What will they think of next? If you’ve ever wanted to listen to an Internet radio station without going through the trouble of using a PC, Freecom has just announced the solution. The Freecom MusicPal allows thousands of Internet radio stations to be received wirelessly by WLAN – without using a PC. Anyone who would prefer to play the MP3 collection of their PC/Mac or network can simply reproduce MP3 or WAV formats on the MusicPal by streaming. Thanks to the built-in loudspeaker, the MusicPal is completely independent.
The MusicPal can be configured very quickly, and according to the manufacturer it’s easy to operate. The two, handy click dials enable intuitive navigation and fully variable volume adjustment. Radio stations are pre-sorted by genres and country (vTuner service included,) and can be conveniently selected and saved in a “Favorites” list, which can be called up at the touch of a button. The LED display shows the time, radio station, and track. It also mixes in the latest news reports, blog news or weather forecasts of the RSS News Service.
This thing looks awesome and music aficionados can connect the MusicPal to active loudspeakers, a hi-fi system or headphones.
Equipped with WEP, WPA and WPA2 encryption, the MusicPal complies with the highest WLAN security standards. The firmware developed for this purpose by Freecom is undergoing permanent further development, and updates are available online for downloading.
I love the idea, but whether MusicPal lives up to the hype remains to be seen. MusicPal should be in stores soon, and I am guessing the price will be around $200 (based on the Dutch prices.) Full specs here.
Other Internet Radio on Amazon.com:
