Real World Computing
Between the nines
Unfortunately, I think most of these Reciva-based radios are a bit rubbish, both from a usability point of view and because they tend to drop the connection really easily, leaving gaps in your listening while the radio reloads its buffer. I'm not alone in taking this view, either - check out David Fearon's review of the Acoustic Energy radio on the PC Pro website (web ID: 83674). The chances of me buying another internet radio based on the Reciva chipset are pretty slim.
This led me to start searching for alternatives and, while there are plenty of devices out there if you hunt around,I couldn't find any others that were standalone (that is, not just dongles that you must connect to an existing hi-fi setup) and that also offered access to the aforementioned Listen again archive. I was bemoaning this fact on the digital_tv conference on Cix when fellow Cix-en Simon Pooley came up with a brilliant, if somewhat "outside the box", suggestion, and that is to use one of Nokia's Internet Tablets as a Wi-Fi radio!
Now I just happen to have an N810 in my toy box (you may have seen the review last month). It's actually a fantastic little mobile computer that runs a version of Linux, and anyone who's considering purchasing an Asus Eee PC should also check out this Nokia because they're not that far apart in price. Since it runs Linux, there's no problem loading additional applications on to the N810, but for internet radio use you won't need to because it already contains everything you need - in fact, its web browser is so good it even works with the latest version of the BBC's iPlayer TV-catchup service (the frame rate is a little jerky, as you'd expect, but the amazing thing is that it actually works).
I find that the easiest way to listen to live radio streams is by visiting the website www.tuned.mobi. It presents a very simple list of worldwide radio stations that offer on-demand streams. From there, it's easy to drill down to, say, UK and then BBC 6 Music. For BBC archive material, head off to a Listen again page such as www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7/listenagain, where you'll find links to the relevant shows.
With some stations, such as Radio 7, those links will directly open in the N810's media player, while others such as Radio 4 will take you into the BBC's radio version of the iPlayer software. Right now that doesn't work properly on certain Linux devices such as the N810, but look in the left-hand frame and you'll see a link that says "Listen using standalone RealPlayer". If you click that, the relevant show will play just fine.
Cardboard culture
There's a new trend you might have encountered on many gadget-focused blogs and, worryingly, on a few dedicated review websites. This trend has even made it as far as YouTube. I'm talking, of course, about the "unboxing" ritual. For those of you who haven't stumbled across it yet, this is a new style of review that starts with an unopened box and spends as long describing and photographing the packaging as it does the all-important contents.
I even came across a YouTube video the other day where someone had just received a package from FedEx containing a few goodies he was expecting from Nokia. This chap set upa camcorder to film himself cutting through the big cardboard box to find the goodies within, and then individually unpacking each item.
