Satellite
Selling 12V: OEM Integration
Retaining high fidelity from a secondary source
By Brett Solomon
XM-KEN/PIO DMX V. 1
OEM Integration used to be a matter of retaining a head unit or amplifier and changing other equipment. Because of the addition of mobile video and satellite radio, the purveyors of OEM Integration equipment have been working late nights in order to develop products for the new formats.
The advent of satellite radio and DVD mobile video has increased the consumer’s sensitivity to retaining the cleanest audio signal, and installers are seeking to add additional sources to play through the stock stereo systems without using an FM modulator that reduces the fidelity of the source.
The most current wave of new products in OEM Integration are those that can inject Satellite Radio into an OEM head unit without the use of the FM modulator. Also included in this group are the products that can provide sound from a secondary entertainment source such as a DVD player or video game system (so the owner of a car can listen to the audio portion of a DVD through the stock stereo).
Blitzsafe’s XM-Digital Connect Interface line for connecting the Pioneer XM tuner to select OEM radios was first slated to ship in March, but the company said those models should be shipping early this month. (Blitzsafe in January announced an XM-Digital Connect Interface, Model XM-KEN/PIO DMX V. 1, $95 SRP), designed to make a Kenwood Sirius-ready radio work with Pioneer’s XM tuner. At press time, the company said the Kenwood-Pioneer model was shipping.)
As we transition from analog to digital formats, OEM integration devices that can retain the fidelity of the digital source will become more important for retrofitting today’s vehicles as well as future vehicles.
Dealerscope and its respected logos, indicias and images are trademarks of North American Publishing Company
Blitzsafe releases worlds first XM satellite radio, auxilliary and CD interfaces for Lexus
BLITZSAFE OF AMERICA RELEASED TODAY THE FIRST AND ONLY “LEXUS” INTERFACES AVAILABLE WORLDWIDE.
XM SATELLITE RADIO INTERFACE CONNECTS TO THE FACTORY HEAD UNIT AND RECEIVES FULL DIGITAL QUALITY SOUND TO THE XM PIONEER, ALPINE, SONY OR AUDIOVOX TUNERS.
THE CONSUMER WILL HAVE THE OPTION OF THREE DIFFERENT CD INTERFACES FOR KENWOOD, PANASONIC OR JVC CD CHANGERS.
THE AUXILIARY INTERFACE CONNECTS MP3 OR DVD INTO THE FACTORY SYSTEM WITHOUT THE NEED FOR FM MODULATORS OR CASSETTE ADAPTERS.
THE “LEXUS” INTERFACES WILL BE A WELCOME ADDITION TO THE BLITZSAFE INTEGRATION PRODUCT LINE.
XM and Sirius go head to head in a Rocky Mountain road trip
SOUND & VISION
by Ken C. Pohlmann & Leslie Shapiro
Sound & Vision
The temperature was chilly - at least to two southerners - but even the coldest day in Rocky Mountain National Park is sweltering compared to the frigid - 450° void of outer space. At 9,000 feet, we were well above sea level, but low compared to the orbiting satellites that transmit the signals for the XM and Sirius radio services from as high as 29,000 miles above terra firma. The top speeds of our Audi and BMW vehicles were fast by earthly standards, but positively sluggish compared to the 9,000-mile-per-hour velocity of the space vehicles in question. Our world and theirs could hardly be more different, yet we were comfortably linked by heavenly music floating down from above.
Sound & Vision and its respected logos, indicias and images are trademarks of Sound & Vision
XM Exceeds Forecasts
By Amy Gilroy
TWICE
WASHINGTON— XM Satellite Radio announced it expects to gain 300,000 new subscribers in the fourth quarter, exceeding its original guidance of 1.2 million subscribers by the end of the year.
In addition, president and CEO Hugh Panero said at an analyst’s conference that XM expects to overshoot analysts’ predictions for its 2004 subscriber level of 2.5 million.
Panero says XM represents 85 percent of the satellite radio market, adding, “We now have the wind at our backs. We have all the characteristics of a mass-market phenomenon.”
XM added 237,395 subscribers in the third quarter, ending Sept. 30, for a total of 929,648 subscribers.
On the retail front, XM said Wal-Mart is ramping up its selection and should become a bigger factor in future sales. Target is also performing a test market on XM products, said XM.
Sales of the new universal tuner/FM modulator, the XM Commander, are limited at present, although the company said production is ramping up. XM said 18,000 XM Commanders have been produced to date, along with 100,000 new Delphi XM Roadies.
Panero said XM is working with Satellite Radio Direct, Syracuse, N.Y., to package its new XM Direct tuner/antenna kit with cables for various aftermarket and OEM applications. A cable for BMW radios is already available from Blitz Safe, with an Alpine cable expected in January. Cables for several other brands are expected to be announced at CES, Dan Murphy, retail marketing and distribution senior VP, said.
On the new car front, OEM XM sales accounted for more than half the new subscriber additions for the third quarter, with the same split forecast for the fourth quarter, said Panero. General Motors and Honda are expected to manufacture a combined one million XM factory-equipped vehicles in the 2004 model year, with 200,000 of those from Honda. GM expects to account for a total of 400,000 subscribers by the end of 2003, and should reach 1 million subscribers by the end of the first quarter next year, said XM.
BlitzSafe Bows New SkyLink
By Amy Gilroy
TWICE
ENGLEWOOD, N.J. — Blitz Safe plans to release at CES this January, SkyLink Direct, a docking station for the Delphi XM SkyFi radio that allows it to work anywhere in the car and to be controlled from an OEM or aftermarket radio.
According to Blitz Safe, the SkyLink retains all of the SkyFi’s scan and access functions, permitting them to be accessed from the user’s current radio controls. The SkyLink also allows the SkyFi to be removed and replaced for transportability.
“If you have a SkyFi, now you have this big thing sitting on your dash destroying the ergonomics of your car. People want the factory look and they don’t want to have clutter in the car. And it’s a much safer environment,” said Blitz Safe president/CEO Ira Marlowe.
The SkyFi is a leading XM Satellite Radio component.
Blitz Safe’s SkyLink can mount in the trunk, under the seat, glove compartment and other locations. It comes with a cradle, a micro antenna and specific interfaces for various cars and radios. Suggested retail price is expected to fall in the neighborhood of $129, including the interface and antenna.
Integration Products May Impact Satellite Radio
TWICE
By Amy Gilroy
Twice
ENGLEWOOD, N.J.— For the first time in car audio, aftermarket integration products could impact a new technology, even before the product is fully deployed.
New integration kits for digital satellite radio from Blitz Safe, based here, and other companies are threatening to blur the line between radio brands that will work with XM Satellite Radio or with Sirius service. One of the first of these kits, from Blitz Safe, is selling like wildfire, according to Blitz Safe president/CEO Ira Marlowe, who expects to move a total of 60,000 integration kits in the next six months. Marlowe said 10,000 integration kits have sold in only a few weeks of shipping.
The Blitz Safe integration kit, which retails for $95, specifically allows Kenwood Sirius-ready head units to operate with a Pioneer XM tuner, without degrading the sound as with an FM modulator. Integration kits will also soon be available for Alpine and Sony XM tuners, said Marlowe. Given that Sirius is expected by analysts to acquire 150,000 to 200,000 subscribers for its first year, a loss of 60,000-plus early adopters to XM might be significant. In addition, Kenwood is by far the dominant Sirius supply partner.
Larry Pesce, product management and strategic planning VP for Sirius, said, “Obviously I couldn’t even try to comment upon their unit numbers, because I don’t know what it’s based on. Do we see it as a threat? Not in the least. A true early adopter is reading the magazines and looking at the technology and when we lay our technology and programming against XM, we think the early adopter will select us.” Pesce referred specifically to Sirius’ statistical multiplexing technology and the fact that it has more commercial-free channels.
Another spokesman for Sirius claimed it is working on similar deals with aftermarket and OEM integration companies that will allow XM radios to operate on the Sirius service.
Several other companies, including Precision Interface Electronics (PIE), Chatsworth, Calif., SoundGate, Sheridan, Wyo., and Peripheral, Clearwater, Fla., said they have also begun offering auxiliary input products that allow any factory radio to interface with either of the satellite radio services, when used with a controller/display and an aftermarket tuner. These are the same products that will also work with DVD and MP3.
Reaction to the interface products from retailers appears positive. Dan Jeancola, mobile buyer for Sound Advice, Dania, Fla., said, “I’ve got customers chomping on the bit for it [Blitz Safe]. I have them on order, and as soon as we get it we’ll probably sell through. It’s the early adopters that have a Kenwood radio and they don’t want to wait for Sirius to come to their market. I can tell you I have close to 100 on order for 25 stores.” He said of the budding converter market, “There’s guerilla warfare going on.”
Al & Ed’s said it expected to carry Blitz Safe’s kit in the next 60 days and Crutchfield said it was evaluating the product.
One retailer noted privately that he was concerned about possible legal issues resulting from the integration product, however Blitz Safe vigorously denies any. Alpine VP marketing Stephen Witt agreed, claiming, “To the best of our knowledge it’s not illegal. You do get into some gray areas of copyright and patent infringement, and it’s gray due to the sum of the reverse engineering necessary to emulate the BUS systems that are proprietary to each manufacturer. But it’s gray, it’s not a black-and-white issue.”
Marlowe added, “There are no legal issues. We’re not modifying or affecting anyone’s product or service in any way, shape or form. We’re just giving people choices.”
The ability of OEM integration companies to offer interface products so soon after XM’s national launch is testimony to the growing agility and power of these companies, said industry members.
“This segment of the automotive industry has gotten to where they can, almost overnight, come out with new cables that connect CD changers to a new OEM head unit. Their ability to identify opportunities and react has improved greatly over the years, as they have had to react to the dramatic changes in OEM head-unit integration,” noted XM VP marketing and retail distribution Dan Murphy.
Most suppliers said the issue of integration may become less volatile when Sirius deploys its service nationally in August, and as suppliers begin supporting more than one satellite radio provider. Also, by 2004, radios will be available that can receive both services.
Jeff Abrams, manager of technical marketing and training for Clarion, which just began shipping Sirius tuners and will offer XM aftermarket products next year, said of the integration kit issue, “I think it will become less important as we launch in both platforms.”
Twice and its respected logos, indicias and images are trademarks of Twice
