Blaupunkt and miRoamer bring Internet radio to the car

The Blaupunkt New Jersey integrates Internet radio stations.

(Credit: Blaupunkt)

CES is all about convergence, and one of the more interesting examples is Internet radio station aggregator miRoamer and car stereo maker Blaupunkt. The result of this union is two stereo head units from Blaupunkt that receive and play Internet radio, giving you over 16,000 choices for streamed music while you drive. The first hurdle with a system like this is getting the Internet stream to the car. The Blaupunkt miRoamer system uses the data connection for a paired Bluetooth phone, connecting to the miRoamer server. Obviously you will need a phone with a data plan, preferably unlimited.

The Hamburg is a smaller Internet radio head unit.

(Credit: Blaupunkt)

Blauplunkt will release two stereo head units, the single DIN Hamburg and the double DIN New Jersey, with miRoamer integrated later this year. Because so many radio stations are available, the interface in the head unit isn't designed for users to search through stations. Instead, you create a profile on the miRoamer Web site with your favorite radio stations. When you get in the car, the head unit logs into miRoamer and shows your radio stations as presets.

At this time, we don't know how good the audio quality will be, or if the streams will come through largely uninterrupted.