Hasta La Gadget!

Blaupunkt and miRoamer will announce a partnership at CES that will put internet radio into car dashboards for the first time. Blaupunkt prototypes pictured here show the technology in action.

"miRoamer’s development with Blaupunkt is the first seamless
Internet radio solution," said miRoamer founder and CEO George
Parthimos. "With the simple push of a button, users can access
AM/FM stations or Internet radio’s thousands of music, entertainment,
news and talk stations from around the world, all from the same car
stereo."

MiRoamer dipped its toe in these waters last year, but the requisite hardware deals apparently didn’t materialize. Now that Blaupunkt and miRoamer have formed a partnership, we could see in-car internet radio enter the mainstream.

"The first model will connect to a 3G/HSDPA/HSPA device via Bluetooth for Internet connectivity," explained miRoamer spokesman Ryan Greives. "When connecting to the Internet via an external device (such as an
iPhone), the customer’s existing mobile service provider is the default
network," adding, "various models are in the pipeline which may have an internal modem."

With the radio connected to a smartphone on an unlimited data plan,
these prototypes (the New Jersey 600i, pictured above, and the Hamburg
600i, below) will provide in-dash navigation of tens of thousands of
miRoamer stations, already available via computer and available for access by car starting on January 1, 2009. Beyond that, the availability (and pricing) of Blaupunkt’s internet car radios
are unclear at this point, although Grieves confirmed that they will be
available on original equipment in new cars, although surely the
dedicated gadget head could find a way to get one installed.

miRoamer’s claim that this is the first internet radio for the car
seems a bit dubious on the surface. Indeed, although they are not
elegant in-dash solutions, imeem, Pandora, SeeqPod, YouTube and other music services have been available on connected portables like the Apple iPhone and Windows Mobile for months. In addition, Autonet – another CES exhibitor this year – has offered in-car internet
since last year that could potentially be used for music streaming from
any number of providers. And, of course, satellite laptops can stream
music to car stereos.

But miRoamer and Blaupunkt’s prototypes appear to be the first models
to offer in-dash internet radio. "Today, users want to jump in their
car and go — no pulling out third-party devices or plugging in cords
to access their music and information," according to Parthimos.

These stereos also offer phone, address book and navigation via
Bluetooth, but internet radio is the main attraction with the ability
connect to tens of thousands of miRoamer stations as well as any other
online playlist or MP3.

If you’re diligent enough, you could post
playlist files pointing to various MP3s on the internet, on a free blog
site or anywhere else, since they don’t occupy much disk space, since
they just link to remote files. Then, you could bookmark those
playlists on the Blaupunkt radio to access it all from the road. Another plus is that you can customize favorites, search options and
more through your computer at miRoamer.com and access them later through
the radio.

See Also:

• Imeem Brings Easy Music to Google Android
• CES: Delphi/Autonet’s In-Car Wireless Access Point Adds Media Storage
• Sweet: Pandora’s Streaming Radio App for iPhone
• SeeqPod IPhone Button Allows Instant Access to Free Music
• QLoud’s Popularity on Facebook Proves YouTube Is Best On-Demand Music Service

iLuv has been on quite the roll of late with these radio clocks and whatnot, though we’re a touch more excited than usual about the iHD171. For starters, this one tunes into HD Radio stations (you know, given how FM is so 2006), and it also plays nice with dock-connecting iPods and iPhones. You’ll find twin alarms for keeping couples happy, a front-panel display, iTunes tagging support, jAura speaker technology, an auxiliary line input (3.5-millimeter jack) and twin 4-watt drivers. If all that’s enough for you to exchange $199.99 for, you can do just that next month. Full release is after the jump.

Continue reading iLuv rolls out iHD171 HD radio with iPhone / iPod dock, iTunes tagging

Filed under: Home Entertainment

iLuv rolls out iHD171 HD radio with iPhone / iPod dock, iTunes tagging originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 18:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

The gadget: The ZVOX 550, the only speaker system we’ve ever seen designed to hold a 50″ flat panel TV while packing a 60W amp, 5.25″ sub, and five 2″ speakers in one frame.

The Price: $550

The Verdict: Almost soooo good. While soundbars are ever more popular, in many cases, they fit awkwardly in front of your television. I fit a 40″ LCD on the ZVOX box comfortably. The ZVOX feels very stable—probably more solid than my entertainment center. So that part works.

As for the sounds itself—also excellent. I simply don’t have the equipment available to compare it to other $550 audio systems (and really, there’s no perfect analog product). But I will say that highs, mids and lows were all crisply represented across a variety of genres. The bass, especially, made me more than happy to forgo an extra standalone subwoofer (which the system supports should you need it). And I easily filled my tiny apartment with sound.

The cabinet does vibrate a bit, though it’s very quite unless you crank the bass up to max. The only reason I’d be wary is that the shaking might damage a TV over time…but my immediate, visceral response is that things are fine.

Where the cabinet falls short to me is its inputs. It supports two sources of stereo RCA plugs. And while it offers some virtual surround tech along with the option to mix the two sources, it’s just not going to work for many (or most) general home theater purposes without an optical input. Even if the ZVOX only technically plays back 2.1 channel sound, it’s still a vital connectivity option.
Also, while I appreciate the minimal design, the tiny remote coupled with a single LED light on the system to signal power/remote commands, it’s tough to know where your levels are (Is treble maxed? How much louder can I crank this?).

So given the omission of optical inputs and a limited UI, the ZVOX 550 is not quite the universal home theater product that it could be. But if you want an excellent one-cabinet audio system that can hold your giant LCD, then it may be worth the few inconveniences. [ZVOX]

Update: ZVOX has responded with this note:

I hope you don’t mind, but I’d like to address the “lack of multiple/digital inputs” issue that many editors comment on regarding the Z-Base 550. I feel the need to share some insight on our design decision-making process at ZVOX:

Our primary aim is to combine great sound with simplicity. The typical TV viewer, in our opinion, is very comfortable using their TV set as a switching/control center. That’s what they’ve done for years — plug everything into the TV, and use the TV remote to switch back and forth. It’s intuitive and really simple. And modern TVs have loads of inputs of all kinds. At ZVOX, we say “use ’em!” I can connect my DVD player, Fios box and my kid’s Playstation 3 to my Panasonic LCD TV, then run the analog audio out from the TV to the ZVOX. The fact that the digital-to-analog conversion is taking place in the TV, rather than in the ZVOX system six inches away, doesn’t seem to make any audible difference. The system sounds great. It has all the switching I need. And it’s simple to use.

If we had included 3-4 digital inputs and switching functionality, our costs would go up (Micronas boards, HDMI costs, and last-but-not-least…Dolby royalties — which for smaller manufacturers are quite substantial) and, more importantly, the switching process becomes non-intuitive. A simple example (which presumes I don’t have a Harmony or other smart, macro-programmed remote): I’m watching cable and want switch to DVD. If the DVD’s video is going to the TV, and it’s digital audio signal is going directly to the ZVOX, I need to switch the video with my TV remote and the audio with my ZVOX remote. If I (or my wife) forget, then we end up watching DVD video while listening the cable box audio. (My wife HATES when this happens!!)

We could get around this by adding a bunch of HDMI inputs and outputs — as well as a front panel display (like the Yamaha YSP-4000), but frankly, the ZVOX 425 might then sell for the same $1400 as the Yamaha. I’d rather keep our price point relatively low, while still being able to build cabinets of real wood and use top-notch drivers and amplifiers.

Enjoy the holidays!

Tom Hannaher, ZVOX