July 1 - 11:20am EDT   Pioneer on Wednesday brought out four new home theater receivers to its flagship Elite lineup, including the top-rung SC-27 and SC-25, as well as the slightly lower-end VSX-21TXH and VSX-23TXH. All four have a customized USB/composite cable that allow users to integrate their iPhones and iPods into their home theater audio systems. Once connected, the Apple devices can be controlled via the systems' remote controls, and their content sent to 2nd and 3rd zones setup in the home. The SC-series units are meant to reproduce Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks found on more advanced Blu-ray discs. Both have a Direct Energy HD Class D amp based on ICEpower. [full story]

June 18 - 7:50am EDT   Sirius XM early today launched its promised Sirius XM Premium Online app for the iPhone and iPod touch. The free software gives either of Apple's devices access to almost all of Sirius' and XM's stations as long as they have an active Internet-enabled subscription to one of the two. Songs can be tagged to buy through iTunes; channels can also be tagged as favorites or browsed while still listening to a single feed. [full story]

June 17 - 1:50pm EDT   The long-awaited Sirius XM app for the iPhone and iPod touch is finally ready to go, according to The Motley Fool. The company allegedly has sent e-mail notifications that the app will be available tomorrow, although the service will only be available to premium subscribers paying $12.95 per month for Internet-only access or standard subscribers that pay an extra $2.99 per month for the additional web playback. [full story]

March 9 - 4:10pm EDT   NiceMac has announced that since its StarPlayr Sirius radio app has failed to receive approval at Apple's App Store, it will be scrapping the entire StarPlayr project. Back in January, NiceMac submitted the iPhone app for approval and waited roughly a month before receiving a statement that they could not be approved at the time. Gizmodo notes that a potential factor blocking the app from being approved could be that a first-party app from Sirius may be in development, though it remains unconfirmed. [full story]

February 11 - 11:05pm EST   Sirius XM CEO Mel Karmazin has reportedly established talks with DirecTV Group and Liberty Media, in what is viewed as a last ditch effort to avoid bankruptcy or a loss of control, according to Reuters. The satellite-radio provider has held preliminary talks with Liberty Media, while another report suggests the executives asked DirecTV to purchase the company. Liberty Entertainment, a division of Liberty Media, holds a controlling interest in DirecTV Group. [full story]

January 28 - 9:50pm EST   NiceMac is preparing to submit the uSirius StarPlayr for the iPhone to Apple for approval, unnamed sources have told Orbitcast. Although the approval process can take hours or months, the process allegedly will begin on January 31st. Customers thus far have been able to stream Sirius XM radio content online for free, but that is about to change very soon. The company on Tuesday confirmed the rumored price changes, justifying the move by explaining that the audio quality will be enhanced by March 11th. [full story]

January 27 - 12:10pm EST   Sirius XM today confirmed rumored price increases with notices for subscribers to the individual Sirius and XM networks. Either satellite radio station will no longer offer its Internet streaming component for free and will instead charge $3 per month extra for individuals listening to the stations. Sirius XM justifies the move by noting that the audio quality will go up by March 11th and is giving existing users a chance to "lock in" free listening before that date. [full story]

January 2 - 5:40pm EST   Rogue Amoeba has unveiled Pulsar, a desktop client for listening to XM Radio Online and SIRIUS Internet Radio. Subscribers to the satellite radio services can use the program to access both corresponding web-based versions, without using extra hardware or a browser. Listings are continuously updated with station and current song information, while users can also save any favorite stations. The client can work with Audio Hijack Pro and Airfoil for recording streams or distributing the audio via AirPort Express. [full story]

November 7 - 4:10pm EST   Directed Electronics announced earlier this week that it will leave the satellite radio market, ending its agreement to act as Sirius satellite radio's exclusive retail distributor as of January 31st, 2009. The company says this is due to the softening market for the subscription-based service and, along with Sirius XM's more than $1 billion in debt, is calling the agreement an unfavorable "risk-reward tradeoff." [full story]

October 13 - 3:55pm EDT   Images of an upcoming Sirius Boombox, the SUB-X2, have leaked on Monday, thanks to Monday's Orbitcast report. Like the current SUB-X1 boombox, the photos reveal the new Boombox will sport a front-panel headphone jack and auxiliary input that will enable users to plug in their personal MP3 players and non universal docking Sirius radios. [full story]

October 2 - 10:10am EDT   Sirius XM drew a quick close to speculation today by announcing the availability of the A La Carte and Best Of radio features promised with the merger of the two satellite radio stations. The former service debuts with the equally new Starmate 5 radio and lets users custom-pick their stations in blocks rather than having to accept Sirius XM's default options. [full story]

September 30 - 4:05pm EDT   As promised when the merger between Sirius and XM satellite radio was finalized at the end of July, Tuesday’s reports have some Sirius satellite radio subscribers beginning to see XM programming on their existing radios, with at least one report of an XM subscriber already receiving Best of Sirius programming on his XM radio. Others, while seeing XM headings on their Sirius receivers, cannot yet listen to content. [full story]

August 28 - 12:20pm EDT   Logitech on Thursday turned its attention to wireless audio courtesy of both a wholly independent Internet radio and speakers built just for notebooks. One of the first fruits of Logitech's buyout of Squeezebox, the Squeezebox Boom can pull and play unprotected music from any recent Mac or Windows PC on a local 802.11g Wi-Fi network but also picks up Internet streaming radio services entirely on its own, including largely free services such as Last.FM, Pandora or Slacker as well as a user's memberships to primarily for-pay services such as Rhapsody and Sirius' Internet streams. [full story]

August 7 - 10:30am EDT   Some of the channel technology promised in the wake of the completed Sirius XM merger will require new hardware and in some cases will be years away, company chief Mel Karmazin said today while discussing the combined satellite radio provider's quarterly results during a conference call. The executive notes that the ability to subscribe to individual channels rather than full packages, also known as a la carte, will require a new radio for either the Sirius or XM network. Those devices will be available in the fall, he says. [full story]

July 29 - 9:30am EDT   Sirius and XM today formalized their FCC-approved merger, ending an approximately 16-month wait since the union was first proposed early last year. The combined entity will now be called Sirius XM Radio and has about 18.5 million total subscribers, turning it into the second-largest radio outlet in the US. The company says it will quickly live up to its promises announced at the start of the merger and will let subscribers to either Sirius or XM service subscribe a la carte, hand-picking channels rather than requiring a set block of stations. [full story]