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Seattle, 1 March 2006
New SkyTune™ Antenna from Sarantel Delivers for Groundbreaking XM Satellite Radio Portable Products
Sarantel, the leading manufacturer of filtering antennas for mobile and wireless devices, today announced that it has now begun volume shipments of its new SkyTune antenna, connecting XM’s innovative new portable satellite radio receivers manufactured by Samsung and Pioneer. As Sarantel’s first non-GPS product, the SkyTune antenna was developed specifically for XM Satellite Radio. Sarantel’s patented antenna technology allows OEMs to drastically reduce the size of XM2go devices while simultaneously delivering 30–50% greater performance over conventional patch antennas.
Pioneer’s Inno and Samsung’s Helix are revolutionary new portable radios designed for those who want their XM satellite radio on the go. With a built-in receiver and antenna, these devices are smaller than many cell phones and provide real-time access to XM’s 160 channels of commercial-free music, sports, news, weather, and other quality entertainment. These new radios also play MP3 and WMA music files – making them the ultimate products for portable audio.
Pioneer’s Inno won CNET’s Best of CES 2006 People’s Voice Award and PC Magazine’s Last Gadget Standing Award at its debut at CES in Las Vegas on January 5, 2006.
True Satellite Portability
XM blazed the trail for portable satellite radio products with XM2Go. Now it takes portability to a new level with complete receivers that can be slipped into a pocket. Going small was a challenge that XM turned to Sarantel to meet.
Conventional antennas rely on the size of the radio to achieve good performance – not so with Sarantel’s patented PowerHelix® antenna technology. Sarantel isolates the antenna from the device, allowing the radio to be made as small as the electronics will allow.
“When XM approached us with the idea of designing an antenna for their new generation of portable radio, it became clear that our technology was ideally suited to this application,” commented Ben Sandford, Sarantel’s Vice President of Sales. “We realized that we could not only create an antenna small enough for a really attractive consumer portable, but that the performance in the XM band would be really spectacular – the SkyTune antenna has exceeded our own expectations.”
The SkyTune antenna, like other Sarantel PowerHelix antennas, uses a combination of advanced materials and structure to create a small, balanced, predictably performing antenna. Due to the particular design of the SkyTune antenna, it actually outperforms conventional patch antennas of larger size, even before considering the proximity tuning effects of the user holding or wearing the radio. The SkyTune antenna is immune to such effects and really shines when used in a portable product. Craig Wadin, Vice President, RF Systems and Quality Assurance at XM said, “We are excited to add yet two more great products to our industry-leading portfolio. Sarantel enabled us to create the portable radio our customers wanted – small enough to go anywhere without compromising reception or sound quality. The SkyTune antenna is a major contributor to the success of these products.”
David Wither, CEO at Sarantel added, “We are proud to work with XM on these leading edge portable radios. The SkyTune antenna has shown that Sarantel’s technology has tremendous potential in many markets. XM has been an ideal partner, working closely with us at all levels, and the development of this antenna has improved many facets of our business, from base manufacturing technology to fundamental elements of antenna design. This is a terrific product and a terrific partnership.”
Pricing and Availability
The Pioneer Inno and Samsung Helix have MSRPs of $399.99 and will be available in the Spring from http://www.xmradio.com and leading electronics retailers.