OTHER TECH

While it's easy to think of XM and Sirius as being near-identical twins, there are some clear differences. And just as with human twins, they become easier to tell apart as you grow more familiar with them.

Both services do a terrific job of offering a wide range of compelling music programming, but the talk-channel options might sway you to one or the other. For example, NFL and NHL fans can listen to live play-by-play action on Sirius, while NASCAR fans can fuel their habit at XM channel 144. In fact, during races, XM actually has another channel where you can listen to the driver-to-pit radio communications! The music channels also go well beyond simply playing prerecorded music and offer an enticing range of live in-studio performances, specials, and other exclusive material. Both XM and Sirius offer live traffic and weather information for many large cities, and XM has a premium service called XM-WX that allows aviators, mariners, and others to download graphical real-time weather information to a computer or PDA.

Programming aside, there are a few other key differences separating the two services, including the subscription cost - $9.99 a month for XM, $12.95 a month for Sirius - and of course the range of hardware available for each system, which is covered in the following pages. So while the differences might at first seem subtle, these twins are actually different enough that everyone will have a favorite.

Now that people are craving satellite radio even after their evening rush is over, some of the new equipment resembles what's always been around for FM listening. You can now get boomboxes, portables, table radios, and component tuners, not to mention the ever-expanding range of in-car options.