Sirius Pounces XM wiith New Subscribers

By Ian Bell Updated October 4, 2006

XM Satellite Radio has added more than 285,000 new subscribers over the past 3 months for a total of 7.185 million subscribers. The company says they will be on track to end the year with total subscribers between 7.7 million and 8.2 million.

Also announced is that XM will no longer include certain rental car fleets in their subscription total (approx. 20,000 subscribers) despite their goal of increasing the number of rental cars that use their service.

Sirius on the other hand, has continued to show strong growth by adding a whopping 441,101 subscribers in the 3rd quarter of 2006, more than a 130% increase over Q3 of 2005. Their total numbers are still less than XM Satellite Radio though with a subscriber base of 5.1 million.

Sirius introduced their new Stiletto portable satellite radio and MP3 player just a couple weeks ago. The small player carries a hefty price tag at $349.99 not including a $69 home kit or subscriber fee. XM has partnered with a number of manufacturers such as Pioneer and Samsung to add XM Satellite functionality to their MP3 players. You can view a video of the Pioneer Inno in action here.

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New Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones could have 40-hour battery life

sony wh 1000xm3 wireless noise canceling headphones amazon discount 1000x m3 review 10 768x479 c

Sony's WH-1000XM3 wireless noise-canceling headphones are a bestseller, but they're due for an update. Now, we have some clues about what to expect from the next version of the headphones. A filing with the Brazilian telecommunications agency, Anatel, appears to show photos of the new XM4 headphones -- which look extremely similar, if not identical, to the previous version, as well as giving some information about what new features could be expected in the highly anticipated XM4s.

The filing was identified by Everton Favretto, a Brazilian tech enthusiast who first tweeted the information that Anatel had approved the headphones:

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There’s a rare deal on the Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones today

Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones seen in black.

The massively popular Sony WH-1000XM5 wireless headphones rarely appear in headphone deals, so if you've had your eye on them for quite a while, you're in luck because they're currently $51 off on Walmart. From their original price of $400, you'll only have to pay $349, but only if you hurry because we don't expect stocks to last long. You're going to miss out on the offer if you take too long, so don't hesitate -- add the wireless headphones to your cart and check out as fast as you can.

Why you should buy the Sony WH-1000XM5
The best headphones that you can buy right now are the Sony WH-1000XM5 wireless headphones, and it's not even close. At the heart is their outstanding wireless sound, supported by top-quality active noise cancellation that uses two processors and eight microphones to block all unwanted sound, as well as crystal-clear hands-free calling using four beamforming microphones and advanced audio signal processing. The wireless headphones also offer Bluetooth multipoint connection so that you can quickly switch between different devices, touch controls for functions like adjusting volume and calling your digital assistant, and Speak-to-Chat and Quick Attention features to stop your music and let ambient sound in without having to take them off.

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Sony’s premium soundbars will finally get support for VRR, ALLM

Sony HT-A7000 Dolby Atmos soundbar close-up of top panel.

It's been a long time coming, but the wait is almost over. Sony's premium home theater soundbars are set to receive a software update that will add support for variable refresh rate (VRR) and auto low-latency mode (ALLM), two HDMI 2.1 gaming features that have been absent since these products launched.

The soundbars in question are the Sony HT-A5000, HT-A7000, and the multi-wireless speaker HT-A9 system. All three are scheduled to receive the update this fall, but Sony has declined to share specific timing, saying only that there will be more information closer to the rollout date.