Portables to Play Satellite Radio, Books

XM Satellite Radio and audio book provider Audible said on Tuesday that they plan to release devices next year that will be able to both play audio books as well as live satellite radio content.

Audible will also begin to offer subscription services to some of XM's most popular talk radio shows such as Opie and Anthony and the Bob Edwards show. Customers will be able to subscribe to the shows and download them onto a Audible-compatible device, which includes Apple's iPod.

"This announcement brings together the best of XM Satellite Radio and the best of the Audible audio experience," Donald Katz, Chairman and CEO of Audible said in the announcement. "Together our respective technologies will enable the consumer to listen to the finest in radio programming and the best of personalized, spoken-word listening on their portable audio devices."

As part of the deal, a new show will appear on XM later this year that will focus on news and features regarding what is available at audible.com. The program will also be made available on the Audible Web site.

Although details are slim on the actual unit that would be used to play back these files, both Sirius and XM have said they are close to releasing a device that would allow a user to store songs downloaded from the satellite radio channels.

Reports circulated around the Web two weeks ago stating that Mel Karmazin, Sirius chief executive officer, had discussions with Jobs during the Wall Street Journal's "D" technology conference in California. Sirius later denied the claim, saying that Jobs had shown no concrete interest in a partnership.

In any case, both XM and Sirius have shown interest in pairing their service with some kind of portable audio player. However, a sticking point with getting device manufacturers to adopt satellite radio support is said to be how the companies will split earnings from the monthly subscription fees.