I still think internet radio is the best thing since, oh, I dunno, sliced bread, colour tellie, synthetic inserts for cycle shorts ...
Anyway, here are one or two of my favourite internet radio stations:
Internet radio, for me, has turned out to be one of the most useful developments on the interweb, along with stuff like Skype and ... put your favourite web application here.
I have two internet radios; a Noxon iRadio and a Sangean WFR-20. The radios work independently of a computer, basically looking like a sometimes rather bulky transistor radio or table radio.
The Noxon iRadio was one of the first wifi internet radios available in the UK. I bought it about three years ago. There was nothing remotely like it available in the US for another couple of years at least. Stuff like satellite radio stifled demand here, although the US market is now discovering the benefits of internet radio - 15,000 stations freely available on your dial.
Hmmm ... freely available; more about that later ...
However, at the moment, the latest firmware is getting rather long in the tooth, although there is a beta-version available, but I can't get it to upload into the Noxon. One of the advantages of the Noxon is that it's a nPnP device and it can have some of its features controled via its own internal web interface. It uses the vTuner portal for access. vTuner is a pretty basic service with no user forum or similar available. It is also not able to access stations broadcasting in WMA, a problem if you like nice quality on the BBC. On the other hand vTuner has been pretty reliable.
One of the first wifi internet radios available in the USA was the Sangean WFR-20. This is a much more substantial radio than the Noxon and has a pretty good tone too.
Unfortunately the Sangean does not use nPnP, although the latest beta-firmware is working in that direction.
The Sangean uses reciva.com as a portal. Stuff like favourites, streams and podcasts are controlled via the portal. Reciva also has the benefit of a lively support forum, although the forum software is pretty clunky and slow. Beta-firmware is available via the forums.
I also started iRadioForum.net for general internet radio chat and support. It's a bit slow taking off ... but who knows?
Internet radio does face some challenges though, in particular, geo-blocking and station flash-players.
Geo-blocking is internet radio broadcasters' response to rather dated copyright laws, sometimes just irritating - ie: BBC Radio 5 Live Premier football match commentaries blocked - but largely just plain restricting. Another problem is that radio stations will only play via a specially developed flash player application and stream, thus unavailable to internet radio devices and frequently associated with geo-blocking too. In other words, radio stations, and particularly US stations are determined to chain us to our computers.
Hopefully there will be a way around this.
Living as an Englishman abroad, it's nice to have those reminders of old Blighty.
McVitie's Digestives, Taylor's Yorkshire Gold, Private Eye and the Guardian crossword ...
... and, of course, the BBC.
Isn't the interweb a wonderful thing? Now, via the wonder of internet radio, it's possible to listen to BBC Radio 5Live and hear about lane closures on the M32 or an incident on the Circle Line.
Anyway, as I've mentioned before, I have two internet radios, a Noxon iRadio - using the vTuner portal - and a Sangean WFR-20 - using the Reciva portal. Both have been good acquisitions.
However, finding a place to discuss internet radio problems is difficult. So I've started a forum - The Internet Radio Forum - http://iRadioForum.net/ - to make a start at focusing online discussion and problem solving.
It's very small, at the moment, but I hope in time it will grow. If you're interested, please sign up.
I remember when I was a lad ... Eeeeeee ... you were lucky, mate!!!
Under the bed-clothes with a short-wave radio listening to the cqs from around the globe. I wasn't nearly as keen as some of my friends who had qsl cards printed and sent them off around the world and in turn received cards from scores of exotic locations.
Well, in a way internet radio lets you do this too. And the Noxon iRadio has turned out to be one of the best gadgets I have ever had the fortune to have used with a computer. Well, I say computer, but actually all the iRadio requires is an internet connection. In my case, a wifi connection. It really doesn't need a computer at all!
Now, I have no idea if the iRadio is the best ever device in this genre. There may well be better devices. There are certainly more specialised devices such as the SqueezeBox which is more of a HiFi device and which may well fit into my future plans.
But it is actually quite hard to find this type of device in the USA. They do exist, but are around double the price at least. Certainly nothing in this price range!!!
Maybe the encroachment of satellite radio here mitigates against it, but you can't help wondering if a device which enables you to connect to virtually anything that interests you for free compared to a satellite subscription, might meet some resistance in the US retail market.
Anyway, my iRadio enables me to listen to maybe around 6000 radio stations around the world, many of them in quality stereo.
I just need to give a plug for BBC 5Live International, SomaFM and Lounge-Radio in particular. And just to say it is also great for listening to podcasts, especially Mark Kermode's film reviews.
But the radio connection is just one aspect of the iRadio's talents. Next WiFi articles will explain how to stream your music collection over your domestic wifi network and how to us the iRadio with a music server.
*See my hifi / media index here.
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