radio

In journalism as in technology, one learns early to K.I.S.S. ass. That is, you Keep It Short and Simple, or end up feeling like an ass. So what's with the convoluted naming convention from some tech vendors? Take, for example, the "Yur.Beat Fusion Stream" from Singapore-based Yuraku. Who needs a lobotomy after that?

Names aside, Yuraku claims this is the world's first portable wireless Internet radio with full multmedia features. And there lies the catch. Want Internet radio? Well, you need a wireless hot spot to connect to. Although once online, you … Read more

After having done its level best to corner the iPod clock radio market, iHome is expanding into mobile phone accessories. But despite its extensive experience with media players, the new business won't necessarily be a slam dunk.

As Chip Chick rightly notes, wireless speakers and other Bluetooth accessories have proven to be rocky terrain for other companies, and iHome's new iHC5S system is trying to succeed on multiple fronts--as a four-speaker stereo, MP3 clock radio, speakerphone and who knows what else, for $150. It's an effort well worth trying, however, as mobile phone makers continue to morph their handsets … Read more

There appears to be relief ahead for at least some small Webcasters that balked at a new requirement to pay higher royalty rates to musicians and record labels.

SoundExchange, the nonprofit record industry spin-off charged with collecting the mandatory royalty payments, said in a Tuesday press release 24 "small" Internet radio outfits have signed agreements guaranteeing they will owe through 2010 the same rates they have paid since 1998. Others are in the process of signing on, SoundExchange said. It was not immediately clear which radio stations had already reached agreements.

Under the deal first offered in May, … Read more

The words "inflatable" and "robot" rarely appear next to one another in a sentence, but there's a first time for everything.

The sub-$40 Mega Mech Airmagination radio-controlled robot may be full of air, but as the photo that accompanies this story shows, it's also full of enough awesomeness to cause amazed facial expressions from mulleted youngsters.

The robot has a built-in voice chip that spits out pre-loaded phrases, as well as wheels in its feet that let you drive it around RC-style.

Like most cutting-edge robots, the Mega Mech Airmagination is available at Walmart. … Read more

Fact is, all of the wireless speakers I've reviewed for CNET still use speaker wires to do what speaker wires always do, deliver audio signals from power amplifiers to the speakers. And since wireless speakers have built-in power amplifiers, they need to be plugged into an AC wall outlet. So where a standard speaker has one wire, the wireless speaker has at least two! The "wireless" part refers to the system's ability to wirelessly transmit audio signals from the front of the room to the surround speakers.

The two wireless transmission systems, infrared and radio frequency, … Read more

Pro football has a Clancy-esque spy story going. It can even be called Patriot Games.

The New England Patriots of the National Football League are accused of conducting electronic surveillance in an effort to steal hand signals from opponents. The murky tale of rule breaking features clandestine videotaping and suspicious radio frequencies. Some in football believe that this is all wrong; not just the cheating, but some look down their noses at the kind of cheating.

This situation isn't like grabbing someone's jersey away from the refs or corking a bat. This is cloak-and-dagger stuff. We're talking … Read more

Chalk this up to overkill. The New England Patriots, victors in three of the past six Super Bowls, are accused of using technology to gain an unfair advantage last Sunday.

The NFL's front office has determined that the Patriots swiped defensive signals during Sunday's 38-14 drubbing of the New York Jets, according to a report published Tuesday on ESPN.com. League officials confiscated a video camera and tape from one of the Patriots' assistant coaches after he allegedly was caught taping Jets' coaches sending hand signals, ESPN reported.

A spokesman for the league could not be reached for … Read more

Last week, The Wall Street Journal had a story about Arbitron's People Meter, a new portable device that helps the radio ratings measurement company determine the exact amount of time a user spends listening to particular radio stations. Radio stations insert an inaudible signal that only the device picks up, and testers are supposed to carry the devices at all times, so regardless of where they listen (work, home, car, grocery store), the People Meter knows. This is more accurate than the old way of asking radio listeners to record their habits in a paper diary--users tended not to … Read more

Polk Audio has taken the wraps off the I-Sonic Entertainment System 2, the follow-up to the company's impressive 2006 tabletop AV system. The new ES2 model gets the iPod dock that was missing from the original I-Sonic, but it loses the Swiss-Army-knife luster of that all-in-one model: gone are CD/DVD player and XM satellite radio support (though an auxiliary line-in port lets you connect any external device of your choosing). Video output (for the increasingly burgeoning number of video-capable iPods) remains, as does the dual alarm clock and HD Radio tuner. And it's the interaction between the HD Radio and the iPod where the new I-Sonic debuts a first-of-its-kind feature called iTunes Tagging. … Read more