internet radio
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Pandora may pull the plug on itself
The Washington Post is reporting that Pandora, the Internet radio station available on Mac, iPhone, and iPod touch, may be shutting down service soon.The reason is that Sound Exchange, the money-grubbing blackmailers royalties collection arm affiliated with the Recording Industry Association of America, has imposed restrictive administrative fees ($500 per year per channel) and ridiculous royalty fees (2.91 cents per hour per listener) on Internet radio stations. While many companies that provide Internet radio services have been lobbying Congress for relief, there doesn't seem to be much of hope that happening in the near future. What this means for all Internet radio stations is that either Congress steps in and attempts to resolve the royalty issues (not likely, considering their record on resolving any issue...), or the stations will need to start charging a subscription fee for their services. Of course, Pandora could start advertising on their site and on the iPhone app to generate some revenues, but as TechCrunch.com's Michael Arrington says, "Perhaps Pandora must be our sacrificial lamb" to focus attention on the entire issue of the recording industry, digital rights, and internet radio stations.What's your opinion on the intenet radio royalty issue? Leave us a comment.
Revo's new PICO hybrid radio pairs DAB and WiFi with great success
DAB... DAB... that's that digital radio thing, right? But it's not from a satellite, huh? Well, whatever. Revo's new PICO hybrid radio packs some internet radio over WiFi, so you don't have to move to some crummy country like the UK just to listen to predictably-programmed 80's music and cloying chatter. Revo's little unit is portable, gets 12 hours to a charge, and works with DAB, DAB+, FM and WiFi. It'll be available in September for £169.95 (about $3,180,000 USD).
Radiopaq Rp5 does DAB, FM and internet radio
Look out, Pure Digital -- you've got a new rival in town. Radiopaq, best known for bringing thousands of internet radio stations and podcasts to listeners via the web, has decided to hop into the hardware game. The Rp5 tabletop radio features a five-way speaker system, digital / analog processors, a headphone jack, remote control and a rather stylish design. There's also an integrated WiFi module for tuning into the outfit's website and even sucking down news, weather and traffic information. Of course, the more traditional FM / DAB tuners are there as well, making this one quite the multifaceted box. Word on the British streets has this one pegged for a September launch at £250 ($468).[Via Pocket-lint]
Apple TV offers limited internet radio support
Apple TV Source notes that the latest 2.0.2 update makes internet radio work a little better with the Apple TV. Basically you can play internet radio streams on the Apple TV if you have it synced to an iTunes computer with a playlist containing the streams. Before the update the source computer had to be on for this to work. Now, however, the Apple TV will retain the playlist even without the iTunes computer until it is restarted (it will retain the playlists even if put to sleep). The original post has complete instructions.
Switched On: Slacker in your slacks (Part 1)
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment. The Slacker Portable is the proverbial elephant being inspected by blind men. One is the crop of portable MP3 players, to which the device's service represents free, fresh music on the go in exchange for user control of track selection. Another is the bevy of online internet music sites such as Pandora, Last.fm, Finetune and others, to which it represents the leap from the beb to portable entertainment. A third is the traditional consumer electronics industry for which it portends a connected future. And a fourth are XM and Sirius, which now appear on track to merge in part due to the kind of competition that the Slacker Portable will ultimately provide.The Slacker Portable picks up where last year's promising Sansa Connect left off. While that device was billed primarily as an MP3 player that boasted tight integration with the Yahoo! Music Unlimited service (now shuttering), the Slacker Portable is labeled as a "personal radio". MP3 files can be loaded onto the device, but that feature is more of an afterthought.The device comes in three capacities that are billed as storing a different number of stations, which are either genres preset by the internet radio service available at slacker.com, or customized for the user based on a particular artist. One nice touch is that a device ordered from Slacker comes pre-populated with any stations you have set up on the site.
College radio stations in iTunes
How I miss the days of Ramen noodles, sleepless nights and self-indulgent college rock. If you're like me, check out the updated "College Radio" section of iTunes. Just click the radio icon in the sidebar (not the iTunes Store) to reveal the College Radio section (it bore a beta tag until I checked again this morning). Just a dozen stations are represented, including WLMU at Le Moyne College and WMHB from Colby College in Waterville, Maine.Unfortunately for me, my own alma mater's fantastic station is not in the list. That's too bad, as I like a side order of nostalgia with my morning coffee.Thanks, Perceval!
Inkel IDS-1500 WiFi phone dock keeps the iPod in awkward company
You know how Apple products get when they're around their "lesser" consumer electronics counterparts at parties. It starts with a lack of eye contact and some foot scuffing, and ends badly with a scene in close proximity to the punch bowl. That said, Inkel's giving it a shot with this here IDS-1500 WiFi phone dock, which mixes an iPod dock with internet radio functionality and song playback through the phone. Not a bad combination in the least, so as long as the iPod steers clear of the alcohol. No word on price or availability.
Tangent intros Quattro Mk 2 tabletop internet radio
Keeping with the Tangent tradition, the Quattro Mk 2 looks an awful lot like most every other tabletop radio the outfit cranks out. Nevertheless, this particular iteration pays no mind to DAB and focuses its attention on providing access to a smorgasbord of internet radio stations. Aside from featuring both integrated WiFi and an Ethernet port, you'll also get WPA2 security support, FM tuning capabilities, a backlit LCD, a headphone jack and a auxiliary port for connecting DAPs / PMPs. Word on the street has the walnut and black models selling now for £179.95 ($362), while the glossy red and white versions demand an extra £20 ($40).[Via Tech Digest]
Intempo reveals kinda sexy Daisy portable internet radio
Last we heard from Intempo, it was busy grasping for business with a slew of ho hum iPod docks, but it's getting '08 started by offering up a slightly (keyword: slightly) more attractive item. The Daisy internet radio can access "thousands" of online and FM stations, and it can reportedly last for around 20 hours before needing a recharge. You'll also find a pretty basic LCD, but outside of that, we wouldn't expect a whole heap of extras. The Daisy is slated to hit production by next April and will land on store shelves with an admittedly steep £149 ($292) price tag shortly thereafter.[Via TechDigest]
Widget Watch: HD Radio
RadioSherpa has released an Apple Dashboard widget that streams radio stations from Boston, New York and San Francisco (they promise more are on the way), including several HD2 stations. It's pretty cool, and even displays the name of the current song in real-time before you load the stream.Note that you've got to install the VLC web browser plug-in to get this to work, so keep that in mind.
Revo intros Blik RadioStation DAB / WiFi radio
It's just been a few short weeks since Revo trotted out its Blik WiFi internet radio, but it looks like the company has already outdone itself, with it now introducing the new and improved Blik RadioStation, which packs the same WiFi and FM radio as before, with some DAB functionality thrown in for good measure. That, according to the company, makes it the first such radio to offer all three options in one package, although that distinction also considerably limits its appeal to those not bathed in DAB signals. If that doesn't preclude you however, you should be able to pick up the radio in your choice of black or white on December 19th for about £150 (or just over $300).[Via TechDigest]
PSP gets DVR and internet radio with new Japanese firmware
With the sexy new revision and lots of solid titles, the PSP has become more and more desirable as of late. But believe us when we tell you it's peanuts compared to how useful the thing has become in Japan, where only the lack of a blond mullet keeps it from being the MacGyver of consumer electronics. Adding insult to injury, it's getting even cooler in Japan with firmware version 3.80, which will add TV program recording and internet radio features to the device.While we're hopeful internet radio could be rolled out across the globe, don't even think about adding DVR functionality to your PSP, as we still lack the 1seg technology here that makes the whole thing go. Oh well, at least you can (fingers crossed) look forward to the internet radio feature. Check out some images of it in action right here.
Mossberg previews the Slacker Portable
The short of it is that the Slacker is an intriguing concept and decent product with some serious bugginess in the prototypes -- which is why it's probably a good thing it's been delayed until next year. Walt Mossberg has been kicking around the "blocky" player and related service, and seems to think the idea has some legs. The player is basically a portable WiFi internet radio, but it ties in closely with the free ad-supported Slacker service to give you a bit more of control over your listening experience than a traditional internet radio station. You can navigate the device with either the touch-sensitive strip beside the screen or a scroll wheel on the edge of the unit, and Walt found the sound quality good and WiFi capable. Album art, related photos, artist bios and album reviews are all included with the music and shown off on an expansive 4-inch screen, and the stations are saved to the device for offline listening. You can create custom stations based on artists you like, and if you shell out $7.50 a month for premium service you get unlimited song-skipping (usually limited to six per hour), zero ads, and the ability to pick songs to save to the device and play as often as you'd like. You can of course load your own tracks, but that sort of defeats the purpose of being a "slacker." Mossberg thinks the formula could work as long as Slacker can work out the sub-par battery life, touch strip issues and connection problems before the January 31st launch.[Via Orbitcast]
Nokia busts out Internet Radio beta
Despite a well-supported, open smartphone platform, plenty of 3G devices running said platform, and a large, vibrant community of developers, options for streaming radio on S60-based Nokias are disappointingly few and far between. Don't get us wrong, they exist -- trust us, we've tried them -- but it's an obvious use of HSDPA's generous bandwidth that seems largely (and strangely) underserviced. Nokia's finally taken matters into its own hands and released its Internet Radio beta, featuring a library of streaming stations from across the globe that automatically adjust bitrate based on your connection (audiophiles might not be too happy with what they get over EDGE, but hey, beggars can't be choosers). Grab the beta now for your N82, N91, N95, or N95 8GB -- oh, and don't be fooled by Nokia's graphic here, Internet Radio sure as heck isn't working on an XpressMusic 5200.
Revo Blik WiFi internet radio goes easy on the features
Perhaps it's a positive thing that wireless internet radios are really past the point of feature overload and are really fighting it out on looks and price these days. Take the Revo Blik WiFi for example. It's not going to blow anybody's mind with the MP3 and WMA streaming capability, the internet radio compatibility, or that FM tuner and line-in port, but it's still a bit of a looker, and the price is decent at £100 (around $205 of that pretend stuff we pass around here in the States). You can naturally use the unit as an alarm clock, and streaming is compatible with PC and Mac.[Via Tech Digest]
Audi's Cross Cabriolet Quattro concept touts internet radio, B&O system
Granted, Audi's Cross Cabriolet Quattro is still a concept for now, but the proposed infotainment setup is quite swanky, indeed. Reportedly, the vehicle would include a Bang & Olufsen sound system that could stream internet radio thanks to its built-in internet link. Additionally, motorists could "judge" the tracks as they were played, enabling the system to "build up a picture of their preferences and offer individual play lists." The whip also boasts a built-in intercom system with noise cancelling capabilities, and What HiFi even has it that the internet link could be used to fetch map data from Google Earth. In case you couldn't guess, there's no definitive launch time frame or an expected price just yet, but there's no harm in hoping that its infotainment system shows up in a production vehicle sooner rather than later.[Via What HiFi]
Slacker gets official on Portable Player, Premium Radio Service
Looks like Slacker's on the move -- remember those guys? They're the ones with the customizable streaming radio stations that intend to distribute dynamic audio streams by way of internet and satellite. The sat option's not quite ready yet, but the Portable Player is well on its way. The details: It'll be available in 15 (2GB), 25 (4GB), and 40 (8GB) station capacities. (Station capacity is how Slacker gauges storage. Each station carries with it a slew of tracks). Prices are $200, $250, and $300, respectively. 4-inch screen with touch strip and scroll wheel. (Sorry, not a touchscreen, though, nor is it intended for video playback.) The device uses WiFi to connect directly to content, and MTP over USB connection. You can do your thing without using a machine, but if you want to use USB you won't have an easy time using it on non-Windows platforms. It supports MP3, WMA, and AAC playback. The music you sync from the stations is kept in "hidden" storage in DRMed AAC. No, you're not at all allowed to try and grab at this content. 10 hours battery life with removable li-ion battery Premium Radio Service is available for $7.50 per month, enabling unlimited track skipping, ratings music and banning tracks or artists, station sharing, and ad-free station streams More on this thing soon!
Cambridge Consultants unveils WiFi RadioPro platform
Though not ubiquitous, portable WiFi radios are certainly still longed for, and Cambridge Consultants is hoping to stir up even more demand by offering up a low cost, customizable platform for theses devices to utilize. Shown originally as the Iona WiFi radio at CES, the platform has been renamed RadioPro, and it boasts a manufacturable eBOM of just $15. Furthermore, it supports over 10,000 radio stations, wireless upgrades and a flexible architecture that allows "full customization of the user interface and menus through a dedicated software development kit (SDK)." As if that weren't enough, the design also touts up to 25-hours of active streaming time on a 1500mAh battery, and if all goes to plan, we should see devices that rely on CSR's latest technology hit shelves before 2007 comes to a close.[Thanks, Rob T.]
Sangean intros WFR-20 tabletop WiFi radio
It's been nearly a year since we've heard from Sangean, but the company is hitting back with a swank new WiFi internet radio that's shaped a good deal like its past units. The WFR-20 offers up "direct access to over 6,000 Internet Radio stations (and 21,242 on-demand streams) in 250 locations from 60 genres," and you can organize your favorites in the My Stations folder. Additionally, it's designed to operate with or without a PC, and if you have a networked computer nearby with Windows Media Player, you can have "full access to your digital media library using the UPnP Server." Furthermore, you'll find a three-line display, four alarms, an aux input, dual five-watt speakers, and a wireless remote to boot, but there's no word on a price or release date just yet.[Thanks, Larry]
Internet radio iPods due Wednesday?
Sensing a small gap in existing September 5th iPod rumors, vnunet.com is joining the fray and citing an "industry insider" with word on a digital radio iPod. Apparently the device will stream iTunes songs wirelessly, with a "Buy Now" option if the mood strikes. While internet radio has been a feature of iTunes since time began, it's never really been a big thrust for Apple, and to say that we're skeptical about this "report" is a major understatement. We're also not sure Apple is ready to leave its precious digital hub and finally allow consumers to make purchasing decisions on the go, but we're certainly all for it. Let's file this one under "baseless" until tomorrow when all shall be known.[Thanks, FireFox]
