Over nine months after the two satellite radio companies announced their intentions to merge, XM and Sirius may finally find out the fate of their plans today, if the Justice Department issues a ruling as is being rumored. Orbitcast reports that the general consensus among industry watchers is that the DOJ will hand down a decision before the closing bell on Wall Street -- a prediction further buoyed by Bear Stearns analyst Robert Peck, whose contacts in DC claim that a ruling is "imminent." As you're probably well aware, this proposed marriage is no ordinary merger, with strong opposition coming from terrestrial broadcasters who cite anti-trust concerns, but who are really just fearful of the market power such an entity would yield. Stay tuned for further updates as this story develops...

Hey all you Sportster fans out there, don't think we forgot about you in the midst of all the Stiletto 2 excitement. Sirius let us snap a few shots of this latest iteration in their popular line of dock-and-play radios, but frankly, you'll probably get a better feel for its color screen in the professionally done press photos here than from the handful of shaky pics we managed to fire off. A little more exciting are the live shots we got of the upcoming SCV1 backseat tuner and kid-friendly remote, along with a sample of the video feed -- none of which were in the press material sent out today. Also of interest to Sonos owners out there will be the screenshots of Sirius doing its streaming thing over the multi-zone system -- and while the GUI is certainly tight, we weren't paying enough attention to really attest to the quality of low bitrate audio they're offering. Click below for all the hands-on goodness...

No big surprises here -- mainly because Orbitcast caught wind of these devices nearly two months ago -- but XM has finally taken the wraps off of its latest radios from Audiovox, the XpressR and XpressEZ. As we already knew, the $130 R brags of being the first satrad with a split-screen display, while also offering that 30-minute buffer for some limited time-shifting action. The EZ, meanwhile, is positioned as an entry-level device at $70 (meaning that you'll be able to find it for under $50 in no time, we imagine), and features a three-line LCD and not much else. Both models are compatible with a number of XM accessories, and both should be available immediately.

Read - XpressR
Read - XpressEZ

Orbitcast's got the scoop on a pair of upcoming XM tuners from Audiovox, the entry-level Xpress EZ (pictured after the break) and somewhat high-end Xpress Replay (pictured after the break, and simply referred to as the XpressR if you want to sound hip around satrad nerds). The EZ is about as barebones as they come, sporting a mere three-button-plus-single-knob interface but not much else; you are getting a three-line display, but for $70, we'd expect them to at least throw a little remote action in there. Much more appealing is the Replay, which as Orbitcast tells us, is the first satellite radio ever to feature a split-screen display, meaning you can keep the current channel's info onscreen while you scroll through five stations at a time on the six-line LCD. Like members of the Sirius family sporting a 'Replay' tag, the XpressR allows for pausing / rewinding live feeds thanks to its 30 minute buffer, while also offering a total of 30 presets. Expect both models to become available sometime in June, and if we might be so bold, either would seem to be an upgrade over your current Xpress model in the looks department.

It's a pretty serious matter when any private media company decides to throw up a private satellite into orbit, which is why we're not taking it lightly that the heavily indebted Stern-enabled Sirius satellite radio network is dropping more than a quarter billion dollars to put satellite number four -- lovingly named SIRIUS FM-5 -- into space. Just don't be surprised if you start hearing more rumblings about their supposedly forthcoming video and data systems in the near future; sounds like this SS/L's 1300 system's going to pack in some serious tech.

Well, looks like 25th of April will see the official release of Samsung's Helix and Nexus XM sat rads at the Samsung Experience in the Time Warner Center in our fair city of New York. We've been kind of expecting the release of the Helix (which was announced at CES) any day now, but the Nexus is way overdue, having been announced last September. For those thinking of swooping in to make a purchase, the Helix is Samsung's portable with live streaming XM and an FM transmitter. The Nexus doesn't have the same live sat capability, but does have 512MB and 1GB versions for playing back pre-recorded XM streams; both feature MP3 and WMA playback, and can use the XM / Napster service. You can already pre-order the Nexus for $219 / 270, but don't forget that you can pre-order that Pioneer Inno for $399, too.

Been waiting to snag one of those sweet Pioneer Inno XM players that took the cake at this year's CES? Well your patience will be rewarded at some point this month -- they may have missed their first quarter launch, but XM's got the Pioneer Inno on pre-order for that expected $400 cash money. Not a peep yet regarding the Samsung Helix we were extra specially stoked about, but this should do the trick in the mean time for portable live sat rad.

[Thanks, candlebougie and Dave M]