Satellite Radio Competition Heats Up
NEW YORK (AP) -- The satellite radio business is getting feistier. Leading provider XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. is making its music channels commercial-free, taking away an advantage touted by its more expensive rival, Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.
Sirius executives have said their higher price was justified largely because Sirius delivers commercial-free music, though there are a few ads on its talk, news and sports stations. Meanwhile, XM had a few minutes of commercials each hour on all of its channels.
But XM is going ad-free on its music channels as of Sunday, without raising the subscription price. XM also plans to introduce local traffic and weather channels in many markets this year.
"We were already dominating this market. This will take us one step further," XM spokesman Chance Patterson said. "This will put even more pressure on Sirius."
XM has 1.4 million subscribers to its $9.99-per-month service; Sirius has attracted 261,000 with its $12.95-per-month offering.
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Sirius spokesman Jim Collins said his company's premium price will remain attractive because Sirius has better programming, including National Public Radio and hockey, basketball and football games.
But he added that there's room for both companies to thrive, with each offering 100-plus digital channels that can be heard nationwide.
"It's not a race," Collins said. "It really doesn't matter who has higher subscriber numbers."
-Brian Bergstein, AP Technology Writer.
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DALLAS (AP) - Video game players already in the habit of yelling at their screens might have the edge in "Lifeline."
Instead of being manipulated by a traditional controller, characters in the upcoming sci-fi game for PlayStation2 are moved when players talk into a headset that plugs into the machine.
Commands include "shoot," "run" and "dodge." Konami of America Inc. says the game will respond to a lexicon of 5,000 words and about 100,000 phrases like "dodge and reload."
A version of "Lifeline" is available in Japan, and it's due to hit North America on March 6. The company says it's unclear whether "Lifeline" will ship with a headset. A price has not been determined.
Konami has put an interactive spin on video games before. Last year, the company released "Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand" for Game Boy Advance. The game cartridge has a solar sensor, giving players in natural sunlight a strategic advantage. The goal was to get kids out of the house.
-Matt Slagle, AP Writer.
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NEW YORK (AP) - Here's more proof of the rise of "smartphones" that combine handheld computer functions with voice capabilities: Worldwide sales of personal digital assistants dropped 18 percent in 2003.
New models of the assistants, or PDAs, helped sales rise 3.2 percent in the fourth quarter to 3.4 million units. But for the whole year, total sales fell to 10.4 million units, down from 12.6 million in 2002, according to International Data Corp.
The top two PDA sellers, PalmOne Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co., have remained successful by packing their devices with features that generally aren't available in mobile phones, IDC analyst Alex Slawsby said. Those features include Wi-Fi connectivity, high-resolution displays and media players.
PDA manufacturers must continue to produce such innovations because consumers are shunning devices that offer only "personal information management" and instead are settling for calendars and address books in their cell phones, Slawsby said.
PalmOne had 38.5 percent of the market in the fourth quarter, followed by HP with 25.1 percent. Sony Corp. held 13.9 percent, Dell Inc. had 4.8 percent, and Germany's Medion AG ousted Toshiba Corp. for the No. 5 slot, with a 2.8 percent share.
-Brian Bergstein, AP Technology Writer.
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CLEVELAND (AP) - Cell phones, night-vision goggles and a satellite tracking system are being credited in the rescue of 14 fishermen stranded on ice in Lake Erie.
First, the stranded men used their cell phones to call for help last weekend when the ice floe broke loose northwest of Catawba Island. The Coast Guard was able to find the men more easily because they carried a global positioning system unit, which allowed rescuers to pinpoint their location.
Then rescuers used goggles to see five miles ahead in the twilight.
Everyone was back on land within two hours. No one was injured.
One of the rescued fishermen, Kim Neill of Bellevue, Ohio, has been using his global positioning system for about four years. He also carries a cell phone and wears a flotation suit.
"This group did everything right," said Mark Butts, a Coast Guard helicopter pilot and the commanding officer at Air Station Detroit.
Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. |
