Flexio solar powered FM radio doubles as bookmark
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted November 30th 2009 6:42PM
posted November 30th 2009 6:42PM
We don't really have much use for radio over the airwaves -- hell, the closest we ever get to the halcyon days of rock'n'roll radio is the Flaming Groovies station on Pandora. But something as convenient (and as cute) as this next item just might get us back in the habit. A proof-of-concept by a small handful of designers (Wu Kun-chia, Wang Shih-ju, Chen Ming-daw & Liou Chang-ho), Flexio is a portable, printed, solar powered, paper-thin FM receiver that fits in a book -- or a pocketbook. Each radio is tuned to a specific frequency, so the design calls for boxed sets for different cities (for example, Taipei, Berlin, or Paris). Sure, it's probably not convenient to carry the whole box around with you, but you might want to hang onto KROQ in case you should ever find yourself wandering around LA late Sunday night/early Monday morning. Get a closer look after the break.
Price this at sub-$30 and I'll make a whole bunch of NPR listeners in my family very happy. Bay Area 88.5 ftw
WHERE IS AM? i mean, gj, when can we expect them to be laying on the sidewalk downtown annoying everyone after KUSA hands out 4000 of them
@(Unverified) AM is probably out because a decent antenna is quite a bit larger for AM. It's pretty hard to flatten out the old loopstick antenna.
@appsman bigger fork?
It's being held up with a plastic disposable fork.... is it an accessory that comes with the radio?
Sounds like a great Christmas type gift. Or promotional item for a radio station.
Just imagine one day, when the radio actually plays something good.
"We don't really have much use for radio over the airwave"
The rest of the world does however.
More crap to end up in our landfills and oceans....
@noz your saying it like stuff does not land there already
@techguy78
Interesting logic....our planet is screwed up from all the crap we dump into it now so let's continue to screw it up.
Stand-up mentality!
this is pretty kool, i can see myself owning one of these, for the fun of it
Yeah. KROQ. Just kills. Kevin and Bean are just fantastic.
@Joep
I love KROQ. Only enjoyable thing about my 30 minute drive to school.
@Lando Calrissian don't you mean your 12-parsec drive to school?
Only 1 fixed channel?
D:
No thanks I will just carry a small radio in my pocket that cab run off 2AA's for a week.
@epicelite eh, if you only really listen to one radio station, it sounds great, and i seriously would love this as a book mark, except of course i want to ditch that habit and get an ebook reader. :P decisions
KROQ is my favorite radio station, =D i wonder if they will make HD version of these so I can listen to all the HD stations around me, which there is quite a few
LOL +1 for Rodney on the Roq reference!
One of these for £5, with really decent reception, tuned to something like Kerrang (do they have a radio station?) and I'd buy it, maybe 2 or 3 if there are similar stations.
If they could produce those on the cheap, it would be a brilliant giveaway for radio stations.
Yay! 96.3 is my favorite station!
96.3 WROV, the ROCK of VIRGINIA!
rovrocks.com
I only listen to AM radio. All FM radio has to offer is music and I don't need radio for that. AM radio is still the only place for news and talk where I live. I don't see the fascination with FM radio as a stand alone device or attached to an mp3 player. I'd be excited if it was an AM radio.
I miss when B96 was good (back when people listened to radio)
This is apparently just a concept. You can't make enough energy from a solar cell that size to run an FM radio. WiFi and WiMax take even more I believe.
This would be neat if it could be incorporated with an e-ink type of display into a magazine. Imagine, opening the cover of rolling stone and seeing moving pictures, plus sound streamed over FM of whatever band you're reading about at the time. The magazine could buy a frequency slot for the month of publication.
Of course, the whole thing would be a huge waste of resources, but just like the esquire e-ink it would be eminently hackable!