XM Satellite Radio and radio manufacturer Delphi yesterday introduced the Delphi XM MyFi, a portable, handheld satellite radio receiver the companies hope will lure more consumers to a medium currently limited to car and home units.
Along with giving its subscribers the convenience of a traditional transistor radio, the MyFi also offers a five-hour recording capacity to let listeners download favorite programs and songs.
The MyFi is the latest entry in the highly competitive battle over digital music, a fight that pits XM against its immediate competitor, Sirius Satellite Radio, but more broadly against on-line music sources like Napster (news - web sites), and the makers of small, highly portable MP3 and other devices. It was unveiled at a New York nightclub on the same day that Apple Computer used rock superstars U2 to promote the release of a higher capacity iPod, and less than a month after Sirius announced it had signed popular radio personality Howard Stern to a five-year contract.
Since it launched its service three years ago, XM has reached its 2.5 million subscribers through factory-installed receivers in automobiles, detachable units for other cars, and Delphi boomboxes. Over the past several weeks, it also announced a deal to pipe music into Starbucks stores, and to offer programming online for paid subscribers.