Evoke Flow rethinks radio

The Evoke Flow is a new take on what a radio ought to be. While it's nice to have fifteen thousand songs on your home computer, it is not always handy or convenient. Even if you have some of the gadgets that let you stream the music around the house, many of those still require fussing at your computer (some need more fussing, some need less). The Evoke Flow looks like an old sixties AM radio; the form factor includes a handle to encourage you to carry it around the house. It supports three kinds of content: traditional FM radio, Internet radio stations, and streamed content from local computers (e.g. iTunes music libraries). It has a mono speaker, so it's not designed to provide room-filling stereo. Instead, the emphasis is on portability--listen in the kitchen, on the deck outside, in the den, in the bedroom. It's a neat idea, and based on this review, the product still has a few rough edges. For example, it seems odd not to include AM radio, and it would not have been expensive to add a second cheap speaker and provide low fidelity stereo. And it would appear the attempt to provide a simplified "retro" look created some difficulties using the controls effectively. I think we will see more products like this, and the maker of the Evoke is a firm called Pure, which has several other similar products.