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Wireless Networking Media Music Hardware

Listen to Internet Radio over Wifi 188

Posted by michael from the doing-things-the-hard-way dept.
wildumut writes "There's an article on the Register about new WIFI radio tuners, worth a look. 'Wi-Fi is not only freeing up notebook and PDA users to connect to the Internet from anywhere in the home, it's also making Internet radio work (almost) like the real thing.'" The company website has some more information, but these aren't available for sale yet.
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Listen to Internet Radio over Wifi More

Listen to Internet Radio over Wifi

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  • I've had it for years (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 23, 2004 @01:03PM (#8951586)

    I've had wireless radio for years. It's called... erm... radio.

    • It's global... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by TamMan2000 ( 578899 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @01:07PM (#8951648) Journal
      Yes, but now you can get stations from all around the world where ever you are...

      I live in upstate new york, I am in a college town, so there is some decent radio, but when I want news from around the world, I want radio from around the world...

      I could read a lot of it on the internet, but that is hard to do while washing dished/making dinner/working on my bicycle...

      • Re:It's global... (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Ctrl-Z ( 28806 ) <tim&timcoleman,com> on Friday April 23, 2004 @01:12PM (#8951708) Homepage Journal
        So it's like shortwave radio [amazon.com]?

        • Re:It's global... (Score:5, Informative)

          by sdmartin101 ( 601186 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @01:48PM (#8952115)
          Alas, shortwave is dead, or at least moribund. The BBC World Service stopped transmitting to North America a couple of years ago, arguing, in part, that their Internet streams served the NA market well enough.

          • The BBC World Service stopped transmitting to North America a couple of years ago, arguing, in part, that their Internet streams served the NA market well enough.

            To be fair that is probably a resonable move to make especially as the significant intended audience of the BBC World Service in all probability does not live in North America as Canada and the USA have had free press for a while.

      • Re:It's global... (Score:2, Insightful)

        by Ytsejam-03 ( 720340 )

        Yes, but now you can get stations from all around the world where ever you are...

        Not only that, but get stations that don't just play the same five lousy songs over and over again.

        I've been listening to this station [proggedradio.com] for several months now, and it beats the hell out of anything I've heard on the airwaves. Lots of indie bands, and yes, lots of bands that are not from the US.

        I look forward to the day when I can put one of these devices in my car and listen to internet radio as I drive around town.

    • Big Deal (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I've had a wired radio (a Stereo) for even longer, not only does it have clearer connections, but the bandwidth is greater.

      Only problem is that damn 200 mile long cable that connects to my car

    • Regulating Data Processing (Score:5, Insightful)

      by persaud ( 304710 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @01:18PM (#8951795)
      But your radio never performed encryption/decryption or balanced your checkbook. Nor was your computer regulated by the FCC. But now that your data processing device has become a communications device, the FCC (or non-US equivalent) has jurisdiction over your computer.

      This is why Wi-Fi should never be integrated with the motherboard chipset (a la Centrino). Keep it as an optional add-on. Let the FCC regulate a PC Card or USB device, not the entire computer.

      Down with non-optional bundling of law with convenience.
      • With Quantum Entanglement communications beginning to become a reality, the future may hold wireless devices that communicate world-wide. Imagine if you could take your phone, internet, and radio along with you to the middle of the African plains! Or more close to home, you'll have crystal clear communications via a single device, no matter where in the country or world you travel. Just plug in your matching hub to your home internet connection, and you're set! Not to mention that security is built into the
      • This is why Wi-Fi should never be integrated with the motherboard chipset (a la Centrino). Keep it as an optional add-on.

        Wi-Fi is not integrated with the motherboard chipsed (a la Centrino). It is an optional add-on.

        All your base are belong to Intel's marketeers.
      • I thought the FCC regulated just about all electronics.
        • The FCC regulates many devices for compliance with specific standards. Just about all electronics have to comply with RFI regulations that ensure non-interference with neighboring radio and television receivers. I believe this affects primarily the power supply.

          My (not very clear) point was that functionality creep is inevitably accompanied by regulatory creep. This thread is about the convenience of using a (historically data processing) computer as the functional equivalent of a global radio.

          While b
      • your computer regulated by the FCC. But now that your data processing device has become a communications device, the FCC (or non-US equivalent) has jurisdiction over your computer.

        PC components have always required FCC certification in the USA, and CRTC certification in Canada. There's always something in your motherboard's doumentation that states that it's designed to comply with part 15 of the FCC rules. Basically, any computer emits RF interference by nature, and that interference must stay within all
    • Yes, you can listen from around the world with WLAN radio. To tune to stations other than commerical radios, try http://www.dxtuners.com You can even listen to amateur radio, air traffic control, police, and other frequencies from receivers kept around the world! I hope dxtuner can be tuned from WLAN radios too.

  • Hell, I use it for video (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Space cowboy ( 13680 ) * on Friday April 23, 2004 @01:03PM (#8951587) Journal
    I support a football (soccer if you prefer :-) team that has a webcast of all the home matches. Since very few matches are televised per season, it's a good second-best, especially because I've got a nice fast broadband connection. Just take the portable into the front room, link it up to the projector using the VGA input, and watch the match with the video stream being served using WiFi from the router at the back of the house :-)

    The quality isn't as good as broadcast TV (!) but it's a damn sight better than radio :-)

    Simon

  • This sounds very scary (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 23, 2004 @01:04PM (#8951597)
    Doesn't this mean people will be able to drive around pulling radio broadcasts out of thin air? I don't want to live in a world like that.

  • With all the Wi-Fi traffic... (Score:5, Funny)

    by dawg ball ( 773621 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @01:05PM (#8951611) Homepage
    ... how long will it be before we can grill a chicken by hanging out the kitchen window on the end of a stick and cook it with RF?

    • Re:With all the Wi-Fi traffic... (Score:5, Funny)

      by MemoryAid ( 675811 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @01:16PM (#8951753)
      Well, if a microwave oven is about 2000 watts, and a WiFi access point is about 1 watt, and it takes about 10 minutes to cook a chicken in a microwave (depending on size, of course), then it should take about 20,000 minutes to cook a chicken. Some adjustment needs to be made for the 'gain' of the microwave, because all the energy is trapped inside the box, and WiFi is radiated into free space. An additional adjustment needs to be made for proximity, because it is probably not convenient to have your access point close to your chicken.

      Well, I wouldn't try it after reviewing the (rough) numbers, because the chicken would definitely spoil before being cooked.

  • Just wait... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 23, 2004 @01:06PM (#8951622)

    Tune in later this year to hear "This is WIFI Radio, a Clear Channel Partner."

    • Exactally (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Yohahn ( 8680 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @01:29PM (#8951909)
      In my opinion this is the populace "Routing around" the limited point of view that we receive on traditional radio.

      If this succeeds and people can run 802.11 "radio stations" for local areas it will prove that the FCC has long ago left the needs of the people.

      The reason I say this is the inconvenience needed to listen to this kind of radio. If it can succeed, imagine what would happen if we had that kind of diversity of regular radio.

      The FCC hasn't served the people with respect to radio for quite some time.
      • The FCC hasn't served the people with respect to radio for quite some time.

        Sure they have. What you mean is that the FCC hasn't served YOU in some time.

        • No, they haven't served the people. I say that because people, in my observation, are more diverse than the radio stations that I hear.

  • Radical cheap solution (Score:4, Interesting)

    by prostoalex ( 308614 ) * on Friday April 23, 2004 @01:07PM (#8951649) Homepage Journal

    At my house I have a small Wifi-enabled Avertec 3120 V plugged into the back of the stereo system. Had to set up Winamp for some easy key combination, like 'space' to start playing and N to stop.

    Then it's Internet Radio list in WinAmp, or Shoutcast.com, choose the one with the better bit rate and we're off with high quality Internet radio.

    Any cheap laptop with WiFi card or internal WiFi would work.
    • I have a similar setup at home. It's a godsend.

      • A cool thing you can do (I've tried that at my girlfriend's house) is have the laptop connected to the back of the stereo system and TV as well through S-Video, and then with Win XP Professional (should work on Linux as well with some differences) do the remote desktop connection from your desktop PC.

        This way you can sit and read Slashdot, while having the laptop window open and change the music in the stereo system any time you please.

        I owned a ew5000 [techtv.com] for 2 days, and returned it afterwards, couldn't take

  • Radio on WiFi (Score:5, Funny)

    by sshtome ( 771249 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @01:08PM (#8951657)
    Let me just check.

    I can buy a radio, listen, enjoy.

    Or I can buy a computer, buy a wireless lan card, buy a wireless lan radio, configure everything, PAY for a reasonable intenet connection, listen, enjoy (within a small area around my hub)

    Ah that's real progress :)

    • Re:Radio on WiFi (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Petronius ( 515525 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @01:11PM (#8951703)
      I can buy a radio, listen, enjoy.
      only what's available locally, i.e. your 5 ClearChannel stations.
      • I'm not sure where you live, but here we have 2 or 3 Clearchannel stations, one or two from Viacom, a couple of college stations and SEVERAL independant (as in owned by small local companies) stations. My only conclusion is you've either bought into the FUD about media consolidation or you're trolling :-)

        • Re:Radio on WiFi (Score:3, Insightful)

          by Petronius ( 515525 )
          Upstate NY - most stations are now owned by ClearChannel except for NPR and a couple tiny independant stations. I give money to the small independent jazz station that can barely survive (WGMC). My point is that web radio offers a *vast* array of choices compared to what's available on the dial in most locales.
          You decide if I'm trolling.
        • Yeah, and if ClearChannel was broadcasting views that they agreed with it would be a good thing. Welcome to ./'s very special form of hypocrisy.

          Integrity means maintaining your views regardless.

    • Re:Radio on WiFi (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      You've got it backasswords. Try it this way:

      Let me just check.

      I can buy a radio license and transmitter for more than I make a decade.

      Or, I can set up my computer and existing hardware to broadcast my own radio free and legal.

      That's really is progress!

      Now it's true, if you want to listen to my station, you'll have to do more work. Maybe you don't mind that Clear Channel controls free speach in this country, but I'd like a little more freedom. I've been wanting to set up my own local TV station

      • I've been wanting to set up my own local TV station this way. BirdBathTV. I doubt anyone will watch though.

        Just make sure to use an appropriately descriptive tagline, like "Wet Naked Chicks in the Bath." I'm sure you'll have plenty of viewers in no time!

    • Re:Radio on WiFi (Score:3, Insightful)

      by renehollan ( 138013 )
      I can buy a radio, listen, enjoy.

      Or I can buy a computer, buy a wireless lan card, buy a wireless lan radio, configure everything, PAY for a reasonable intenet connection, listen, enjoy (within a small area around my hub)

      Point noted.

      But, you forget something: that computer, LAN card, (or hard-wired LAN), and internet connection has more uses than just serving as a home portal for "wireless internet radio". So, while the observation that the overhead of such a device is significant, one should real

      • You sir, are the man. I have been planning a similar setup for quite some time now. Now all I have to do is find a quiet computer so it won't keep me up all night and I'll do all that!
        • Now all I have to do is find a quiet computer so it won't keep me up all night and I'll do all that!

          ...or simply put the home media server in an unobtrusive place, like the home office, or basement. When I lived in Allen, Texas, I had ours in the master bedroom closet (which, because the master bathroom was between it and the master bedroom, was far enough away that it didn't keep us up at night from the fan noise). Of course, if you do as I did, make sure you have a HVAC vent to that closet.

          • Yeah. I have no power in my closet and it has no easily-extension-cord-able path. Otherwise I would have put one there a while ago. Now that I have net in the living room, it's too late to bother since I'm moving out in a month.
    • Yep, wireless radio, streaming tv video and phones we can send written messages on. This truly is a golden age...

  • Why go digital? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by LostCluster ( 625375 ) * on Friday April 23, 2004 @01:13PM (#8951731)
    Another way to do this on the cheap is to just plug in a standard analog wireless headphone or speaker transmitter into the back of your soundcard.

    900 Mhz is typically used for this application, so you can keep 2.4 GHz free for WiFi.
    • Yea, I have to agree that would be the right tool for the job. That said this is slashdot, if there is a way to do it for twice the price, through expensive computer equipment they will find way, even if it works only half as well as the traditional solution.

  • Eventually satellite radio will die (Score:5, Insightful)

    by flinxmeister ( 601654 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @01:14PM (#8951735) Homepage
    and it will be because of the descendants of things like this.

    One day you'll be able to tune into a radio station based on URL, and it will be *the* true revolution for music delivery. Information may or may not want to be free...but it definitely hates coming from central sources.

    Newspaper cartoons are to Strongbad as top 40 is to the bands of the future.

    • (i) You're going to have to have a WiFi signal everywhere you'd like to listen to radio. In the middle of long deserted highway. Satellite radio covers the entire US, AFAIK.

      (ii) Lots of people, like myself, listen you satellite radio because they have no advertisements in the music channels. So We'd still have to pay for the premium channels; like Yahoo launch or something.

      (iii) I use Sirius radio with Audiovox Portable Boombox [audiovox.com] at home. I can take this thing anyway. Also have a tuner docking kit f

  • Not for sale?? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by johnkoer ( 163434 ) <<moc.oohay> <ta> <reoknhoj>> on Friday April 23, 2004 @01:15PM (#8951747) Homepage Journal
    but these aren't available for sale yet.

    It doesn't even look like they have made a prototype yet. The images on the website are all computer generated.

  • The future? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by LithiumX ( 717017 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @01:16PM (#8951752)
    Radio revolutionized communications, especially as it became more available to smaller companies. It made a wider range of ideas, music, and personalities available to the common person. Radios eventually became omnipresent - a nearly free (minor cost for a radio and power/batteries) outlet for on-demand contact with the outside world.

    Radio's core problem, though, is that there is only a limited spectrum that's both electromagnetically effective and safe for human exposure at high power levels. Otherwise we'd be pulling power from the air instead of wire.

    It's still in it's infancy, but I wouldn't be at all suprised if today's clumsy fledgling attempts at digital network-based radio will later be seen as heralding the birth of a whole new medium - same concept as radio, but even more available.

    Cable tv, encrypted compressed signals over wire, made it possible to host hundreds (thousands?) of channels, and far cheaper to run them (no broadcasting, less infrastructure per station, etc). The end result: hundreds of channels of purile crap. And mixed in with all that crap are a good number of true gems that never would have seen the light of day in a world of pure airwave broadcasting. The public is now exposed to history, culture, technologies, and news that it never would have had access to before.

    I think wifi radio is just one more step in the direction of providing a denser and low-cost medium for propagation of signal. Satelite radio as well (I say let em target regions - even neighborhoods, and let Clear Channel and others be-damned).

    Any broadcast medium that brings down the cost of operation for the same general service is inherently a good thing - while it will introduce new content that isn't worth much, it will also allow a wider range of content, and make large-scale advertising income less of a driving survival requirement.

    We now return you to your regularly scheduled program. KORP radio: 30 minutes of continuous top 10 big-studio hits, every hour on the hour.

  • Maybe I'm Missing Something (Score:5, Funny)

    by value_added ( 719364 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @01:17PM (#8951773)
    Saying something like "In excess of ten thousand radio stations broadcast their programs on the Internet." is all well and good, but the thing has a knob, doesn't it? If it was A Really Big Knob, I imagine you could scan through a few hundred stations, but wouldn't it have to be A Really Really Awfully Big Knob to get through all of them?

  • Wow! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Kenja ( 541830 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @01:18PM (#8951794)
    Wow! Wireless radio, what will they think of next.

  • Sorta Related (Score:5, Interesting)

    by jchawk ( 127686 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @01:22PM (#8951830) Homepage Journal
    I have a treo 600 through sprint, with their unlimited data service package. With the latest pocket tunes software I can stream audio from the internet where ever I am. Generally if there is cell service, I can get a data connection. I know it's not traditional WIFI, but it's still really neat! :-)
    • I've got a Treo 600 as well, but mine comes from AT&T, and I'm not paying $80/month for their unlimited data service. Maybe I'm old school, but I prefer listening to my MP3s via the SD card slot. It's no iPod, but I can fit 3-5 albums on a 256 MB SD card and I don't have to worry about losing my WiFi signal (and thus the music) when I ride the subway to work. Plus, the Internet radio stations I listen to at work play annoying ads or the same music clips instead of over-the-air ads. At work I don't m

  • A lot of people are making jokes about this (Score:5, Interesting)

    by rsborg ( 111459 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @01:22PM (#8951835) Homepage
    ...but it's not so funny, it's very cool. Local radio (NPR and some talk radio excepted) is very stale, and does not contain the music I want to hear. I listen to techno/downtempo/ambient, and my wife likes French radio.. no way we can reliably get that on local radio.

    I want to listen to what I want, when I want. and I want diversity. This company definitely has an interested customer in me.

  • send radio with your computer this program [erikyyy.de] sends AM signals through a CRT monitor

  • Anyone else remember Kerbango? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by John_McKee ( 100458 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @01:29PM (#8951908) Homepage
    So sad to see the product killed by 3COM right before it's release (The product was actually completed and manufacture started when it was killed), but Kerbango was based on the exact same concept, except it actually existed beyond 3D models (Although never released to the public). I was really looking forward to it.

    http://www.gadgetcentral.com/kerbango_intro.html [gadgetcentral.com]
    • The problem I have with any of these devices is that even though there is a broad selection, I will always be at the mercy of the content provider, so I will never touch one. A better product would allow me to program the receiver to receive MP3 streams from any Internet site I choose to place in my playlist (2-way communication, like the cell-based IP service the other fellow mentioned). Then I could do things liks "broadcast" my own playlist from my network at home, and pick the sets I want to listen to.
  • I wonder if the legal quagmire around rebroadcasting comes into play when you are effectively transmitting the net radio station on the air from your access point.

    • Re:Rebroadcasting (Score:2, Informative)

      by NineNine ( 235196 )
      Keep in mind that the FCC is owned by Clear Channel. The penalties will be severe, I'm sure.
    • I wonder if the legal quagmire around rebroadcasting comes into play when you are effectively transmitting the net radio station on the air from your access point

      Consumer devices are by definition designed for home and office use, so they're not really "broadcasting" in that they don't reach far enough to distribute the signal to "the public". Sure, your neighbor might overhear such a signal, but it's not going to make it to the other side of town. Even if it could, it'd be blown out of the water by inter

  • The ster article, "Firms prep Wi-Fi Internet radio tuners [theregister.co.uk]," states:

    Hutchison wouldn't say who he's been talking to, but he claimed to have received plenty of interest from ISPs looking to build products to sell on top of their broadband access offerings - particular those who want to target punters without a PC.

    Isn't this just a severely crippled laptop with a WiFi card or built-in WiFi? Isn't this like those e-mail only machines that were sold awhile back? (We all know how popular those proved to b

    • Isn't this just a severely crippled laptop with a WiFi card or built-in WiFi?

      Don't know the hardware, but I would bet on some cheap ARM CPU with wireless chipset and something for audio.

      Given these limitations, how much would you pay for something like this?

      ~200 EUR/USD probably

      At what point does it make more sense to simply by a laptop with a WiFi card or built in WiFi?

      Definitely not for the kitchen. It's exactly what I am currently looking for. Something with WLAN (so I don't need an ethernet ca
  • Existing products already do this, though they have a PC requirement: in particluar, seeSlim Devices' [slimdevices.com] offerings. Phillips has an Internet Radio device as well: the FW-i1000 [mp3shopping.com]. I'm not seeing how these new devices bring much in the way of added value (especially comparted to the Squeezebox by Slim) but then again, having more choices is better. I love Webcasts, and the more ways I have to listen to it, the better. And the more listeners, the better -- I wish more people knew that there is a lot more to lis
    • Existing products already do this, though they have a PC requirement: in particluar, seeSlim Devices' offerings.

      It has an integrated speaker, you do not need a remote control and I guess it can run with batteries. So it's a semi-portable device for the kitchen, the garden etc.
    • Most people already have "broadband" -- cable TV

      It's probably the cable TV guys they're talking about here..... they'll probably go to
      TCP/IP based content on demand eventually or something like that anyway... so they add a cable modem extension to the box, charge a fraction of what "computer broadband" costs (even though you & i know it's the same damn thing)
      and presto! people without PCs have broad band.

      i can't image DSL providers being that intrested in something like this, but almost everybody h

  • Uh, how many presets? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by spamacon ( 239531 )
    I like how it "can pick up many of the 10,000 or so stations broadcasting on the Net", but they only give you six (6) presets (in the reference design). How about a simplified favorites list or something? 6 seems a little small - I get 30-50 (whatever) stations on my FM car radio, and I have 12 presets, just under 25% of the available stations. With this thing, I get 0.12% of the available stations.
    Just my $0.0199.

  • Already available (Score:4, Informative)

    by artemis67 ( 93453 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @01:44PM (#8952081)
    The HomePod [macsense.com] from MacSense is already available, and best of all, it will stream music from any iTunes shares it finds.
    • Yup. And I believe the latest version of the GLOO software on it lets you read http:// from M3U files so that you can stream internet radio.
    • I've had a Tutrle Beach audiotron [turtlebeach.com] for 2 years now, and it's great. While it requires a computer with a web browser for initial setup of the radio service, after that you don't need a computer.

      While it does rely on a runing server for initial sertup (called Turtle Radio) to pick your favorite channels and download the station list to the unit.

      The only drawback is that you can't enter a radio URL directly into the machine.

      However, I do the majority of my net radio listening on this device. And while it's o
  • I've been doing this for months using a little WinAmp knockoff called GSPlayer2 that runs on my Pocket PC and can handle any Shoutcast stream.

    I don't recall where I found GSPlayer2 -- it seems to be an orphan now that I'm searching for it with Google.

  • Lack of security (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Bender Unit 22 ( 216955 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @01:56PM (#8952226) Journal
    Sadly most of these applications lacks any security. Some supports WEP, but none supports WPA, so most of the time if you want to connect other devices than your PC, you have to lower your security standards.
    As for the product we see here, I think it is a great concept but I was unable to determine if it supports any security at all.

  • squeezebox (Score:5, Interesting)

    by ignavusincognitus ( 750099 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @02:00PM (#8952260)
    A SqueezeBox [slimdevices.com] can do that, no need for a WinXP box. The latest server software even has a module to let you browse ShoutCast [shoutcast.com] with your remote.
    • A soft hacked XBOX could do the job for ony $150, plus the cost of a wireless-ethernet bridge. In fact, a soft hacked XBOX is the best way to stream media from your computer network to your entertainment system.

  • The First 3 Minutes... (Score:4, Funny)

    by AvantLegion ( 595806 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @02:06PM (#8952326) Journal
    ME: "Hey, this is great! I can listen to IDM and doom metal and prog-rock radio stations on the go!"

    RADIO: "Coming up next - King Crimson"

    ME: "Awesome! King Crimson on wifi internet radio!"

    RADIO: "Cat's foot - iron BUFFERING...."

    ME: "Iron "buffering"? That's not the right lyric"

    RADIO: "Politicians BUFFERING.... BUFFERING...."

    ME: "Screw this! Why did I sell my iPod for this??"

  • Home Media (Score:5, Informative)

    by TexVex ( 669445 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @02:20PM (#8952442)
    I just got through building a really nice home media system with WiFi.

    The centerpiece is a PC running SageTV [www.sage.tv]. It uses a hardware mpeg encoder to capture video from my digital cable box and save it on a 250 GB hard drive. Encoding at the "DVD Standard Play" quality uses about 3 GB per hour of video and the quality is definitely acceptable. Also stored on the monster hard drive is my entire CD collection ripped to very high bitrate MP3. The hardware media card also includes a built-in radio tuner. The machine has a DVD burner in it as well, and SageTV glues it all together.

    Now, the really cool part of it is, I can access the mpeg video files and MP3s over my home network. With an mpeg video codec, I can use any of a variety of players to play my recorded television anywhere in my house on a laptop. SageTV also offers a separate piece of client software that allows you to remote-control the PVR from any networked computer and play any of its recorded media -- so, if I'm in the garage with my laptop, I can call up the current TV guide and select a program to record right there without having to directly interact with the media PC.

    The only thing I haven't messed around with yet is the radio part of it. Mainly, because radio sucks, and because I do have access to all of the music-only channels through the cable TV (and therefore the PVR) anyway.
  • These things all look really cool to me, I have been eyeing up Dlink's new media player, but I'm worried about it's reliance on windows. Sure soudns good though... http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=318
  • head phones would be cheaper though you couldn't change stations.

  • Configuration? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by MrNonchalant ( 767683 )
    I'd be real curious to see how this handles configuration. For instance, how do you change URLs? The interface I see picture doesn't look like it's up to the task. Howbout WEP? Non-broadcasting SSIDs? I can't find any of this on the company's site. If it doesn't handle this stuff graciously it's a big pretty looking doorstop as far as I'm concerned.

  • What About a WiFi Transmitter (Score:4, Interesting)

    by AmericanInKiev ( 453362 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @03:13PM (#8952980) Homepage
    I realized that I'd like to be able to broacast my TV signal to my laptop so I can use my laptop as a wireless TV (with cable connections for the "erm it's called TV" crowd)

    AIK

  • GPRS, Internet radio while driving (Score:3, Interesting)

    by rprycem ( 113790 ) on Friday April 23, 2004 @03:39PM (#8953269)
    One of the coolest things I have done yet with my T-Mobile Pocket PC device with GPRS is listen to streaming talk radio stations while driving. At a max of 40k there really is not the bandwidth for quality music, but for talk nerds like myself it is awesome. Right now their all you can eat plan for wireless data is $19.95 and I am buying that for other uses anyway. Playing with buffers and what not yields a very reliable very high quality signal even with the frequent tower hopping that happens when driving. It is good for even the local stations which tend to be on the AM dial. A 20k steam sounds so much better then the wines and pops of AM radio, especially after dark when most stations have to turn their wattage down.
    The only issue I have is when I am traveling at a high rate of speed on the Interstate. Apparently the tower hopping at 70 - 80 MPH is a little too much to keep a steady enough connection. Averaging 40 - 50 MPH works very well, however.
    Who ever it is that takes smooth tower jumps and adds wifi speeds to it, they will be a very rich person.
  • The latest version of mmplayer [mmplayer.com] for connected PalmOS machines (the Tungsten C has built-in WiFi, as does the Sony UX50) now supports HTTP streaming over the wireless connection. Not just audio, but video as well.

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