Called simply “THE AUDIO,” this newfangled contraption houses all of its audio circuitry inside the central tower, and then includes a pair for super-slim satellite speakers to flank the main unit. What’s really unusual about the design of this uber-modern stereo is the control bars that stick out of the sides of the main tower.

Depending on mode, each of the metal rods controls a different feature. For instance, in radio mode, the bars control the band, station and volume. But in MP3 playback mode, the top bar controls the track, the middle bar controls the playback mode, and the bottom remains as volume. Controls are boldly displayed on a bright dot-matrix display embedded into the control tower.

THE AUDIO system has built in AM, FM and DMB/DAB tuners, as well as a 3.5mm stereo jack for connecting your media player to the back. You’ll also notice a strategically placed SD card slot at the front bottom of the control bar, so you can play back all of your digital tunes without additional hardware.

At this point, it looks like THE AUDIO is still in the prototype stage, and it’s doubtful we’ll ever see it outside of Korea. Perhaps the EarlyAdopter folks will realize they have a following around the globe and will indulge us with these in other countries. For now, you’ll just have to look and drool from afar.

The Arch Audio T2 radio combines the warm analog sounds of a tube-based amplifier with the modern digital sounds of MP3 and WMA files. The radio features a beautiful retro-inspired case, but is timeless enough to blend into any 21st century decor.

Just plug your SD/MMC or USB flash drive into the front of the T2 radio and you’ll be listening to your latest digital tracks. If you’re feeling more analog, of course, there’s built-in AM and FM tuners, controlled by a nifty orange backlit manual dial to remind you of the olden days of radio. While the T2 has a beefy (for its size) 15-watt output and a ported MDF-construction speaker enclosure for some extra low-end, the downside is that it’s only got a single (two-way) speaker – so no stereo for you!

Arch Audio also includes a wireless remote that lets you adjust volume, bass and treble, change tracks and flip between inputs (and yes, there’s an AUX input too). This definitely isn’t your grandpa’s old Zenith.

While this unusual radio is made in China, and I discovered it over on a Korean website, the good news is that I managed to find a handful for sale over on eBay. At $339 (USD) they’re not cheap (especially since they sell for about $125 in Korea), but at least the guys selling them are including free shipping to the U.S. for that price. You’ll also need to keep in mind that the T2 runs on 220-volt power, so you’ll need ask the seller for a step-down adapter if you want to use one on 110-volts.

[via Early Adopter]

BrionVega’s RR227 is a modern-day update of Marco Zanuso and Richard Sapper’s classic RR127 radio, which they created over 44 years ago. The updated model comes with AM and FM radio tuners, and the ability to play MP3 or WMA digital audio files. Just drop an SD card into the slot and connect your computer via USB to load it up with your tunes. There’s also an AUX jack for connecting your iPod or other media player too.

The RR227 features a unique design that lets you place it either horizontally or vertically and still make sense out of the tuning dial. The radio comes in white, black or red ABS plastic, making it both lightweight and sturdy. Sound is provided by a 3-watt amp, and there’s a headphone jack for listening to the radio in seclusion. While the radio comes with an AC power pack that probably won’t work in the U.S. without an adapter, you’ll be happy to know it runs on batteries too.

While I first found the RR227 over at French retailer Singulier for €199 (appx. $262 USD), you can also find them over on eBay Italy for around €150 (appx. $196 USD) with a little digging.

Aside from an AM & FM internal antenna, the 2B Radio also has an aux input and a recording output, so you can pair it with modern audio devices.

Nice. Wish I could say the same for the price: $350 US. Still cheaper than a PS3 though. You can check out more details about the 2B Radio here (pdf), and the Areaware store’s here.

[via Retro Thing]

The wood and tweed-vinyl construction Crosley Nomad Portable Radio may look like an old radio from the 1930s, but under the hood, it’s all new. For starters, the portable sound system lets you connect your iPod or other MP3 player through a built-in AUX jack, so you won’t be stuck listening to over-the-air broadcasts.

And unlike its 75+ year old brethren, the Nomad tunes FM radio in addition to AM stations (how very . Sound from the Nomad’s full range speaker gets an added boost using SRS resonance enhancement. And you won’t have to plug this radio into the wall – it runs on 4 AA batteries so you can take it anywhere.

Just load your iPod up with old episodes of Little Orphan Annie, Amos ‘n Andy and the original broadcast of War of the Worlds, and you’ll be all set.

The Crosley Nomad is available exclusively from Urban Outfitters for $72 (USD).

The top-of-the-line Elements Stardust clock radio is adorned with nearly 4,000 hand-placed Swarovski crystals, making the case sparkle and shine like diamonds. The Elements features a digital AM/FM tuner, alarm clock with a dimmable vacuum fluorescent display. And the backlit control dial is reminiscent of an aluminum version of the iPod’s scroll wheel.

If Saks Fifth Avenue’s price of $2500 (USD) is a bit too rich for your humble paycheck to afford, you can grab the still good looking, still good sounding, non-bejeweled piano black version over on Amazon for $250 bucks.

[via Chip Chick]

Featuring a striking black and white case with a futuristic, bright orange-on-black display, there’s no way you’ll miss one of these clocks when you roll over in the middle of the night to check the time. And even if you did, just look straight up from your pillow, since these clocks can also project the current time directly on your ceiling. Both models also include dual alarms in case you and your significant other need to wake up at different times.

The $39.99 RRA320P is the basic AM/FM alarm clock radio model, while the $59.99 RRM320PA adds an atomic-synchronized movement, temperature display and a wireless thermometer that lets you check the outdoor temperature from up to 300 feet away.

In addition to telling time, day and date, the Jet wall clock also features a temperature display and an alarm. If you really dig his style, Williams has also designed a Jet clock radio and a smaller travel alarm clock too. All three models will come in either brushed anodized aluminum or shiny gold finishes.

The first model to be released — the Jet wall clock — is available now from French design boutique Singulier for €45 (appx. $69 USD). Pricing and a release date haven’t been announced for the travel clock and clock radio yet.

The NX-PN7 is capable not only of docking and charging two iPods simultaneously, but you can decide which one you want to play your tunes from. In addition to the two iPod sound sources, the dock offers an AM/FM tuner and an AUX input. There’s also as clock and timer functionality, which makes it perfect on the kitchen counter. The dock also includes a wireless remote, with full control over playback.

Even though the dock holds two iPods, JVC managed to pack the whole thing into a box that’s just 13-inches wide. The clean black and silver case design also features a cool little flourish that lets you change the colors of illumination below each player to one of nine different hues.

Expect the NX-PN7 to hit stores this April, with an MSRP of $149.99.

[Press Release]

The Cue Radio will offer a digital AM/FM tuner with RDS track and station display, dual alarms, and a built-in iPod dock on top. While it looks like the radio will only offer a single speaker, Cue is aiming to make “best table radio in its class”, according to the guys over at Switched.

The clean, elegant design looks like it’ll be perfect for use in a kitchen, office or even better yet, on a bedside table. I certainly wouldn’t kick it out of the bedroom if one magically appeared to replace my current alarm clock.

Expect more details to surface during this week’s CES show.

Using a technology called “iTunes Tagging”, you can flag songs that you’ve heard on HD Radio broadcasts and queue them up for purchase via the iTunes store. The integration automatically sends the list of tracks to the docked iPod, then iTunes will automatically mark them for purchase when you sync up with your computer. (Hopefully they’ll update this to work with the new iTunes Wi-Fi store on the iPhone and iPod Touch once that’s live too.)

The $499 I-Sonic ES2 will be available from retailers, including the Apple Store and PolkAudio.com starting this October.

In addition to the requisite AM/FM/CD/MP3 capabilities, the Philips BTM288 stereo system will be able to connect to mobile phones and media devices via Bluetooth. According to a snippet from the draft User Manual, the stereo will allow both speakerphone calling and wireless audio playback from connected devices.

The stereo can also rip CD, MP3 and WMA tracks from either a disc or a Bluetooth device to a USB storage device or to an SD/MMC memory card.

Philips hasn’t yet announced a price or release date for the system.

Simply connect BTO’s plusdeck EX to your computer’s USB port, and you can take all your old cassette tapes and easily convert them into MP3, WAV or OGG digital audio files. You can also record from the device’s built-in AM/FM radio.

You can even record your digital files back to analog cassette tape, but I’m not sure why you’d want to do that unless you happen to live in the dark ages.

Inputs are also available for your old turntable or any other device with RCA stereo or a 3.5mm mini stereo output. The plusdeck EX also adds 7.1 channel Dolby surround sound to your PC or Mac, but does only support analog speaker outputs for that feature.

Also included is a compact wireless remote, which lets you easily switch between listening to your computer, radio, tape or other connected audio device.

The plusdeck EX should be available later this Summer in Korea, with a worldwide release shortly thereafter. Korean pricing is 319,000 KRW, which works out to about $347 US Dollars.

[via The Earlyadopter's World]

But this shower control doesn’t change the water temperature. Instead, it controls the volume on a compact AM/FM radio.

The radio grips onto your shower walls with a suction cup back, and is fully waterproof. While you won’t get scalded with hot water from this thing, I take no responsibility if you turn it on and the latest song from Fergie is playing.

It’s available from Korea’s Funshop for 29,800 Korean Won (about $32 bucks.)

The boxy design echoes portable radios from the sixties and seventies, but thanks to its smoothly curved surfaces, is firmly grounded in modern times.

The radio receives AM and FM stations, and runs off of AA batteries for portability. In this age of all things plastic, it’s nice to see some technology that incorporates some natural materials for a change.

The Magno radio is available from Japan’s assistOn for ¥17,640 which works out to be about $142 US dollars.

Zumreed has released these nifty little gadgets which looks just like the classic Volkswagen van. Hidden inside is a fully functional stereo, with an AM/FM tuner and a LCD alarm clock (hidden on the rear of the minibus.) It’s even got a 3.5mm jack so you can hook up your MP3 player to it. The mini radio measures about 7″ long by 3″ high and comes in a variety of colors, but the classic two-tone red and beige is my favorite. The stereo can run off of battery, AC or USB power, so it’s also perfect as a speaker system for a small PC.

The VW Minibus radio retails for ¥8190 (appx. $68 USD), and can be found at Japanese online retailer Abide.

At just 99 bucks, the HD100 Radio from radiosophy costs about half of the price of the current bottom-of-the-line models. The new radio receives AM/FM analog and digital broadcasts, including track title and artist information for HD signals. It’s also got a stereo mini input for hooking up an external MP3 player. A built-in alarm clock with wake to music features rounds out the list of features.

The $99 price is an introductory offer, slated to expire on June 30th, so there’s some urgency if you want to get in on that deal.

[via Engadget HD]

Until recently, most HD Radio tuners have either been stand-alone stereos or designed to be put into your car. Now there’s a way to add HD radio tuning capability to any home stereo system. At roughly the size of a DVD player, the $199 Sangean HDT-1 HD Radio Tuner fits in nicely with most home entertainment systems. It adds CD quality digital versions of FM stations in most metropolitan areas, and its LCD display can show artist, track and title information in many cases.

In addition, the HDT-1 can receive traditional analog AM/FM signals and adds RDS information when available. The tuner comes with a compact remote control and can store up to 40 preset stations. The only real downside to the HDT-1 is that it only features analog RCA outputs, negating some of the quality enhancement that you’d expect from a digital signal. Oh well.

Unlike most clock radios which are made from cheap plastics, the LEXON’s enclosure is made from wood and aluminum, so it looks very substantial for its modest size (9.5″ W x 2.4″ H x 2.3″ D.) The stereo speakers should provide plenty of volume for a bedside table application, and there’s even an input to hook up your favorite MP3 player. The radio can also run on AA batteries if you’re on the go.

So far, I’ve only found this model in Europe (for about

You can upload tunes to the player via the radio’s USB port, can also use it as an external storage device for other files (though I’m not sure why you’d need to do that.) The AM/FM radio also offers timed recording of over-the-air broadcasts, so you can listen to radio programs whenever you want. It’s also got an audio input for direct encoding of analog sound sources. To enhance sound quality, they’ve also included SRS WOW XT acoustic enhancement.

The VJ-10 is currently slated for release in Japan this March, with no release date announced for other markets. Olympus has not announced a price.

[via Akihabara News]