What started off with 8-tracks, cassettes and compact discs has reached a new level in portability and selection for music lovers. The name of the
game is more music in a smaller space, and when satellite radio swept the market in the recent past, it represented a huge advancement on that front.
A small device wired into your car or truck now provides limitless access to a world of music, news, talk, sports and even comedy- all broadcasted directly to your location via geosynchronous satellites high above the Earths atmosphere. For music lovers, it's a bit of a gift from the heavens, all for just a few dollars per month.
Drivers who spend long hours on the open highway appreciate the variety and selection offered by XM satellite radio. Stations are categorized and browsable via an easy-to-use interface allowing drivers to select a station by its name, or the artist or song title currently playing.
Some reciever units can be removed from the vehicle and re-cradled into a boom-box to take to the beach or to camp, allowing added flexibility or the ability to move the device from car to car. I've even heard of some folks installing satellite radios on their ATV's.
Pioneer has recently made a huge advancement in portability, and the result is a product geared for today's active driver who likes to have their tunes with them wherever they go. It's called the Inno, and its sort of a Swiss Army Knife for the music lover. Not only does the unit receive XM
satellite radio and transfer easily from your car to your living room, but it also affords the ability to record music from XM broadcasts for use later on. You can even hook the Inno up to your PC and load your own music files onto the device for later playback- operating like a traditional MP3 player.
If you're an active or outdoorsy type who is into running, biking or even walking, the Inno has a headphone plug in- allowing you to throw it into your backpack and listen to live or recorded content all day long. You'll need the external antenna to get a signal if you are inside of a building or car though.
Whenever docked in its home or car cradle, the unit recharges itself, meaning you're almost never left with a dead battery. This is good because with its masses storage space, you could be listening for a long while.
When hooked up to your ride, the sound quality, even without hardwired installation, is respectable. Each station has a small avatar logo which is displayed on the color screen while browsing, quickly identifying them from one another. The screen is a touch small for truly easy reading while behind the wheel, though many functions are assisted by way of quick
shortcuts so the driver can leave their eyes on the road.
One of the more popular shortcuts is the recording mode. If you hear a song you like, simply hold the action button for a second and the tune is stored to the Inno's built-in memory. Even if you miss the beginning of the song, it is still possible to record the whole thing so long as you've been listening since the start and it's under 10 minutes long. The tags which identify the beginning and end of each song are fairly accurate, though you'll get the occasional snippet missing off of either end. It wasn't long before I had a nice collection of tunes stored on board that I could take with me for my nightly run.
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| (Photo: Pioneer) |
A small device wired into your car or truck now provides limitless access to a world of music, news, talk, sports and even comedy- all broadcasted directly to your location via geosynchronous satellites high above the Earths atmosphere. For music lovers, it's a bit of a gift from the heavens, all for just a few dollars per month.
Drivers who spend long hours on the open highway appreciate the variety and selection offered by XM satellite radio. Stations are categorized and browsable via an easy-to-use interface allowing drivers to select a station by its name, or the artist or song title currently playing.
Some reciever units can be removed from the vehicle and re-cradled into a boom-box to take to the beach or to camp, allowing added flexibility or the ability to move the device from car to car. I've even heard of some folks installing satellite radios on their ATV's.
Pioneer has recently made a huge advancement in portability, and the result is a product geared for today's active driver who likes to have their tunes with them wherever they go. It's called the Inno, and its sort of a Swiss Army Knife for the music lover. Not only does the unit receive XM
 |
| (Photo: Justin Pritchard, Auto123.com) |
If you're an active or outdoorsy type who is into running, biking or even walking, the Inno has a headphone plug in- allowing you to throw it into your backpack and listen to live or recorded content all day long. You'll need the external antenna to get a signal if you are inside of a building or car though.
Whenever docked in its home or car cradle, the unit recharges itself, meaning you're almost never left with a dead battery. This is good because with its masses storage space, you could be listening for a long while.
When hooked up to your ride, the sound quality, even without hardwired installation, is respectable. Each station has a small avatar logo which is displayed on the color screen while browsing, quickly identifying them from one another. The screen is a touch small for truly easy reading while behind the wheel, though many functions are assisted by way of quick
 |
| (Photo: Justin Pritchard, Auto123.com) |
One of the more popular shortcuts is the recording mode. If you hear a song you like, simply hold the action button for a second and the tune is stored to the Inno's built-in memory. Even if you miss the beginning of the song, it is still possible to record the whole thing so long as you've been listening since the start and it's under 10 minutes long. The tags which identify the beginning and end of each song are fairly accurate, though you'll get the occasional snippet missing off of either end. It wasn't long before I had a nice collection of tunes stored on board that I could take with me for my nightly run.