It will be another big year for satellite radio devices with CEA predicting shipments to retailers will rise another ten percent in units and 9 percent in dollars this year.

While rivals XM and Sirius are growing rapidly in terms of attracting subscribers, both continue to bleed money because of heavy spending on programming and technology development. Sirius reported a net loss of $863.0 million for the year ending December 31, 2005, while XM lost $667 million over the same period.

OK, short-term performance isn’t everything. Looking ahead, the satellite radio industry will continue to experience gains in 2006, and Sirius expects to have in excess of six million subscribers by the end of the year. Sirius says it also expects to generate around $600 million of total revenue in 2006, approximately $1 billion in 2007 and $3 billion in 2010.

XM reports it now has more than six million subscribers and expects to reach nine million by the end of 2006. Of the three million new XM subscribers, industry analysts estimate 1.65 million will come from consumers with OEM installed equipment and 1.45 million will be new retail aftermarket subscribers. Sirius is expected to add 3.2 million subscribers to a total of six million, with the approximate split expected to be 1.6 million new retail subscribers and 1.5 million new OEM subscribers.

XM projects subscription revenue will reach $860 million in 2006, and the company expects to achieve positive cash flow from operations by the end of the year. XM further reports it is on track to have more than 20 million subscribers by 2010.

While the wealth of program choices available to satellite radio subscribers will continue to expand, financial realities suggest both suppliers need to rein in subscriber acquisition costs, so there likely will be fewer big-money payouts and less hoopla for on-air talent than that surrounding the debut of Howard Stern on Sirius in January. Typical for 2006 and a good portent of the type of future entertainment additions we can expect are XM’s upcoming launch of “Oprah and Friends” as well as its World Cup Soccer coverage, while Sirius brought NCAA tournament basketball on board along with a Cosmopolitan magazine channel.

One thing that will not slow down is the pace of product development as both competitors introduce new satellite radio hardware designed to one-up the other. At the 2006 International CES, for example, XM unveiled two new portable players that offer the full capabilities of satellite radio and MP3 music for those who want their satellite radio on the go. Pioneer’s Inno and Samsung’s Helix are sleek, wearable devices which could get by on looks alone, but there’s obviously more to it than that. With a built-in receiver and antenna, they deliver XM's 160 digital radio channels of music sports, news, talk and entertainment programming. They also play MP3 and WMA music files and employ a time-shifting memory mode for storage and playback of XM content. A particularly innovative feature of the Inno and the Helix allows the user to "bookmark" songs heard on XM, connect the device to a personal computer and instantly purchase the songs from the XM + Napster online site.

If XM’s Advanced Services vehicle is any indication, future satellite-based services are going to be a vast improvement over the current offering. A specially-equipped 2006 Lexus LX 470 concept car displayed at CES featured in-car video, voice command and a demonstration of XM WeatherLink, a new concept that delivers advanced warning of weather-related driving conditions in real time. Developed together with WxWorx, a division of Baron Services, XM WeatherLink alerts drivers to weather conditions on the road ahead.

If you’ve ever spent a half-hour driving around a parking lot looking for an empty space, you’ll appreciate another feature found inside the XM Advanced Services vehicle. Called ParkingLink and developed in conjunction with Nu-Metrics Inc. and InfoGation, it works with the car's navigation system to show the number of spaces available at designated parking facilities on the vehicle’s navigation map, using color-keyed icons to indicate the percentage availability of each facility.

For its part, Sirius used CES to showcase the new SiriusConnect Home tuner, which makes it possible to easily add Sirius satellite service to home systems manufactured by companies such as Eton and Thomson (under the RCA and GE brands). Measuring just 4 by 3 inches, the compact unit can sit flat or be wall-mounted and provides a one-cable connection to a Sirius-ready home receiver. The unit has RCA analog and optical digital outputs for high-fidelity audio. Sirius also is providing an optional wireless display controller that permits connectivity with a non-Sirius-ready receiver.

The SiriusConnect Home Tuner Kit includes everything for easy home installation, including the SiriusConnect receiver, indoor/outdoor antenna with 21-foot cable, 8-pin mini DIN connector cable and an AC power adapter.