New XM Connect-and-Play Technology to be Integrated Into Broad Range of Yamaha Products
Buena Park, Cal. and Washington, D.C., March 21, 2005 –Yamaha Electronics Corporation, the leader in digital audio and video technologies, and XM Satellite Radio, the nation’s leading satellite radio company with more than 3.2 million subscribers, today announced a new partnership to bring to market the first XM-Ready home entertainment products. Yamaha will manufacture four new receivers and several new home-theater-in-a-box (HTIB) systems with XM “Connect-and-Play,” a revolutionary technology designed to integrate XM into a broad range of home entertainment products. The first Yamaha XM-Ready receivers will be available at retail in early April.
Through this new technology, consumers simply plug an XM Connect-and-Play home antenna (MSRP $49.99) into the XM-Ready Yamaha AV receiver and activate the service to receive XM’s 150-plus digital radio channels. No additional accessories or installation are required. Using XM’s industry-leading chipset technology as well as a new proprietary chip and signaling protocol , the XM Connect-and-Play antenna is capable of receiving XM’s satellite and terrestrial signals as well as channel tuning, decoding and audio transmission. It will be the only accessory needed to get XM through an XM-Ready audio system.
“The partnership between XM and Yamaha is ushering in a new era of home entertainment innovation,” said Phil Whitworth, XM’s director of product marketing. “The inclusion of XM Connect-and-Play technology in these new products continues Yamaha’s tradition of ingenuity and excellence in home audio, while providing consumers with a simple way to enjoy XM’s award-winning service.”
“We are excited to partner with XM to be the first A/V receiver company to bring next-generation satellite radio to consumers,” said Alex Sadeghian, senior product marketing manager, Yamaha Electronics Corporation. “XM is the perfect complement to our already strong line of home theater products.”
Yamaha’s line of XM-Ready receivers include two 6.1 channel receivers, the RX-V457 (85W x 6) and RX-V557 (90W x 6), and two 7.1 channel receivers, the RX-V657 (95W x 7) and RX-V757 (100W x 7). The receivers come with all of the latest surround sound formats, with Yamaha’s proprietary YPAO System featured on the RX-V657 and RX-V757, which automatically analyzes the acoustics of the user’s room and adjusts various speaker parameters to provide the optimum sound at the listening position.
Yamaha will release a total of eight new receivers starting at $229.95 MSRP. Seven of these receivers are XM-ready (from $349.95 MSRP to $649.95 MSRP), with four from the RX-V series and three from the HTR series. All the receivers will be available in March at select Yamaha retailers. Yamaha will also introduce several XM-Ready HTIB solutions from its YHT line of products.
For more information, write Yamaha Electronics Corporation, P.O. Box 6660, Buena Park, CA 90622; telephone (714) 522-9105; email infostation@yamaha.com; or visit www.yamaha.com/home.
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About Yamaha
Yamaha Electronics Corporation (YEC), USA, based in Buena Park, California, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Yamaha. YEC offers Home Theater components and systems, featuring A/V Receivers, Amplifiers, DVD/CD, Speakers, Mini-Systems, Video Projection, as well as A/V & IT Convergence Products.
About XM Satellite Radio
XM (NASDAQ: XMSR) is America’s number one satellite radio service with more than 3.2 million subscribers. Broadcasting live daily from studios in Washington, DC, New York City and Nashville at the Country Music Hall of Fame, XM’s 2005 lineup includes 152 digital channels of choice from coast to coast: 67 commercial-free music channels, featuring hip hop to opera, classical to country, bluegrass to blues; 64 channels of premier sports, talk, comedy, children’s and entertainment programming; and 21 channels of the most advanced traffic and weather information for major metropolitan areas nationwide. XM was named Best Radio Service at the 2004 Billboard Digital Entertainment Awards. XM Satellite Radio is the industry leader in sports radio programming, offering thousands of live sporting events each year. XM is the Official Satellite Radio Network for Major League Baseball (MLB) and the PGA TOUR, the Exclusive Satellite Radio Service for NASCAR and the Indy Racing League, as well as the Official Satellite Radio Service for ACC, PAC-10 and Big-10 collegiate football and basketball.
XM, the leader in satellite-delivered entertainment and data services for the automobile market through partnerships with General Motors, Honda, Toyota, Nissan and Volkswagen/Audi, is available in more than 120 different vehicle models for 2005. XM also is available in Avis, National, and Alamo rental cars. XM is the exclusive in-flight entertainment service for AirTran Airways, and will soon be available on JetBlue flights. Consumers can experience XM over the Internet through XM Radio Online at http://listen.xmradio.com. For more information about XM hardware, programming and partners
