radios

Is Spotify looking to beat Pandora at its own online radio game?

The streaming music provider may be building an online radio service that could rival that of Pandora, according to Bloomberg.

Citing "two people with knowledge of the situation," Bloomberg said the new service would launch before the end of the year and be funded by advertising. Spotify has just begun informing content partners about the new service, according to the sources.

Spotify currently works as a downloadable application that provides access to your local music libraries and lets you search for and play music online. Users … Read more

Bottom line: Version 10.6 of iTunes brings a handful of enhancements to Apple's ubiquitous media software, and adds support for 1080p video.

Review: As one of the most popular programs for managing music and video content on a personal computer, Apple's iTunes software has become an indispensable part of our digital life.

Interface The look and layout of iTunes 10 is essentially identical to that of iTunes 9, with just a couple of noticeable differences. The first is that Apple has updated its logo for iTunes. Rather than the old-school music note-over-CD icon, you'll see a … Read more

The Tivoli Audio PAL (Portable Audio Laboratory) radio is pretty small, just 6.25 by 3.7 by 3.9 inches, and it weighs a little under 2 pounds. It has just one 2.5-inch "full-range" speaker, but the little radio is one of my all-time favorite products. The battery-powered PAL is "wireless," because radio was, after all, the original widespread wireless format.

The PAL is dead simple to use: turn it on, select AM or FM radio, and tune to the station you love. You can also plug an iPod, or any device, into the … Read more

Besides Apple, RadioShack is now open to sales of the new iPad.

Today the company said it's taking pre-orders for the new tablet, which was announced at an event yesterday and proceeded to go up for pre-sale only on Apple's Web site.

There is a catch for those who choose to pre-order with RadioShack though, buyers need to purchase a $50 RadioShack gift card, and make the pre-order from one of RadioShack's retail stores.

The gift card can be used on other goods at the store, or go towards the purchase, the company said. Buyers can also … Read more

One of the top female executives in Silicon Valley is stepping down.

Jessica Steel, Pandora's executive vice president of Business and Corporate Development, is wrapping up her nearly eight-year tenure at the company, according to tech news site The Next Web.

Steel's role at the Internet radio giant was to lead the company's business development and work on strategic partnerships with device manufacturers, car companies, and more.

"The car is one of the most popular venues for radio listening and incorporating Pandora into the native environment of automobile dashboards makes listening to personalized Internet radio as … Read more

Jewe NetRadio is a free Internet radio player built on the JewelScript GUI library, the BASS audio engine, and parts from 7Zip and other open source freeware. It has an ultracompact, interactive interface and a minimalist design that is focused on playing music and other Net radio programming, without a lot of extras that you'll probably never use. It plays stations from 181.fm's playlist, but you can copy other playlists to the program's playlist folder to add more stations.

The minuscule, rectangular NetRadio interface is about as simple as a player gets; just a black background … Read more

Internet radio is way better than sliced bread because slicing bread is an easy skill to acquire, yet no amount of dial-twiddling will bring thousands of crystal-clear stations from every corner of the globe to your clock radio. Music, news, talk, information: There's almost no limit to online radio's variety, or to the languages it's available in--practically every language in the world. While Internet radio players aren't anywhere near as numerous as the stations they capture, there's quite a variety available, most of them freeware. RarmaRadio from Raimersoft is a free Internet radio player with … Read more

Congrats to Ning Z. of Elmhurst, N.Y., for winning a Samsung LN40D550 in last week's giveaway. Ning beat out more than 2,900 other entrants to score the 40-inch flat-panel TV.

This week, we have another great prize, a portable Internet radio from Grace Digital Audio. The Mondo Wi-Fi music player features a 3.5-inch color LCD display and comes equipped with more than 18,000 Internet radio stations and endless on-demand content from providers including NPR, BBC, iHeartRadio, and CBS (disclosure: CBS is the parent company of CNET).

You'll also get access to premium free music services such as Pandora, iHeartRadio, and Dar.fm, as well as premium pay services such as SiriusXM Internet Radio and Live365 VIP. Basically, you'll have loads to listen to--and wake up to (the radio also functions as an alarm clock).

The Mondo measures 3.5 inches by 9.75 inches by 5.75 inches, weighs 6 pounds, and works with any 802.11b/g/n wireless router with an Internet connection. The product can be powered by an AC adaptor or rechargeable battery that promises up to 13 hours of play at average volume levels. … Read more

Let's get one thing straight: this is not a dictatorship. You may have noticed that just below every bright red CNET editors' rating is a cool blue user rating. And just below every review is a place where you, dear user, can make yourself heard by writing a short, sweet user review! Sometimes the editors and the users agree, sometimes we butt heads, but both views are important to the big picture.

Nowhere are user reviews more important than in the GPS category. The core function of the device and the accuracy of its map data relies heavily on the geography and topography of the area where it's operated. A GPS navigator that performs perfectly near the CNET offices in San Francisco may not be as accurate in another city with more tall buildings blocking the sky. On the other hand, maps that aren't 100 percent accurate for our testing area may be perfect near you. That's why it's so important that we hear from our readers.

With that in mind, I've rounded up a selection of the portable navigation devices with the highest average user ratings. If you've got a favorite GPS navigator, pop over to our GPS reviews list and leave a rating! … Read more