Revo have added iPod compatibility to new models in their iBLIK range of DAB digital radios and WiFi streamers. The iBLIK RadioStation features DAB and DAB+ radio reception, FM radio with RDS, WiFi internet radio and digital music streaming from PC or Mac. There’s also an iPod dock which both plays back content stored on the PMP and simultaneously recharges it.
In the world of DAB radios, Pure is perhaps the best known manufacturer. The company has a variety of high-end digital radio models, but is now aiming for the entry-level customer with the Pure One Mini; just 130 x 135 x 60mm, the Mini has a mono speaker, 16 x 2 mono display to show track titles and can be powered either via the mains or by a rechargeable battery pack.
There must be something in the air; mere days after Sonoro’s luxury CD clock-radio went on sale in the US, Vita Audio have announced their own hand-crafted all-in-one audiophile music system. The R4 is being described as “a traditional music player for the 21st century”, complete with walnut veneer or white piano lacquer finish, and comprises a CD player, DAB radio, iPod dock and USB port. It also has Vita’s unusual remote control “rotodial”.
TG Sambo’s new PMP is noteworthy at least because it doesn’t attempt to ape the iPod Touch’s GUI. The Korean media player also has a larger screen – at 4.8-inches – and aside from audio and video is capable of browsing the internet via a WiFi b/g connection and watching T-DMB digital TV. Hidden underneath the “Luxurious” menus is Windows CE 5.0, churning away on an Alchemy AU1250 700MHz processor.
iPod who? Let’s face it, if you’re in the market for a portable media player and you’re less than swayed by Apple’s offerings, there’s never been better choice of rivals, each playing catch-up to the market leader by offering – in general, anyway – bags more functionality. Of course, you may just be tired of seeing the same old iPod UI and having Jonathan Ives’ handiwork flashed in your face on every street corner; in that case, there’s plenty of different, and often just as successful, design out there to choose from. Cowon is a long-term player in the PMP game, and AdvancedMP3Players.co.uk were good enough to send over one of the company’s latest devices, the D2; not only does it have up to 8GB of storage for your music, it also receives DAB digital radio and plays video too.
Those probably aren’t the three R’s your parents told you to learn in school, but they are the three R’s that bring you digital radio for your iPod. It also acts as a remote for the iPod, allowing you to control the iPod using this in-line device.
And, like I said, you can listen to DAB radio with it. One of these days we might see something like DAB stateside, but somehow I doubt it.
Some people have been quick to proclaim the death of the home mini-HiFi – and sure enough, plenty are finding that their iPod, coupled with a speaker-dock, sates their desire for playing their music out loud – but the latest models are hitting back with support for DAB digital radio and compatibility with formats like mp3. At IFA 2007 Himalaya showed off their portable, battery powered DRM2009; it might look like the HiFi you had as a teenager but trust us, it’s grown up.
It’s always been a source of amusement and no-little surprise to me that PURE Digital managed to take DAB radios, package them into a swish wood case with a single, mono speaker, and persuade people that it was the best way to enjoy digital radio. The Evoke-1 has been the best selling radio in the UK, and PURE have taken it upon themselves to wrap it in vinyl, give it an angry red display, brass-effect controls and – wait for it – a volume dial that goes up to 11 and brand it the 1XT Marshall Special Edition. Personally I think it looks tacky, but who am I to judge.
SlashGear Japan
