I would listen to a lot more internet radio if I didn’t have to be in the vicinity of my computer to do so. Internet radio stations are great, but just not convenient around the house for most people – not being able to carry a small radio from room to room to listen to programmes often means that a lot of people just don’t bother listening to the huge range of programming out there.
Reciva have come up with an ingenious way round this – without even needing a computer. Their Wireless Household Internet Radio modules allow consumers to listen to broadcasts in any room of the house by using a WiFi receiver to access streamed content. You could even use it in the park if it’s in a hotspot.
Reciva don’t make the finished devices themselves, instead manufacturing the modules for their partners. They also provide a reference unit for module evaluation, and an Application Development kit. There are more than ten thousand internet radio stations in existence covering most niches, and as they don’t rely on over the air transmission, are not geographically dependent. This means that anyone can set up a station in the UK to reach the 15 million expatriates living abroad, with bandwidth as their only consideration.
If PC-less internet radio devices like this take off along with ubiquitous WiFi coverage, it could mean that digital radio will lose some of it attractiveness. After all, there are considerably less stations and the selection available is dependent on which ones are carried by your local broadcast masts.
