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NPR and Livio partner for Wi-Fi radio device

By | October 20, 2009, 5:27am PDT

Summary: Hearst has said it is developing an e-reader, and now another news organization is simply creating its own tech gadget. Livio and National Public Radio (NPR) have partnered for the first Internet radio device, aptly named the NPR Radio. Featuring exclusive NPR content and programming and access via the Internet (either Ethernet or Wi-Fi) to [...]

Hearst has said it is developing an e-reader, and now another news organization is simply creating its own tech gadget. Livio and National Public Radio (NPR) have partnered for the first Internet radio device, aptly named the NPR Radio.

Featuring exclusive NPR content and programming and access via the Internet (either Ethernet or Wi-Fi) to more than 16,000 validated Internet radio stations from around the world, Livio and NPR are trying to attract both older and younger demographics to their new venture. As for the NPR content, listeners can access more than 1,000 NPR station streams, over 800 podcasts and the station’s archives. There are the basic additional, but ultimately necessary, features of a radio, like an alarm clock and sleep timer.

On sale now, it’s available in both NPR’s and Livio’s online stores for $199. Livio’s first radio debuted earlier this year, and it sells for the same price. I don’t know if I’d buy a radio right now at that price. Plus, I tend to keep portable radios around for picnics or emergencies (like power outages), and since its powered via AC Power Adapter and not batteries, it’s not very portable. But its definitely an attractive device. Would you buy it?

For the full press release, click here.

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Rachel King is a staff writer for ZDNet based in San Francisco.

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Rachel King

Rachel King has no business relationships, affiliations, investments, or other potential conflicts of interest relating to the content posted in this blog.

Biography

Rachel King

Rachel King is a staff writer for CBS Interactive in San Francisco. Before serving as a contributing editor at ZDNet in New York City for two years, she previously worked for The Business Insider, FastCompany.com, CNN's San Francisco bureau and the U.S. Department of State. Rachel has also written for MainStreet.com, Irish America Magazine and the New York Daily News, among others. Rachel has a B.A. in Mass Communications and History from the University of California, Berkeley and a M.S. in Journalism from Columbia University, where she served as art director for the student magazine, Plated.

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RE: NPR and Livio partner for Wi-Fi radio device
rogerhough@... 20th Oct 2009
This is not the first of its kind as claimed in the article. I have two
Freecom MusicPal internet clock radios (European but available via mail
order, and work in America). These are excellent, with a small footprint
for beside the bed. I also bought an Aluratek internet radio, but it is
awkward to operate although it does have a USB connection for iPod type
devices. Meanwhile Sonos caters to the high end. And there are others.
By the way NPR provides an iPhone application to listen to NPR radio too.
I listen to NPR classical from Calgary as our CBC service here no longer
offers classical in prime time.
0 Votes
+ -
Is Internet access free?
drand54@... 20th Oct 2009
If this is similar to the Kindle where streaming
from the Internet is free, I would purchase this
for my father-in-law for Christmas.
0 Votes
+ -
This is not the first of its kind as claimed in the article. I have two
Freecom MusicPal internet clock radios (European but available via mail
order, and work in America). These are excellent, with a small footprint
for beside the bed. I also bought an Aluratek internet radio, but it is
awkward to operate although it does have a USB connection for iPod type
devices. Meanwhile Sonos caters to the high end. And there are others.
By the way NPR provides an iPhone application to listen to NPR radio too.
I listen to NPR classical from Calgary as our CBC service here no longer
offers classical in prime time.

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