Listening to Sirius Radio on Windows Mobile

Since I installed Sirius in my BMW in November, I have been sampling the different channels and have become fond of several. The channels I seem to gravitate towards are Classic Vinyl (14), coffee House (30), Margaritaville (31), and BBC 1 (11) for the dry British humor. As part of the subscription internet streaming is available for most of the channels (guide). The included streaming is 32Kbps, for an additional $2.99 per month you can receive a 128 Kbps stream. 32 Kbps sounds fine on Windows Mobile given the low quality of the audio hardware.

I found three applications which allow you to stream Sirius Radio:

• Emulamer's SiriusCE (free)
• GeeksToolbox.com SiriusWM5 (free)
• SelectRadio ($25USD)

Emulamer's SiriusCE application is very simple application which uses the .NET Compact Framework 2.0 and SQLCE 3.0. The application processes the log in and provides the available channel list. The current artist and song are also displayed. Once a channel is selected it launches WMP or TCPMP and connects to the stream. The web site includes a PC based installation which will install the Compact Framework and SQL CE. A Windows Mobile Standard (smart phone) version is available.

I was never able to get SiriusCE to stream.

GeeksToolbox SiriusWM5 is also a simple application based on the same concept as SiriusCE where a GUI front end allows you to sign in to Sirius and select a channel. SiriusWM5 also uses WMP or TCPMP to stream Sirius Radio. It has a very small footprint of 70Kb and one version runs on Windows Mobile Professional and Standard.

The SiriusWM5 user interface is more sophisticated than the SiriusCE interface; however both provide the same functionality. I had no problem listening to Sirius with SiriusWM5.

The Cadillac of Windows Mobile audio streaming software is SelectRadio. You can listen to XM or Sirius, as well as many other audio streaming sites. You can listen to 128Kpbs or 32Kbps content. I found no option to do this with the other two applications (update: I did find a CD quality option on SiriusWM5 which I am assuming is for the 128Kbps stream). For $25, it is a bit pricey, however if you listen to different audio streams this might be the product for you. It also gets around the need to enter the graphic character Sirius requires during logon.

In the end I chose to use SiriusWM5, it meets my needs, works very well with T-Mobile Edge and it is free…

Note: You can also purchase an Internet only subscription from Sirius for $12.99 per month, no need to have a satellite radio.

Comments

[Michael]

Thanks for this information. I have been trying to find a good article on the sirius mobile listening options.

[[email protected] satellite tv]

I think I would also try to install that. It will be useful to me if I do. Thanks by the way!