For those who haven't heard the latest increase in buzz, "HD Radio" is the the newest player in the fight to get people to put down their iPods and keep the radio on. Almost all car makers are now offering Sirius or XM Satellite Radio as an option in the bulk of their lineups, but BMW is going to be the first to offer a factory installed HD Radio receiver. So far it's only on the 3-series hard top convertible, but other models are soon to follow.
This HD Radio thing is actually very interesting. So far, there are over 1,000 stations broadcasting in HD and the cool thing about HD Radio is each normal station like 99.4 for instance, has several substations like 99.4-HD3, 99.4-HD2, and so on. What we don't like about it is it seems to be just an extension of FM radio, albeit with better CD quality sound, with all the annoying commercials. Thats the main reason why we worry this format may not win the battle against XM and Sirius. But, BMW seems to be making a significant investment into it by starting to factory install these receivers. Good enough for BMW is usually good enough for us.
[Source: MWerks]
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