As we reported last night, it's out, and the Howard Stern fans aren't happy that this app eliminates the two channels Stern appears on.

There are still 120 channels that do work, so I thought I'd give it a try. The app is called Sirius XM Premium Online [App Store] and it's free but requires a paid subscription if you don't already have one.

You log in (one time) with your user name and password. After a few seconds, you are authenticated and ready to explore the radio offerings.

The app allows you to browse by category, channels, or by favorites you provide. There is a shopping cart if you want to tag something for purchase at the iTunes store. (Ah, that's why Apple liked this app.)

I found the performance of the player pretty good. On a WiFi network I was able to acquire a signal or switch channels in 3 seconds. On the 3G network with moderate signal strength, it took about 7 seconds. You can get a display that tells you what is playing, or just see a list of stations.

I found the interface slow to respond at times. I often had to tap a few times to change stations. Audio quality was not ultra high fidelity, but about what you'd expect from streaming radio. I listened on Sennheiser headphones.

Howard Stern fans are very upset about not having their hero on this app. Sirius certainly could have told customers well in advance that he wouldn't be available and saved some of this pain. They handled the merger of XM with Sirius the same way. XM customers didn't know what was happening until the morning it happened. For a struggling company, it seems suicidal to constantly mislead and disappoint paying customers.

I asked Patrick Reilly, Senior VP of Communications for Sirius what happened to Stern. His response: "We aren't commenting beyond what was in the press release: Some select programming, including MLB Play-by-Play, NFL Play-by-Play, SIRIUS NASCAR Radio, and Howard Stern, will not be available on the iPhone and iPod touch. Listeners will continue to be able to access that programming through the platforms they are currently offered on."

Not a very satisfying answer. There may be very good contractual reasons why Stern and the other channels aren't offered, and Sirius XM customers deserve a better explanation. It doesn't look like one is forthcoming.

At any rate, the app works, and works well for the channels that it does have. You'll have to decide if it is worth the money versus free music apps like Pandora, Last.fm, AOL Radio and others. By the way, Dave Thomas of the Cars.com blog alerts us to their comparison of alternatives to the Sirius XM app.

As expected Sirius has released the free iPhone/iPod touch app so satellite radio fans can listen wherever they go if they have an online subscription. The Sirius XM [App Store] offering is said to include 120 channels. The write up on iTunes does not mention Howard Stern, but says nothing definitive one way or the other. That's a bit ominous.

The app also allows you to purchase songs you hear at the iTunes store, and has a favorite channels setting. The app runs on OS 2.2.1 but has been tested on the just released iPhone/touch 3.0.

The channel selection is set up for both Sirius and XM subscribers. Sirius is offering a 7 day free trial for non-subscribers to try the service and see if they like it. This app has been expected for a long time, ever since the iPhone was first announced. A lot has changed in satellite radio since then, and it will be interesting to watch the dynamics of people getting their satellite radio with an Apple product rather than a dedicated satellite receiver.

Happy listening. (Update: Readers are telling us no Howard Stern, no MLB or NFL games. Oh my.)

Thanks to reader John Mackay for the tip.

Sirius XM has revealed a screen shot of the soon to be released iPhone/iPod touch app that will stream the satellite channels to eager listeners. The image of the upcoming app was part of an SEC filing that was included in a PowerPoint presentation shown at a recent shareholder meeting.

The app, which is expected to be free, will require a US$3.00/month streaming subscription for current subscribers, and a US$13.00 monthly fee for non-subscribers. No specific release date is known, but it is thought to be very soon.

The company says the app will deliver music channels, sports, talk, news and comedy programming. We've already reported that Sirius had expected to offer the application this spring.

The satellite company has been in financial difficulties and has been losing subscribers faster than it is signing up new ones. The weak economy and drop off in new car sales are an especially tough environment to grow the business. The merger of XM and Sirius was generally thought to have been handled badly, and many people dropped their subscriptions, which has given a boost to internet radio and services like Pandora and Last.fm, although neither service is easily accessible in a car.

ComputerWorld has an interesting item this morning by Mike Elgan. It speculates about new features in the anticipated iPhone coming this summer, including an FM transmitter to send iPhone audio to a car radio. It's also thought that the new 3.0 software will enable stereo bluetooth streaming to a car suitably equipped.

There's no doubt that these features might convince many to either skip satellite radio, or to not renew current contracts.

All that is bad news for Sirius/XM, but the newly merged companies have done plenty to shoot themselves. Many subscribers think the merger was badly done, and many favorite channels were killed with no notice. As an XM subscriber I experienced that first hand when no heads up was given to customers about massive channel changes until the day of the switch last fall. For a communications company, that's pretty poor communications.

With an iPhone that can stream stereo Bluetooth, services like Pandora, LastFM, AOL Radio, and Simplify Media become more mobile in the car. I'd have to think twice about renewing XM or Sirius. Although new car sales are in the dumper, a great many new vehicles are delivered with iPod adapters, giving even more impetus for users to take their own music with them rather than to be stuck with a costly, and seemingly diminishing satellite radio service.

The whole theory behind Sirius/XM was to get radio worth paying for. To a degree, the iPhone and iPod have changed that equation, because you can take your favorite music with you, either your own or music from the new streaming music services. But getting the music into your car audio system was a chore if you weren't pre-wired for it. If indeed Apple makes the integration of the iPhone into the car easier, I think satellite radio will have to re-think its business plan, a plan that is already in tatters.

How about you? Do you subscribe to Sirius/XM now? Has the economy changed your plans? Would new options to get iPhone audio on your car make you think again about that costly subscription plan?

Last November, as visions of cranberries and turkey danced in our heads, the first tidbits about a forthcoming Sirius/XM app for the iPhone began to emerge on the Howard Stern fan forums. In January, the satellite radio player's name and details were confirmed -- StarPlayr was on the way from NiceMac.

Two weeks ago, word arrived from NiceMac that the app was neither approved nor rejected by Apple... perhaps keeping it out of the way of an official Sirius app rumored last week. No independent developer wants to be in this no-app's-land between approval on the store and a branded app around the corner, so you can probably guess what happens next.

Early this morning, a blog post on the starplayr.com site confirmed what many of us expected: NiceMac is abandoning development of the StarPlayr app, not only on the iPhone but on Windows Mobile as well. Refunds for WinMo licensees will be available on a first-come, first-served basis until NiceMac runs out of cash.

It's a sad and frustrating outcome, not only for the hardworking team behind StarPlayr but also for the eager fans who were ready to lay down their cash for the app. Without some sort of advance roadmap for internal/partner projects from Apple, or a published list of 'no-go zones' for third party developers to stay clear of the official-app juggernaut, this is going to happen again. I understand that competitive pressures may force Apple to keep licensing and development deals under wraps -- chances are, the team answering emails in Developer Relations has no idea what's in the works up in the executive offices -- but there's got to be a way to avoid this deep chill on innovation and investment from third-party devs.

Update: As some commenters have pointed out, the back-end infrastructure of StarPlayr is being shut down, which will disable the WinMo version of the app. This points strongly towards Sirius/XM, and not Apple, as the Big Bad in this scenario.

Thanks Jim

In a move that is certain to put a serious dent in the dreams of satellite radio fans, the highly desired uSirius Starplayr for the iPhone has been rejected in its current form by Apple.

In a note on their web site, NiceMac LLC says they were told the 'application could not be approved at this time.' Starplayr is available on other platforms, including the Mac, Windows computers and Windows Mobile phones.

The release of the player was thought to be imminent a few weeks ago, but Apple gets the final word. It may be that Sirius/XM has problems with a third party player, or AT&T may have bandwidth issues. The app was delivered to Apple for review January 31st.

The Starplayr team remains optimistic, and says they will do whatever they have to do to get the app to the iPhone. It's all another headache for Sirius/XM fans who are also worrying whether the two merged satellite companies will survive long enough to make all the effort by NiceMac worthwhile.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in.

Subscribers to Sirius XM satellite radio have reasons to be thankful on Thanksgiving Day next week: it appears that an iPhone app called "StarPlayr" will be coming soon.

There's a thread in the SternFanNetwork forums about receiving Sirius XM on the iPhone, and forum member JJRousseau, who is apparently an employee of developer NiceMac, LLC, pointed everyone to the StarPlayr website. StarPlayr currently makes a Mac player and is hard at work on the iPhone app. JJRousseau noted in the forum that "[t]he iPhone is our first priority, but it has taken longer than expected getting licensing worked out for the iPhone Client. As soon as the business side of iPhone version is worked out, you'll be able to purchase StarPlayr for iPhone at the App Store."

The feature set sounds impressive, with Sirius and/or XM content streams, album art, iTunes WiFi purchase links, lyrics, and favorites lists. No release date or pricing has been set for the app at this time.

Thanks to Rymon for the tip!

[via iPhoneSavior]