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Bangalore
By K. Satyamurty
BANGALORE, JULY 22. You love listening to your favourite FM radio station, even while in a car. But once you drive some distance away from the city you stop receiving the FM station. Perhaps, you get another station on your car radio, in a strange language with music you are not familiar with or news that has little relevance to you. Soon, you may be able to listen to that FM station, while travelling kilometres away from your home. Not from the car radio, but from a small device similar to a palmtop (PDA). In fact, those living overseas can even listen to the familiar All India Radio, Bangalore, and get all the home news they want. The Internet radio looks like a sleeker version of an ordinary radio, and the sizes are steadily getting reduced. The list of radio stations on the Internet is almost endless and at last count there were said to be at least 6,500 across the world. All aimed the listening pleasure of those with a broadband connection. As what many home personal computers (PCs) with Internet connection already have. One cannot carry around that personal computer but you can with the Internet radio receiver. You can even listen through headphones. An Internet radio works exactly like a radio but through the Internet. It is already popular in countries such as Japan and Taiwan where broadband access has become more common. These devices do not need local storage such as a hard risk in a personal computer because all the radio stations on the Internet use for broadcasting a technique known as "streaming audio." The website www.radiotower.com has more information on streaming audio. The Bangalore-based Epignon Media Technologies is now making software and hardware for Internet radio. With broadband poised to become as ubiquitous as an electrical or telephone connection and more players likely to come into the manufacturing space, Internet radio could even become a popular household appliance. The receivers now cost $125 to $150 overseas but volumes could drive down the price once India catches on to Internet radio. "There is a huge market potential in India for Internet radio listening devices. When companies such as Sify and Hathway are offering always-on Internet connection to homes for Rs. 300 to Rs. 500 a month, the Internet radio as an independent device is likely to be bundled as an incentive to those using the Net,'' says S. Jayakumar, co-founder of Epignon. The company is in talks with OEM to manufacture this fully embedded device.
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