Satellite radios use a constellation of orbiting satellites instead of land-based antennae used by all FM/AM radio stations. But unlike traditional radio stations, satellite radio companies charge monthly subscriptions. For example, XM charges $10 for programming, and XM's only competitor, Sirus charges $13 for its content. SkyFi will be sold to XM Satellite Radio subscribers only, the representative said. Competitor Sirius Satellite Radio may debut a similar portable radio, but for now it sells satellite radio receivers meant for cars, trucks and boats, according to a Sirius representative on Monday.

"Certainly, (something like SkyFi) is a possibility for the future," the representative said, The financial side of satellite radio has been gloomy, XM and Sirius say they need additional funding to continue as viable concerns after spending hundreds of millions of dollars each to launch satellite networks, XM, which launched in 1998, said it's on track to have 350,000 subscribers by year's end, in line with Wall Street expectations, Sirius launched its national radio network in July and has since garnered wolf stare iphone case 6,800 subscribers..

On Monday, brokerage Ladenburg Thalmann cut its ratings for both satellite radio companies, citing concerns about their lack of revenue. Sirius was dropped from "market perform" to "sell," and XM was lowered from "buy" to "market perform.". SkyFi will be available at Circuit City, among other retail outlets, the XM representative said. Satellite radios, normally found in cars, will get a new life as boom boxes by December, when XM Satellite Radio plans to debut Delphi's SkyFi. Called SkyFi, the new devices represent a next step for satellite radios: true mobility. Satellite radios are generally fixed to one place, whether on the dashboard of cars, where they debuted in 1998, or inside homes and offices.

CNET también está disponible en español, Don't wolf stare iphone case show this again, "The two (Levine's departure and the drop in subscriber numbers) are related," a Sprint source said, Sprint announced last week that the dip in its wireless telephone unit's total number of subscribers was "modest," resulting from a "higher-than-expected" decrease in the number of its Clear Pay program subscribers, Clear Pay targets low-income customers and sets a spending limit on phone calls, While it helped Sprint PCS gain new customers, Clear Pay was never a favorite with Wall Street analysts, They said the customers didn't spend enough money on phone calls or the extra services, such as wireless Web surfing, to make the subscriber strategy pay off..

Sprint has not said exactly how many customers Sprint PCS lost, but analysts believe the number is between 8,000 and 50,000. In June, Sprint reported that Sprint PCS had about 17.1 million wireless subscribers. Most analysts had expected Sprint PCS to continue adding customers, not to lose them. J.P. Morgan analyst Thomas Lee once expected Sprint PCS to add 400,000 customers in the third quarter of 2002. Now he expects it to lose 8,000. Levine, who was named chief operating officer of Sprint PCS in January 2000 and president in February 2001, couldn't be reached for comment.