You don't need to shoot a rocket into space to deliver a digital audio experience. XM and Sirius picked the wrong technology and while they loose money hand over fist the cell phone companies are sitting on the infrastructure needed to create their own private label radio network coast-to-coast. Talk about a clear-channel.
The concept is to use existing cell phone technology and infrastructure to create a digital audio experience that's better, cheaper and more powerful than XM and Sirius.
The cell phone carriers already have an existing network to transport digital content.
They already have an existing customer base of millions of subscribers who pay monthly.
They already have a vibrant community of handset manufacturer's building devices.
Building a radio from a cellphone isn't a giant leap. The peices to deliver audio are already there. The technology will work both indoors and outdoors in every major and minor city. As an added bonus you wouldn't need the silly looking pimple antenna stuck to the roof of your car.
The missing piece? Content, content content. The thing that makes XM and Sirius unique is the content not the technology. In fact the technology may eventually hold them back.
Long term cell phone technology would provide more flexibility then satellite because communication could be bi-directional. Short term some buffering problems would need to be solved for the technology to be viable.
Some unique scenarios:
- Your alarm clock detects the city it's in and sets the clock for you.
- The radio can give you a weather forcast or news report at the press of a button based on your location
- Works in-doors or out-doors. It's a crazy concept I know.
- Start a radio show from your house, continue the show on your cell phone, pick it up in your car on the ride to work.
- In the car the music gets turned down when you get a phone call
- Interact directly with your radio DJ. Hate the song? Let the DJ know, press #1.