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#1 Posted by tunafish on 13 Jan 2006 - 11:14

Gah, well its sucks without even radion station support.
would be nice to see an ipod with built in fm tuner

but i might get this

#2 Posted by BBinder on 13 Jan 2006 - 11:17

bit pricey for what it is i could buy a cheaper brand for less than £35

(1 reply) #3 Posted by nienor on 13 Jan 2006 - 11:19

I don't want to toll... but why pay 35£ for the Radio? why they don't INTEGRATE it???
I don't know... but ALMOST MP3 players have ALREADY build this...
Before that Keynote I wasn't even know that the iPod dosn't had a Radio...

#3.1 Posted by exhale on 14 Jan 2006 - 04:31

Its called milkage. This i Apple doing what they do best, milk their customers.

#4 Posted by jimbo11883 on 13 Jan 2006 - 11:21

What a POS... Oh, I don't even listen to the radio anymore

#5 Posted by BobMarley on 13 Jan 2006 - 11:21

Do the wires for the earphones double up as the antenna? And where is the tuner, in the remote or in the thing on the bottom?

I can't believe it doesnt tune into even numbers...

(1 reply) #6 Posted by Jedimark on 13 Jan 2006 - 11:59

Not compatible with the Mini apparently (or, when they say compatible with Nano, they also mean Mini?)

#6.1 Posted by coolgus on 13 Jan 2006 - 12:03

No, supports only the nano and the new ipod video

(7 replies) #7 Posted by chrisgeleven on 13 Jan 2006 - 12:15

I don't remember the last time I listened to a radio station with an even frequency. I didn't even know even stations existed.

#7.1 Posted by Pdj79 on 13 Jan 2006 - 16:03

They don't exist. FM modulation for radio stations is strictly odd numbered. The only reason radio manufacturers here in the US include support for even numbers is because sometimes fine-tuning a station requires you to delve into the even numbered frequency. I'm not sure if its an FCC issue or not, but stations here are limited to the odd frequencies (.1-.9) for some reason or another.

EDIT: To all those who THINK they burned me...let me be frank. The FCC is a US organization that monitors and sets regulations for AMERICAN radio stations. These are guidelines that US radio stations MUST follow. All the stations listed are NON-US stations. Give me some US-based stations with even frequencies and then we'll talk...until then...you did NOTHING to prove me wrong. And Apple chose not to include even numbers because...guess what...they are an AMERICAN company. Read my post thoroughly before going off.

Last edited by Pdj79 on 16 Jan 2006 - 01:04

#7.2 Posted by acnpt on 13 Jan 2006 - 16:06

In the UK radio stations exist with even endings eg 103.2

#7.3 Posted by xpresside on 13 Jan 2006 - 19:18

Malaysia
97.2 FM
95.8 FM
and etc..if the radios in US don't use it, it doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

#7.4 Posted by Dirtie on 14 Jan 2006 - 00:51

New Zealand:
88.6
90.2
91.0
91.8
94.2
99.0
etc. etc.

#7.5 Posted by el22 on 14 Jan 2006 - 01:40

Argentina:
all odd numbers

94.1
99.9
100.7
101.3
etc.

#7.6 Posted by markyp23 on 14 Jan 2006 - 08:55

PDJ79

You are so wrong it's not even funny.

How can you claim they don't exist - you are stating what you think as fact. It's absolute guff to say manufacturers include support for them for fine-tuning, simply not true.

I can think of so many .even number stations off the top of my head that I couldn't even list them.

Just because it doesn't happen in America, doesn't mean that it doesn't happen...

And now the response we'll get is: "We invented the radio anyway", which, Americans didn't.

#7.7 Posted by _sphinx_ on 15 Jan 2006 - 18:17

Egypt, FM:
100.6
98.4
104.2
96.4

(3 replies) #8 Posted by ford.red on 13 Jan 2006 - 12:24

Why listen to radio when you've already got an iPod that can hold upto 15,000!!! of your favourite songs??? Who could want more?And why listen to them in fm quailty?

#8.1 Posted by Neowave on 13 Jan 2006 - 12:33

Imagine yourself walking down the streets, suddenly you see 5 trams and 2 busses explode, there is smoke coming out of the subway station entrances and you hear sirenes everywhere. Thanks to Apple's iPod Radio you can instantly find out what's going on and what modes of transport or public places you should avoid. An absolute need for every EU or US citizen living in the larger urban areas.

Ah yes, another €55,- well spent! :p

Other than that and "the cool factor" I can't really come up with a reason why you would want to spend so much money on this.

Last edited by Neowave on 13 Jan 2006 - 12:41

#8.2 Posted by 12Iceman on 13 Jan 2006 - 18:01

"Imagine yourself walking down the streets, suddenly you see 5 trams and 2 busses explode, there is smoke coming out of the subway station entrances and you hear sirenes everywhere. Thanks to Apple's iPod Radio you can instantly find out what's going on and what modes of transport or public places you should avoid."

Somehow I think that if I just saw 5 trams and 2 busses explode before my eyes the last thing I would be thinking about would be listening to my iPod or finding an alternate way to work. I believe the "run like hell" instinct would probably take priority.

#8.3 Posted by Neowave on 14 Jan 2006 - 15:55

Yeah and the new and improved iPod Remote with Radio can tell you in what direction it's safe to run.

See Apple thought of everything!

(2 replies) #9 Posted by supernova_00 on 13 Jan 2006 - 12:30

Uh in the U.S. all the radio stations end in .odd numbers so where do you guys gets this .even number stuff.

#9.1 Posted by wildk on 13 Jan 2006 - 15:38

in the uk quite allot of the radio stations end in even numbers, for example my areas local radio station is Lincs FM which is 102.2 and i can think of quite a few others that i know of that do as well. on another note my creative zen Sleek photo already has a radio built in and it does odd and even (Manual tuning). Even the 256Mb freebie MP3 player i recieved at a trade show has a FM tuner built in

#9.2 Posted by zivan56 on 14 Jan 2006 - 10:15

You realise that countries outside the US exist right? The whole world doesent revolve around you...

#10 Posted by AshMan on 13 Jan 2006 - 12:32

Not bad but a bit pricey.

#11 Posted by Colin Holywell on 13 Jan 2006 - 12:32

In the US and Canada radio stations always ends in odd numbers. European stations can have even numbers. Looks like they purchased the American version.

http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/question78.htm

(1 reply) #12 Posted by Jason on 13 Jan 2006 - 12:37

Its not even a DAB radio

#12.1 Posted by digitalthoughts on 13 Jan 2006 - 18:17

Yea, a DAB radio would be way better

(1 reply) #13 Posted by OceanMotion on 13 Jan 2006 - 12:38

Ha, what a piece of crap. Overpriced crap too. All mp3 players should have tuners built in and not just FM. AM, LW too. You would be a fool to buy this.

#13.1 Posted by Chicane-UK on 13 Jan 2006 - 12:43

Yes - you heard it here first. OceanMotion says its overpriced, so you're a fool if you buy it.

Nevermind if you happen to own an iPod that you were, for example, given as a gift (like I was this christmas). Or whether you actually want a remote control and are happy to pay a premium for an OE piece of Apple equipment rather than a cheap clone from overseas.

Sheesh. The trolling is neverending on this place.

(6 replies) #14 Posted by Ron21 on 13 Jan 2006 - 13:03

In the U.S all radio stations end in odd numbers. So this must be a EU thing.

#14.1 Posted by Jon on 13 Jan 2006 - 13:39

Yes that's right, we use any frequency.

Unless this is a specifically US only piece of kit, there is no possible way you can argue that this is anything but very poor planning + design on the project teams part.

#14.2 Posted by theyarecomingforyou on 13 Jan 2006 - 14:09

I wouldn't expect anything more from Apple. Even their installers (for iTunes, etc) only allow you to choose "English (United States)"... pretty ridiculous they feel the need to specify that and alienate half their English speaking users from outside the US - perhaps that would be justifiable if the US had created the English language but that is not the case. If they want to be a US-only company then they can keep their products away from the rest of the world - if they want to be an international company then they should take into account the different needs of different nationalities and do a bit of research.

#14.3 Posted by texasjoe on 13 Jan 2006 - 20:07

Heck! I too feel discriminated against. I didn't see no "English (Texas)" language option!

#14.4 Posted by theyarecomingforyou on 14 Jan 2006 - 00:10

"Heck! I too feel discriminated against. I didn't see no "English (Texas)" language option!"

There's no need for that sort of ignorance / denial / arrogance. The point is they list English as being "United States", with absolutely no regard for any other English speaking country / nation (including even England/UK, which created the language). Why even specify any nationality? Adobe at least has the dignity to include "International English" as an alternative.

The point is that Apple shows an amazing disregard for non-US countries. The US wouldn't like the language choice being "English (UK)" or "English (Australia)", especially with all it's patriotism crap, so why should US English be the only option for the rest of the English speaking world? Perhaps you can come up with a reasonable arguement, rather than just flamebaiting?

#14.5 Posted by Arch on 14 Jan 2006 - 09:22

Their listing of U.S. English is probably do to the fact that the specific version of English which they code in there is the U.S. dialect. If they put international or U.K. English then everyone would be flipping out if a word that isn't standard in the U.K. was used.

These comments are rediculously rank with patriotism and hackneyed views.

#14.6 Posted by theyarecomingforyou on 15 Jan 2006 - 14:19

"These comments are rediculously rank with patriotism and hackneyed views."

I don't see how, particularly not if you are referring to my posts. The biggest issue I have with computer software only allowing you to select "English (United States)" is that it is so easy to include alternatives, unlike books or other media where you'd have to redo the entire work. It's only simple differences like color/colour, favor/favour, center/centre, etc and the odd contextual change - it doesn't take much to just change those and include it as an option.

This isn't just Apple's fault, as the language should be determined by the settings of the operating system (typically Windows, so largely Microsoft's issue), rather than individual programs, but other companies (like Adobe) manage to get around this without being so narrowsighted / arrogant. The point is that English (UK) and English (US) are similar languages but should be regarded as different... I only mentioned the UK because they developed the language. Oh, and there are a few countries with English as their official language:

* Bahamas
* Belize
* Botswana
* Canada
* Fiji
* Guyana
* India
* Kenya
* Kiribati
* Nigeria
* Pakistan
* Papua New Guinea
* Republic of Ireland
* South Africa
* Singapore
* Philippines
* The Gambia
* Zambia
* Namibia
* Trinidad and Tobago

#15 Posted by Croquant on 13 Jan 2006 - 13:29

FYI: All MP3 players do NOT have radios built into them. Not even close to the "all" that those of you visiting us from fantasy-land keep blathering on about. Granted, the price Apple is chargeing for this add-on gadget is over the top, but what else is new? Everything Apple makes is overpriced. It's been that way since the days of the Apple II. It's not exactly news. A quick look at five randon MP3 players will likely veild one that's got an FM tuner, while the rest are strictly on-board music file players. (or at least that's what I came up with with a quick internet search)

#16 Posted by Toastyone on 13 Jan 2006 - 13:38

I have never seen the need for a radio player on my MP3 player, I have it to listen to music not the radio....the only time I might need a radio with my MP3 player was is there was a game on and I could not get to a TV

#17 Posted by Staind on 13 Jan 2006 - 13:42

A little out-of-date integration I think, why not roll out a wifi network radio?
The design is no longer catching my eye actually the remote looks like early Sony stuff with different color. So the article must be right that it's for Apple lovers or perhaps only iPod fans. Summon up the Apple spirit!

#18 Posted by Cyrana on 13 Jan 2006 - 14:36

I'm thinking of getting it just because my Nano doesn't have a remote. lol. All I'd listen to is npr anyway.

#19 Posted by xxdesmus on 13 Jan 2006 - 14:47

I'll stick with my Zen Vision: M that came with this built in for no extra cost.

Way to go Apple, another stellar move.

(1 reply) #20 Posted by computerchan on 13 Jan 2006 - 15:14

BOO no support for old iPod
I love my iPod G4 a lot

#20.1 Posted by Shadrack on 13 Jan 2006 - 16:45

yeah..it isn't even 2 years old yet and already accessories are not supporting it.

#21 Posted by Gunbuster on 13 Jan 2006 - 15:16

Meh, the Griffin iFM comes in black and has an older version for older iPods. Personally I think it looks better than this as well.

(1 reply) #22 Posted by Troll on 13 Jan 2006 - 15:18

As soon as the support AM radio, then I'll get one. It'd also be nice if they supported XM as well

#22.1 Posted by Steven on 13 Jan 2006 - 17:52

Don't buy an iPod buy a Pioneer Inno. Screw Apple.

#23 Posted by farmeunit on 13 Jan 2006 - 15:53

Don't most radios step in increments of .2? I know the 3 stereos I have at home and in my car do. I know that some go in increments of .1, but I don't find it to be that big of a deal. NM, I saw the comments a few up about the European countries. Sorry.

(4 replies) #24 Posted by XanDaMan on 13 Jan 2006 - 16:08

Make it DAB and i'd care.

I'm not paying anything for a radio what won't even work in a few years...

#24.1 Posted by HawkMan on 13 Jan 2006 - 16:50

you're assuming DAB will be chosen, while many countries are going for other options as DAB simply put sucks

#24.2 Posted by XanDaMan on 13 Jan 2006 - 18:14

Nope, i'm knowing it has been chosen for my country. I live in the UK...

And tbh it doesn't suck.

#24.3 Posted by user name 2 on 13 Jan 2006 - 18:16

"a few years".

Don't you mean a few decades, if ever?

MW is still around and has been for years before FM became mainstream.

And anyway, the audio quality on DAB is crap. It's even more inferior to that you have on your iPod, assuming you rip your CDs at a decent bit rate.

#24.4 Posted by XanDaMan on 14 Jan 2006 - 01:26

For me radio isn't about audio quality, its about finding new music, or listening to talk shows, sports shows etc. Or for a playlist when im too damn lazy to press shuffle.

And really, what - that anybody listens to - is on MW. Radio 4 iirc? Maybe Virgin?

DAB would have made this a must have. Without its just medicore.

(2 replies) #25 Posted by plastikaa on 13 Jan 2006 - 16:34

Dont know why my posts arent showing up but...

"The iPod Radio Remote supports FM stations from 87.5 to 107.9MHz (in both the US and European standards) and 76 to 90MHz (the Japanese standard). You can switch between the different standards when traveling."

I think that says enough! Either its not included in the manual or neowin didnt read the manual.

#25.1 Posted by theyarecomingforyou on 13 Jan 2006 - 19:03

That just says you can switch between 87.5 - 107.9MHz to 76 - 90MHz, not allow you to select even numbers.

As for you posts not showing up... did you quote any text? The quote system was broke last time I checked and any post with a quote will not show up.

#25.2 Posted by plastikaa on 14 Jan 2006 - 09:56

Yes I was trying to quote - and it makes it sound like you can choose US standard of odd number of UK with allows both.

(1 reply) #26 Posted by SoulEata on 13 Jan 2006 - 16:48

not bulky? looks bulky to me, i'll keep my iriver with the built in radio

#26.1 Posted by Rail Grinder on 13 Jan 2006 - 17:52

i hear ya. my iriver hp-120 came standard with the radio and remote ... heck i don't even need the remote to listen to the radio, you can save up to 20 stations and you can scan odd AND even numbers.

#27 Posted by Callaway on 13 Jan 2006 - 16:54

The biggest flaw we found? Apple seemed to have hard coded the the scan feature to increase in increments of .2 - e.g. 90.1 to 90.3 would be one such step. So... what about stations on even numbers? You just can't get them! You have to go to the .1 below or above, and hope the signal is quite strong.


Can't say I remember listening to any even numbered stations in the U.S. ... ever. *shrug*

I think I'll be going w/ this instead (click me)

(4 replies) #28 Posted by khaos34 on 13 Jan 2006 - 17:21

Just to add to the radio thing, not only does Apple do the .2, odd-numbered increments, most modern radios/car stereos do this. My car stereo that I got for Christmas 3 years ago does it Makes it much faster to tune through the stations - it's a good thing in my experience.

#28.1 Posted by 505 on 13 Jan 2006 - 17:47

yeah, except when you don't live in the US. All radios I own/seen (including my Creative MuVo v200) do .05 increments. Stations never end in .05, just for fine-tuning.

#28.2 Posted by Spyder on 13 Jan 2006 - 17:57

maybe its a North America thing.. i'm in canada.. never seen radio stations in even numbers or radios that go up by 1 increment

#28.3 Posted by Dessimat0r on 13 Jan 2006 - 22:02

Radio City, based in Liverpool, is on 96.7, FM.

#28.4 Posted by Croquant on 14 Jan 2006 - 13:47

I've got a 15-year old Panasonic (model RS-DS620 if you care) bookshelf component stereo that digitaly tunes FM transmitions in at 0.1 kHz increments. Seems to me that tuning in FM 0.1 kHz at a step isn't exactly new, in fact it seems to be the standard on the higher quality radios. Whoever Apple hired to design this iPod add-on don't know their stuff, that's for sure.
It seems Apple should either stay out of the radio reciver market or sub-contract to someone who knows how to build a proper radio tuner. If this was a el-chepo-brand item I wouldn't care about it skiping a kHz or two, but with what they're asking for it they can go fly a kite.

#29 Posted by Steven on 13 Jan 2006 - 17:51

Nice review, but it would be nice if Neowin would focus its attention also to Satellite Radio.

#30 Posted by bytefire on 13 Jan 2006 - 17:58

I was thinking of getting this but the station I listen to most is Capital FM which is on 95.8 and it doesn't have such a strong signal where i live as i'm outside of London.

(1 reply) #31 Posted by astrokat on 13 Jan 2006 - 18:18

This thing is so retarded - so now I have to pull this thing out my pocket upside down?

#31.1 Posted by couture on 13 Jan 2006 - 19:49

well technically..it's not upside down if you are looking down at it, if you pulled out your ipod like it is now and look down it, it would be upside down...

As for this, I can't even remember the last time i listened to the radio...

#32 Posted by texasjoe on 13 Jan 2006 - 20:06

double post

#33 Posted by Smigit on 13 Jan 2006 - 20:40

from the same company that said radio wasnt important in a DAP and before that video. How quickly does apple do complete 360's on what it says sometimes.

Well nice to see they support it finally, hopefully with the next player it will be built in

edit: that even number thing is pretty nuts. Even if their target market is the US it wouldnt have hurt to allow .1 incrememnts anyway.

Last edited by Smigit on 13 Jan 2006 - 23:29

(11 replies) #34 Posted by linked on 13 Jan 2006 - 20:48

Very cool; can we expect all Neowin reviews to be written by biased, objective nationalists who won't do research in the future? I look forward to many more poor reviews for products based solely on the location of the examiner.

Of course the even-numbers and "pre sets" are absent- Their target market is the U.S., where *most* of Apple's userbase lives.
And for us, even-numbered stations are a no-go, and "pre sets" depend heavily on where in the states you live.

Now, please go write an article that examines the iPod Radio just as carefully, but without the assumption that taking a US product over-seas will work properly (as most electronics won't.)

#34.1 Posted by Keito on 13 Jan 2006 - 21:19

Well it might be so that Apple's largest market is the US, but they're selling this globally, which is way more then just the US. I know for a fact that Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Austria do have stations that end in even numbers, so that's a somewhat big loss of users in these countries, add the UK to that and you have a lot of western Europe covered, or at least ENOUGH to start asking yourself why this feature isn't implemented..

Besides, if the reviewer is English and he wants to listen to a station ending in an even number, how can he NOT write that in his article... It's not the reviewer who is at fault, it's you for thinking the only place it should be made for is the US...

note: I do not have an iPod myself, but that's just my opinion based on facts and stuff I just read.

#34.2 Posted by linked on 13 Jan 2006 - 22:10

I have a hard time swallowing your saying that I'm the one at fault here.
I've not purchased, nor do I intend to purchase, the iPod Radio; I've not been swayed either way in my decision by the review, I just don't listen to the radio.

My point was, simply enough, that if he'd taken out the bits about non-cross-country-compatability, the device apparently does what it's intended, and the fact that he gave it a "6 out of 10" is ridiculous.
Is it silly that Apple markets a non-UK friendly device in the EU? Of course. Does the device do what it's designed to do when in the *country it was designed in*? Yes.

My pal put it best- It's like an American reviewing a Brittish Rolls Royce and saying, "Great car, but the steering wheel is on the wrong side... 6/10 for their ignorance."

EDIT- In retrospect, I guess my real irritation here arrises with the "assumption" that any device manufactured in the U.S. will, by default and out of the box, work properly in the U.K. First, it's been pointed out that with a slight settings change, the even numbered stations work properly. Second, I've heard people accuse Americans of "only thinking of themselves"; Expecting a company to cater to you even though you're both foreign and a smaller market is awefully bullheaded and egocentric, in my mind (especially when the United States makes up 46% of internet users; In a situation such as that, with all ownership politics aside, I would deem it fair to label the internet "Primarily US Occupied", and accordingly, it's sad that an article should be written by, on, and for a website hosted in the States with a presumption that a product sucks simply because it's not cross-country compatible... until you change some settings.)

Last edited by linked on 13 Jan 2006 - 22:29

#34.3 Posted by Smigit on 13 Jan 2006 - 23:42

Its not an issue of it being a US device but, as soon as apple sells it globally it no longer is a US device that doesnt work in the UK. A consumer has EVERY RIGHT to assume a radio bought in the UK will work on UK stations. Your car example is redicuolous, sure it's true but they arent selling the US cars in the UK.

I will make the assumption based on other peoples post that apple does infact ship this globally since I haven't looked.

your statistic on internet usage is trivial, that means theres another 56% of the market outside of the US. Neowin isn't aimed at a US market, clearly by the news posted here it has and always has placed importance on news from every continent. To be honest I wouldnt care if there was less news on other countries, but stating that because you have 46% of the internet usage then websites and reviews should be written for only US users is ludicrius. Besides, that 46% doesnt necessarily reflect the userbase of Neowin.

As for the review even if the radio had the 0.1 increments it still doesnt support presets so in my oppinion it probably didnt deserve more than a 6 anyway.

#34.4 Posted by theyarecomingforyou on 14 Jan 2006 - 00:40

"Expecting a company to cater to you even though you're both foreign and a smaller market is awefully bullheaded and egocentric, in my mind"

So rather than putting a bit of thought into making the product internationally acceptable they should just cater to the US and ignore everyone else? That's pretty arrogant and "bullheaded and egocentric". Then there's the fact that the EU (not Europe) has a larger population that the US, not even taking into account other countries like Australia and technological countries like Japan / Asia.

"especially when the United States makes up 46% of internet users"

Firstly, no one nationality should control an entity like the internet, particularly not one as censored and religious as the US; an international committee is the only way to go. Secondly, please don't just make up statistics. China has over 103 million internet users, which is a third of the population of the US and half the number of US internet users; Europe has over 285 million net users... that combined already outnumbers the population of the US (300 million). The US actually accounts for 23% of the world's internet users.

China internet usage: http://www.internetworldstats.com/articles/art045.htm
US population: http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html
EU internet usage: http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats4.htm
World stats: http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats2.htm

As you can see I provide references to back up my assertions. Please keep your ignorance for elsewhere.

As for the "Rolls Royce" point... it is a flawed analogy. What it would be like is only selling the righthand drive model in the US, which WOULD be unacceptable.

#34.5 Posted by Dirtie on 14 Jan 2006 - 01:00

+linked: Thanks for the display of typical American arrogance, you just made us love you more

#34.6 Posted by WLMGuru on 14 Jan 2006 - 01:15

Actually..

u have to forgive those Americans.. Stupid Americans cant do maths..

they just put a number and say I am right!!

and infact.. 23% is North America.. when did Canada become part of US.. haha

America is 20% of world usage..

and please.. also.. thinking about Internet.. how many ppl in US still using Dial-Up or narrowband..

go to Japan and China or Hong Kong.. where 20Mb BB is minimum order req.. then thats what I call... BROADBAND....

not mentioning the Fibre Optics.. that gives u 100Mb for the price of 1Mb over there..

Reference: http://www.internetworldstats.com/top20.htm

#34.7 Posted by WLMGuru on 14 Jan 2006 - 01:17

oh yeh.. and because they r so bad at maths..

They have to get rid of even number.. so they wont get confused

#34.8 Posted by linked on 14 Jan 2006 - 03:41

Sorry, did I say that the world should cater to us?
Did I say that our "massive 46%" (which was, in no way, claiming that "we're all that matters" made us the only thing that counts?
Did I say that I say that U.S. has a larger, and more important population than EU/Europe?

I must have missed the part where I said that.

My point was this- The United States has a very, very large proportion of internet users. I'm impressed that #1.4 can use 4 websites to prove a single point, and I hope he makes a fair penny for doing so. However, I googled once, looked at two sites, and both quoted *home internet usage* (the google search term) at 300,000,000 worldwide for November 2005, with U.S. totalling 145,000,000 of these. If your numbers are different, I sincerely appologize for any discrepancy, however, my point remains damned well the same- It's unfair to give a product a bad review for users in all countries based on it's performance in one.

To expand on that point, I'd like to point out that it's *BIASED*- note, I say BIASED, not WRONG, not ILLEGAL, not ANTIAMERICAN, nor INHUMANE nor any other word, simply BIASED - to write a review based on it's performance in one country.
The BIAS goes further, with the author of the article lashing out at Apple for his own failure to properly configure his device. Apple did, I have no doubt, ship a user manual with the UK version of its product, but as you've proven in this thread (by misquoting my car example, 1.3, by assuming I said America should ignore everyone else, 1.4, and by blindly hating without trying to understand my point, rest of respondants), not everyone can be expected to read or absorb material printed in front of them.

Thank you all for the anti-American responses; I love pointing out that a article is flawed only to have my country insulted. I'm always interested in seeing why people hate me for where I was born, in the highest level of racism (as I'm quite sure that if I'd posted this same response about America being from another country, the retaliation would have been less).

And, for the record, if I were intent on the U.S. catering only to itself, I'd have pointed out quite blatantly that the author is free to use any product produced in the U.K. for the same purpose- However, I'd doubt there is one. Point in case- We *obviously* cater to the world, because in many cases, we have to, or else the world would be without many of the products it has. The back of your iPod says "assembled in China", but "designed in California".

#34.9 Posted by Smigit on 14 Jan 2006 - 07:10

Firstly noones hating you and by this quote


"It's unfair to give a product a bad review for users in all countries based on it's performance in one."

Then that too means it would be unfair to give this a high score based on its performance in the US. It's a review and obviously the reviewer has an issue with the device. Noone has any obligation to review to any criteria. The fact that this doesnt work globally IS a valid issue. DAP's are meant to be portable so even if it was sold only in the US (which I dont believe it is), it would still be an issue for people that do travelling. You may think it's unfair for this to be reviewed to that criteria but to others this IS an issue and a very valid one at that.

as for your use of the word Bias. Every atricle, every document and every comment on this site in the history of mankind has some sort of Bias. A review is only an oppinion in the end of the day, and it needent be unbiased. Infact Biased oppinions are often a good way for changes to happen, enough people complain about this issue for instance and you may see apple fix it sooner.

#34.10 Posted by linked on 14 Jan 2006 - 13:44

Ok, fair enough, Smigit, but riddle me this-
Beyond countries and portability, is it fair to give a product a bad review for the authors own ability to fail to configure it to the "Europe" setting? Many responses here have plainly stated that even-numbered increments work just fine on the "Europe" setting.

I still hold that the product works properly in it's "home country", but as it is in a global market, they certainly *should have* considered even numbered stations.... But they did. They just didn't enable them by default.
And according to other responses, the author apparently didn't search hard enough for the "Store Presets" button, either.

I'd be surprised if anyone in the U.K. expected the device to be U.K. configured out of the box; Maybe it's easy for me to claim as a native in the country where much of my equipment is manufactured or at least marketed, but I can't help but feel that if I were ever to purchase an over-seas electronic, I'd read the manual double-through just to make sure I wasn't missing anything region specific. Heck, I do that most of the time just to make sure there's nothing I'm missing about my home state, or to make sure I know all the cool little features, etc.

Your point about bias is valid, and wholely acceptable, but what I'm fighting here is ignorant bias. There's no reason to hate something without even doing the little bit of work necessary to flip open a booklet. If the Europe setting required some sort of soldering, or pin-resetting, or firmware hacking, that would be noteworthy, but going off the other replies here, it's frickin' built in. A reviewer has no obligation to be unbiased, but to make a good review, they should at least be informed.

EDIT- But it's fixed now, with a high-seven/eight, which is a more acceptable score when you take into account all the other positive remarks not related to those two "missing" features. I consider that some level of redemption, but I can't help but wonder about a world where you can publish articles based on products you've owned for 30 seconds.

#34.11 Posted by Smigit on 14 Jan 2006 - 14:22

If it was just a default setting then thats acceptable. When I read it it read like it was locked that way. So yeah thats fair enough, a manual would cover that.

As for biased I do agree, as I do on the US bashing which is getting old. Not that I live there, its just childlike.

a 7 sounds reasonable, hopefully they will add the presets in at some point or can do it via a firmware to the player itself.

edit: seems the article was updated addressing that and presets are there. Now I do agree, they should read the manual 1st. heh

(2 replies) #35 Posted by daveoc64 on 13 Jan 2006 - 21:19

This review could be a lot better

You CAN set presets, hold down the select button and a little triangle appears on the station. Tune to another and do the same. You can then use the Skip Buttons (Forward/Back) to cycle through the presets. It's in the manual that comes with it.

Living in the UK I have not seen an "even" radio frequency, but changing to Europe allows me to choose "even" frequencies with my iPod.
It's not a too bad effort, it's designed to shut the people up that complain the iPod has no radio by offering it as an optional extra.

Last edited by daveoc64 on 13 Jan 2006 - 21:24

#35.1 Posted by RenaissanceMan on 14 Jan 2006 - 00:58

If what you say is true, Tom Graham needs to correct his review.

#35.2 Posted by Krankerz on 14 Jan 2006 - 01:44

Silly Neowin editors...always jumping to conclusions mat.

(1 reply) #36 Posted by Cyranthus on 13 Jan 2006 - 23:28

wow... im surprised they didnt release another ipod for the radio... apple must be cuttin back now...

#36.1 Posted by Smigit on 13 Jan 2006 - 23:43

they are waiting for people to buy this then they will release it ^_^

#37 Posted by AionXn_ on 14 Jan 2006 - 01:22

finally.... too bad they dont integrated..

#38 Posted by imtoomuch on 14 Jan 2006 - 05:54

I swear the Apple site says you can "bookmark" radio stations which means presets. So this thing doesn't have bookmarks? That really sucks. And I hope the earbud cord doesn't act as an antenna because if I ever get this I'll be ditching the earbuds.

EDIT: Yeah, I was right. Apple's site says "Easily mark a favorite station for quick access later, and switch between favorite stations using either the iPod or the remote."

#39 Posted by dj_alex_m on 14 Jan 2006 - 11:55

Australian FM radio stations all end in odd numbers (at least as far as I am aware, I can't find any here in Sydney on an even frequency), so this shouldn't be a problem here.

#40 Posted by Mr magoo on 14 Jan 2006 - 13:20

We've updated the review reflecting new informati