Finally, a Good Reason For Satellite Radio — Getting Some Personal ROI

January 9, 2007 by Mr. GPS · Leave a Comment
Filed under: GPS Successes, GPS for Business, GPS for Life 

XM to Introduce First Personal Weather Tracking System, Demonstrate In-Car Video and More at 2007 Consumer Electronics Show

Posted on : Wed, 03 Jan 2007 19:11:00 GMT | Author : XM Satellite Radio

WASHINGTON, Jan. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — XM, the nation’s leading satellite radio company, will display a concept vehicle with XM’s latest technology at the 2007 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) January 8 through 11 in Las Vegas, Nev.

The XM vehicle will feature the first personal weather tracking system for GPS navigation. The system tracks specific, real-time weather conditions between your current location and your final destination. Plus, it provides the near-term weather forecast for your personal path. Rather than simply give general weather conditions for a region, the system focuses on the weather on your individual route. The weather information is continuously updated and delivered to the navigation system via satellite.

The weather technology, which is expected to be introduced in summer 2007, is developed by XM and its weather solutions partner Baron Services. XM and Baron, through its division WxWorx (pronounced “weather works”), currently offer professional weather services for airplanes, boats, and emergency responders, which have set the standard for mobile weather solutions in these markets… Rest of Press Release Here:

OK< it’s no secret I am not much of a media person. When I buy a new car I always ask if I can get a good deal on something without a radio (I’ve owned several new cars and trucks sans noise boxes). I don’t own a TV and got a kick out of a recent blog post that questioned prospective blogger’s willingness to give up TV time to blog. I have time management problems too, but TV and broadcast radio never contribute to them.

Satellite radio services have done little to change my preference for quiet … they do have the advantage of near perfect continent-wide coverage but I’m not much in the mood to pay for something I don’t care for when it’s free. But this aspect of satellite broadcast radio could really change my mind.

This is a view you really don’t want to see in your windshield, unless you are a storm chaser.

  • If you drive long distances, and especially if you operate a fleet .. salesmen, buses, field service technicians, commercial trucks, you need this service. This is not the silly, hard to interpret endless loops of NexRad images you get on the TV news or the Weather Channel. There’s some information, of course in those images but they aren’t easy for a pilot, driver or boat operator to interpret, they only tell about precipitation, which isn’t all the weather to consider and they are not location-based.

The XM service provides:

    See the complete list and explanations here:

    This service isn’t cheap but I do feel it’s one of the most important safety and business investments ever to derive from our investment in satellites. I can not see a trucker, for example, not being able to get a rapid return on investment (TOI) with this system.

    N.B. I do accept clearly marked advertising on this site but I am not affiliated in any way with XM and none of these article links are affiliate connections nor do I profit in any way not clearly obvious to the reader.  I’m somewhat ambivalent to the “paid Post” issue currently going ’round the ‘Net, but if I ever do accept pay for a post the reader will be given full and adequate notice.

    Tags:

    Comments are closed.