Sirius poised to release Stiletto portable receiver

Better late than never, Sirius is finally on the verge of releasing its first "personal live satellite radio product" to consumers, who will see the device ship by the end of the summer and possibly as early as this month. We first spotted the rather chunky-looking player about a month ago in the hands of CEO Mel Karamazin, who said in a recent conference call that the so-called Stiletto (it's not clear if that's the official product moniker or simply an internal codename) has now been in beta testing for a few weeks and seems ready for prime-time (Mel referred to it, probably not without some bias, as "great"). As you're probably aware, rival XM has already brought a number of XM2GO products to market -- most recently, the Samsung Helix and Pioneer Inno -- while Sirius is still stuck in the dark ages with its dockable S50. Personally, we couldn't be happier about this impending release; we can't wait to give up the crappy sound quality we're getting with SiriuCE on our Windows Mobile phones, and we're sure our wireless carriers will be just as pleased when we stop sucking down so many gigs of data.

[Josh @ Aug 1st 2006 3:29PM]

I will be first in line to buy. Go sirius, and go howard stern.

[scott @ Aug 1st 2006 3:43PM]

that must be a mockup, or someone in branding and codenaming needs to be canned. last time i checked, stiletto brings up imagery of long, thin and pointy...and that device doesn't really match such a description.

[Smoke_Dawg_187 @ Aug 1st 2006 4:20PM]

I don't think the sound is that bad when listening on my PDA with stereo headphones. But through computer speakers it does not sound that good. But I really enjoy Sirius. I hope the XM fan boys stay out of these threads. NO ONE CARES about XM vs Sirius. Just listen to what you like.

[Spectral Flagellum @ Aug 1st 2006 4:22PM]

Siriusly?

[iOrange @ Aug 1st 2006 4:39PM]

I cannot wait for this, I will sell my ipod if I can have Sirius anywhere..

[PEZ @ Aug 1st 2006 5:00PM]

KICKING ASS AND TAKING NAMES, mmk.

DOsnt matter what XM comes out with - Sirius kills.

[matt @ Aug 1st 2006 5:33PM]

sirius, howard and smoke_dawg_187 blow.

XM FANBOY'S ROCK YOUR MOTHER!

this thing looks like a first gen ipod

[evo @ Aug 1st 2006 8:03PM]

No need to slant your article, Evan. I wouldn't say Sirius is stuck in the "dark ages" with the S50. The S50 solves a problem that realtime satellite receivers cannot, which is the fact that you can't go inside or anywhere with an obstructed view of the sky and listen to them. I see both types of players as useful, and depending on your needs, one may be more desirable than the other. Of course, it would be nice if a single player had both features, but that would make it bigger and bulkier.

[Frankenstein Black @ Aug 1st 2006 8:20PM]

CRUMB! I missed the idea submission window for the Stiletto (a.k.a. S100). I was going to tell Sirius and the hardware Devs to add WiFi and streaming to that thing. Why you ask? Well:

1. WiFi adds a 3rd source for content reception that is, well, ubiquitous.
2. Don’t have to solely rely on Satellite or terrestrial repeater signal.
3. Won’t get what XM portable device owners complain about (this sucks in side).
4. With WiFi access in many homes and offices you can listen in the basement, bedroom, bathroom, attic (well you get the point).
5. Would extend Sirius portable usage beyond the US and Canada (anywhere in the world as long as there is WiFi) worth repeating, ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD!

I currently use SiruCE on a Cingy 8525 and love yanking the Sirius kiosk mall nerds by telling them “I’m beta testing the, um new portable” lol. Oh and if you use SiriuCE you must use TCPMP. It sounds 10x better than WMP10. Well Sirius if you are reading this, GETTING WIFI IN THE STILETTO 100 WOULD BE THE “NAIL IN THE COFFIN” OF XM!!

PS Oh, and please don’t do me like Riley Martin. Promptly send the check for my brilliant idea to my PayPal account. Engadget I give you permission to give my email address to Sirius. I got a million other ideas, after all its what I get paid to do now ;^)...

[Joe @ Aug 1st 2006 9:29PM]

That thing doesn't look to big, have you ever seen Mel Karmazin? The guy is about an inch shy of being a midget.

[Chris @ Aug 1st 2006 11:00PM]

Horray! Something else to give iPod competition.

[The Mound @ Aug 2nd 2006 12:13PM]

The portible sat recievers are a bad idea for most people. Since you have to be outside and/or have a view of the southern sky to get reception, it doesn't work well for most people. if you don't have those it is just a brick of an mp3 player. Don't get me wrong, I love my Sirius. Most of the customers that I had at a certain electronics store I worked for had many more bad experiences with XM than Sirius. It shows when my 12 employees all had sirius and not XM.

[Gary Moody @ Aug 5th 2006 11:04PM]

I have this device. It is alright. I have found that I need to upgrade the firmware often. Doesn't work really well in the car, keeps "jumping" out of the car mount.

Gary Moody
http://www.greatermichiganrealty.com