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Today in New York, Tivoli Audio founder Tom DeVesto unveiled plans, what he called "five years worth of work," for two Internet radios modeled after the company's successful Kloss Model One and SongBook radios. The Kloss Model One look-alike will be called NetWorks, and the SongBook-styled one, shown above, will be the NetWorksGo. Price has not been announced, nor has a ship date, but the company is aiming for this fall.
The platform that Tivoli designed is supposed to make Internet radio as accessible as standard FM stations: You navigate by geographical region or genre using controls similar to the radio tuner, then drill down until you find the station you want. The larger NetWorks table player will have a remote that allows you to input stations (WFUV, WBYR etc.).
Tivoli will compile the list of stations worldwide, which at this point totals about 12,000. There are five preset buttons, but you'll also be able to store the creme-de-la-creme in a favorites folder for easy access.
The black NetWorksGo has rechargeable batteries nestled in their own built-in charger, which means you can use them or, if you're out of a charge, swap in storebought alkalines.
Both devices support Wi-Fi, and are compatible with WPA and WEP security. DeVesto says you input a password or key with the dial, which I suppose could be tedious, but he says only needs to happen once.
The radios will also be able to pull tracks (everything but iTunes DRM) from the PC, but DeVesto didn't mention what software provider would be used. I'm guessing something like ArcSoft CyberServer, but I could be wrong. Let's hope, whatever it is, it's easy. They also have USB inputs for playback of files locally.
When the conversation landed on HD Radio, DeVesto said he wasn't interested in putting it in his boxes just yet. "We're not sure what's in it for the customer," he said. – Wilson Rothman
Company Page [Tivoli Audio]
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