XM SkyDock now available for iPod touch and iPhone drivers
By Thomas Ricker 
posted November 2nd 2009 6:07AM
posted November 2nd 2009 6:07AM
posted November 2nd 2009 6:07AM
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I'ma let you finish Taylor...
Apple has Taylor, android has kanye (http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/31/new-sony-ericsson-rachael-ui-video-hits-still-looks-nothing-lik/)
Windows Phone have Ashley Tisdale and Justin Bieber ...
Blackberry has U2
Palm has some creepy close to albino lady.
I have my iPod touch in a case with a cover that velcros shut. I just put a small piece of the opposite velcro on the underside of the top of the dash that goes over my gauges, so I just velcro the opened case to that other piece and it keeps my iPod touch in place - I can watch simpsons episodes while I drive which is great especially in the winter time when it takes an extra 15 minutes to get home. Sure, I can't see my speedometer but I just keep up with the other traffic.
You could run this in the background (natively if allowed, or jailbroken) and use this as a nice dock for your nav app of choice. Too bad it didn't include the things from the tomtom dock, then maybe that one WOULD be worth the $$$.
These types of "docks" suck! Freaking turn a corner and the damn thing catapults whatever device was in it across the car.
Not this one... This one got it right!
Too bad we can't use this in Canada. I doubt we will ever even see it here.
Side note:
You don't have to thread your antenna to the outside of your car. I just put mine on the shelf under the back window. Works fine.
I leave mine on the dashboard next to the satellite radio.
Canada? why not, XM canada...
I don't get why this thing is an XM dock. It is SiriusXM now. I have Sirius subscription, would it work with this?
Drop your current devices subscription and convert it to a XM account, add a full XM account to your Sirius or if you already have XM add it on as a additional receiver for a discount.
Yes it works. There is no such ting as XM only its either Sirius content or SiriusXM
Nope, you have to sign up with XM. I have this dock and have not signed up yet. I don't want to. I already have three other radios in other cars that are sirius. I just want to add this to my account for an extra $6. With this you have to have a XM account and pay $12.
I have this dock and it's actually a great buy. The iPhone is clamped in so it doesn't 'catapult' out as someone had mentioned. Running the wire isn't hard at all. Takes about 10-15 minutes. It's the best solution I've found for XM radio for my car.
Two bad things: The stalk is bendable but seems to always want to return itself back to normal. Also, it plays XM radio through my car speakers, it plays my iTunes music through the car speakers, and if someone calls it plays the ringtone through the car speakers; so why-o-why doesn't it play the phone call through the car speakers?!? The speaker on the iPhone is so weak I have to close all my windows or lower the AC to hear the person on the phone if I want to keep it in the dock.
I got a skydock this weekend and I absolutely LOVE IT. I was extremely skeptical of all the 5 out of 5 reviews from various sites. My main issues with iPhone docks are quality of sound and feedback. Both of which are excellent on the skydock. I don’t use the XM service so I can’t comment on that. But if you are looking for and outstanding iPhone/ Pod dock. Trust me. This is the only one with such quality on the market.
I bought a Skydock when it first came out at Best Buy and I too was skeptical but it was easy to install (I even just ran the antenna inside the car and set it on the passenger side of the dash without having to mess with putting it outside) and works perfectly. The application is leaps and bounds over any of the hardware/tuners that you buy and since it's an app can be updated with additional functionality as XM/Sirius sees fit. I highly recommend this to anyone that has an iPhone or iPod Touch and wants to figure out an easy way to get satellite radio in their car.
I find it hard to think this will be better than the Xpress RC
I was shocked at how well this new version of SureConnect sounds. I've been using XM in my vehicles for years and one thing that's really bothered me about them is the quality you get over FM if you don't use one of the optional FM Direct adapters offered. I was really skeptical when I heard that XM was using your vehicle's power grid to transmit audio. Well I happy to tell you that it ROCKS! The unit has fantastic sound quality over FM and there's the added bonus that this dock lets you pump sound from other apps or even your collection out over that FM connection. Installation is super simple if you already have an antenna installed in your car. Most XM antennas will plug right in, no need to use the one included. I literally was driving out of the Best Buy parking lot listening to XM on this device after purchasing it 10 minutes prior. It's that easy.
I have a dumb question. How can I know if I already had an XM antenna installed? I have a 09 rav4 which has a plastic-looking antenna on the top of the car. Is that an XM antenna? I didn't get the XM package when I bought the car. Thanks.
Looks like a giant earphone......or a very tiny iphone.....
This is the most useless piece of tech I've ever seen.
The hardware receiver is built into the dock. It basically uses your iPhone/iPod as an expensive display screen.
Meanwhile, for half the price, you could just buy a standalone XM/Sirius receiver that does the EXACT SAME THING, includes its OWN display screen, and instead use your iPhone for, I don't know...phone calls?
Lastly...it might be just me, but a few of these "wow, I bought this, it's the greatest thing ever" comments seem just a little too much like shills to me. Are they that desperate to sell these things?
And have one more mount in your car for the receiver, and your phone. Or have to choose between radio or charging your phone if you only have one cigarette charger (or get a splitter making even more cable clutter. Not to mention the standard receivers have inferior RF amps so you'll have more cables running to your radio or antenna to get a good signal.
At least with this, its one cable (the satellite antenna) the RF output is good because its using your car's electrical system as the antenna and it also works for your music on the phone, not just XM, for a little bit more then what you'll pay for a decent car mount for your phone.
Yes it is basically just using your iPhone/iPod touch as an expensive display screen. But as anyone who has bought an after market XM radio for their car will tell you it can be a messy affair with wires leading in every direction. The SkyDock plugs right into the power jack. Even better for me in my '07 Civic is the Aux In jack right beneath that so all I had to do was buy a 3 inch long 3.5mm cable. It looks a lot cleaner than any other after market XM set up out there. It's also probably the best XM radio as far as features and ease of use. The software is very good but not great. A few minor things prevent it from being great. If you like XM radio and you like your iPhone/iPod touch then why wouldn't you get this?
I know it might not fit your needs, but I'm sort of excited about this product. I have two cars, XM installed in one (from back in 2001 I think) and a crappy tape deck in the other. I like listening to XM in the summer, but my winter car's tape deck doesn't like cold so I'm stuck listening to the radio (or trying to use a casette adapter with my iphone and having that work). This dock would let me listen to my iphone in both cars, listen to XM in both cars, and offer me a charging dock all in one. (no I haven't bought a dock yet for my phone). Now 120 is a bit too much, but it's being sold online a bit cheaper so I may end up picking one of these up. So I'm very interested in how all these reviews pan out, and I'd love to see Engadget do one. Oh and if I road trip with people (like I will for hunting this year) we get up into areas where the radio stations are just horrible, I can bring this dock along and have XM radio in my friend's/family member's cars as well.
Sorry Scott - useless? Not hardly. I had a XM radio mounted in the car AND my iPhone mounted above it. I have the XM Skydock and now I have just one device taking up space on my dashboard. It's worth the money and not useless at all.
It's the Best Buy "shill squad." They go out in force and post phony positive comments every time something they sell is featured in a tech blog. Notice how they are all posted within a few minutes of each other. Bogus.
I picked this up as well, I'm running an iPod touch. It's really nice. I had 3 radios on Sirius and had to cancel one and set up a new XM account - According to the online FAQ and the Sirius person I spoke with, there is no plan to introduce a Skydock for anything but FM.
The interface is very nice but not OMGAWESOMER!!!!! nice that the 5-star ratings make it out to be. The station name icons are small and hard to read from the driver's seat (I have a Ford pickup), and some of the functionality isn't obvious until you read the manual. Still, it is very good and extremely polished for a 1.0 app.
I've needed a dock ever since some asshat stole my 60GB iPod classic last year, and since then I've been switching from iPod to sattelite by pulling the line-in cable from the Sirius radio and plugging it into my iPod. Since the SkyDock is, well, a dock, switching between satellite and iPod love is now MUCH easier.
I'm happy with the dock. Crutchfield has it for $99 if you don't want to pay the $120 retail price.
Err, I should have said that the SkyDock is available for nothing but XM, not "FM".
I bought this dock and 5 minutes after installing, I shifted it to the side and the joint broke in half! If you want sirius, I suggest getting a regular sirius face
I really wish the "read" link were for a real story as opposed to an XM-published press release. This device has been out for weeks, but I have yet to see a "real" review - everything I've found online is still a preview from writers who hadn't actually used it. Hey, Best Buy or whoever's planting their comments - stop re-using the word "ROCKS," stop pretending you can install this immediately in the parking lot of the store (did you also call XM and activate it in that amount of time?) and stop just sounding so....... false.
@Kevin,
I seriously installed my SkyDock and activated it in the Best Buy parking lot. It used the same antenna connector as my Sirius radio so I just plugged it in and called XM. I installed the XM app before I left the house.
XM obviously didn't train their reps well enough - He told me at least 3 times, "ok, now go on the web and finish your registration" and I kept telling him I was on an iPod, not an iPhone, and had no internet access.
At any rate, by the time I got on the highway I had Opie & Anthony playing on my iPod.
Why bother with this? Just download the SiriusXM app for free. Unless you like spending a lot of money for redundancy...
The "free" SiriusXM app - and now there are two - both require a subscription. The app that allows access to the Online stations requires a $2.99 per month fee. The other "free" app only works when connected to the Skydock satellite radio receiver.
@ barry99705 While, you may overstate the mounting shortcomings of this particular device, I think you have a point about most docking systems being less than optimum. Some car stereo maker could really carve out a market by working with cellphone companies and satellite radio makers to come up with a more secure "universal docking" that could, for instance, pass video, audio, etc. through to a bigger, more secure screen with approrpriate controls.
"thread the antenna cable"
Wouldn't be easier to just buy a $79 XM Radio w/Car install package? And just leave your XM radio *in the car*. And save that $40 for other iPhone apps?
one more competition, tomtom or XM