Roberts digital radio iPod add-on: DAB goes egg-shaped

One of the most common complaints about the iPod is that it lacks a simple radio. It's a common feature in so many portable audio players now that it seems almost ridiculous that the iPod doesn't have such a feature built in as standard. But radio connoisseur Roberts is heeding the call from the radiophiles and is partnering with Frontier Silicon to develop a DAB/FM radio podcessory.

At a mooted price of around £50 we're quite sure the market will be welcoming. What we're not sure about is the statement that the attachment will be "about the size of an egg". Hence our picture here. We don't know what it really looks like.

With iPod sales in the UK soaring up to the eight-figure bracket, and with a number of people still appreciating old-fashioned broadcast media, bodies such as the BBC have welcomed this move. The Beeb has made vast numbers of its radio shows available as downloadable podcasts and these experiments have been massively successful, to the point where five BBC podcasts appear in the iTunes UK top ten.

The BBC's director of music and audio, Jenny Abramsky, says she hopes this kind of attachment will encourage young people to still want broadcast radio. We're slightly sceptical -- particularly as DAB is a well-known battery hog and its reception doesn't do well on the move. But it'll be out in the late autumn and we'll be reviewing it when it is. -Nate Lanxon

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Source: Broadcast Now on

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