Macworld reviews the Pure Evoke Flow

Macworld reviews the Pure Evoke Flow saying “if you understand the Evoke Flow’s limitations and embrace its primary purpose—a fairly flexible radio as at home at the beach as it is in the kitchen—it may be for you.”

That doesn’t sound like unconditional thumbs up to us so it’s worth digging deeper into the review.

The sound quality is acceptable, producing “quality akin to that of a decent clock radio—perfectly fine for the kitchen or bedroom or for spoken-word content, but not something that’s going to blow you away sonically.”

The main complaint is the occasionally fiddly controls. “When your world is filled with Apple’s elegant interfaces it’s easy to be put-off by devices that you have to occasionally fiddle with to operate.”

The takke home message is that in the case of the Pure Evoke Flow you shouldn’t be put off.

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Posted on January 20, 2011 at 6:17 am by Jay Neill · Permalink · One Comment
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Pure announces Contour iPod Dock with internet radio

Pure Contour

Pure Contour

Pure has unveiled a new iPod dock at CES 2011 which comes with the now ubiquitous DAB+ and internet radio capability.

The Contour falls into the category of ‘contemporarydesign’ rather than the retro look that predominates internet radio at the moment, and we think it looks rather nice – particularly the slide out tray that hides the iPod dock.

You can take a first look a the Contour courtesy of Which at CES below.

The Pure Contour is available in the UK now priced at £199. Read the rest of this post »

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Posted on January 16, 2011 at 7:35 am by Jay Neill · Permalink · Leave a comment
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Livio to partner with Grooveshark

On-Livio logodemand music service Grooveshark, and Livio Radio, developers of Internet radio devices and accessories, have joined forces.

The exclusive, multi-year partnership, announced last week at the 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, merges Livio Radio’s expertise in developing consumer electronics products and accessories with the global availability offered by Grooveshark’s catalog of 7 million songs. Read the rest of this post »

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Posted on January 16, 2011 at 7:16 am by Jay Neill · Permalink · Leave a comment
In: Industry News, Livio · Tagged with: ,

What HiFi reviews the View Quest WiFi200

View Quest WiFi200

View Quest WiFi200

There’s very little to the View Quest WiFi 200. It’s an internet radio. It’s portable. That’s all you need to know.

But what it does, it does pretty well, with What HiFi saying “we like this Viewquest radio. It’s small and perfectly formed, easy to operate, delivers 15 hours of battery after a full charge via USB, and sounds good enough via headphones and, to a lesser extent, its internal speaker.”

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Posted on January 15, 2011 at 4:01 pm by Jay Neill · Permalink · One Comment
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Pure Oasis Flow – “an excellent product for outdoors types”

Pure Oasis Flow

Pure Oasis Flow

PC World Australia has described the Pure Oasis Flow as “a must-have item for lovers of radio and the outdoors”.

“If you enjoy the outdoors and love the idea of a device that combines DAB+ and wireless Internet radio, then the Oasis Flow should be right up your alley”.

There was a minor quibble about sound quality – “a small amount of muffled audio on a few Internet and digital radio stations” – but in general this was a product with few flaws.

Oh and it’s splash-proof!

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Posted on January 14, 2011 at 4:19 pm by Jay Neill · Permalink · Leave a comment
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Build your own WiFi radio

WiFi radio prices are dropping daily, but if you are money-poor and time-rich, or just fancy a challenge, you might want to try out the project detailed here on Tinkernut.com.

It will guide you thorugh the process of creating your own WiFi radio for less than $50. You’ll need some freely available hardware, a bit of freeware, and more than an ounce of technical knowledge. If you have all of that why not give it a try?

See the full instructions here, or watch below.

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Posted on September 18, 2010 at 8:59 am by Jay Neill · Permalink · Leave a comment
In: Projects

What HiFi praises the Pure Avanti Flow

Pure Avanti Flow

Pure Avanti Flow

This isn’t a particularly current article and we are talking about a radio that is getting a little long in the tooth, but we’ve been asked for some Pure Avanti Flow reviews and here’s a good one.

What HiFi laud the device saying “Great spec; good ergonomics; sounds is large-scale and well controlled by prevailing standards”.

Negatives were few and far between – “Aside from a lack of outright volume, there’s very little here worthy of censure – so if the ideal of a three-piece micro system doesn’t appeal but internet radio does, you’ll need to put this Pure on your shortlist.  ” Read the rest of this post »

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Posted on August 27, 2010 at 2:50 pm by Jay Neill · Permalink · 2 Comments
In: Pure, Radios · Tagged with: , ,

Pocket Lint reviews the Pure Evoke Flow

Pure Evoke Flow

Pure Evoke Flow

Pocket Lint has just published a review of the Pure Evoke Flow and have trouble faulting it in the looks department. “It’s typical Pure Digital style and one that is not only instantly recognisable, but one that is likely to appeal to Pure Digital fans, of which there are many.”

“Sound quality and speaker capabilities are excellent and as a piece of hardware we love it.”

The only real complaint they had was the website that you must use to manage stations – “Overall it will help you do what you want to do, but it’s not the easiest of sites to use and could detract from the Evoke Flow’s otherwise good quality”

Read more at Pocket Lint.

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Posted on August 25, 2010 at 7:43 am by Jay Neill · Permalink · Leave a comment
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What HiFi reviews Roberts Stream 83i

Roberts Stream 83i

Roberts Stream 83i

What HiFi describe the Roberts Stream 83i as “good in most areas, but … needs a more balanced sound”.

They certainly don’t think it’s a looker, but accept that that chunky interface has its benefits – “Compared with neater rivals, this is simple to use, and all controls act with a slick positivity”.

When it comes to the spec “only the lack of an iPod dock could conceivably cause concern”.

Read more at What HiFi.

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Posted on August 25, 2010 at 7:33 am by Jay Neill · Permalink · Leave a comment
In: Radios, Roberts · Tagged with: , ,

Pandora releases genre-based stations

Pandora has added a new way of welcoming new listeners to its service in the form of genre-based stations.

Until now, stations on Pandora were created when listeners entered the name of a favorite artist, song, or composer. The new genre stations give listeners a different path into the world of personalized radio, where simple ‘thumbs-up’ and ‘thumbs-down’ actions let people shape the stations to their individual tastes.

Senior Music Curator Michael Zapruder said, “Our listeners have been telling us for a while that they’d like an easy way to start a station from popular genres with the option to personalize the station from there. We wanted to find a uniquely Pandora way to address this consumer need so we created a number of genre stations that are carefully seeded with relevant songs and constantly refreshed with new releases.”

Genre stations include Today’s Hits, Classic Rock, 80′s Pop, Alternative, Blues, Christian, Classical, Country and more. You can see the full list here on the Pandora website.

Pandora is only available in the USA, but can be accessed via several WiFi radios including the Grace Allegro.

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Posted on August 25, 2010 at 7:23 am by Jay Neill · Permalink · Leave a comment
In: Industry News · Tagged with: ,