Category: DAB
PURE launches five new DAB radios
Pride of place goes to the Siesta Flow, which PURE is billing as its first internet connected bedside radio. The Siesta Flow has a retail price of £99.99 which also makes its PURE's cheapest internet radio so far.
IKON digital radio with colour touch screen/iPod dock
Here's a gadget that claims to be the first multi-format digital radio with built in colour touch screen.
Dubbed the REVO Ikon it certainly seems to offer plenty of facilities including DAB, DAB+ and internet radio – as well as conventional FM radio with RDS. Where available, colour station logos, station descriptions, track and artist information, news headlines etc. are displayed on the device's 3.5inch colour screen.
Monitor Audio's unusual Airstream digital radio
British company Monitor Audio is probably best known for its high-quality, hi-fi speakers but here's a DAB radio which stands out from the crowd – even the PR described it over the phone as the 'marmite' of DAB radio. You'll either love it or hate it.
Dubbed the Airstream 10, it certainly looks interesting, though I'm not sure how practical it would be in the kitchen – kind of looks like it will topple over.
DAB receives major setback as Germans and Swiss say no
The future of DAB radio took a bit of a kicking today when Germany and Switzerland’s commercial radio stations refused to invest in developing the DAB system to replace existing FM/AM transmissions. Their argument was that it didn’t make financial sense to do so.
The news has big repercussions for the UK and the rest of Europe. The Digital Britain report stated that the government would “work with our European partners, including the European Commission, to develop a common European approach to digital radio”. Well, it seems like all of the European partners aren’t interested in coming to the party.
The move could also be bad news for consumers. DAB radios are already much more expensive than their analogue brethren and the lack of a Europe-wide market is hardly going to help the cause. Car manufacturers are also less likely to include DAB radios in cars if they’ll only get maximum usage in selected countries.
The whole DAB scenario has been a bit of a shambles from the start really. Some DAB radios in the UK- reportedly as many as 9million – won’t even work if/when the system gets upgraded to the superior DAB+ system.
Campaigns such as Save FM argue that there is no need to take radio digital anyway – with many people arguing FM audio quality is, in fact, superior. The rise of internet radio also raises questions for the need of a digital radio network.
(via The Register)
Pure launches DAB Sirocco 150 dock/radio
Strapping an iPod dock to your audioware has been a no-branier for a little while but getting Apple to certify your product as “Works with iPhone” is a good bit of one-upmanship from Pure. Ladies, gentlemen and DAB freaks, meet the Sirocco 150 mini-system designed with digital music in mind.
It’s got SD and USB slots, as well as the dock, for playback of MP3 and WMV files. No specific mention of AACs, so I can only assume that that’s through pod/phone only action. Naturally, it takes CDs too and, of course, there’s DAB provided you can actually pick anything up where you live.
The unit offers 25 Watts RMS and each speaker has a 4″ mid bass and a 1.5″ tweeters. It’s out in June for £149.99 and, whatever you feelings may be about compressed music files and digital radio, you have to admit the Pure Sirocco 150 hits aesthetically.
Not sure why they left the dock as an external plug in seeing as it’s a main feature. Probably something to do with internal space in the main box. How’s that for some benefit of the doubt?
DAB growth slowing across the UK
The humble DAB radio has been a fixture in middle-class households across the UK for several years now. However, it’s growth appears to be slowing. Although more than half a million sets were sold in December, that’s down nearly 10% on the previous year, and down 20% on the Digital Radio Development Bureau’s forecast for the year.
At the same time, there’s no date been set for analogue radio switchoff and the growth of internet radio and compatible devices directly threatens DAB’s position as the future of radio, in the same way that Blu-ray is being threatened by digital delivery of video content.
DAB either needs a strong injection of support, or to be cut free to sink or swim on its own. Its current middle-ground situation isn’t really helping anyone. Much will depend on what happens in 2009, I suspect. Do you use DAB? Could you live without it? Tell us your story in the comments.
(via the Guardian)
Related posts: Arcam shows off the FMJ T32 Hi-Fi DAB tuner | Pure launches its EVOKE Mio DAB & FM radio, a coloured-in update of the EVOKE-1S
CES 2009: Sonoro Eclipse & Elements W – upgrades to the dock/radio family
The benefit of owning a Sonoro dock is that you don’t have to hate yourself. They actually look and sound pretty good. Two of the upgrades from CES 2009 are the Eclipse eDock and the Elements W internet radio…
CES 2009: Arcam shows off the FMJ T32 Hi-Fi DAB tuner
This is the very pretty, but very expensive Arcam T32 Hi-Fi DAB tuner. As you’d expect from Arcam, it’s a top-end bit of kit, with a top-end price tag to match. Although it’s essentially just a radio, it also comes with a high-end iPod interface.
It’s got a DAB tuner, with band III and L-band reception, it’s DAB+ compatible, and there’s also an AM/FM tuner onboard, too, if for some reason you decide that DAB is too nice-sounding. Lastly, the iPod interface is viewable from the front of the display, so you can scroll through artists and tracks on the LCD screen of the device.
It’s yours for £500. That’s not cheap, but this isn’t a cheapy-made bit of kid. Full details are on the Arcam site.
For more products and releases from CES 2009, click here.
PURE intros Avanti Flow: fully equipped radio with iPod dock
It seems the fashion for sticking an iPod dock on audio products still hasn’t died, with PURE launching its latest radio unit, the Avanti Flow, complete with Apple-friendly port.
The star feature of the unit is the almost complete coverage of modern radio standards. Not only is there FM radio, but also DAB and Internet radio, which can also be used to catch up with previously broadcasted shows (from the BBC, for example)…
Pure launches its EVOKE Mio DAB & FM radio, a coloured-in update of the EVOKE-1S
The Pure EVOKE Mio comes in six “striking” colours – chilli (red?), chocolate (brown?), moss (green?), nicotine (yellow?), candy (pink?) and midnight (black?) – with the leather-esque front of each unit colour-coded so it’s as much fun to look at as listen to. Almost.
One of those colours is fictional, by the way. Can you guess which? That’s today’s FUN QUIZ! The Mio is rechargeable, apparently…
