SlashGear Japan
HD Radio is slowing making inroads into the US market, and this prototype could be the budget gadget that accelerates that. Expected to retail for under $50 when it launches in a few months time, the unnamed HD Radio has a full color display and standard 3.5mm headphone socket.
According to their information, the HD Radio will land at a “big box retailer” – our money is on Best Buy - sometime over the summer. As well as HD Radio it’ll be able to pick up FM broadcasts, but there’s no word on battery life, AM capabilities or manufacturer. That button on the right-hand side, with the round icon, looks a little like a recording key, which might suggest you can load up a memory card and record OTA broadcasts.
The downsides – apart from the lack of information – are that it lacks Bluetooth support and, well, isn’t the smallest gadget on the block. That likely won’t hold back too many people when it’s carrying a $50 price tag, though.
2 Responses to “Sub-$50 Portable HD Radio landing this summer”
PocketRadio2 May 14, 2009
Actually, this is iNiquity’s KRI Armband portable HD/MP3 player shown at CES 2009. It is still a power hog, as SiPort duped everyone claiming 110mW battery drain, but that was for HD RADIO PLAYBACK MODE ONLY! Those numbers are only attainable when all transceivers are shut off and the headphones are used. As usual, nothing but lies from iNiquity. The player is thick because the chipset is still too big. Also, notice how the power cord goes into the top away from the HD chip, as to lessen interference. This KRI Armband actually uses 500mW, so charges will be, at best, a couple of hours. Also, good-luck picking up those fragile digital signals without dipole antennas. This piece of junk will be returned enmasse:
http://hdradiofarce.blogspot.com
And, you think at $50, or any price, these junky HD radios will sell, just ask Mark Ramsey. Over four years, few HD radios have sold, and most have been returned for being “deaf”, just like what will happen with this joke.
-3legend85 July 10, 2009
For about two weeks, I have been hearing a commercial on WGAR, in the Cleveland, OH area, advertising the Insignia Portable HD Radio for under $50. The message urges people to get down to Best Buy right now.
I went to the nearest Best Buy yesterday (Mayfield Heights), and they said they had not received the radios yet. I then called the Mentor store, and the employee had never heard ot the radio. I then emaled Best Buy, and have heard nothing back, and have also posted a message on their forums, which has also been ignored.
Neutral