The Terratec Noxon iRadio, top, can access over 10,000 Internet stations. The Roku SoundBridge, middle, is the Snow White of the group, but can't run on batteries. The Tivoli offering is to go on sale this autumn.
REVIEW
You have heard of air pollution and noise pollution?
Don't look now, but another depressing form of toxicity is taking the fun out of life: ad pollution. That is the creeping commercial crud that has sapped the pleasure out of TV, faxes, e-mail messages and, of course, radio.
These days, it seems as though AM radio in the United States has 52 minutes of ads per hour.
But you have an alternative. Internet radio stations offer an endless smorgasbord of audio entertainment. Some of it is a simultaneous broadcast from National Public Radio in the United States, ESPN, the BBC and so on.
Others are Internet-only stations that serve both mainstream and niche tastes. The variety is staggering, all of it is free, and it is largely uncluttered by ads.
Trouble is, to listen to Internet radio, you pretty much have to sit at your computer all day. Why doesn't somebody invent a physical radio that can tune in all of this streaming goodness?
Not a stereo component or computer peripheral, but a true blue, old-time tabletop console, with a row of preset buttons and built-in speakers?
Somebody finally has. Several somebodies, actually. Little-known companies like Roku, Com One, Revo, Terratec and Tivoli have all produced tabletop or bookshelf radios that are freaky hybrids of the old and new.
You tune into radio shows just like you have for decades, but the antennas of the radios are internal Wi-Fi that connect to a wireless home network. Talk about good reception: these radios can pull in any of 10,000 Internet radio stations from all over the world, without a single pop of static.
All but the Roku can also operate on battery power, which means that you can carry these radios with you to the pool or the beach (beaches with Wi-Fi, anyway).
Most of them sweeten the pot by playing podcasts, too - a copious source of free, generally ad-free prerecorded audio programs.
These radios come with several hundred or even several thousand Internet stations already listed in the menus, sorted either by genre (Comedy, Kids, Latin, Hip-hop and so on) or by geographical location.
At a companion Web site, you can add new stations of your choosing, which are then magically beamed back to your radio.
As with any new invention, the first iterations of these models are fairly crude; the emphasis was clearly on engineering rather than design or user-friendliness. The other big problem: you might have a hard time buying one. Of the five models reviewed here, only the Roku shows up on the Shopping.com price-comparison site.
Most of the others come from obscure European companies that don't seem to have their distribution act together in the United States just yet.
Still, the category is worth watching - and worth encouraging. Here's what the first round has in store.
Phoenix by Com One This model is made to move, thanks to its small size and weight (just over two pounds, or about a kilogram) and its ability run on four AA batteries. Indeed, it's the only portable Internet stereo radio here; the others are all monaural.
The five-way controller of the Phoenix makes it easy to set the alarm clock, program one of the eight presets or navigate lists of Internet stations or podcasts.
The USB jack lets you attach either a flash drive or a pocket music player, turning this radio into an external speaker for your not-copy-protected MP3, WMA and WAV audio files.
That may sound like a lot of features, but beware: the Phoenix is also missing a couple of significant features, like a remote control and the ability to tune in regular AM or FM broadcasts. The sound from the two 4-watt speakers is clear, but not especially powerful. You can hear it across the room, but you won't wake the neighbors.
Pico by Revo Where the Phoenix is low and wide, the Pico looks like a tiny skyscraper. This machine, too, is designed to go. It has a built-in rechargeable battery, and it's splashproof, meaning that it's O.K. for bathroom or poolside use.
This solidly built machine also has an FM radio receiver, a remote control, a real on-off button, and an input for an iPod or another music source.
Operating this machine is clumsy: it has a two-line display and an awkward click wheel. For example, to adjust the volume, you first press a volume button and then turn the dial. The mono speaker can get plenty loud; but at the top of its range, the sound distorts badly.
