By David Ponce

Emergency radios aren’t the most exciting products, but when you end up needing them, you wish you’d paid attention. The more sensible of you will appreciate Eton’s FRX series of safety radios. Pictured is the FRX3, the top of the line model which comes with a couple neat features, like an LED flashlight and a USB out for recharging your cell phone. Its internal battery itself is recharged either via the top solar panel (the outline of which also glows in the dark to help you find the unit) or with some elbow grease via the crank. I played with it and it feels very rugged. Aside from AM/FM tuning, it also receives NOAA warnings, so you can know when it’s safe to stick your head out the shelter again.

Again, this is not the sort of thing you’re going to try to impress your friends with, but at $60 iin black or red, it might just be the one item you were glad you bought next time a Katrina comes around.

[ Product Page ]

Sometimes it’s hard to understand what a large corporation like Sony is thinking when they release certain products, but at the same time I guess I’m not completely up to speed on what’s popular in the markets they serve outside North America. So while radio has lost some of its popularity to MP3 players and podcasts here, I’m assuming it’s still popular enough in Japan to not only warrant a fancy new unit, but one with PRR (personal radio recorder?) functionality.

Available in Japan on February 21 for ~$217 (¥18,000) the ICZ-R50 is at its core an AM/FM radio with advanced tuning functions like the ability to easily specify one of 54 locations in Japan to automatically load up a list of local presets. But instead of just listening the to the radio, its also got 4GB of built-in memory (expandable via SD cards or Memory Stick Duos) for recording your favorite shows. And while not as robust as the PVR in your living room, it does let you setup 20 pre-scheduled recordings for catching your favorite shock jock every morning, or whatever it is people listen to on the radio these days.

[ Sony ICZ-R50 ] VIA [ CrunchGear ]

I can’t seem to glean too much information about this Toy Story themed CD player/radio from the RUN’A website, but since the squishy green alien characters became an instant hit after the first film, I doubt anyone will be buying this thing because of its tech specs. The alien’s head opens up to reveal the CD tray, while his collar and neck feature all of the necessary playback and control buttons. His ears also double as speakers, and while it’s not mentioned anywhere, it looks like his three eyes might actually open and close, though when and why I’m not sure. The only dealbreaker here? The $98 (¥8,800) price tag for something that only plays CDs.

[ Toy Story Alien CD Player + Radio ] VIA [ Digital Drops ]

By Evan Ackerman

This is a radio that sneezes. Once every six months, it take a deep breath, and expels all of its frustration with your horrible taste in music along with the pent-up dust that’s been accumulating on its microprocessors. This prolongs the life of the radio, and for other types of electronics, will also keep them running cooler.

Your laptop computer has fans inside of it already, and as you may have noticed (for your computer’s sake, I hope you’ve noticed) while pumping hot air around they also tend to suck up dust. You can artificially sneeze it out with some canned air, but wouldn’t it be so much better if your computer would just have a good sneeze all by itself once in a while?

Plus, it’s cute.

[ James Chambers ] VIA [ Slashgear ]

By Evan Ackerman

I don’t know how they do it, but somehow, Thanko manages to keep coming up with gadgets that are silly and borderline useless for most people and yet are potentially just perfect for just enough people that I don’t quite feel comfortable making fun of them. And even then, this USB radio is a more useful than most, considering that it receives AM, FM, and shortwave.

There’s an external antenna jack, and the actual tuning is done via software. You can record anything you’re listening to directly to MP3, and you can even schedule different recordings on different frequencies, sort of like a really cumbersome and old-school Podcast. But I guess if you don’t have internet, then it could be a great solution for you.

‘Course, if you don’t have internet, then you’re not reading this, so what do I care?

$45 at Thanko.

[ Thanko (Translated) ] VIA [ DVICE ]

I’d like to make a comment about how in this day and age of modern technology and electronics it’s sometimes nice to just sit back and listen to an old-fashioned radio, but this USB stick AM/FM tuner is pretty much useless without a laptop, so forget that idea. It does however allow you to record radio broadcasts with its included software to be later enjoyed on your MP3 player, and since the flash drive doesn’t even include any storage space, I guess that’s pretty much it… Price TBD.

[ Logitec USB Radio Tuner ] VIA [ Akihabara News ]

By Evan Ackerman

On Monday we posted about the Q2 radio, which you control by rocking it back and forth. And today, we’ve got the R1 radio, which you control by rolling it back and forth. So, they’re radios. And they rock and roll. How could we possibly justify not posting about them? I mean, the potential for terrible puns or something is just enormous! Or it would be, if these were somehow combined into one incredibly awesome radio. But sadly, the R1 isn’t even a real product yet, although you’ll be interested to know that it’s actually been designed for blind people, who’d have a much easier time using a radio with simple and intuitive tactile controls. Designed by South Korean Il-Gu Cha, the R1 is currently at the working prototype stage.

[ Il-Gu Cha ] VIA [ DVICE ]

By Chris Scott Barr

Last month I showed you guys the Livio Radio, and gave you an in-depth review of the device. If you’re into listening to music all day long, then it really is one of the coolest radios out there. However, what if music isn’t really your thing? If you like talk radio, then Livio has something just for you.

I’ve never listened to NPR, but if that’s your thing then you might want to check out the NPR Radio by Livio. This device is very similar to is Pandora-playing brother, however you’ll be tuning into more than 1,000 NPR station streams. You’ll also have access to over 800 podcasts and audio archives of NPR programs. If you do feel like a little music, then you can tune into one of the 16,000 various internet radio stations through Reciva. You’re not going to find more talk radio without a PC or some sort of HD radio. You can pick the NPR Radio now for $199.

[ Livio ]

By Chris Scott Barr

Being the geek that I am, I have computers scattered all through my house. It’s something that people tend to notice when they come over for the first time, not because they’re ugly and out of place, just that there seems to be a lot of them. A couple of them are used almost primarily for playing music, namely the ones in my kitchen or garage. Usually I’ll either have them playing music from my iTunes, or Pandora. If you’re not familiar with Pandora, I highly suggest checking it out. Essentially it’s free internet radio. You can create stations with the exact artists and genres that you want.

I little while ago I learned of the Livio Radio, which allows you to play music from your Pandora stations without a PC. I was given the opportunity to review one, so I could find out if this was really as awesome as it sounded. Hit the jump for my thoughts.

Features

The Livio isn’t exactly packed full of features, mostly because it doesn’t really need them. It picks one thing and sticks to it. It streams your Pandora stations either via Wi-Fi, or an ethernet cable (included). You can browse through your Pandora stations, and use the “Thumb-up” or “Thumb-down” buttons just like you would on your PC. A headphone jack is located on the front along with aux in and out on the rear.

First Look

This is probably one of the most simplistic radios I’ve seen in a while. They were going with the old adage “less is more.” On the front you’ll find a rather large speaker, an LCD screen, large knob, six buttons and a headphone jack. On the rear you’ll find the auxiliary in and out ports, an ethernet jack and a spot for the power cord. There’s really nothing else to be seen.

Setup

At no point do you ever connect the Livio Radio to your computer, which would make you think that setup could be a little difficult. In all honesty, it really isn’t. You do have to use your computer to go to the registration page, which will eventually program your Livio for you. You do have to spend a bit of time either turning the knob or poking buttons on the remote when you’re setting things like the WEP key for your wireless network. It can be a little annoying, but it’s over rather quickly. Once finished, you’ll have access to all of your Pandora stations, or you can make new ones if you’re new to the service.

Ease Of Use

Once you’ve setup the Livio, it is easy as pie to use. You just hit the power button, select the station that you want, and it starts playing your music. You can skip songs and use the thumb-up or thumb-down button when you so desire. Changing stations is also only a few clicks away.

Sound Quality

Having only a single speaker definitely has its drawbacks. The quality isn’t bad, but it isn’t going to blow you away either. If you’re just listening to it in the kitchen, or other smaller room you’ll enjoy it just fine. Thankfully they included an auxiliary output so that you can hook it up to a larger set of speakers when you need some extra power.

Other Thoughts

I noticed that if you left the device powered off for a while, it would occasionally lose the time. On more than one occasion I noticed that it was off by a few hours. It pulls its time from the internet, so simply turning it back on fixed the issue.

Verdict

Overall, I love the Livio Radio. It is a simple device that looks good in just about any room and pumps out my Pandora stations. I don’t need any fancy wires, and I don’t have to mess with using my iPhone to output music (Since all but one of my docks requires me to put it in Airplane Mode). The audio could be better, but you can always hook it into your home theater if you want. The $199 price is a bit steep, but if you’ve got the cash and love music, it’s worth it.

[ Livio ]

By Evan Ackerman

Gadzooks! It’s something not made out of brushed metal or piano black plastic! The Magno radio hails from Indonesia, where it’s made from sustainably harvested hardwoods by pretty much an entire village of native Indonesians. Designed by Singgih Kartono, the big version costs $250 and the smaller one is $200. Seems like a lot to pay for something that grows on trees, but you can feel warm and fuzzy and green inside and that’ll make up for the additional cost. …Right?

[ Areaware ]