is a great compliment to local radio, particularly if your particular taste in music isn't being catered for in the market, but it's no replacement. Not by a long shot.

AmpedNow · Post by **AmpedNow** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 5:36 pm

SPIKE NESMITH! wrote:Sirius is a great compliment to local radio, particularly if your particular taste in music isn't being catered for in the market, but it's no replacement. Not by a long shot.

Only when it comes to local information, and what's "between" the songs... I have Sirius and recently got a Zune 80, with which I can sub to podcasts, including "real" radio shows. It plays video, too.

Sure, I still spin around the dial sometimes to see what everyone's up to. But, I no longer depend on it for music alone. I don't have to now.

As for the Stiletto, I was checking out the 2, but got a Sportster 5 instead... There are still too many variables with the merger still up in the air. If it is, the next-gen portables will be sweet.

The 128k streams on Sirius sounded great to me, but I never listened enough to justify the extra price, so I dropped it. Pretty much only the "in house" stuff is streamed.

genlock · Post by **genlock** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 6:04 pm

Getting harder and harder to justify radio for the music alone.
Too easy to get the music elsewhere.
How will radio change with the times to cope with this problem?

Dave Allen · Post by **Dave Allen** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 6:15 pm

This is probably far too simple for many experts to understand, but one of the ways is by giving listeners what they can't get from satellite including, God Forbid, LOCAL INFORMATION

genlock · Post by **genlock** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 6:19 pm

daveinthemorning wrote:This is probably far too simple for many experts to understand, but one of the ways is by giving listeners what they can't get from satellite including, God Forbid, LOCAL INFORMATION

Amazing, give the population stuff they need to know in a timely fashion, I suppose? And entertain them at the same time?

Dave Allen · Post by **Dave Allen** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 6:28 pm

Nah, it will never work.