May 26, 2005 As convergence rampages onward, the area of audio content and how we will consume it in the future has been one with no obvious outcomes. While podcasting has been a major trend of recent times, liberating content from the desktop en masse, live internet radio is only just beginning to become unwired and the jury is still out as to what devices we’ll use to listen to streamed audio content. One possibility is the Infusion, a compact portable Internet radio that connects to the Internet via WiFi without the need for a PC. It has a range of features including Internet radio, a timer recording, MP3 player, FM radio receiver, news / sport / weather ticker-tape banner, and more. Around the same size as a credit card (58mm x 71mm x 16mm), the Infusion will reach market in time for the 2005 Christmas season priced “between medium capacity flash-memory MP3 players and high capacity MP3 players with built-in hard drives."
“Existing flash-memory MP3 consumers will therefore have the option to purchase the additional functionality of portable Internet radio, for a minimal price variance,” according to George Parthimos, Managing Director of Australian-based Torian which will market and manufacture the device.
The InFusion Portable Wireless Internet Radio was short-listed as one of three finalists for the 2005 G4TechTV Best of CES Awards (“Audio To Go” category) and uses 802.11b/g WiFi technology to connect to wireless hotspots. It does not use GPRS or 3G.
The company also plans to offer the technology “so that it can be embedded in many existing devices, such as home theatre/stereo systems, portable radios, high-capacity MP3 Players, stereo amplifiers, car radios, mobile phones, televisions and DVD players.”
“For example, Internet radio listeners could listen to their content through their home stereo system. The system would seamlessly connect to the Internet via their home broadband connection through their wireless hub, and stream the desired Internet radio without the need for a PC.”