With its bankruptcy scare a thing of the past, Sirius XM is now looking forward to an iPhone application, but its updated terms of service effectively killed a line of similar third-party products, including one for Windows Mobile.
StarPlayr, by NiceMac, streams Sirius XM content to computers and Windows Mobile phones, and was waiting for approval on the iPhone app store. In a post to its Web site, NiceMac wrote that those services are no more; under Sirius XM's updated terms, a cease and desist order was probably imminent. "Rather than waiting for the inevitable, our company decided to close down the StarPlayr StarLight Project," the company wrote.
"We did not see what was coming and it all unraveled before our eyes in a matter of hours," NiceMac added.
Few details are available on the Sirius iPhone App, as it was imply mentioned in a conference call. Pricing wasn't discussed, and release date only got as specific as Q2.
"We've been testing a number of initiatives to make the Sirius XM content and experience more ubiquitous," said Jim Meyer, the company's president of operations and sales, according to the AP. CEO Mel Karmazin chimed in that the app is a way to improve the service for existing customers, but also to bring in new ones.
In reporting the news, ZDNet suggests that this could be a sign of Sirius XM moving away from satellite. The app will use Web streaming instead of a satellite signal, effectively getting the same service as the existing Sirius XM Web site. I don't doubt that some iPhone owners would take advantage of this app -- they may even replace their in-car setups with it, if the streaming is reliable enough -- but the claim of drawing in new customers is harder to believe. With the Pandora and Last.fm apps available for free, there's little incentive for paid Internet radio on the iPhone.
Windows Mobile customers who used StarPlayr can request refunds through an e-mail form.
