Oh! Gizmo

By Andrew Liszewski

The Olinda digital radio was commissioned by BBC Audio & Music Interactive R&D as part of a study to see how physical products could benefit from features we’re accustomed to having while surfing the web. The radio uses a modular design that allows the listener to adapt the product over time to their own needs with hardware add-ons and upgrades. The first prototype pictured here has a social networking module that uses six lights to show when one of your friends is listening to the radio. Pushing their particular button will tune your radio to whatever they’re listening to, allowing you to discover new stations via your social network.

Another web surfing influence can be found on the Olinda’s tuner dials. While the outer dial scrolls the names of stations alphabetically, the inner dial only scrolls through your most listened. In the same way a web browser will auto-complete the URL for a website you’ve already visited, the Olinda radio will automatically compile and remember a list of your most frequented stations. No more having to manually program a list of presets.

[ Olinda Digital Radio ] VIA [ DVICE ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Normally the terms hand-crank & radio really aren’t that interesting, and this time is no exception. However, I do like the fact that this particular hand-crank radio from Eton can be used to talk to other persons with the same radio, or other 2-way radios tuned to the same band of the 22 available channels. The website claims you can store enough power for an hour’s worth of use with just a “few smooth turns” of the fold out crank, but from my own experiences it usually requires a bit more effort.

Besides AM and FM stations, the radio can also be tuned to the NOAA weather broadcasts if you’re worried about an upcoming storm, or are currently in the middle of one that’s knocked out power. And for those times when even a “few smooth turns” seems like too much effort, the radio can run off of 4 AA batteries and also includes an AC adapter. But even with all those features I’m not sure if it’s worth $149.95.

[ 2-Way AM/FM/NOAA Crank Radio ] VIA [ GeekAlerts ]

By Evan Ackerman

The one thing I miss about radio is being exposed to new music. I like all the songs on my iPod, but now that I have an established music collection, I rarely add to it. The Slacker WiFi portable radio acts like a cross between your iPod and the radio (sort of like, I don’t know, XM?), letting you access radio stations (or create personalized ones) over the internet, in addition to playing music that you already own. The neat thing is that the Slacker will buffer your radio stations on its HD, so you don’t have to be connected to the internet all the time in order to be listening to new music.

As you might expect, there is a monthly subscription cost to take full advantage of the radio service. The basic radio is free, but includes a ‘limited number’ of ads, and you can only skip 6 songs per hour. The price for premium radio is $7.50 a month, and for that, there are no ads, you can skip all the songs you want, and if you like something, you can save it from the radio onto your player. The player itself features 10 hour battery life, a 4″ screen, 802.11 b/g WiFi, and weighs 5 oz. A 2gb model (with 500mb for personal music, 1.5gb for radio music) will cost you $200, or you can get a 4gb (1.5gb personal music) for $250 and an 8gb (4gb personal music) for $300. Not too bad if you ask me, although I’ve never been a big fan of subscription based music.

[ Slacker Portable ] VIA [ Electronista ]

By Andrew Liszewski

With most major radio stations simulcasting their broadcasts online, I really don’t see the need for a portable radio recording device. But maybe if you’ve secluded yourself in a remote cabin and have shunned all technology except radio, this could be useful for catching the talk show you missed while checking the traps, or while involved in that confrontation with the FBI.

The Radio YourWay Mini is considered the “little sibling” of Pogo!’s Radio YourWay LX model, but still includes all the scheduling abilities of the larger version. The 1GB of memory isn’t particularly large, but if you’re only recording talk radio, or your dictated manifesto, it will actually go a long way. And like Tivo or other PVRs on the market, the Radio YourWay even has a 1 minute buffer, which is constantly recording the last minute of broadcast should you need to rewind or what-not.

At $99.99 I don’t see why they couldn’t have thrown some MP3 capabilities in there, but maybe that might not appeal to whatever demographic they’re trying to target.

[ RadioYourWay Mini ] VIA [ The Red Ferret Journal ]

By Evan Ackerman

It’s been a long time since I’ve thought about radios. It’s easy not to think about them anymore, now that NPR is avilable on Podcast and I’ve, um, paid for and legally downloaded all of the music that I’m interested in. But last weekend, my house (in California) was hit by what I’m just going to go ahead and call a hurricane and we lost water and power. Needless to say, I completely lost my sanity.

What might have saved me would have been one of these colorful little radios by Eton. From the look of things, they’ll work just about wherever, whenever, and however. They recieve (in addition to AM and FM) NOAA weather reports and GMRS, and you can even transmit out to others. Most (if not all) of them are hand crank powered in addition to battery power and optionally solar power. They’ve got integrated lights, and they’ll charge your cellphone.

And, like I said, they’re colorful. Guaranteed to inform and brighten your life in the event of a disaster. Anywhere from $30 to a few hundred for all the hand-crank powered bells and whistles (literally).

[ Eton ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Not only does this 2-slice toaster from DeLonghi have a retro, 1940’s science-fiction look to it, but it also uses an ancient form of communication called ‘radio’ to entertain you while you make breakfast. Fascinating.

The toaster also includes more modern features like an easy-to-read thermostat, defrost and bagel settings, an electronic temperature setting, a cool touch exterior and convenient cord storage. Honestly, there’s no better way to say “this is the best I could come up with” this holiday season than with a gift of toasted bread and non-CD-quality audio.

You can find it online at Amazon for about $40.

[ DeLonghi Toaster Radio ] VIA [ 7Gadgets ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I like the idea of plush electronics for younger kids, cause let’s face it, they don’t exactly take care of their stuff. And given the choice, I’d rather have a plush radio hurled across the room, instead of a real one. But I have my doubts that today’s kid are even aware of FM radio, let alone listen to it.

In fact the only time I listen to the radio these days is when it wakes me up in the morning, and I was raised on it. But if your toddler gets cranky if they haven’t had a chance to listen to their morning talk shows, I suppose this is a good way to go. It has soft buttons for volume, power and a digital scanner and of course includes a built-in speaker. And even though it looks gigantic in that product shot, it’s actually only about 12 inches wide.

eToys has got it for just $14.99.

[ Plush Radio Cushion ] VIA [ 7Gadgets ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I’m sure at one point I was happy to hear that Porsche would be lending their design sensibilities to products other than cars but so far I haven’t exactly been blown away. While the car bearing the Porsche name is a design icon other items like this emergency hand-cranked radio don’t really stand out in my opinion.

Sure it has a cast aluminum housing and precision knurled knobs (you gotta have knurling) but besides that I don’t see much difference between this emergency radio and what’s for sale at the local Best Buy or Wal-Mart. However I also believe that looks aren’t everything and besides being powered by a hand crank the Eton P’9110 also includes an AM/FM/Shortwave radio, emergency siren, cellphone recharger and an LED flashlight.

And while such a device is a must have if you live anywhere that’s prone to power outages caused by nasty storms I don’t think the Porsche Design stylings quite justify the $200 price tag.

[ Porsche Design Eton P’9110 ] VIA [ Autoblog ]

By Evan Ackerman

I do enjoy soft and squishy things. I would surround myself with things made of foam if I could. But “radio” doesn’t leap to mind when I think of things I’d like to bounce on, as it apparently did to the designer of the Lexon Foam Radio. This might have been an okay concept, but instead of the radio being completely foam, it’s an aluminum case that’s partially surrounded by a foam covering. That means you can’t chuck it at people without a 1/6 chance of some serious injury. Details are a bit scanty but it looks to feature an AM/FM tuner (!) volume adjustment (!!) and perhaps an on/off switch in addition to the extendable antenna (!!!). Presumably the speakers are in the metal case under the foam, and presumably, they’re nothing special. In addition to what I’m calling “quantum black,” you seem to be able to get it in what looks to be “nerf yellow” or “rabid red.” Cost: $49.

[ Lexon Foam Radio ] VIA [ Core77 ]

By Andrew Liszewski

In keeping with the theme of car-related gadgets today, now all you gearheads can combine your love of manual gearboxes with your love of FM radio. As you can probably tell given the lack of any other controls here in order to change the station or adjust the volume on this radio you need to shift gears up and down.

This seems like another one of those gadgets that has a great novelty factor at first but becomes increasingly tedious to use over time. And keep in mind that novices who are used to an automatic radio might be annoyed by the grinding static sound you’ll get while learning to smoothly switch stations with this manual version.

[ Stick Shift Radio VIA Akihabara News ]