Pandora vs Sirius XM: Which is Best?

I recently had an epiphany on two recent two hour road trips that made me start to rethink my assumption that Satellite radio is more reliable than 3G / 4G radio.  I drove from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara on the 101 Freeway along the coast that notoriously has poor cell reception.  I also drove from Los Angeles to Palm Springs during rush hour and a heavy usage period.

I tested both Pandora streaming on my HSPA+ G2 Android phone and Sirius Satellite radio that comes with a factory installed radio inside my Volvo XC90.  Which did you think dropped fewer signals and had the best streaming audio experience?  Your intuition would make you think the Satellite performed better but you would be wrong.  T-Mobile's 3G HSPA+ network worked excellent the entire way along the coast and on the 10 Freeway without stuttering a song once.

So, why is Sirius XM starting to lose signal in areas that you would least expect.  Sirius also loses a signal in an area you would expect under bridges and in areas blocked by buildings or a parking structure.  Its can be annoying at times when listening to Howard Stern who has funny punch line every few minutes. Is it their terrestrial repeater network that is being congested?  Do their satellites need an upgrade or is it interference?

My speculation is that Pandora does a better job of downloading more content and caching songs ahead of time.  Pandora caches songs so when you enter areas of poor cellular strength you have radio content to stream.  Sirius on the other hand only caches a few seconds of the song or show and therefor if you lose signal you are likely going to lose some of the content.

I also tried something new using my cars new Bluetooth streaming feature that sends audio from my phone into my car stereo speakers.  I used the Pandora app on my G2 T-Mobile phone and it work great.  Keep in mind I have an unlimited data plan with T-Mobile so I am not worried about going over my data plan.  Pandora streaming doesn't use as much data as you'd think so it begs the question, how much data does Pandora use on cell phone?

In conclusion, I think that 3G / 4G / 5G streaming in the car radio has a lot of promise in the future as more consumers realize its pretty easy to do.  However, carriers are going to have to be more lenient and transparent about data caps and usage for customer in order to not scare people off.  Fore those who have unlimited data plans enjoy your Sirius or Spotify mobile apps as much as you want.  The experience is going to have to be cheap for the masses to use it.  Therefore, other services will have to be embedded into the car radio like Direct TV, Navigation or OnStar emergency services in order for consumers to pay a premium.  

Sirius XM Losing Signal?

Cell Phone Reception for Indy Super Bowl

Lucas Oil Stadium Indianapolis

AT&T, Verizon and Sprint are getting ready for the huge influx of Patriots and Giants fans for Super Bowl weekend in Indianapolis.  The whole area will experience and huge increase in extra cell phone traffic.  Lucas Oil Stadium holds 63,000 people and it is highly likely there could be 25,000+ iPhones simultaneously trying to share pictures all at once.  The big question is can the carriers 3G and 4G LTE networks handle the capacity?  We will be at the Super Bowl in person to find out and share with you our experiences.

Last years Super Bowl in Dallas it was reported that numerous fans complained about the cell coverage inside Cowboy Stadium for the Super Bowl.  Most networks just don't have the capacity to handle the traffic all at once.  It still surprises me that stadiums have not installed their own Free WiFi networks inside the stadium for fans.  Carriers often partner with the stadium to install WiFi / DAS networks in venues like this in order to enhance wireless connectivity.  We would love to see more PR on this issue from all the sports leagues including the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB.

AT&T has made concerted efforts to enhance the network in Indianapolis.  Not only are they upgrading the network but they are actually showing customers on a pretty map they call AT&T MicroSites.

One of the other things Patriots and Giants fans will see are these "cells on wheels," which are also called COWS.  They are trucks with portable cell towers on top of them. You'll may also see devices hidden in parking garages and other places that will also boost cell power.

Months of planning have gone into the upgrades. "Over the last year, we've made more than 500 improvements in our wireless network alone here in the Indianapolis-metropolitan area," said George Fleetwood.

AT&T isn't the only wireless provider upgrading its network ahead of the big game. Verizon has spent $159 million on upgrades in 30 locations around Indy. Sprint has also beefed up its coverage with several cells on wheels along with major added capacity inside Lucas Oil Stadium.

Verizon & AT&T Compatible iPhone 5 LTE

Verizon & AT&T Compatible iPhone 5 LTE
Apple now how the power to do what is right for consumers.  It's about time that consumers have the ability to switch to any LTE carrier without having to buy a new phone.  The United States desperately needs a way for consumers to choose a carrier not by quality of service in their region and easily switch if that service changes.  Most mobile phone consumers around the World have the luxury of picking their smartphone first and their carrier second.  The United States is a bit backwards and the carriers control and subsidize the handset costs in order to lock customers in.

However, this could all change if Apple launches the iPhone 5 that is carrier agnostic.  LTE is designed around the World to be cross carrier compatible.  However, the US carriers seem like they are structuring the technology of phones to once again be incompatible.  The Government and FCC must regulate to make sure that LTE is compatible across carriers because consumers want to pick the best service in their area.  Increased competition is what LTE needs in order for consumers to get a fair shake.

I also really hate the way carriers are currently positioning the draconian "data caps" and screwing consumers.  This really ticks me off and is not a good sign that mobile consumers are going to have many choices in the future. The FCC needs to get involved in this process and make sure LTE phone compatibility is achieved.  Sprint and T-Mobile better hold off and stick to their unlimited data plans because I will never sign up for a data plan or contract that has data caps.   I am not convinced that LTE is that much better than HSPA+ and will have to wait and see if tablets are the reason to upgrade from 3G to 4G.  

What Android Version Do I Have?

How do you determine which Android operating system you have on your smartphone or tablet?  It is pretty easy to do, by simply clicking on Settings / About Phone.  Scroll down and look for "Android version" and there will be 3 numbers.  For example, my G2 T-Mobile smartphone has "Android 2.3.4", which would be Android Gingerbread.  The Android version code names are in alphabetical order with the most recent release being Ice Cream Sandwhich 10.3 v4.0.3 as of CES 2012.   (See versions below)

Android Ice Cream Sandwich
10.1 v4.0.1
10.2 v4.0.2
10.3 v4.0.3

Android Honeycomb
9.1 v3.0
9.2 v3.1
9.3 v3.2
9.4 v3.2.1
9.5 v3.2.2
Android Gingerbread
8.1 v2.3
8.2 v2.3.3
8.3 v2.3.4 
8.4 v2.3.5
8.5 v2.3.6
8.6 v2.3.7
Android Froyo
7.1 v2.2
7.2 v2.2.1
7.3 v2.2.2
7.4 v2.2.3

Android Eclair
6.1 v2.0
6.2 v2.0.1
6.3 v2.1

Android Donut
5 v1.6

Android Cupcake
4 1.5

Android Astro 
3 v1.1

Android Bender 
2 v1.0

Android Alpha
1

Android is a mobile operating system developed by Google used for developers of smartphones, tablets and netbooks.  Every carrier today including AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile use some derivative of the operating system on their Android phones.  Unfortunately, the complexity of Android versions on the market has made marketing the phones confusing to many consumers.  Unlike Apple which has a closed development platform, Google has an open development platform that allows bleeding edge developers and manufacturers to stretch the limits of the software.

Carriers are typically several versions behind rolling out the new features of the system.  If you are wondering what new features have been added in the new Android version see this link of Android version features.  It can often take up to a year or more of testing before the new versions are automatically downloaded and upgraded into phones.  You can also check under System Updates under settings to see if you have any updates available.  


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