Sirius' New Products To Offer Recording Feature

05-13-2005

Bear Stearns maintained a "peer perform" rating on Sirius Satellite Radio (nasdaq: SIRI - news - people ) and discussed the release of new products from the company. The research firm expects Sirius to launch products using the new 3G chipset later this year. The research firm said the 3G chipsets will offer recording and playback feature on a standard basis. In the fall, Sirius also plans to begin offering wearable radios, dubbed "ReGo," based on 2.5G chips. The key feature of the unit is its ability to record four hours of Sirius content using built-in memory and to hold MP3 songs using a swappable flash memory card. "However, given the need for two separate battery-packs, we think the ReGo unit more likely will be used as a portable rather than wearable radio," Bear Stearns said. Sirius' 3G wearable radio capable of live reception could become available by early- to mid-2006, according to the research firm. This unit likely will consume significantly less power than the current 3G chipsets. Bear Stearns said other upcoming catalysts include expanded OEM rollouts from Ford Motor (nyse: F - news - people ) and DaimlerChrysler (nyse: DCX - news - people ), new markets in Canada and Mexico and Howard Stern joining the platform in January 2006.