[Electronics-talk] New Accessible HD Radios

[Andrews, David B (DEED)]

The following article was in Radio World yesterday.  It looks like iBiquity Digital might finally be getting behind some radios that the blind and visually impaired can use. One of them is the old Narrator I think, others new.

The web site is http://www.sparcradio.com

I had some problems reading the site with JAWS, but was able to do it with NVDA and Window-Eyes.  I have written iBiquity about this.

Dave





IBiquity Digital has now launched a line of private-label receivers to be sold online. I had reported earlier the company intended to do so.
Called "Sparc," the products include a mix of tabletop, boombox and portable AM/FM/HD Radio tuners.
The HD Radio tech developer is working with its Asian suppliers on the line, which is meant to beef up the number of product in the marketplace.
While HD Radio receivers are proliferating in new cars and the aftermarket receiver world, engineers and other station personnel have been asking Radio World and other industry experts why there seem to be fewer tabletop, boombox and portable radios on the market these days. We've reported that's because fewer consumer electronic devices in general include AM/FM or HD Radio now. That trend is being driven by younger consumers, who aren't walking into brick and mortar retailers asking for radios.
The upshot is radio is more likely to be an app on a multifunction device, for example, we've been reporting for a while.
Asked about this trend during a recent interview, iBiquity President/CEO Bob Struble confirmed retail shelf space being devoted to radio products at consumer electronics brick and mortar retailers "is not what it once was." As an example, he said, there used to be two aisles devoted to radio products at retailers like Best Buy. "Now that's about two feet."
That's why iBiquity has brought more manufacturers into its fold. We reported from CES that two makers of European DAB tabletops and portables, Roberts Radio and View Quest, are bringing out HD Radio products.
And now iBiquity has launched the Sparc product line, which Struble describes as "affordable."
Six tuners are described on the Sparc<http://www.sparcradio.com> website. The tabletops include the SPARC SHD-T750, a follow-on to the Narrator AM/FM HD Radio including voice prompts for the visually impaired, the Sparc SHD-BT1, a Bluetooth unit featuring a wood cabinet; and the boombox Sparc SHDTR10.
Three portables appear on the site: the Sparc SHD-TX2, which incorporates emergency alerts; the pocket-sized Sparc SHD-P360; and the Sparc SHD-TR05R, which includes support in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese.
Three models are available<http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=SPARC+Radio> now.


David Andrews | Chief Technology Officer
State Services for the Blind/Department of Employment and Economic Development
2200 University Ave. W., #240, St. Paul, MN 55114-1840
Direct:651-539-2294
http://mn.gov/deed

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