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When Internet Radios Get Affordable
DeviceGuru writes "Grace Digital Audio has just released a new device that functions like an Internet radio tuner in a whole-house audio system and is being sold at a surprisingly affordable price point. The Solo Wi-Fi Receiver works in tandem with Reciva's Internet radio station selection web service, provides excellent Pandora support, and also supports optional Internet services such as Live365, MP3tunes, Aupeo, and Sirius. It has built-in buttons and a display for easy control, comes with a dedicated IR-remote, and is supported by a free iPhone remote access/control app. We hear a lot about the high-end Sonos gear, but at just over $100, this little gadget seems like a breakthrough in cost-effective Internet radio, much as the Roku Netflix player broke ground in low-cost Internet video streaming."
Internet radio can't be cheap as long as unreasonable download caps exist, as are common, at least in Canada. Broadcast radio costs effectively nothing, leave the radio on 24/7 if you want. If you try that with your net connection you'll be paying for surplus usage long before the month end.
It's worth a bit more but worth it. The cumulative benefit of the system is great, considering you can add nodes easily once its in place and sync or not sync. Especially awesome when combined with MusicIP.
TFA looks like a troll. There are actually a lot of devices out there which meet the criteria.
If you're conscious about price and have lax wireless security get find a linksys wmls11b on line. For $30-40 it can't be beat!
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Except for the ability to use YouTube on it. Or play J2ME games on it. Or make phone calls. Or make photos. Or install what you like. Or have infinite space trough a memory card slot. Etc, etc, etc. ;) (I’m not informed on the latest from Apple, so feel free to remove what is now available.) :)
I’m not saying you shouldn’t use what you like. Go ahead, have fun!
I’m just saying that my mobile phone does all of the above, and lots more, costs less, and the sound quality is great. I use a Internet flat-rate with it that costs me 20€ a month.
So in some way I agree, but think an Apple product is a bad example. (For the above reasons.)
Internet Radio is already completely affordable. I have lots of ShoutCast streams on there. And I can stream my whole collection from home.
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
This one is pretty nice, too.
By posting this, I'm undoing some much-needed moderation I already did on this thread, but nobody's said anything about it so I gotta do it.
Squeezebox RADIO. No, not a Squeezebox, a Squeezebox RADIO.
http://www.logitechsqueezebox.com/products/squeezebox-radio.html
Knobs. Buttons. A little display. Wired and wireless Ethernet. A powerful loudspeaker.
Quote: If only I could just hit the power switch, and then turn a knob to the "KGO" station... ? I'd be pretty likely to buy something like this.
And I did exactly that a couple months ago. Drove over to my local big box electronics retailer and drove home with a Logitech Squeezebox Radio (it was definitely hard to find in the store, though, since it straddles the world of boomboxes/radios and internet gear).
At $150 it's not really that cheap, but it does exactly what many people here are clamoring for: gives them SIMPLE one-button access to internet radio, without having to fire up a full-blown PC app. I bought it for my elderly father, and have a preset button (a hardware button) set to KCBS (San Francisco), WINS (New York), an internet station that plays Celtic tunes, and so forth. Two button presses (power + preset) and he's got the sound filling the room, and the PC can stay off.
And soon the battery module will be available for sale and he'll be able to carry the radio around, even.
This is a solved problem, folks. Go buy one for your elderly relative.
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