[opendtv] First Glance at Insignia's HD Radio Portable

From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 14 Jul 2009 10:29:32 -0400
At last. And cool about the car option, connected like an MP3 player.
Sounds like more of a harbinger than a totally worked out product, but
the price is right.

I'm assuming here that the radio uses the portable single-chip HD Radio
solution that was announced a few months ago. If so, then this would be,
or could be, also comp[atible with DAB and DMB-T.

Bert

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http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/07/13/reviewing-the-hd-radio-portable/t
ab/print/

July 13, 2009, 9:05 AM ET.

First Glance at Insignia's HD Radio Portable.

Less than a month ago, we reviewed a tabletop HD radio. We came to the
conclusion that HD radio can offer static-free, improved sound quality
in a tabletop, but if you're constantly on the go, it might be worth it
to wait for the portable options due out in the fall, including those by
Microsoft Zune and iBiquity Digital, the company that licenses the HD
radio technology.

Turns out HD portable has hit stores sooner than anticipated, with the
introduction of Best Buy Insignia's HD Radio Portable Player on July 12.
The product retails for $50 and picks up HD, or digitally broadcasted,
FM radio signals. It has a full-color LCD screen, a rechargeable lithium
battery that runs for 10 hours, 10 preset channels, and, for you gym
rats or power walkers out there, an arm band. It works with headphones
as well as cars - the Insignia can be connected to any car stereo that
has AUX-IN capabilities, even if the vehicle doesn't have built-in HD
Radio technology.

But at first glance and without testing this product, the Insignia
portable has little to offer other than the simple fact that it can pick
up an HD radio signal. First of all, it excludes HD AM radio stations.
And even with the FM stations, if you're in a place - like your gym, or
your neighborhood - where the HD radio signal isn't available, you won't
even be listening to HD radio, or the signal will waver (consumers with
HD radio receivers in their cars may be familiar with this). The LCD
screen doesn't display art; just the station information. And lastly,
the Insignia HD Radio Portable Player does not have the iTunes tagging
option, one of HD radio's best features, in which you can "tag" or cue
the device to remember a song that you'd like to later download for
purchase from the iTunes store.

Given the limitations of the product and the fact that iBiquity's
technology appears in any HD Radio product that hits the market, it's
less likely that Best Buy was hoping to beat iBiquity or Microsoft to
the shelves and more likely that the portable is a part of a reset or
stage in which the company will begin stocking new product. If you
prefer radio listening to iPod playlists while on the move or want to be
a pioneer in portable HD Radio, go for it - but otherwise, we still say
hang tight.

Copyright 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
 
 
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[opendtv] First Glance at Insignia's HD Radio Portable

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