Washington, D.C.-based XM Satellite Radio [XMSR], a U.S. satellite radio service with more than 2.5 million subscribers, is trying to keep its competitive advantage in new audio technology with a series of recent product introductions. The company just garnered 12 “Innovations 2005 Awards” last week in a competition sponsored by the Consumer Electronics Associa-tion (CEA) and endorsed by the Industrial Designers Society of America (ISDA). As part of that wave of recognition, XM earned two “Best of Innovations” for the introduction of new products. One was given to the recently released Delphi XM2go MyFi units in the portable audio category, while the other went to the XM NavTraffic device.

The Innovations Awards, now in its 15th year, honor excellence in consumer technology design and engineering. The top Innovations 2005 Honorees from each category are named “Best of Innovations.”

“We are truly honored to have both MyFi — the first portable XM2go product — and XM NavTraffic recognized as the Best of Innovations 2005 Honor-ees,” said Dan Murphy, XM’s senior vice president of product distribution and marketing. “To have twelve products selected as Innovations Honorees is an absolute thrill.”

XM’s manufacturing partners, Alpine Electronics, Audiophase, Delphi [DPH], Eton, Garmin [GRMN], NAVTEQ, Pioneer and Polk, have given the satellite radio service enticing technology that has led to rapid growth. The service’s radio units now are available for use in vehicles, in homes, and for portable situations.

Unveiled in New York last month by XM Satellite Radio and manufacturing partner Delphi, MyFi is the first personal, portable XM2go satellite radio. The unit features an integrated antenna, as well as a “live” listening mode and a time-shifting “memory” mode.

XM NavTraffic is the nation’s first satellite traffic information service that enables a vehicle navigation system to display current traffic information for a driver’s personal route. XM NavTraffic is powered by NAVTEQ Traffic, a new product by NAVTEQ, a global provider of digital map data for vehicle navigation systems. XM NavTraffic currently provides traffic data for 20 major metropolitan areas across the nation. XM NavTraffic recently debuted as a standard feature of the 2005 Acura RL and will be available in certain models of the 2005 Cadillac CTS.

(Chance Patterson, XM Satellite Radio, 202/380-4318)