Review By Jason Kessel

Got wifi? Wanna listen to your favorite streaming college radio station? Now you can... and you don't even need a computer! That's right, Grace Digital Audio has a very unique product simply named the Grace Wireless Internet Radio. In a nut shell, it is a radio with a built-in wireless 802.11g antenna. Once the radio is connected to a wifi source, you can browse literally 10,000+ streaming radio stations from anywhere in the world.

My first reaction to this product was "Very cool! Why hasn't anyone thought of this before?" It really is the perfect device for those who listen to a lot of streaming radio content. The radio utilizes an online database of streaming radio stations called Reciva. In fact, you can even create a free Reciva account for yourself and save favorite stations to "my stuff" and access it directly from the Wireless Internet Radio. This makes up for the radio only having five preset buttons to save your favorite stations. The Wireless Internet Radio also includes an alarm clock.

Recently, Grace added Pandora support to the Wireless Internet Radio. If you have a Pandora account, you can access all your saved channels from the radio. I am a huge Pandora fan. If you're not familiar with Pandora, it is basically a free online music streaming service. What sets it above the rest is the technology. You search for a song that you like, Pandora analyzes that song and finds other songs based upon it's "DNA." It streams those songs and you can rate them with a thumb up or thumb down. It really is a great way to find new music and I highly recommend it. www.pandora.com. This is a great addition to an already good product.

Setup was really easy. Obviously, you need a broadband internet connection and a wifi access point before you get started. All you need to do to get the radio connected is plug it in, turn it on, scan for available wifi networks, choose your wifi access point and enter your network password (if you have one). Once the radio is connected to your wifi access point, you're good to go.

Using the radio is pretty easy. The large quick-access scroll wheel makes navigating a snap. In fact, this knob will be what you use the most to navigate and make selections. However, scrolling through a very long list of streaming stations can get a little annoying. That's only a minor peeve though.

I think the Grace Wireless Internet Radio is a great product. You literally have thousands of streaming radio stations right at your finger tips. The sound quality is actually pretty good too. However, I wish there were stereo speakers instead of a single mono driver. In Grace's defense though, most streaming radio stations are broadcast at such low bit rates, stereo speakers wouldn't do them any justice. Besides, it kind of has a retro scientific radio look to it. Also, it does include a stereo output so you can use the radio with headphones or stereo speakers. If you listen a lot of streaming radio content, then you definitely need a Grace Wireless Internet Radio in your dorm room, office, kitchen... or just about anywhere.

http://www.gracedigitalaudio.com