From NY Times story: Later this week, XM is set to introduce receivers capable of storing up to 30 minutes of any live broadcast to play back at a later time. With a function that works much like the pause control of a digital video recorder, the units will also be able to replay the last 30 minutes of the channel to which the unit was most recently tuned. Both companies also offer models that let users store the names of favorite artists and titles. When one of those is playing on another channel, the receiver beeps to alert the listener. In XM’s case, the unit will also automatically switch to that other station. Next month, Sirius will introduce its Sportster model, designed to complement its introduction of NFL Radio, which is a new talk channel, and several channels to transmit every NFL game. The radio can be programmed to jump automatically to the correct station when one of the user’s favorite teams is playing.

To appeal to investors, XM’s Roady2 can display continuously updated stock quotes across the screen. Sirius plans to introduce a radio with a similar feature. Beginning this fall, XM will offer NavTraffic, giving owners of the Acura RL and the Cadillac CTS the ability to combine XM’s continuously updated traffic information with the car’s navigation system, producing color-coded maps showing traffic delays, allowing drivers to obtain alternate routings.

To make it easier to receive satellite radio in the home, Sirius will introduce a $129 accessory antenna that, mounted on the roof, will transmit a signal through the walls into a secondary unit attached to the receiver. And by the beginning of next year, Sirius will offer a receiver that can download Sirius programming from the Internet for later playback in areas where signals cannot reach.

“Had we asked the same question 15 years ago, the answer would have been “pretty much the same.” But it’s clear that radio is going through one of the most fundamental changes in its history since the dawn of stereo FM signals in the 1960s.

Already, satellite radio services like XM Satellite Radio (nasdaq: XMSR – news – people ) and Sirius Satellite Radio (nasdaq: SIRI – news – people ) have proved there’s a market for pay radio, though both have a long way to go before satellite radio is truly a mass-market service the way cable television is today. Ask any subscriber of either service and they’ll tell you they wonder how they ever got along without it.

Terrestrial broadcasters–those that broadcast from the ground, as opposed to in space via satellite like XM and Sirius–are in the process of rolling out enhanced services that will boost sound quality and add the ability to broadcast two programs on one station.

But what makes the future of radio interesting is the Internet. Some of the best radio programming is available online. This can be convenient if you’re from one region of the United States but living elsewhere, for example, and miss a favorite local radio program from back home. So far the best way to do this is via a computer equipped with a broadband connection.

But take a radio and give it a network connection. There are radios and tabletop stereo sets on the market that can connect to the Internet without a computer and stream audio from Internet radio stations. Add in support for Wi-Fi networking–essentially equal to an Ethernet port without a cord–and you have a radio that can go anywhere in the home and play sound from anywhere in the world without regard to the broadcasting station’s location. You may live in San Francisco and listen to state radio from Beijing or London or Bombay as easily as you do local radio, just as long as those faraway stations stream their programming online.

Take it a step further. Wi-Fi is limited by how far a network signal can reach–generally a few hundred feet from the access point or hot spot. Now imagine wireless Internet connections that aren’t as limited by distance. The new buzz is surrounding WiMax, a Wi-Fi-like networking technology that could boast a range of up to 30 miles from its source. Suddenly, every radio station in the world that broadcasts on the Internet will be reachable from nearly anywhere in the world where there’s WiMax coverage. A wireless Internet connection will be an expected feature, not a curiosity found only on a few high-end models. Radio will be a global medium once again.

That’s not all. Radios will have hard drives. At least one handheld radio, the Radio YourWay from Pogo Products, has one. The drives will serve at least two functions. You’ll use them to record favorite shows so you can listen anytime you like–the equivalent of TiVo (nasdaq: TIVO – news – people ) for television.

Second, the drives will be used to cache extra content that comes embedded inside the radio signal. You’ll select certain local stations that will broadcast constantly updated news, traffic, weather and perhaps even stock quotes, and those broadcasts will be automatically stored for you to listen to anytime you want to hear them at the push of a button.

Having a hard drive embedded in a radio opens up another range of possibilities. If a radio has both an Internet connection and a hard drive, it will be able to download software that gives it increased functionality. Radios will be able to do many things if only their owners are willing to pay for the features. Inside these radios will be chips that can adapt to whatever task they’re called upon to do.”

Forbes.com