 RAIN 8/27: Sirius XM in-car device will enable iPhone to receive sat radio channels ·Aug 27, 11:23 AM WSJ: DESIGNERS LIKELY MINDFUL OF CONSUMER “DEVICE FATIGUE”Sirius XM has announced a dock for Apple’s iPhone which essentially turns the device into a satellite radio receiver. The dock plugs into a car’s cigarette lighter, plays through the dash audio system and uses the iPhone’s touch-screen as the radio interface. XM satellite radio channels are accessible by the dock, but users must pay an additional $4 subscription fee to get the “Best of Sirius” package — which includes Howard Stern. The dock will be available in fall for $120.
This iPhone dock is separate to Sirius XM’s iPhone application. Where the dock tunes in to the company’s satellite radio transmissions, the app streamed Sirius XM’s Net radio channels. It received much criticism (RAIN coverage here) for omitting some of the company’s more popular channels, like Howard Stern. The Wall Street Journal writes that the dock “underscores how Sirius is facing growing competition from other devices and services as it tries to hold onto its share of an increasingly competitive audio-entertainment market…rather than fight the competition, working with it might be Sirius’s smartest option.” Indeed, consumers with phones, media players, GPS devices may be suffering from “device fatigue,” notes the Journal (here), and consolidating services into one popular device may be a winning strategy. But this iPhone dock wasn’t Sirius XM’s only new device announcement — see below! WEBSTER TO BROADCASTERS: MAKE YOUR WEBSITE HOMEPAGE A “WELCOME PAGE,” REMOVE THE GUNKRadio listeners may come to a station’s website for many reasons, writes Edison Research’s Tom Webster, and as a result numerous homepages try to offer everything at once. The result is a mess; a page “gunked up with myriad offers, ads and promotions.” Rather, says Webster, a station’s homepage should be a clean welcome page. “If your home page is relieved of the burden of having to be all things to all people (i.e., a broadcast solution) it is free to be re-imagined and repurposed as an invitation — an entry point to explore further.” He offers a good example, pictured left, and a not-so-good one at The Infinite Dial here.
DVORAK CALLS TWITTER THE NEW CB RADIOColumnist John Dvorak thinks Twitter could become the CB radio for a new generation. He sees parallels between the way CB radio became so popular that it collapsed “from the weight of its own success. And after it collapses, nobody really misses it, but it lingers on as a curiosity.” Twitter, too, enjoys a daunting amount of hype but has a low retention rate: only 40% of new users stick around. And just as “SSB may have destroyed CB radio,” so too do improvements threaten to unintentionally take down Twitter, says Dvorak. “Twitter may not be the CB radio of this era, but it sure looks like it could be,” writes Dvorak. Read his full column here. Disagree? Voice your thoughts in RAIN’s comment section by clicking the issue title and scrolling down!
SIRIUS XM UNVEILS NET RADIO TABLETOP PLAYERSirius XM’s iPhone dock is receiving much press attention, but the company also announced the introduction of a tabletop Wi-Fi Net radio receiver. The radio streams Sirius XM’s Internet radio offerings and follows the same design as many other Wi-Fi radios: a series of preset buttons, an LCD screen and two knobs to adjust tuning and volume. The radio will be available in fall for $150. Find more on the radio at Sirius Buzz here.share: del.icio.us.  Reddit  Digg  Yahoo  Wink  Windows  Google  Newsvine 
CommentCommenting is closed for this article.  Other stories RAIN has upgraded (and moved)! RAIN 9/13: RAIN Summit Chicago takes place today! RAIN 9/12: First Summit in RAIN's hometown takes place tomorrow RAIN 9/9: Summer holidays, "doldrums" impact July Webcast Metrics, but audience up over last year RAIN 9/8: Clear Channel launches new customizable iHeartRadio beta; RAIN goes hands-on RAIN 9/7: Meet more speakers you'll hear at RAIN Summit Chicago in less than a week RAIN 9/6: Clear Channel taps The Echo Nest to take on Pandora RAIN 9/2: RAIN reviews Spotify's radio-like product Artist Radio RAIN 9/1: UK online radio aggregator Radioplayer campaigns b'dcasters to create "all radio" ratings RAIN 8/31: Execs from Merlin, Triton Digital, jacAPPS and more to appear at RAIN Summit Chicago |
