The Golden Age of Wireless : How You can Get It into Your Car

• Beaming into satellite radio
• The second coming of terrestrial radio
• Getting HD Radio in your ride
• Getting to know Bluetooth technology

The very first entertainment technology to hit the road was radio — and for years it was the only one. AM and later FM provided music, news, weather, and other info to enhance cruising around town and to break the boredom of a long road trip. After other formats began to allow drivers to listen to what they wanted instead of what the DJ wanted to play, radio lost some of its supremacy as king of the road.

But in the last few years, modern technology has breathed new life into this age-old format. Satellite radio offers quality sound and hundreds of commercial-free channels of music, news, sports, weather, traffic, and more. HD Radio also has CD-quality sound and hidden sub-frequencies that offer alternative, largely commercial-free programming. Plus, unlike satellite radio, HD radio is free.

And there’s a new wireless technology increasingly creeping into cars: Bluetooth. Originally designed for hands-free mobile phone use behind the wheel, Bluetooth’s Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) promises to issue in a new era in wireless entertainment.

In this chapter, I delve into the latest in radio, including satellite and HD Radio, and how you can get it into your car. I also take a look at how Bluetooth is expanding from mobile phone to mobile music applications and what it means to the car audio enthusiast. 

Music of the Spheres: Satellite Radio

The introduction of satellite radio in the early part of the twenty-first century was the most significant change to the medium since FM became popular in the 1970s. It was also the first time people were asked to pay for radio, which up until that time been free.

Analogies were made to the launch of cable TV in the 1970s, which has since proved to be wildly popular. Although satellite radio hasn’t experienced the pervasive popularity of cable TV, it has changed the way people think about radio and what the medium can offer — and racked up millions of subscribers in the process. And satellite radio makes a lot of sense for the car: Besides entertainment programming and news, the service can also provide up-to-the-minute and accurate traffic information.

XM Satellite Radio (see Figure 8-1) launched in late 2001, offering 100 channels of basic programming for $9.99 per month. Sirius Satellite Radio (see Figure 8-2) entered service about six months later, with a basic subscription charge of $12.95 per month and the same number of channels. (XM now charges $12.95/month for 175 channels and Sirius the same for more than 130 channels.)

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Courtesy of XM Satellite Radio

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SATELLITE RADIO

THE BEST RADIO ON RADIO

Courtesy of Sirius Satellite Radio

Soon after these companies were born, aftermarket car audio companies began siding with one satellite radio provider or the other to offer tuners that could receive the service. XM and Sirius also aligned with car companies as part of their marketing plans to take the service mainstream.

XM has since partnered with Acura, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Ferrari, GMC, Honda, Hummer, Hyundai, Infiniti, Isuzu, Lexus, Lotus, Nissan, Pontiac, Porsche, Saab, Saturn, Scion, Subaru, Suzuki, and Toyota. Sirius has linked 

with Audi, Bentley, BMW, Chrysler, Dodge, Ford, Infiniti, Jaguar, Jeep, Land Rover, Lexus, Lincoln BMW, Maybach, Mazda, Mercedes, MINI, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Scion, Subaru, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Volvo.

Both companies offer a free trial period for buyers of new cars equipped with their respective services, hoping that after these drivers have a taste of satellite radio, they’ll continue with their subscriptions. According to industry sources, the take rate on continued subscriptions has been a little more than 50 percent.

But the car audio aftermarket is the source for adding satellite radio to an existing car or system, and there have never been more options for getting the service. Plus, more car audio companies have become non-partisan towards satellite radio and now offer ways to get either or both services using their equipment. For example, some of Alpine and Pioneer CD head units can now tune in one or both services.

Plus, when satellite radio was first introduced, a bulky tuner box and a large, unsightly antenna was needed to access the service. But today, the tuners are often built into a head unit with the addition of a tiny chip, and antennas have shrunk significantly as well. Plus, there are numerous portable options that can be easily added to a vehicle’s sound system. For example, both XM and Sirius offer portable radios that you can use anywhere, just like an MP3 player (in fact, some have built-in MP3 players) in a home while docked into an entertainment system, or anywhere else while docked in boom box These portables can be integrated into a vehicle as well.

In the latest development, the two satellite radio companies, XM and Sirius, are seeking to merge to form one company, pending government approval. Regardless of the outcome, satellite radio is yet another way that the modern car audio enthusiast can enjoy hours and hours of great music, entertainment, news, weather, sports, and traffic info behind the wheel.