Freecom's MusicPal WiFi radio now on pre-order

Internet radio -- a market which seems to be heating up lately -- is getting another entry to the game in Freecom's latest device. The company has just announced its MusicPal WiFi radio, which can access up to 5,000 pre-programmed internet stations (or you can add your own), stream your MP3s and WAVs from your PC or network, and can be connected to your home stereo when it's time to really party. The petite, stylish device runs on the Linux 2.6 kernel, has 802.11b/g and wired 10/100 RJ45 connectivity, and sports a 128x64 pixel monochrome LCD display. The MusicPal goes on sale in August for €129, although the company is taking pre-orders right now. Too bad royalties are poised to kill the internet radio star this Sunday.

[Thanks, Jeroen S]

[Mile @ Jul 13th 2007 9:37AM]

Damn yuo RIAA!!

[jandrewg @ Jul 13th 2007 10:05AM]

I'll say! This new product will be nearly worthless in 2 days time.

[gary @ Jul 13th 2007 11:00AM]

Why does no American radio stations make it useless? There are other countries in the world broadcasting internet radio too ya know :)

[Owen V @ Jul 13th 2007 12:28PM]

I have a similar item and I agree, international radio stations are much more exciting than US ones. Music from India and Turkey and Poland is top notch. I would say that it would be useless if it "only" accepted US radio.

Even if it didn't get radio at all, its network media streaming capabilities make it a cool product.

[james r @ Jul 13th 2007 11:19AM]

This is exactly what XM needs to do. Set-up some kind of way, where you could listen to online stations through your XM radio. They already have the infrastructure, they would just need some kind of online interface to setup the stations. Then, after that gets going, they need to set-up a way to stream music from your home computer to your XM radio. Of course, this will probably never happen, but one can dream.

[Alexander The Best @ Jul 13th 2007 11:21AM]

I am in love.

[Dmitry @ Jul 13th 2007 11:21AM]

I don't understand, why such a big deal with the royalties? It is Internet, so put those station somewere in Russia or some other country where no body gives a f*** about Royalties or stuff like that.

[MEAT! @ Jul 13th 2007 11:49AM]

What's really ridiculous is that the RIAA will (starting monday) collect royalties on SONGS THAT THEY DO NOT OWN. Even if the artist doesn't want them too, they will charge the stations money for playing them.

[Aidan @ Jul 13th 2007 12:04PM]

Does it do Real Audio streaming? The spec sheet is a bit woolly on the technical details. I want to know if it's worth ditching my Roku Soundbridge Radio for.

[Whinga @ Jul 13th 2007 12:42PM]

OK- first off, does anyone know if it'll be able to play the BBC's internet radio output? because that's pretty much a clincher for me.

Also: Can it take batteries? I can see it has a power socket - but it SOUNDS like it uses batteries - the way they go on about how it's wireless...

[JoeX @ Jul 13th 2007 3:32PM]

You should check out the pdf for more complete details.

From what I can see it doesn't take batteries but requires an external power supply (which is included).

It has some features I like: headphone jack, RCA stereo out jacks for external speakers, ethernet jack, and an alarm clock.

It's not perfect but it's pretty good. Hopefully more of these devices will come out in the future.

[Paul Webster @ Jul 13th 2007 3:53PM]

re US internet radio and fees - 60 day delay announced so that negotiations can continue - for stations that were already legal and continue to pay the old rates.

As for this Freecom device - it does look quite good. Seems to lack any presets. There are other models around that have been shipping for quite a while now - based on the Reciva implementation ( http://www.reciva.com ).

[Paul Webster @ Jul 13th 2007 4:31PM]

Also - re BBC
The pdf (at http://www.freecom.com/objects/00011377.pdf ) says MP3 and WAV ... implies no BBC (RealAudio and WMA).
Also - it doesn't have anything to handle the BBC Listen Again service.
The Reciva-based units can.
The Reciva ones have their drawbacks - but with the lowest cost one currently going for 50GBP it is well worth trying out before others.

As for batteries - the PDF says 5 volts DC via external adapter. So looks like no built-in rechargeables.
Look out for the Revo Pico Wifi unit - I think it ships any day now and they have a model that takes is battery powered.

[Andrew @ Oct 3rd 2007 4:42AM]

Hi,
Regarding receiva units for 50gbp? Please can you tell me which? I really want a unit that can get BBC (live, not really interested in listen again) and also has wired ethernet connection, not just wireless.
I am also looking at the sagem MY DU@L RADIO 700, but also not sure if it does BBC.
Thanks, Andrew

[Paul Webster @ Oct 3rd 2007 9:09AM]

DSG stores (Currys and PCWorld) have been selling them off cheap. I presume that it means end-of-line and also that there will not be further firmware updates. However, it does work for me.

[Nasty Gash @ Jul 16th 2007 9:51PM]

Lack of Real Audio is a HUGE negative for me. But it uses linux so how long could it be before some enterprising hacker (original, nice meaning) is able to add support for it? Or perhaps Freecom themselves will add the missing formats in a later firmware version. The spec sheet says it supports UPnP. Does that mean it'll work nicely with, say SimpleCenter?

I like Revo and Roku but they are still too dear. These devices are nearing the point where I would buy one, but they need to handle ALL common formats AND cost round about e100 or $US135.

Even though I live amongst Yanks, I don't care about the squabbles with RIAA; I listen more to content from the rest of the world, something I suggest all my friends try.

[ben mendes @ Aug 18th 2007 5:50PM]

I have been using the NOXON webradio for a long time now, so I am curious how this will be ? I like the rss feed feature. The Noxon however has a very clear interface and 1-5 preset buttins: easy! And the sound of the NOXON is very good, the price however of the noxon is higher: 190 euro ...

[Jan Itor @ Jul 17th 2007 4:51AM]

I belive that the device just supports MP3 and WAV audio files is just a software issue. If the open the source code, it would be just a matter of time till it will support a lot more audio codecs.

With a 240Mhz Marvel Orion processor, 32MB DRAM memory, 20 bit D/A
converter it should easily decode all kind of common digital audio files used for streaming.