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Sirius Debuts Fall Line

New York — Sirius introduced new fall products including its long awaited Sirius Backseat TV for the car and a new version of the “wearable” portable Stiletto.

Sirius became the first satellite radio company to announce delivery of rear seat TV for the car with the unveiling of a $299 system slated for October shipping. As reported earlier in TWICE, the system includes a hideaway tuner and a separate controller module and these connect to most any car video screen. The system allows parents to listen to Sirius audio in the front seat while kids watch a choice of three channels in the back of Nickelodeon, Disney and Cartoon Network programming. 

The service will cost $6.99 per month and requires the user also subscribe to Sirius audio at $12.95 per month. It is available to Sirius dealers through Directed.

On the portable front, Sirius’ new Stiletto 2 receives live Sirius programming on the go. New features from the original Stiletto are a microSD card slot for importing MP3 files into the unit, improved WiFi and a 25 percent smaller form factor so that the unit more closely resembles a typical MP3 player. The Stiletto 2 can also now access Sirius’ premium audio quality Internet Radio service for an additional fee.

The unit stores up to 100 hours of Sirius programming, which users can playback at a later time, in case they are out of range of a satellite signal and WiFi reception). It has a built in antenna and also ships with Altec Lansing headphones that include a second antenna built into the head band. The Stiletto 2 ships this fall at a suggested retail price of $349.99

On the car front, Sirius is offering new tuners that can convert cars offering XM service to Sirius service. A GM version, model SIR-GM3A can swap with an XM tuner to deliver Sirius to GM cars and control and display Sirius programming on the GM radio at a suggested $149. New tuners will also ship for Honda and Toyota models and these offer the new feature of also working with certain Sirius plug and play (now called Dock & Play) tuners.

Also new is a Sportster 5 Dock & Play receiver with a color display and 60-minute DVR-type recorder to ship this fall at $169.99.

New in accessories is an Altec Lansing SR4021 desktop speaker system that works with most Dock & Play Sirius receivers. It adds both speakers and a hideaway subwoofer in a “stack or hide” convertible sound system. It is due in September at a suggested $149.95.

On the home front, Sirius unveiled several new products including some targeted to the custom-installation industry.

One of the custom-friendly products is Polk’s first component Sirius tuner, the $299-suggested SRH-1000 due in November. It provides two-zone capability when an optional palm-size $49-suggested SiriusConnect home tuner is plugged in. The tuner also features RS-232 port and 5-12-volt remote-trigger inputs. The 1000 will replace the Sirius-branded SRH-550 component tuner, which lacks the 1000’s RS-232 port and two-zone capability, said David Horoschak, home and commercial product manager.

Also for installers, Sirius plans September shipments of its first SiriusConnect tuner designed for the custom market. The one-rack-high, half-rack-wide SCH2P plugs into Sirius-ready AV receivers, and two can be mounted side-by-side in an AV rack for connection to a two-zone Sirius-ready AV receiver. Compared to the existing SiriusConnect tuner, the SCH2P adds RS-232 port, wired-IR input, signal-status display, and channel-changing know. It ships in October at a suggested $99, including indoor/outdoor antenna.

August shipments are planned of the Audio Design Associates’ SRX tuner, which is designed for commercial applications such as professional offices and retail stores. At a suggested $299, including indoor/outdoor antenna, the half-rack-wide tuner can be programmed by a local PC, or by a remote PC through the Internet, to turn on and off at specific times of the day and change channels at specific times of the day. Programming via a remote PC enables a commercial operation with multiple locations to program all SRX tuners at one time from a central location.

In another change, Sirius unveiled a step-up SiriusConnect Home Dock, the $59-suggested SCHDOC1, which joins an existing $49 dock. The new model enables Sirius-ready home-audio products such as AV receivers to take control of docked transportable tuners and docked Stiletto-series wearable tuners. As a result, the remote supplied with a Sirius-ready AV receiver will control all Sirius-tuner features and channel selection, and the Sirius menu and channel metadata will appear on the receiver’s display or on the screen of a connected TV.

Like existing home docks, the SCHDOC1 also connects to non-Sirius-ready audio products via the product’s audio inputs, but the Sirius tuner can be controlled only by the tuner’s supplied remote, and the Sirius menu and metadata won’t appear on the larger displays of an AV receiver or TV.

The company also said its first in-door wireless Sirius repeater system shipped in June. The $99-suggested solution, dubbed Echo, consists of an indoor/outdoor antenna that plugs into an RF repeater that downconverts the Sirius signal to 900MHz for transmission to a tabletop antenna that plugs into any Sirius tuner. Additional receivers are $49.

Echo complements an existing distribution system that sends the Sirius signal from an indoor/outdoor antenna to multiple Sirius tuners over a home’s existing coaxial cable.

The system includes a hideaway tuner and a separate controller module and these connect to most car video screens. The system allows parents to listen to Sirius audio in the front seat while kids watch a choice of three channels in the back of Nickelodeon, Disney and Cartoon Network programming.

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