Sirius S50 to Store Broadcasts, Needs Dock

August 25, 2005 By Geoff Duncan

Sirius S50 to Store Broadcasts, Needs Dock

Sirius Satellite Radio has announced the tiny S50 portable player which, with a separate dock, can store radio broadcasts as files which can be transferred to PCs or CDs.

Satellite radio provider Sirius today announced its forthcoming portable S50 player which measures just 1.9 by 3.9 inches by 0.7 inches thick (49 by 99 by 18 mm) and which can store up to 50 hours of Sirius content (or a mix of Sirius shows and MP3/WMA files). Although Sirius is billing the S50 as its “first wearable satellite radio,” the portable S50 unit isn’t a satellite radio at all: it’s just a playback device. To receive and capture Sirius satellite radio programming, the S50 needs to be connected to a home, car, or “executive” docking station.

The SIRIUS S50 is expected to ship in October with a retail price of $359.99. The basic package will include a 6-hour rechargeable battery, earbuds, USB cable, an AC adapter, and a car dock with an adhesive mount, cigarette lighter power adapter, remote control, antenna, DC input and line-level output. Sirius will also sell a separate $100 home dock (with remote, antenna, USB and audio cables, and a power supply) for the S50 which will connect to separate speakers and a PC while allowing computer-based sounds to pass through.

The SIRIUS S50 categorizes content as:

My SIRIUS Channels includes content automatically gathered and refreshed from the user’s three most-listened-to Sirius channels
My SIRIUS Songs where users can store favorite songs or (confusingly) non-musical programming with one button-press
Scheduled Record, where users can set up one-time or recurring recordings of favorite shows
My Playlists where users can store MP3 or WMA content from their Windows-based PCs.

The S50 home and car docks feature channel presets, a text-based sports ticker, a rotary “Sirius Media Dial” to select, pause, fast-forward and rewind content, and voice-assisted feedback speaking channel names allows users to make selections without taking their eyes off their screens (or the road).

At $360

Showing 8 comments

fungku at 10:09am 22nd November 2005 with my semi-portable sirius radio, I never had to hang the antenna outside the house. Having the antenna sitting on the desk next to it was good enough. Received great reception. I can't speak for this device, but I'm sure its the same.
Eli at 9:25am 22nd November 2005 I was really looking forward to buying a portable Sirius radio but when I found out that it does not have an antenna and therfore it is only an MP3 player when portable I was very dissapointed. How come XM has something portable but Sirius can not do it? Sometimes I wish Howard was at XM!!!!
Ian Bell and Dan Gaul at 9:05am 7th November 2005 Clint, did you actually buy this yet? If so, let us know what you think about it. I don't like the idea of hanging an antenna out the window of my house in order to pick up the satellite reception. Are the headphones bulky?
Clint at 8:55am 7th November 2005 This looks to be a nice little multi-purpose device, especially if you couple it with the life time subscription offer for $499 that Sirius is offering. I was looking for a portable device that I could use in my home and my cars without purchasing multiple subscriptions and this thing is great. I can also take it to the gym and listen to my MP3s. It is kind of pricey but that will change.
Ian Bell and Dan Gaul at 10:03am 9th September 2005 We just added the user review page to the site: http://reviews.digitaltrends.com/review3126.html so if you have opinions or user experience with this player, please post a review so others can read it before buying.

Thanks!
danny at 4:13pm 1st September 2005 I had a MyFi when it first came out and the unit is great, but XM's programming is just plain crap (when compared to Sirius anyway). I was excited when I first read about this new S50, as I have been waiting for Sirius to come out with a true portable unit. I was disappointed, however, when I figured out that it's not even portable! How hard is it to design it with a built in antenna? It already has a power source! What the heck is this thing for? I might as well get a Kenwood PnP as it looks just as cool and costs a lot less.
Notgunna B. Riptoff at 9:55am 29th August 2005 What a joke! So I'm supposed to spend $350, then another $100 for the home dock to listen to YESTERDAY'S programming? You can kiss my ass if you think I'm buying that piece of ****. If I wanted an MP3 player I'd go out and spend $100 not $450. My prediction, you'll have tons of these bad boys gathering dust on store shelves...
fungku at 11:36am 26th August 2005 oh, i like this. We have a *portable* sirius player that isnt really portable since you need to keep it plugged in. Works great in car, but its a little bulky and cludgy.

However, this would be a nice step up, even though you need the base to receive the transmission. The size is much smaller than what I have.