View Quest Portable WiFi Internet Radio

Despite technological improvements such as stereo FM radio and more recently HD radio, the breadth and depth of free terrestrial radio broadcasts hasn’t changed much since its inception generations ago.  Within any given market, a listener may only have a hand-full of stations into which they regularly tune.  Satellite radio sought to upend this trend by giving listeners access to much more high quality content with fewer or no commercial interruptions – albeit for the price of a monthly subscription.  This subscription fee has kept many would-be satellite subscribers away from the service.

Now, thanks to the ubiquity of WiFi networks, a British company called View Quest has developed a portable WiFi Internet radio that can tune to any of up to 12,000 Internet based radio stations.  As long as the device is within the confines of a wireless 802.11b/g network to which it has access, Internet radio stations from around the world can be browsed and heard.  Additionally, MP3 playback capabilities and an FM tuner broaden the range of content available to the device when a WiFi connection isn’t available.  A 2-Watt speaker and standard headphone jack allow for individual or group listening for up to 15 hours on the device’s rechargeable battery.

Unfortunately, this thing is only available in Britain right now.  But the concept is strong and could find a niche market here in the U.S. or anywhere with people who like to listen to the radio.