Chronos iRadio Pop

The iRadio Pop is a software/USB stick combo that provides a searchable catalogue of up to 13,000 Internet radio stations. Although the program is easy to use, some users may be turned off by having to pay for the iRadio Pop when the stations can be accessed for free. The product is able to be rebranded as nifty marketing device for companies.

The software launches straight from the USB stick, opening a small window that gives the user the ability to search, play and record various Internet radio stations. Stations are searchable by name, frequency, region and genre if available.

All stations play at the highest possible streaming bit rate; we had no issue with the sound. Quality and reception was excellent and there were no drop-outs while listening to stations. Users also have the choice of recording the station stream to a 192kbps WMA file. The software's biggest advantage is that the catalogue is entirely Web-based rather than stored locally. Because of this, any changes Chronos makes to its database will instantly be recognised by the software and won't require an update.

Chronos' indexing of Web-based radio stations in a single searchable catalogue is an excellent option for those new to Internet radio. While there are free alternatives, the size of the iRadio catalogue makes it worth considering.