If you store your music on an iPhone or iPod and also enjoy internet radio, the PURE Contour is a one of the nicer speaker systems that I’ve had the opportunity to review. It offers a dock for playing the music on an iPhone/iPod while also charging its batteries, Internet streaming radio, FM radio and network streaming audio. This is all contained in an attractive compact package. Let’s take a closer look.

Note: Click the images in this review to see a larger view.

Hardware Specs

LCD display: 128 x 64 pixel graphical LCD auto-dimming display, large clock and feature icons, light sensor.
Wireless: 802.11b and 802.11g supported with WEP and WPA/WPA2 encryption.
Ethernet: Requires PURE Choice Mini USB Ethernet adapter, available separately.
Speakers: 2 full-range 3 1/2” drive units.
Audio output: 2 x 18W @ Input connectors: 20V DC power adapter socket. iPod/iPhone connector with adapters. 3.5mm Aux-in for auxiliary devices. USB (mini-B type) for product upgrades and Ethernet adapter. (Software upgrades also available over Wi-Fi).
Output connectors: 3.5mm stereo output for headphones.
Composite video out: Composite RCA.
Component video out: 3.5mm 4-pole TRRS connector* (PURE Choice cable available separately).
S-Video out*: 3.5mm 4-pole TRRS connector* (PURE Choice cable available separately).
Remote control: Infrared remote control. 2 x AAA (LR03) batteries included.
Mains power supply: 100-240V, 50/60Hz 20V DC 2.25A external power adapter.
Dimensions (inches): 14.6 wide x 9 high x 6.9 deep.
Weight: 6.39 pounds

Package Contents

Contour speaker
Dock adapters
Remote
AC adapter
Quickstart guide

The PURE Contour gets its name from its dome shape. The design / style will allow it to fit into almost any environment, from living room to office or even kitchen. Although you’ll want to be careful with the knit material that covers the front of the speaker, as it might be difficult to clean. I’d rather it have a metal mesh instead of a cloth / knit covering for easy cleaning.

The front of the system has a pop out iPhone / iPod dock that is compatible with almost all the current and older devices. See review summary box below for a detailed list.

A telescoping antenna for the built-in FM radio is found on the back of the unit, along with a panel of connectors that include power, Aux in, 3.5 mm headphone jack, Composite video, Component/S-Video and Mini USB for software updates, and the optional Ethernet adapter.

Along the top ridge of the speaker are touch sensitive buttons for power and volume adjustment, that light up when the system is powered on.

The power button stays lighted even when the system is in standby mode.

I was happy to see that PURE includes a ‘real’ remote instead one of those cheap membrane type controllers that are usually included with speaker systems.

The remote can do everything that the touch sensitive buttons on the speaker do except for opening the iPhone/iPod dock.

The dock, which doubles as a clock when in standby mode, opens smoothly by pressing in on the top left or right corner.

The Contour works well as an iPhone / iPod speaker system. The sound quality out of the speakers is impressive considering the size of the system. Cranking up the volume does not degrade the sound. The speakers have good bass, crisp highs and clear mid tones.

Using the touch buttons on the front of the dock or the remote, you can skip forwards / backwards through tracks, pause and play. But unfortunately, you can not navigate the Music app menus on the iPhone/iPod with the remote. That means if you’re across the room and want to switch to a different artist, you’ll have to get up and make the change on the device itself.

The PURE Contour has more up its sleeve than just an iPhone/iPod dock though…

It also makes an above average streaming internet radio. You can navigate through lists of stations using the built in LCD or you can link the Contour to The Lounge website.

The website makes it easy to find your favorite type of content by search genres. When you find something you like, you can mark them as favorites and then they will show up in a folder on the device for easy playback. You can even add custom stations. I was also happy to see lists of podcasts too.

Streaming these stations works well. Once in awhile the playback will pause for buffering or a channel will stop playing for awhile for some unknown reason, but for the most part, I can play music for hours and not notice any problems even when I’m surfing via another computer.

The Contour will also play music streamed from your computer after you install the free media server software. It took me a little while to find the software on The Lounge site and set it up, but once I did, I was able to navigate my iTunes folders on my iMac via the Contour’s LCD. This feature makes it really nice to be able to listen any music in your library in any room of your house without having to connect a computer to the system.

Other features that the Contour offers is an FM radio with RDS (shows the titles of songs on the LCD), a sleep timer, ambient sounds like waves, rain / thunder, etc. If you buy the optional cable, you can also connect the Contour to your TV and view video through a connected iPhone or iPod. I didn’t test this feature.

The PURE Contour is a little pricey at $329.00, but it does offer quality sound and quite a few features at that price point. I like it a lot and have no hesitations recommending it, if price isn’t an issue.

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear, iPhone, iPad, iPod related, Reviews

Tagged: Internet Radio, iPhone, iPod, Speaker

PURE Contour iPhone/iPod Dock and Internet Radio Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 25, 2011 at 5:15 pm.

Plug the 45,000 Station Car Radio from Hammacher Schlemmer into your car’s 12V power outlet, connect it to your iPhone via Bluetooth, and you can stream any of 45,000 AM/FM and internet radio stations to an open FM station on your car’s radio.  A free iPhone app streams the stations, including nationwide NPR stations as well as Pandora and Grooveshark stations.  The buttons on the transmitter can control the iPhone’s app for scanning for stations.  And if your car’s radio has an auxiliary input, you can connect the transmitter directly so you don’t have to worry about radio interference.  The transmitter is $99.99, but I’m thinking the real expense will come from data plan overages.

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear, Car Gear, News

Tagged: car accessory, Internet Radio

The 45,000 Station Car Radio originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 22, 2011 at 9:00 am.

Grace Digital has just announced their Victoria Nostalgic Internet Radio. This 1940′s style radio might look old, but it offers the latest internet services, including Pandora, SiriusXM, Rhapsody, DAR.fm and more. It has a 3/4″ thick cabinet with a walnut exterior and birch inlay highlights to give it that classic look. A built in Class D Digital amplifier with a rear ported 4″ full range speaker provides the sound. Set it on a shelf and let your WiFi 802.11 N network start pulling in the tunes. It comes with a remote, or you can use one of the free iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch or Android apps to control the music. The Victoria Nostalgic Internet Radio is available now for $229.99

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear, News

Tagged: Internet Radio, pandora

Start Dancing the Charleston with the Victoria Nostalgic Internet Radio originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 13, 2011 at 11:00 am.

We’ve reviewed quite a few wireless internet radio players here on The Gadgeteer. Some have performed well while others have been mediocre. Today Judie Lipsett of Gear Diary and I will be doing a dual review of the Logitech Squeezebox Radio. Will it be a winner or a dud? Keep reading to find out.

Judie: Last year Julie Strietelmeier and I took a look at the Logitech Squeezebox Boom, both here and on Gear Diary, and our general consensus was that we both enjoyed using it. As a matter of fact, I liked using mine so much that I eventually sprung for a streaming Sirius subscription as well as a Pandora Premium membership. I wrote about the Logitech Squeezebox Radio when it was first announced, mentioning its compact size, a 2.4″ color display, Facebook connectivity, and a seven-day alarm clock. Although I put in a request for a review unit, I didn’t hear anything for months and I had basically forgotten about it. And then one day, there it was sitting on my front porch … waiting.

Julie: I actually ended up giving my Squeezebox Boom away. It wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy using it, but that I went through a gadget cleansing phase last year to clear out Gadgeteer HQ and it was one of the items that I felt I could live with out. Funny thing is that as soon as I got rid of it, I missed it. So I was super happy when the Squeezebox Radio showed up unannounced on my door step.

Judie: Now there’s an instance of true serendipity.

Hardware Specifications

Audio formats: MP3, FLAC, WAV, AIFF, WMA, Ogg Vorbis, AAC, Apple Lossless (other formats supported through transcoding, some formats may require additional software installation)
Internet radio: Support for MP3, Ogg Vorbis, AAC and WMA formatted Internet radio streams
Wireless interface: 802.11g (802.11n and 802.11b compatible), Supports WPA Personal, WPA2-AES, and 64/128-bit WEP encryption
Ethernet interface: Connects to any 10/100 Mbps Ethernet network (with Auto MDX)
Display: 6.1-cm (2.4-inch) 24-bit colour LCD (Ambient light sensor to adjust display brightness according to environment)
Speakers and amplifier: ¾-inch high-definition, soft-dome tweeter and 3-inch high-power, long-throw woofer, Bi-amplified class D design with digital electronic crossover
Dimensions (H x W x D): 13 cm (5.12 inches) by 22 cm (8.66 inches) by 8.5 cm (5.04 inches)

Judie: Included in the box are the WiFi Internet radio, power adapter with removable plug, a 3.5mm line-in cord, and a quick start guide. Software for the device can be downloaded directly from Logitech. Like the Squeezebox Boom we previously reviewed, the Squeezebox Radio is composed of shiny, fingerprint loving black plastic. A large rubberized knob dominates the front of the radio, and there are six radio preset buttons on either side of the 2.4″ screen.

Julie: In addition to the preset buttons, there are 9 other buttons and a knob that control all the radio features. The buttons are rubberized and have good tactile feedback. Unlike the Squeezebox Boom, the Squeezebox Radio does not include a remote.

The speaker grill on the front has a Black knit material over it. I would prefer that it had a metal grill, but it’s not a big deal as long as you don’t accidentally snag it.

Judie: A handle is built into the back of the radio, which makes it easy to pick up and move when you want to place it somewhere else. Not shown is the battery compartment on the underside; you can install an optional rechargeable battery pack ($49.99) which also includes a remote control. Those of us who wind up using this as a bedside alarm clock will appreciate the battery pack option.

A cool thing I found is that the same infrared remote which works with the Logitech Boom will also control the Radio without changing any settings or … doing anything, really; it just automagically works.

Julie: Darn it! I want a remote for mine

The build quality of this device (as well as all Logitech products that I’ve reviewed) is first class. This little radio has a small footprint, but feels really sturdy. To me it almost looks kind of retro, which I think is kind of cool.

Judie: And I agree with you about the retro flavor and sturdiness of the Squeezebox. I also like that it has a nice weight to it; it feels substantial without being ridiculously heavy; you can even get it in bright shiny red if black is too utilitarian for you.

But to get back on topic …

There’s are power and Ethernet ports on the back, but the Ethernet port is only necessary if you do not have a wireless network in the location where you’ll be using the Squeezebox.

Julie: There’s a line-in jack so that you can use the Squeezebox Radio as an external speaker for other digital music players. There’s also a headphone jack on the right side. You won’t be using headphones with this radio though, because the built-in speaker does a really good job considering its size.

Judie: When you first tun on the Squeezebox Radio, you’ll be asked to select your language before instructions appear for connecting to your network. Twisting the large knob allows you to change selections, and pressing the large knob selects your choices. There is a clever scrolling alphanumeric keypad which will appear when it is time to enter the wireless network security key. After the key has been entered, pressing the Play button will begin the connection. Most likely, the first thing that you will see after that is news of a software update. At this writing, the current version is 7.5.0 r8673.

Once you’ve downloaded any updates, you can either create a Squeezebox account or sign into your current account. Again you’ll use the knob to select and enter your email address and password, followed by pressing the Play button to continue on.

Julie: After the initial setup has finished, you will use the main knob and the back button to scroll backwards and forwards through the various menus. The main menu is a portal to your music library on your computer (this requires that you install server software on your computer), internet radio and the apps you have installed (Pandora, Slacker Radio, Facebook, etc). Spin the knob to select the menu you want to access and then press the knob in to go into that menu. Pressing the back button goes back one menu level. If you ever want to go back to the home menu (shown below), you can just press the Home button. Easy.

Judie: You can control what’s playing on the Squeezebox Radio directly from the device itself, but you can also use the Squeezebox Remote software to control what’s played from your computer — even if it’s located way across the house; you just have to be on the same WiFi network. Squeezebox software is compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux.

As Julie mentioned, once signed in to MySqueezebox you can select various “Apps” to install including Facebook (to view your news stream, photos, or to publish what you are listening to), Flickr (for displaying your photos), Sirius, Pandora, Rhapsody and other internet radio stations – both free and subscription based.

Julie: My fave apps are Pandora and Slacker Radio. But I also enjoy surfing through all the different internet radio genres and stations. The Squeezebox Radio doesn’t include an FM tuner to listen to regular terrestrial radio, but if your local stations also stream, you can find and listen to them through the Squeezebox. I love this feature.

Judie: I really like the little color screen and the way that it shows album art, photos or Facebook news stream when songs are playing. The screen is small and it’s not going to replace a full-size digital picture frame or browser, but it’s a neat feature. The time always displays at the bottom, along with a wireless signal indicator.

Julie: I agree that the LCD is a great feature. Even though it’s small, it’s bright and easy to read. I like that it shows the song’s title, artist and album info. It has helped me to find quite a few new favorite artists since I began using the Squeezebox.

Judie: When you aren’t using the radio, a default screen which shows the time, day and date will display. These are set automatically over the network, so you don’t have to worry about a thing. Actually the phrase “you don’t need to worry about a thing” applies to most everything about the Squeezebox Radio. It’s extremely easy to set up, and even over my less than stellar satellite internet connection, it works well.

Julie: I agree, this product is super easy to use and I haven’t noticed any issues with buffering using the Squeezebox with my broadband connection. I’ve been frustrated in the past with other internet radio devices pausing in the middle of songs or not being able to connect to various stations. I won’t say that I haven’t had this happen (station connection issues) once or twice with the Squeezebox, but it has been rare.

Judie: I like the Radio’s alarm clock feature because it not only allows you to set up to seven different alarms for seven different days, you can also chose what you would like to be awakened to. The obvious music playlist choices are there, but so are musical sounds, natural sounds, and sound effects. I like the alarm clock’s features so much that I’ve put the Squeezebox Radio in our bedroom; it’s replaced my iPhone on the mornings when I need an alarm.

Julie: I’m using the Squeezebox Radio as my office clock. The only thing I wish was that there were different clock styles to choose from instead of just white on black. But I’m being picky…

Judie: Oh, I totally agree! With all the great personalization features, the black & white clock just seems so … blah! But it is a minor quibble when everything else about the device is really good. Speaking of which — I have been very impressed with the sound from those little 3″ woofers! The Squeezebox Radio puts out great sound that can easily fill a room; the treble is not tinny, and the bass isn’t feeble. It sounds very rich and like it’s coming from a larger system.

Julie: I like everything about the Squeezebox Radio. It’s easy to use and sounds great. I really don’t have any complaints other than the fact that they didn’t throw in a remote! So it gets two thumbs up from me and this time I’m not giving it away!

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear, Reviews, Wireless

Tagged: Internet Radio

Logitech WiFi Squeezebox Radio Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on May 12, 2010 at 7:00 pm.

The Cyberus ebook reader from Sungale offers a 7″ LCD touch screen with 800 X 480 pixels resolution.  In addition to letting you read ebooks (TXT and PDF), you can also use the Cyberus to display and download pictures from Picasa,  read RSS feeds from Yahoo and Google, listen to IP radio, access your Gmail account, YouTube, stock market information, and weather information.  The Cyberus has a calendar, clock, and alarm functions, an American English dictionary, and you can even get navigation information.  The Cyberus can connect through the provided USB cable or through WiFi.  It has a rechargeable battery that provides three hours of battery life.  It’s $249.99 from online dealers, like NewEgg and Amazon.com.

Filed in categories: eBook Readers and Gear, News

Tagged: eBook reader, Internet Radio, Spotlight Gadgets

Sungale Cyberus Ebook Reader / Multimedia Player originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on February 12, 2010 at 8:47 am.

Looking for an iPod dock with a little pizzazz? How about one that links up with your home WiFi connection, plays podcasts and FM/Internet radio from around the globe, and – here’s the kicker –streams music in from you home computer? The WiFi Internet Radio (Model IR-3101) from MerConnect can do all these things and quite a bit more, pushing the traditional iHome docking station idea into something quite multi-functional, easy-to-use and entertaining.

Grandparents, who are easily amused by anything with a glowing LED 2.5” display, will get a kick wondering what the heck this Internet Radio kabob’r is. Being the kind, considerate granddaughter I am, I keep it simple – it’s a neato looking alarm clock that glows in the dark.

Setting the dock up to utilize wireless connectivity is a snap, and doesn’t take much effort. The Radio Dock quickly found available WiFi networks, and I connected to my home network by using the remote to navigate and enter my password. From there, it was just a matter of picking a home location to choose music from, which can vary with your current location to your own personal preferences.

I searched around the podcasts section and found a random Bar Chat show in California. No idea that existed.  There’s lot of stuff out there in podcast land just waiting for a legion of fans!

The Radio also docks iPods and iPhones with a breeze. Drop the iPhone into the dock, and it’s ready to roll. You must have the remote handy though in order to switch songs because the home key is obscured by the design of the dock.

Don’t have your iPod or iPhone handy or just too lazy to pick it up off the floor? Try using the UPnP support to wirelessly transmit your music to the radio. If you have Windows Media you’re in luck because it support UPnP, but iTunes users have to jump through a few loopholes.

After a quick Google search, I found a company called Twonky that can broadcast your iTunes library to their servers using the UPnP protocol. I downloaded their 30-day free trial and voila, the WiFi dock found my entire iTunes library – Wirelessly! Brilliant. I barely had to do anything at all, except enter my self-made Twonky Username and Password.

For our European fans, the radio supports DAB. I was unable to test this portion of the dock out because I’m reviewing it here in the USA. If anyone winds up purchasing the sound dock, please let us know how the DAB functionality performs.

Everything isn’t sunshine and roses with this dock. There are a few glaring issues of concern namely the speakers weak. With no treble or bass adjusters, the sound is somewhat tinny and shallow, and on par with a basic, portable iHome sound dock. If you were hoping for Bose or Bowers and Wilkins perfection, then you will be mightily disappointed.

The WiFi docks works with IEEE 802.11 b/g wireless configurations, supports the newest generation iPod and iPhones, has USB, AUX in and Line Out I/O ports. You can either run this puppy off 6 AAA batteries or with a power adapter. The remote requires 2 AAA batteries.

In the box you will find the remote, USB cable, AUX cable, power supply (mine was European), and a useful manual with a retail price of $159.99.

Photos courtesy of Chris Tooley – http://WWW.TOPHERPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear, Reviews

Tagged: Internet Radio, iPhone, iPod

WiFi Internet Radio w/ iPod docking station Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 18, 2010 at 12:27 pm.

I remember in grade-school staying up late with the lights off in my room listening to Toledo Goaldiggers hockey games on my portable black RCA transistor radio.  I remember picking up a St. Louis station from my then home in Toledo and thinking how cool that was.

Enter the Wi-Fi radio, in this case the FullJoin Wi-Fi Radio. Now I can hide in my room at night and listen to stations from almost anywhere in the world! (… if I can just get my kids to stop finding me when I’m hiding…)

The unit charges by plugging it into a computer USB port; no other charging method is available, but this way there is one fewer cord to lug, and you will likely use your computer to “program” stations into the radio. The radio takes 5 or 6 hours to charge fully, but claims to run 15 hours on a charge.  I haven’t come close to running down the first charge yet.

As you would guess, the radio works  by picking up a Wi-Fi signal, either from your own router or any other available network.  The first thing you need to do to use the Internet Radio function is connect to a network.  The radio will scan for available networks when turned on.  (There is also a Scan for Networks function under settings for any time you wish to scan for networks again;  for instance if you take the radio to another location or if the network you are using weakens).  If an unsecured network is not available you will need to connect to a secure network.  The radio will remember up to three networks and appropriate setting in its memory,  so if you use the radio in the same place each time you do not need to continue to connect to your network again and again.

Connecting to secure networks is where I had difficulty.  The radio will ask for a security key based on the setting on the router.  Two of the networks I tried to connect to use WPA, so the radio asked for the WPA passphrase.  I could NOT get the radio to connect using my WPA passphrases (and I know they work as I’ve connected two different laptops  using same passphrases). I could only get the radio to connect if I unlocked the network. The radio can pick up other forms of encryption such as WEP64 and WEP128.  Passwords are entered into the radio using the spin dial on the front of the radio.  You also use this to choose various options, as you would with the wheel on an iPod.

The radio is made by Shenzhen Full-Join Technology Co out of China, which from their website seems to be a relatively new company, especially with regards to consumer products.  Their website seems a bit hastily put together, with a number of incorrect English translations.  I have included the url for a stateside and Canadian supplier though. The radio station selection portal and its technology are handled by a British company called CSR.

The most fun is choosing the radio stations you want to listen to and perhaps store as favorites.  To do so you log on to what is called CSR’s vTuner on your computer (csr.vtuner.com).  There is an easy to find number called a MAC address stored on the radio, which identifies your unique radio.  Once this is entered and accepted you are able to set up a login email/password combination of your choosing to use for further logins to browse, add or change stations on your radio. The selection is truly overwhelming (as anybody who spends any time browsing radio on their computer already knows).  At my last login there were over 13,000 radio stations and almost 7500 podcasts available through this portal.  There are likely podcasts you will look for that won’t be available on vTuner;  most of the other podcast aggregators I have used have more podcasts available, but with 7500 you should be able to find something that interests you!

The sound from the radio is ok, but I preferred to use my own headphones as the radio has a 3.5mm jack. The radio isn’t cheap at $160.  With the price on netbooks so low I imagine many would just opt for one of these to get your internet radio fix; but,  if you want something you can fit in your hand  or pocket easily then this would certainly qualify.

Oh, did I mention the unit also has an FM radio feature as well?  When I can listen to music from South Africa or Mali or a talk show from the Middle East it hardly seems fair to make the poor radio play a tune off the new Mariah Carey cd on the FM though…

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear, Reviews, Wireless

Tagged: Internet Radio, WiFi

Full-Join PPS-FM WiFi Pocket Radio Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 6, 2010 at 4:26 pm.

A few months ago, Julie mentioned the Livio Pandora Internet Radio in her Spotlight Gadget feature. My boyfriend had recently introduced me to Pandora, and I just knew he and I had to check this little device out. Several weeks later, Livio had shipped me the LV001 Pandora Radio.

Right out of the box, this is one hot-looking little device. The front is rather Apple-esque, with brushed metal and a clear plexliglas faceplate over a white background. The radio has a single speaker with a pressure-release output in the rear. It also provides two stereo audio ouputs – a 3.5mm jack in the front for a standard pair of headphones, and a 3.5mm jack in the back to output to speakers or a home entertainment system. Livio is also nice enough to provide a 3.5mm-to-RCA Y-cable for hooking up to RCA inputs on a receiver or speaker set.

Also on the back of the radio is the DC input jack, a 3.5mm stereo input jack, and an RJ-45 LAN port for connecting to your network. Fortunately, the Livio also supplies an 802.11g wireless network connection, so you can put it anywhere in your house and still get your radio stations.

The front controls are quite simple – because this radio is specifically designed for Pandora users, it provides thumbs up and thumbs down buttons for rating songs, as well as a song skip button. The second row gives you a power button, plus a “favorites” and a “back” button. There is also a large volume control, which also serves as a navigation control through the menu structure.

The radio also has a large, bright, blue-backlit LCD for displaying station information, the menu structure, and (when the radio is off) a large clock.

The Livio also comes with a small remote control (battery included). It provides the same Pandora controls, as well as a mute button, five numbered buttons for accessing favorited stations, and the necessary controls to navigate the menu structure. This is nice – if you’re feeling lazy and don’t want to get up to change stations, you can do it all with the remote.

Getting the Livio set up with my WPA-protected home network was actually very easy. Once I was connected to my network, I registered on Livio’s website with my Pandora account, using the serial number and activation code found in the radio’s setup menu. This is a bit troublesome to me – what’s going to happen if Livio goes out of business five years from now? Will the radio function without my Livio account? I don’t think so, since I had to set that up before I could access anything else on the radio. I’d hate to spend $150 (the MSRP) on one of these, only to find it’s useless when Livio goes bankrupt – or starts charging a fee for the service.

After my radio was registered, I was able to see the Pandora stations I previously created through Pandora’s website. There’s not a whole lot to the Pandora-specific functionality – just like the website, you can thumbs-up or thumbs-down songs, as well as skip past a song you don’t want to hear. You can also bookmark your favorite stations by holding down the “Fav” button on the remote or the radio itself. This makes it easy to come back to your favorite stations (imagine that!).

The Pandora features are pretty nice – using the radio is as easy as using the Pandora website. I really like that I don’t have to do anything with a computer or my iPhone just to listen to music I don’t necessarily already own.

Interestingly, my favorite feature on this radio isn’t the Pandora functionality – it’s the access to a huge list of Internet radio stations that’s captured my interest the most. Because the Livio is always online, it can download station updates on a regular basis. One of the most recent updates gave a much longer list of genres, making it even easier to find new music. I’m a huge fan of electronica, and DigitallyImported.com gets a little overdone after awhile (plus the commercials are lame). I’ve been able to discover a huge variety of happy hardcore and ambient chillout music through the long list of stations available in both these genres. I’ve found it quite nice to be able to fall asleep to chillout music some nights.

This brings me to one of the things about this radio that’s a tad annoying – it’s extremely bright when using it in a dark room. The LCD is backlight with a blue light that has three separate brightness settings – active, standby, and off. This allows you to change the brightness of the display at a somewhat more granular level. The problem, however, is that the blue LED ring around the volume control cannot be dimmed, and it blinks repeatedly while a station is buffering (which can take a little while depending on the station). This is more than slightly annoying when you’re trying to sleep or relax in the dark.

Another issue I noticed is with my specific model – there are some white marks on the inside of the clear plastic that covers the LCD. I tried to clean it off, but it appears to be permanent scratches on the plastic. I tend toward the OCD side of things when it comes to this sort of problem, so this drives me crazy. I wish I could fix it.

I really like that the radio can download its own software/firmware updates automagically via its connection to the Internet. It means that new software-based features can be added later. With that in mind, there are a few things I’d like to see:

The Livio has an alarm clock, but it’s very basic – there’s only one (I like having at least two alarms available), and you can’t specify which station will play when the alarm goes off. Additionally, there is no sleep timer. The clock display stays updated over the Internet, and it would be super nice to be able to pick a radio station and a volume to play in the morning, as well as a station and volume for the sleep timer – then I could fall asleep to ambient techno and wake up to heavy metal if I want.

I’d also really like to see more control over the LED backlighting on both the volume wheel and the display. For instance, it would be nice to be able to have the display auto-dim in the evening, much like how some GPS models can switch between night and daytime displays depending on the time of day. It would also be nice to be able to dim the volume wheel a little.

Overall, the Livio Pandora Internet Radio is pretty great. I love the variety of channels, and the Pandora functionality really sweetens the deal. I’m not sure that it’s worth $150 though – the speaker quality is mediocre, and there is the doubt in the back of my mind about the usefulness of the device in the event that its manufacturer goes kaput. I’m also slightly concerned about the quality control in the manufacturing process – those white scratches on the inside of the LCD cover annoy the living daylights out of me. Aside from those small issues, I can definitely recommend this device to your favorite music-lover, even if they aren’t signed up with Pandora – the Internet radio stations are enough for me, and if I get back into managing my Pandora stations, I know that functionality will be plenty useful as well.

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear, Wireless

Tagged: Internet Radio, pandora

Livio Pandora Internet Radio Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on July 23, 2009 at 10:46 am.

I recently moved to a new home that is in a communications dead zone.  There’s no cell access, OTA TV and most troublesome, I cannot receive antenna born FM radio.  Thankfully, VTECH, the cordless phone people have introduced the IS9181 Wi-Fi Internet Radio which gives me a choice of over 11,000 Internet radio stations, plus the ability to stream my PC music files to most of my property.

Features

• Stream music across the 802.11 b/g WiFi network. Broadband Internet service and a home WiFi network router are required
• Listen to Internet radio from the available 11,000 stations with no monthly fee
• Access Internet radio stations from our user-friendly online site or on the device itself
• Play music from any audio device (i.e. CD player, MP3 player, etc)
• Connect to any stereo system or powered speakers to access streaming Internet radio or music files stored on a PC or Mac
• Built-in FM radio tuner for local FM broadcast service. Preset your favorite stations
• Hi-Fidelity built-in 3W tuned stereo speakers and a 10W sub-woofer with class D amplifier for each speaker that can fill any room with dynamic sound
• Digital alarm clock radio-wake up to your favorite Internet or FM radio station or the internal buzzer.
• Automatic clock set and adjustment via the Internet.
• Battery-operated option allows you to take the device outside the home or office.
• Convenient remote-browse, select and control your music from across the room using the remote control
• Access local weather and 5-day forecast

Included in the box are:

• IS9181 radio
• User’s manual
• Quick start guide
• Power Adapter
• Remote control
• Auxiliary audio cable ( to connect Ipod/MP3 player)

When the radio arrived I immediately set it up using the quick start guide.  I was impressed with simplicity of installation.  It’s a matter of plugging the unit in and pressing the standby button.  From there the display will guide you through the screens to set up the wireless connection, the clock and weather settings.

To connect to your wireless network, you will have to know your SSID and password for any encryption you may be using.  It will automatically search for available networks or you can enter the SSID manually.   Next, you’ll want to set the clock, which can be done manually or it can be set via the Internet.  I chose the latter because if you’re running on batteries you will lose your time setting if the clock is set manually.  Lastly, you set your zip code to get the 5 day weather forecasts for your area.  That’s all there’s to it.

After initial setup, you can make changes to the settings from the main menu.  This is also where you setup the alarm and store your favorites.

The radio can be operated using the controls on top of the unit or via the included remote.  I found the controls to be intuitive and easy to operate.  The remote has all the features of the on-board controls, except that the rotary dial is replace by up/down arrow keys.

To select from the included list of Internet radio stations, you press the source button and get the above screen.  From here you can select the different sources and drill down through the menus using the select button.

The station list seems unlimited, but if you can’t find something, you can subscribe to a free account at Vtech and search the Internet for other radio stations.  These will be loaded down to your radio and are found under the My Stations folder.

Because the station listing is so large, you have the option of saving your stations to a favorites folders for faster access in the future.  There is a separate favorites folder for both Internet and over the air FM stations.  You must be in the selected mode to access the correct one.

If you can’t find enough to satisfy you on the Internet, the IS9181 can connect to your local network and play music files from your PCs or Macs.  This takes a little more effort to setup and it’s not as sophisticated as some streaming devices.  You’ll need to create a user account and password on your computer and may have to play with firewall settings.  However, I found that if I turned off my firewall while the IS9181 initially accessed the PC, it would see all my shared drives.  I then turned the firewall back on.

When the source is My Music to play computer files, you are limited to MP3, WMA, RA, RM, RMVB and ACC files that are NOT copy protected.  The only problem I had with this, is if there is a copy protected file in the folder you have selected to play, the IS9181 stops with a display annoncing the error.  You must reply by selecting OK before play will resume.  Also, files will play within a folder, but nested folders will not be selected.

To eliminate issues, I created a folder to play tracks I want to hear (like a playlist), minus any protected or non-conforming file types.

As mentoned, the IS9181 is also an FM radio, but because of where I live, I didn’t get much opportunity to check that feature out.  I was able to pull in the local NPR station and it seemed OK.

You can plug your MP3 player into the unit using the supplied cable.  This worked fine for me, but I rarely use the feature.  There are RCA jacks that allow you to hook the radio to a more substantial sound system.

The system can be run using 6 AA batteries, which makes it truly portable.  I find myself carrying the unit around the house to listen to PODcasts I have recorded, while working in the basement.  My wife and I listen to music in the kitchen family area and at night we plug it in by our dresser and use the alarm function to wake in the morning to internet radio.  The major down side to using battery power, is that the alarm function is disabled at that time.

The weather function displays 5 days of forecasts from weather.com.  It’s a nice feature to have, but isn’t what makes me like this radio.  What I appeciate is the ability to receive radio in my locally deprived area.  I realize that I could do the same thing using a PC and a service like Slacker or Radiotime, but I don’t want to be tethered to a computer all the time.  And while I’m far from being an audiophile, I find the sound from the IS9181 to be just as good as some much higher priced units I’ve listened to.  Lastly, it’s a good looking unit that blends in with the decor in my home.

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear, Wireless

Tagged: Entertainment, Internet Radio, Streaming

Vtech IS9181 Wi-Fi Internet Radio Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on July 14, 2009 at 8:11 am.

The IS9181 is Vtech’s wireless music hub and is their first home audio device. Compatible with PCs and Macs, this device will allow you to listen to internet radio stations and stream digital audio content from your desktop computers via WiFi. It has the ability to run from batteries or an AC adapter.

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear

Tagged: Internet Radio, Spotlight Gadgets, Streaming, Vtech

Vtech introduces their first home audio device originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on May 13, 2009 at 1:22 pm.

The Ira from Myine brings wireless internet radio to your home entertainment system by way of a 2 x 6 x 3 inch module. They claim that it takes only 3 minutes to set it up. Anyone else out there in gadget land enjoy listening to streaming radio? Would you buy the Ira for $149.99?

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear

Tagged: Internet Radio, Spotlight Gadgets, Streaming, WiFi

Myine Ira Wireless Internet Radio originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 24, 2009 at 7:06 pm.

Back when Judie was a fixture here on The Gadgeteer, she and I would occasionally write dually reviews. This was a term we coined that basically consisted of a review where we would chat back and forth about the product in question. Today we’re going to revive that fun format, with a review of the Squeezebox Boom Network Music Player from Logitech.

My comments will be in regular Black text, while Judie’s will be in Blue italics.

I have a bit of experience with the Squeezebox as I had the opportunity to review the previous two versions of this device. The first one was the SLIMP3 Network MP3 player and the newer one was also named the Squeezebox. This was before Logitech bought the company Slim Devices. The main difference between the new Squeezebox Boom and the older units is that this new one has built in speakers, making it way more convenient.

Unlike Julie, I had not used a previous Squeezebox incarnation, and the whole “network music player” genre was slightly foreign to me – unless you count streaming iTunes from one laptop to another over a home network. I guess it’s all basically the same principle though, right? Except doing things this way doesn’t require you to have two laptops, and it sounds much better; but I digress…

Specifications

¾-inch (1.9 cm) high-definition, soft-dome tweeters and 3-inch (7.6 cm) high-power, long-throw woofers
30-watt digital amplifier and speakers
Bi-amplified design with high performance signal processor, class D amplifiers and digital crossovers
Stereo XL technology widens the sound stage beyond the physical boundaries of the speaker
Plays MP3, AAC, WMA, Ogg, FLAC, Apple lossless, WMA lossless, WAV, and AIFF music files
6-button presets allow one touch access to favorite radio stations and playlists
7-day alarm clock
Infrared remote control
Bright, high-contrast VFD display with ambient light sensor and automatic dimming
Built-in 802.11g wireless with dual internal antennas
10/100Base-T Ethernet port
Line-in via 3.5 mm stereo jack
Headphone/Subwoofer out via 3.5 mm connector

Package Contents

Squeezebox Boom
AC adapter
Remote
Quick Start Guide
3.5mm to 3.5mm patch cable

Don’t forget the microfiber drawstring bag; that was a nice touch!

Out of the box, the Squeezebox Boom really lives up to its name. It looks like a typical boom box, with Black mesh stereo speakers on either side of an LCD and panel of buttons.

It doesn’t have a flashy design, which is just fine in my opinion. This way it blends in well in an office, living room, kitchen or bedroom. No worries about clashing colors huh?

No, none at all. Unless the plaid in the above photograph doesn’t go well with someone’s decor. Oh wait…

I knew I should have re-shot that picture Ha!

The buttons on the front are pretty self explanatory. Included are all the normal buttons that you would expect on an audio player, such as Power, Volume, Play, Rew, Pause and FWD.

There is also a preset button bar that you can use to save up to six of your favorite Internet Radio channels. The large knob in the center operates as both a volume adjuster and a menu navigation tool.

The Squeezbox Boom’s case is shiny Black plastic. That means dust and fingerprints. Get out your swiffer!

That’s something that all of the digital music player docks I have reviewed lately have in common – they all use loads of shiny black plastic which looks absolutely gorgeous out of the box, but quickly becomes a swirly mess of dust and fingertips – especially in West Texas.

This boom box uses WiFi to connect to your computer or the internet, but if you are so inclined you can hard wire it using the Ethernet jack on the back. There’s also a line-in jack, powered sub woofer / headphone hookup and an AC adapter jack.

The inline jack should come in handy when you want to enjoy music from another hard-wired music player through the Squeezebox’s speaker system.

The Squeezebox only has a 13.0 x 3.75 x 5.25 inch footprint, so you shouldn’t have problems finding space for it.

No, you’ll just want to make sure that you have a stable place to put it; the Squeezebox is surprisingly heavy.

On the top there is a rubber surface with a little indentation for the included IR remote.

The cool thing is that it’s magnetic, so it holds the remote in place when you’re not using it.

You’ll also notice a long bar next to the remote. It’s a snooze / sleep bar. Press it quickly to see the time and date. Press and hold it to set the sleep feature. You can have the Squeezebox automatically power down in 15, 30, 45, 60, or 90 minutes.

The remote has a corresponding sleep button, which allows you to manually set the power down in the same increments. It’s a nice feature for those who like falling asleep to music.

The remote has real buttons, not a cheesy membrane. Yay! It will let you do almost everything that the buttons on the Boom will do.

This is easily the best remote I’ve found included with any of the systems I’ve reviewed lately. It’s funny how you don’t realize how finicky a membrane remote is, until you have a quality remote – with real buttons – in hand.

To begin using the Squeezebox, you have to connect it to your WiFi access point, or plug it in to your network with an Ethernet cable.

Setting up the music player is simply a matter of following a series of onscreen questions, and pressing the center of the large knob. You’ll need to make note of your player’s PIN number, because it is required during the computer based portion of the setup.

Next you have to decide if you want to use the SqueezeNetwork or the SqueezeCenter as your music source for this networked player.

click thumbnail to see full-size image

SqueezeNetwork is a free internet based service provided by Logitech that you sign up for. It will allow you to connect to services such as Pandora, Slacker, Rhapsody, etc.

I was really impressed by the selection of streaming services offered by SqueezeNetwork; they have Last.fm, Live365, MP3Tunes, Pandora, RadioIO, RadioTime, Rhapsody, Sirius and Slacker. Since I already have a Sirius account I had the option of upgrading to their Premium audio offering for an additional $2.99 a month. Of course there were free options, too – such as Slacker; I set up an account with them in no time, and was able to confirm that  just as I suspected – for me at least, internet radio streaming was not really going to be a viable option.

You can also store your music library in an online MP3tunes Music Locker (free 60 day trial) so that you’ll have access to your tunes  even when your computer is turned off.

I think that this is a pretty neat service for people who don’t necessarily want to leave their laptop on all the time, or who want to use the Squeezebox Boom in a location other than where their main music computer resides.

If you mostly want to use the Squeezebox Boom to listen to internet radio service, then the SqueezeNetwork is probably the way to go.

If you want to listen to your own tunes and not have to pay to keep them stored in the cloud, then you’ll want to go with the next option -  SqueezeCenter.

SqueezeCenter will allow you to also listen to internet radio and your own music collection. But, your computer has to be turned on in order for the Squeezebox Boom to have access to these services and your music. It also requires that you install a web based app on your Windows, Mac or Linux machine.

To download, you simply go to www.squeezenetwork.com and follow the sign-up wizard. During the setup you’ll need the PIN number from your player that I mentioned earlier.

This application runs in your regular web browser. For me, that’s Firefox.

As it is for me.

When you first start SqueezeCenter, it will scan your machine for music. It will imports iTunes artwork and scan for user added artwork. Depending on how large your music collection is, this can take awhile…

The interface is pretty basic, but it gets the job done.

click thumbnail to see full-size image

From within this interface you can do everything from select the music you want to stream to create random song playlists based on genre. The SqueezeCenter will also import and recognize playlists you have setup in iTunes, which was an unexpected and very cool feature.

For this review, I didn’t test the SqueezeNetwork option of copying my music collection into the MusicLocker service. So, whenever my computer was turned off, I could only listen to internet radio by connecting to the SqueezeNetwork. Then I would try to look at my music library, it would be empty. Since I was testing both services, this got a little confusing… Most people probably won’t run into this problem though.

I didn’t copy my music either, mainly because living in the country my internet connection is only one step above dial-up…on a good day.

.

The Squeezebox Boom sounds really good in my opinion. Even without an optional sub woofer, it has some real thump to it. I was honestly really surprised at how good it sounds. What did you think Judie?

I agree that the sound produced is very good. The bass result isn’t quite as thumpy as the Kicker iKICK iK500 I reviewed (and am still using), but it is still quite rich and seems to be even deeper than the Altec Lansing inMotion MAX I recently reviewed and liked.

I was really surprised how well it works for streaming internet radio. I’ve used several internet radio devices in the past and they always seem to have issues with connecting to the stations, or buffering data. I didn’t notice any issues like that with the Squeezebox.

That’s because you have the world’s greatest internet connection, my dear. Oh, how I fondly remember the broadband cable connection I enjoyed (and more or less took for granted) when living in San Angelo, but I wouldn’t give up living in BFE to have it again.

I tried a bunch of different stations and only 2 or 3 times in the last couple of weeks has the player paused to buffer data. Granted, I have a decent broadband connection (T1 line). How well did it work with your connection?

I’ll admit it – it was a disaster! This is the one of the few times where living in the country has produced a major con. Streaming music from my laptop to the player is absolutely fabulous; streaming over the internet? Not so much. But I can’t complain, because I honestly expected that. My main interest in the player was – and is – its ability to stream my music collection from a computer. Bear in mind that there are no desktops in my home – we are all on laptops, so built-in speaker systems are only adequate on a good day. Using this system allows us to have rich stereo sound without hooking up a set of wired speakers; in other words, it is pretty darn awesome!

I tried Squeezebox in several locations around my house. My WiFi router is located in the basement, the Squeezebox works perfect there… but when I took it upstairs on the opposite end of the house, it had some trouble streaming my music and playing internet radio stations. It would sometimes lose connection. I’m not sure I can complain about that since it is going through a floor and a couple walls. I also tried it directly above my office and had no problems.

Our house is not as large as yours, and it is only one story, so there really wasn’t anywhere I could go that would be out of the Squeezebox’s range. So people considering using one of these might want to take into consideration whether they need it to work across the house, or just through a wall or two, so they can place their router accordingly.

The only real issue that I found when using the Squeezebox to stream music I owned was that it would not play certain albums and songs I had purchased from iTunes. Bear in mind that none of my iTunes music was purchased DRM free, so I didn’t know what to expect, but my results were very inconsistent. For instance it would see and play certain albums that I had purchased through iTunes, but it would not see or play others. I thought at first that this limitation was only occurring to albums showing in my purchased list, but lo and behold – one of the CDs Kevin had bought was not only showing in the purchased list, it also played over the network. I honestly have no idea what the deal is, and am puzzled by it.

Update: Reader Daniel Stahl had the answer!

I was unable to get any of my DRM music from iTunes to show up in the music list on the Squeezebox application. So I’m not really sure how it is deciding what it will and will not play. I specifically authorized some music for my iMac (where the SqueezeCenter software is installed) tonight and then did a rescan in the SqueezeCenter application. After it was completed, the music did NOT show up in the music list for the Squeezebox. Color me confused too…

While music is playing, the song title will scroll across the LCD display. When the Squeezebox Boom is not playing music and powered off, it will display the time of day on the LCD. One cool thing about the display that I discovered is that it has an ambient light sensor that can be set to dim the display or even turn it completely off. This is a nice feature for people that want to locate the Boom in their bedroom. Speaking of the bedroom, the Squeezebox Boom can function as a decent alarm clock.

Absolutely correct! The clock operates on network time – in other words, you don’t have to set it, and alarms can be set from the home screen. If the network isn’t working, instead of streaming music you will get an alarm tone.

I have really enjoyed reviewing this device. I like the Squeezebox Boom a lot! It sounds great, works very well for listening to internet radio stations, is very easy to setup, is wireless and doesn’t take up a lot of room on a table or shelf. I’m impressed and will continue to use it.

Even though I can’t utilize the streaming internet features of the player, I am definitely impressed by the way the Squeezebox handled my network music stream. As expected, the sound produced blows away the speakers on my computer, and it is a definite improvement when listening to music. Kevin and I usually have our computers set up on the dining room table, and we listen to our combined music stored on his MacBook Pro through its built in speakers. It would be impractical to put a set of speakers on the table with us, so streaming to the Squeezebox Boom located across the room is the perfect solution.

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear, Wireless

Tagged: Internet Radio, MP3, Streaming, Wireless

Logitech Squeezebox Boom Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 30, 2009 at 11:18 pm.