Acer, Sonicbox Team to Stream Net Radio in Stereo

Tom Spring, PCWorld.com

Thanks to Web radio, tunes ranging from pop music from the Czech Republic to the twang of Kentucky bluegrass can stream over the Net to your PC. The challenge is finding quality Web radio stations, then settling for music that's still shackled to a computer's second-rate sound system.

Acer NeWeb and Sonicbox have partnered to unchain digital music from PCs with the release of the $120 IRhythm device. It's a wireless Web radio tuner that links hundreds of Net-based stations and personal MP3 collections to your home stereo.

The IRhythm is made up of a base unit (that plugs into a PC's USB port), a wireless receiver (that attaches to your stereo), and an Art Deco-style tuner called the IM Tuner that categorizes 800 Web radio stations by genre. The signal is sent from the base to the wireless receiver, which can be up to 100 feet away, on the same 900-MHz frequency used for cordless phones. You can retrieve the Web radio online and route it for playing through your stereo.

The IRhythm is not a new concept but rather an affordable alternative to more expensive devices such as the $250 Dell Audio Receiver or Gateway Connected Music Player, priced at $300. Also, there's 3Com's $300 Kerbango and Audioramp's IRAD-S device, which costs $400. The software-only version of this product was released earlier this year as the IM Software Tuner.

A limited wireless range and awkward audio management software prevent IRhythm from competing equally with more expensive brethren. Its minimum system requirements are a 133-MHz Pentium-class PC with 64MB of memory running Windows 98, Me, or 2000; a USB port; a sound card; and at least a 56-kilobits-per-second modem. Service is also optimized for high speed modems.

Sonicbox unveiled the combo package a year ago, packaging the hardware and software as the Sonicbox Tuner. Acer is supplying the hardware for this configuration and will continue to manufacture the unit, although Sonicbox is licensing the software.

IRhythm's Audition

It took less than 20 minutes to set up the IRhythm hardware on my PC and stereo. Although the distance between the two is less than 100 feet, music quality was poor because of underlying static that sounded like a cordless phone losing battery life. I had better luck linking IRhythm to a sound system located in the same room as my PC, where there was no radio interference.

That's all I needed to kick back and use IRhythm's wireless remote tuner to flip through radio stations or preconfigured digital audio playlists on my PC. I sprawled on my couch and easily navigated the tuner's preset stations and others I chose.

I was impressed with Sonicbox's IM Remote Tuner, which handles flipping among Web radio stations like scanning your radio dial. When you click to a station, a small audio clip alerts you to the name, location, and genre of the station you've selected. Sonicbox says it periodically checks stations to ensure they meet a minimum level of reliability.

To add radio stations, you must locate the "live" link on the Net radio station's site and "drag" it with your mouse to the IRhythm software tuner.

The hardware console includes buttons that let you send "smile" or "frown" events to stations so they'll know what you think of their programming. You can also push a Tell Me More button to get an e-mail containing information about the artist. This feature will be more useful when more stations support it.

The product will appeal to listeners who like variety or can't get what they want from local radio. It has special appeal to sports fans who hunger for out-of-town live coverage of their favorite teams.