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Radio with Wi-Fi…it sounds great to me!

Photo of the Evoke Flow Player
The Evoke Flow Player
I love Wi-Fi. When I heard that radios exist that can utilize Wi-Fi, I wanted to immediately get some…

According to a press release, the PURE EVOKE Flow: “…was the first truly connected portable radio. Made of the same polished and lacquered wood as a grand piano with a three-inch speaker, the EVOKE Flow delivers stunning sound quality. The optional ChargePAK battery makes this device eminently portable…”

After opening the box I found the radio enclosed in a soft, drawstring bag. That’s a great idea: the body of the radio is very shiny and reflective, and you’ll want to protect it from scratches.

There’s too much to tell about this radio, and too many features to comment on, so I won’t be able to cover everything.

On the top is a touch-sensitive “SnoozeHandle”. On the front are “Volume/Mute” and “Select/Pause” knobs. They are a little to small and slippery for my hands and fingers.

An antenna is on the back. Below it is a door for the optional rechargeable battery pack (ChargePAK E1, $49.95) which was not provided with the radio.

At the bottom is a mini USB port for the USB Ethernet Adapter for a wired network connection. Other ports at the rear include:
“Aux speaker”…
one for headphones…
“Stereo Out”…
“Aux In”…
and one for the supplied AC power supply.

The EVOKE Flow supports Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB), which is not available in the United States.

It can receive FM broadcasts, and supports the Radio Broadcast Data System. RBDS is the service that allows for text information to be displayed about the station you are listening to, the song playing, etcetera. Ten FM radio stations can be preset.

The “PURE Lounge” is an internet portal accessible through a browser that enhances use of the EVOKE Flow. It can help with choosing and marking services to be access via the interface of the EVOKE Flow, as well as the PURE Sounds (which will be explained later). If I manually tune and listen to a “station” on the unit, the website will log the stations I have listened to. I use the website to find and preview stations, and then add some to “My Favourites”. (Or, you can just surf via the EVOKE Flow.)

An unlimited amount of internet streaming audio services can be selected as “favorites”.  The last time I checked there were:
16,092 “Stations” available…
1,399 “Listen Again Programmes” all from BBC radio stations that can be listened to on demand…
and 5,563 “Podcasts” that can be streamed.

The EVOKE Flow has a “Media Player” mode that allows for music to be accessed from a computer or network attached storage (NAS) device. More information about that can be found in the support section of their website.

There are 83 “PURE Sounds”, mainly intended to allow for an ambiance to be set:
“Babbling brook”
“Urban – City traffic and pedestrians”
“Dogs barking”
“Lake with lapping waves”
“Large ocean waves”
various bird sound options
“Rain, thunder, and lightning”
“Stormy evening”

Also available are “Pink noise” and “White noise”, “Acoustic guitar (E, A, D, G, B, E)” (for tuning), “Harley Davidson Shovelhead 1340 (1981)”, and “Snoring man”…which is very neat. I hope they expand their choices to more that are non-standard (like “Couple Arguing”, so people will consider staying away for fear of becoming involved in a situation).

The two alarms can be set to wake to DAB, FM, or a tone alarm. After a set number of minutes has elapsed, a sleep timer will switch the radio into standby (or off if powered by a ChargePAK). The kitchen timer will beep after countingd-down from a set time period.

The menus are not as easy to navigate as I desire. I suggest you keep the (6 x 3.5 inch) Quickstart Guide with the radio for reference purposes. I did notice that the more time I spend with the radio, the more a few things seem to become easier to access by manuvering around.

The EVOKE Flow can be upgraded via Wi-Fi (or USB). After the latest update, version 3.5, was downloaded and installed…the radio rebooted…and I needed to reconfigure my wifi settings.

To play audio in stereo:
use the heaphone out port…
the stereo (line out) port…
or the S-1 Flow Additional Speaker.

A remote control unit is available.

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HD Hero 960 camera can be worn on head, and helmet

Photo of the HD Hero 960
The HD Hero 960 Product
Ever wish you had a camera you could wear on your helmet or head…or vehicle?

The HD Hero 960 uses a rechargeable battery. When it is fully charged, the camera should work for as long as 2.5 hours. It can be recharged using the included USB cable.

Pictures and videos are stored to SD and SDHC memory cards…cards up to 32 GB can be used. The average recording times are:
WVGA (60 fps): 8 hours, 9 minutes
720p (30 fps): 8 hours, 9 minutes
960p (30 fps): 5 hours, 26 minutes

The HD Hero 960 has a 5 megapixel camera that records video to H.264 compression, as MPEG4 (.mp4):
WVGA = 848×480 pixels (16:9), 60 fps, 8 Mbit/s data rate
720p = 1280×720 pixels (16:9), 30 fps, 8 Mbit/s data rate
960p = 1280×960 pixels (4:3), 30 fps, 12 Mbit/s data rate

Still photographs can be taken in single-shot, triple-shot, and self-timer modes. The camera can be set to take a shot in intervals of 2, 5, 10, 30, and 60 seconds until the battery is dead or the memory card is full.

Files on the memory card can also be accessed via the USB cable.
The housing is waterproof, and there are accessories to use with it:
a curved adhesive mount (for helmets)…
a helmet front mount (so the face of the person wearing the helmet can be seen)…
a flat adhesive mount…
a headlamp-style head strap…
and a quick-release buckle (that connects the camera housing to the mounts).

An HDTV can be connected to the HD Hero 960 via a component HDTV-out port. The audio-out port also disributes the composite video out. NTSC and PAL options are available for recording and playback.

To my surprise, the camera does not record a “flat” view as most cameras do…it has that “bowl” effect, like most videos I’ve seen from helmet cams on motorcross competitors. But, then again, that IS what this was designed for. The angle of view is 170º.

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Record the voice of cherished person reading a storybook

Still wondering what gift to give for Christmas?  I gotta great idea!

Hallmark has Recordable Storybooks…
“…record each page of a book and have it played back over and over as the recipient turns the pages.  The recording will not be lost, even when the batteries need to be replaced…”

Titles include:
The Night Before Christmas
All the Ways I Love You
Bright & Beautiful
Hey Diddle Diddle!
I Love You Grandma
My Grandpa and Me
My Little Princess
Thank You God For Everything
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
and We’re Not Scared of Anything.

“…Hallmark expects to have about 15 Recordable Storybook titles available.  The original books were designed for an adult to read to a child. Subsequent titles also are perfect for adults and children to record together or for children to record for a grandparent.”

Consumers have found many creative ways to use Recordable Storybooks, including:
Parents stationed overseas in the military have recorded books for their children waiting for them at home.
Grandparents and other family members who live far away have recorded the books for the children they love as a way to be with them even when they can’t be physically present.
Family members took turns recording each page of a book for a loved one in a nursing home.
Adoptive parents have recorded a storybook for the child they were waiting to adopt in another country so the child would recognize their voices.
An entire family recorded a storybook for an adult child who lived overseas and couldn’t be with them for the holidays.

I received a copy of The Night Before Christmas.

When I had completed recording the story, I needed to use a small Phillips screwdriver to remove a cover to access a switch, and move it from the “UNLOCK” position to “LOCK”.  This is the same location that houses the three replaceable AAA size batteries.

When my daughters were young, I found birthday cards that allowed me to record my voice on them.  In their late teen years, they reminded me about them, and stated that they had liked them.

The Hallmark Recordable Storybook reminded me that, when I was a child, I had been given a small portable reel-to-reel recorder, had recorded the voice of my great-grandmother, and for many years had listened to it for comfort.  The recorder and recordings have been lost for many decades…but I can remember what she said, and how she said it.
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ThinkGeek has me wishin’…and hopin’…and thinkin’…and prayin’…plannin’…and dreamin’…

Yea!  My ThinkGeek catalog has come in the mail…look at some of the neat stuff I found.

On page 5:  Star Wars Rebel Pilot headphones

On page 10:  Slide Rules…RULE!!!

On page 12:  IngenuiTEA teapot (“short and stout”…get it?)

On page 13:  Whiskey Stones (Brilliant!)

Mimo USB monitors

And on page 53:  “Loading…Please Wait” maternity shirt for mommy

Now, don’t say you don’t have some great ideas for gifts.  And, feel free to use these suggestions for gifts for others…as well as me.  (I made this list…you can check it twice.)