Now here’s a device that ought to be a gift to those who have family members that love singing in the shower, although they would never have made it past the audition stage of American Idol. We’re looking at the Water Powered Shower Radio, and as the name suggests, you need not burden your monthly power bill with this, and the other advantage would be to have its audio content drown out the voice of the one singing.
This is one radio that’s going to make waves in bathrooms across the country, and will ship only at the end of March for £34.95. Now, if only someone could figure out a similar principle and have vehicles run on water instead of gas.
Using the Water Powered Shower Radio is a snap, and installation does not require a rocket science degree. All you need to do is fit the radio in line with your shower hose, where water that flows through will power the H2O micro turbine that in turn drives a generator which produces energy.
Who listens to the radio these days? Not many apparently, but then again your ears can only handle so many premediated MP3s on a playlist before they yearn for something fresh and random, and this is where radios and their bunch of chatty DJs come in.
The Revo Axis Radio which retails for £199.99 a pop will come in a sleek form factor, being an Internet/DAB radio cum dock which will represent the next generation of ‘connected’ music hubs. Not only can it receive more than 13,000 Internet radio stations, it also does crystal-clear DAB and DAB+, conventional FM radio with RDS and music streamed from your PC or Mac. This makes the Axis one seriously multi-talented performer, while doubling up as an iPhone/iPod dock.
Not only that, NXT’s patented Balanced Radiator loudspeaker technology is incoporated within its 8W amp to deliver impressive clarity and bass response. To cap things off, you get an alarm clock with it, complete with the all important sleep and snooze functions, now how about that!
Radios these days have become a thing of the past. As technology progresses, so does radios went into oblivion. But the Q2 Cube Radio makes owning another one of this classic audio gadget exciting and cool.
The Q2 Cube Radio has no dials for channel surfing or volume. With the Q2 Cube, you only have to twist and turn it around if you want to change channels or increase the volume.
In order to change the volume or radio stations, you just tilt or rotate the small cube. It works because of the gravity switch that is inside the cube.
However, the radio cube is still in the early stages of development. The company is only showing it to the general public, and they haven’t released a pricing for it yet. Hopefully, we can get a full blast of this cube when the time comes.
Here is the review of Sony Ericsson R306, where you can find a list of key features, main disadvantages and final impression.
Key features:
- FM / AM radio tuner with RDS and TrackID
- AM receiver has 2 modes: 9 kHz (the USA and Japan) and 10 kHz (in other countries)
- Outside control of the radio
- Triple GSM support
- 1.9-inch TFT display with a resolution of 128 x 160 pixels
- Second external monochrome display with a resolution of 96 x 32 pixels
- 1.3 megapixel camera
- 5MB internal memory
- Bluetooth
- USB
- Ability to record radio in MP3 format
- Stereo speakers
- Main shortcomings:
- The external display is illegible in daylight because of the mirror surface
- Radio is not very convenient to use without headphones
- Standard headphone output is too large
- RDS data is not visible on the external display
- Memory is only 20 stations AM and FM
- TrackID will not work with radio
Conclusion
Sony Ericsson R306 Radio is a basic option as 1.3 megapixel camera, Bluetooth and intelligent connectivity. Improvements include radio stereo speakers, RDS, TrackID, record radio broadcasts.
Sparse and the lack of a built-in memory expansion slot is, of course, a drawback. The display could have better picture quality.
And now, about a detail that can spoil any phone, much less intended for radio. It is a big headphone output.
In any case, such phones like Sony Ericsson R306 Radio, will always have a market.
Alarm clock, combined with a radio is not a novelty. But the alarm clock, combined with the Internet radio is something interesting.
Ability to connect to the Internet via Wi-Fi and play Internet radio stations makes this gadget from the company Aluratek a bottomless music box. After all, you can listen to more than 11 000 stations.
If it is necessary, you can use the gadget for playing MP3.
As for the main function, here is provided an opportunity to set two alarm clocks with different options. You can wake up under the tunes of your favorite song, a radio broadcast or one of the preset sounds of the alarm.
The only disadvantage of this gadget is its price. No matter how many radio stations and alarm clocks it has, but $199 seems a little excessive.
Many FM-radio listeners want to get rid of advertising. While advertising is the engine of commerce, its quantity is often too much.
These problems will be solved if you buy a table radio, from the Internet shop Hammacher and Schlemmer. Radio is equipped with a portable MP3 player, which stores up to 500 songs from any FM-broadcast stations, skipping commercials and talking disc jockeys. Just choose your favorite radio station and the receiver will “learn” to recognize advertising in 2-3 days.
When the training is completed, the radio automatically begins to record the songs and will upload them to your player. It also has 2 3-inch speakers for high quality sound. In addition, headphones are included in the kit.
MP3 player has the usual functions of the player: play, pause, forward, back, pass, and an additional cable, through which it can be connected to your home or car stereo. The battery of the MP3 player is enough for 12 hours, it charges through the docking receiver.
The size of a desktop radio is 14×12, 5×24 centimeters, and you can buy it for 250 dollars.
Californian company with a Russian name Belkin introduced two new universal devices. They can be used as a car phone wireless headsets for iPhone, as well as sound amplifiers when playing music with the iPhone or iPod.
The main difference between these two devices of the TuneBase ™ brand is the presence or absence of FM-signal processor. TuneBase Direct allows you to listen to music on the phone and mp3-player, and connects to the car stereo. At the same time, the gadget works as a charger. If, at that time you receive a call, pressing the button transfers iPhone into speakerphone mode, and you can hear a voice of the interlocutor, as the music is heard from automobile stereo speakers.
In addition to the abovementioned functions, TuneBase FM has ClearScan feature, which allows a maximum fine-tune radio frequency for the best quality broadcast. In addition, both devices allow to deploy iPhone horizontally for watching videos and photos, without removing the smartphone from the slot.
The price differs in 20 U.S. dollars. You can buy TuneBase FM for 89 dollars 99 cents, a TuneBase Direct for 69 dollars 99 cents.
TuneBase™ Direct
TuneBase™ FM
