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<< Previous   of   Next >> Associated Press  (click to enlarge) The Com one Phoenix Wi-Fi radio costs about $200.   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Mike Benbow, Business Editor benbow@heraldnet.com   Published: Sunday, July 13, 2008 Wi-Fi radios still haven't dialed in ease of use By Peter Svensson Associated Press NEW YORK -- What are you going to listen to? Norway's 24-hour folk music channel Allttid Folkemusikk? Radio Banadir -- the Most Trusted News in Somalia? It's a big world out there, and radios that grab their sound from the Internet rather than the airwaves can bring it home. Wi-Fi Internet radio sets have been around for a while without getting much attention, but they're worth a look: Prices have come down, and features are up. I tested four models, and found the best of them a great addition to the kitchen, the breakfast table, or maybe the patio. What unites the units I tested is that they all have Wi-Fi, so they can connect to the Internet via your home hot spot and broadband connection. They also have built-in speakers, unlike the devices known as "media bridges" and Apple Inc.'s Airport Express, which can play music through a stereo or a set of powered speakers. None of these radios are dead easy to use. People who don't program speed dials on their phones or set the VCR clock will be daunted by an Internet radio. Com one Phoenix ($194 street, $250 list) was the all-around best model I tried. It's the only one that was good at playing subscribed podcasts in addition to streaming Internet radio. It's also the only one that can be used truly wirelessly, because it has rechargeable batteries that will power it for a few hours when disconnected from the wall outlet. The interface consists of a few buttons, a wheel and an LCD screen. It's not pretty, but reasonably intuitive. There's no remote, which is good, because it's one less thing to lose. It accepts flash drives with MP3s and other music files in a USB slot. Roku Soundbridge Radio ($299) is the second pick, even though it's from 2005 and showing its age. It's a large, handsome unit with stereo speakers backed up by a woofer. Together they pump out the best sound of the test. The wide blue-glowing display presents a lot of information in an attractive way. But it's harder to use than the Phoenix, and you go back and forth between pressing buttons on the unit itself and on a remote. There is no support for podcasts, though you could possibly play them by first downloading them to a networked PC. Grace Wireless Internet Radio ($172 street, $199 list) almost has the bass power of the Roku unit, but it's from a single speaker. Mono sound feels antiquated, and with good reason: no matter how far you turn it up, it still sounds "small." This unit does play podcasts, but not very well. For instance, you can't pause them. There's a button with a "pause" sign on it, but if you press it, the set will start playing a preset radio stream rather than pausing your podcast. Aluratek Internet Radio Alarm Clock ($147 street, $150 list) is another single-speaker solution. It's a new model, and has some software glitches that should be straightened out in time. The unit I tried got stuck when trying to connect to my hot spot, and then garbled the sound when playing from a USB flash drive.

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