wi-fi radio

Livio Radio review: Pandora streaming, with a high-end look

The iPod may have killed AM/FM radio for the latest generation of music fans, but the classic version of Apple's ubergadget only lets you listen to your own music collection--there's no hipster DJ introducing you to your new favorite band. Music fans still crave new sounds, and personalized Internet radio services such as Pandora and Last.fm have filled the "music discovery" gap by taking note of your music preferences and playing songs they'll think you'll like. Pandora's a great service, but--portable devices notwithstanding--it's not easy to listen to away from … Read more

Review: Oxx Digital Tube blasts out the bass

Wi-Fi radios come in many shapes and sizes, but the Oxx Digital Tube is in a class of its own with its jumbo, hollow-bodied design. The Tube's unique look accommodates its built-in subwoofer, and yes, we found that the radio delivers much more bass than is common on a tabletop radio, although the overall sound quality is just about average.

Like virtually all Wi-Fi radios, the Tube offers up thousands of free Internet radio stations, but it isn't exactly easy to sort through them all on the unit's skimpy two-line LCD display. We were also disappointed that … Read more

Reciva adds Pandora to 10 Wi-Fi radios

When we get a Wi-Fi radio in for review and find that it uses the Reciva database to offer up Internet radio stations, it's usually a good sign. Reciva's database of stations is nearly comprehensive and we always appreciate that you can manage the thousands of available stations using Reciva's Web site.

In addition to traditional Internet radio stations, Reciva announced Monday that it's adding Pandora support for 10 devices, including Wi-Fi radios from C Crane, Grace Digital, Livio, Sonoro audio, and Tangent Audio.

While some of the radios listed already included Pandora support (such as … Read more

Livio Radio puts Pandora in a box

The new Livio Radio certainly isn't the first Wi-Fi radio to feature Pandora access--the Squeezebox Boom and the Grace GDI-IR2000 both offer the functionality--but it's certainly the first model seemingly designed around the streaming Internet music service.

With a standard tabletop radio design, the Livio gives you full access to Pandora, and also makes it easy to interact with the service by putting "thumbs up" and "thumbs down" buttons on the front panel and the remote. The Livio can connect to your home network using either the integrated Wi-Fi or the Ethernet port around … Read more

Review: Grace GDI-IR2000 Wi-Fi radio packs extra features, but won't please audiophiles

When we reviewed the Grace ITC-IR1000B Wi-Fi radio last year, we were almost uniformly impressed, except for two criticisms in the features department; the unit lacks a remote and an auxiliary input for connecting an iPod. So when Grace announced its new lineup of Wi-Fi radios for 2009, we were particularly excited by the GDI-IR2000, which looked nearly identical to last year's model but added a remote and auxiliary input.

So then how did the GDI-IR2000 receive a lower score than last year's model? Sound quality. We put the GDI-IR2000 head-to-head with the ITC-IR1000B, and the new model … Read more

Five new Wi-Fi radios from Grace Digital Audio

The Grace ITC-IR1000B Wi-Fi radio wound up being one of our favorite surprise products on the year. We weren't familiar with Grace before testing this radio, but its solid mix of design, features, and sound quality made us fans, and it stacked up well in our Wi-Fi radio roundup.

The company has announced five new Wi-Fi radios coming out this winter, ranging from a second-generation version of the ITC-IR1000B to new products like the portable GDI-IRP600. Here's the full rundown:… Read more

iLuv debuts $200 Wi-Fi clock radio

Earlier in 2008, iLuv made news with its release of the i168, one of the most affordable tabletop HD Radios to date (currently available for less than $100). Now the company is turning its sights toward online audio with the iNT170. The bedside clock radio employs the same chassis as the i168, but it offers thousands of streaming Internet radio stations (via your home wired or Wi-Fi network) instead of HD Radio. The dual alarms can be set to wake to an Internet station, over-the-air FM, or a buzzer, and the unit offers 40 presets--20 for FM, 20 for Net … Read more

RCA Infinite Radio: Slacker, Internet radio, and AM/FM for less than $100

We recently christened the Logitech Squeezebox Boom as our favorite Wi-Fi radio, but that's not to say there's no room for more products in that burgeoning category.

Take the new RCA Infinite Radio RIR200 from Acoustic Research. In addition to its ability to pull in thousands of Internet radio stations from across the globe, this squat little networked clock radio can also access the Slacker music service (free with ads, or paid without) as well as good old-fashioned over-the-air AM and FM radio. It's also got weather forecasts (courtesy of WeatherBug) and will even interrupt what you'… Read more

Logitech Squeezebox Boom is our favorite Wi-Fi radio to date

Recently, we asked the question, "Is the Logitech Squeezebox Boom the ultimate Wi-Fi radio?" Now that we've had two full weeks to play with it, we have an answer: Yes, it pretty much is. The Boom is the first product in this category we can enthusiastically recommend. Like its predecessor, the Logitech Squeezebox Duet, the Boom's garnered a CNET Editors' Choice Award. Check out the links below for the full review, the updated CNET Wi-Fi radio roundup (which includes some lower priced alternatives), and the overall list of best network music players.

Read: Logitech Squeezebox Boom reviewRead more

Grace Wireless Internet Radio updated, now with Pandora

When we reviewed the Grace ITC-IR1000B Wireless Internet Radio back in March, we gave it a mostly positive review, but a couple annoying quirks and a general lack of connectivity kept us from a stronger recommendation. Since that time, Grace has released a firmware update that fixed most of the software bugs we complained about, and the company added the ability to access the Pandora streaming audio service. Since these changes added a good deal of functionality to the radio--and it's still one of the most affordable Wi-Fi radios on the market--we decided to take a second look at it.… Read more