XM announced what can only be described as a developer’s kit for consumer electronics. With little effort devices can become XM enabled. Sirius better watch out, this could greatly enable a huge number of devices and allow for a much broader adoption.
The centerpieces of the technology are XM’s “Connect-and-Play” chip and data-port, a low-cost, mini-serial bus connector (Mitsumi part CAM-C16). For a low relative incremental cost, manufacturers of popular consumer electronics products, such as stereo and home theater receivers, DVD players, table top radios and portable media players, can now add the XM “Connect-and-Play” chip and data-port, making their device instantly “XM-Ready.” Through this new technology consumers simply plug an XM Connect-and-Play home antenna (MSRP: $49.99) into an XM-Ready audio product and activate the service to receive XM’s 130-plus digital radio channels. No additional accessories or installation are required. [PR Newswire]