The Sirius Stiletto – cuts to the quick

Being a big fan of Sirius radio I have written several articles here including one which describes how to install the Starmate model in your home. Of course what many of my fellow Sirius listeners have been anxiously waiting for (with tongues hanging out their mouths) is a completely portable unit. Rumors have flown around that the Stiletto may be the Holy Grail. Or, at the very least a possible alternative to available models.

Certainly I am very happy with my Starmate. It does require a few moments of setting up, but once that is done, I just turn it on and listen. But it’s tied to an antenna and I can only use it connected to a car or home unit. However, having a portable unit means listening anywhere and everywhere, anytime. No setup. Just turn it on.

There hasn’t been a huge PR announcement from Sirius, but Mel Karamazin has recently been talking about the Stiletto. Mel had a very successful career in terrestrial radio and is now chief executive officer of Sirius. Earlier this month he announce that the Stiletto would be available to customers at the end of August.

Well, Crutchfield has stated that the Stiletto would be available for sale in September on it’s website. And there was much rejoicing in the streets! WOOT!

The Stiletto has a built-in antenna. And headphones are included, of course. Like a cool mp3 player there’s 100 hours of Storage which can play MP3 and WMA files. That means being able to add your files as well as recording Sirius content. The Stiletto supports Microsoft’s PlaysForSure protocol.

Remember when I wrote about the Zing and its WiFi technology? Well, the Stiletto uses this technology to stream Sirius when reception via the satellite isn’t possible. It apparently comes with two batteries. One is standard, and the other is “extended life” which seems to offer 4 hours of Live Sirius reception, 14 hours of WiFi reception, and 22 hours of stored playback time. Apparently. We’ll have to wait for specifics on exactly how one uses those batteries. I’m not sure if both batteries are in the device and they automatically switch or what? Anyway, this whole magilla costs a whopping 400 large (as they say on the Soprano’s). That’s American dollars.

I’m sure this is just the first portable device Sirius will be developing. That’s a company on the MOVE. It looks like a good start.

Item listed on the Sirius Radio Superstore

Written by Cecilia