XM-Sirius Merger: What it might mean for you

Last week, the Department of Justice granted rivals Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio permission to merge. If the Federal Communications Commission also grants permission in the coming months, as many expect, there could be a single, integrated satellite-radio company by 2009.

Consumers Union, our parent organization, and other industry stakeholders are continuing, however, to fight the merger. Such critics reject the companies' assertions that the merger would be in the consumer interest and say it violates anti-monopoly safeguards the FCC put in place about a decade ago as conditions for the satellite-radio operating licenses.

To help bolster support for the merger, both XM and Sirius have posted the fees and channel lineups they say would be in place after the merger is approved.

The new plans aim to deliver on the consumer benefits the companies promise will result from a merger. But our look at the proposals suggests the pluses generally come with tradeoffs or depend on some as-yet-unanswered questions.

Hot car gadgets

Our Consumer Reports colleagues who cover Cars have been attending the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show in Las Vegas these past few days. From the miles and miles of displays of aftermarket automotive gear, they've reported on many things, including:

• The Mio DigiWalker C720T—a portable GPS with a built-in 2-megapixel digital camera. (The C720T, click on the image at right, arrived too late to be included in our most recent test and Ratings of portable GPS units on ConsumerReports.org.)


• A $600 add-on "safety system" that warns drivers when they're about to rear-end someone—say, from driving while being distracted by all the gadgets in their cars.


• Slacker Radio—a portable device that is a cross between terrestrial radio, satellite radio, and an MP3 player.

So, check out the Consumer Reports Cars blog. It's not just for car fanatics and automotive "gear heads."

—Paul Eng