Product Name: JBL On Time 200ID, On Time 400IHD
Description: The On Time 200ID lets you wake up to your iPod, iPhone, radio, or a buzzer. It also has a 1/8th-inch line input for connecting other audio devices. The small one-piece speaker has a backlit LCD and touch-sensitive controls, and a backup battery preserves your settings even if power is interrupted. The silver grille covers two 6-watt drivers and a 6-watt tweeter, so you can bet there are plenty of highs but probably not so much bass (verdict is still out on that until we test it ourselves, of course). It measures 11-3/16 x 5-3/4 x 2-3/4 inches.
The On Time 400IHD looks very similar, but adds dual alarms and an HD Radio receiver for picking up multicast HD stations. It also supports iTunes tagging; press a button when you hear something you like, and the next time you sync your iPod in iTunes, it’ll let you find and buy it in a snap. (Like you won’t just look it up and BitTorrent it.)
Neither works with the iPhone, but they do support all the newest iPods as well as many legacy models. Sorry, we didn’t have pricing and availability for the 200ID at the time of this writing.
Price: 400IHD, $299.95
In-store date: 400IHD, Winter 2008
Site: www.jbl.com
Why it’s cool: I’ve always loved JBL’s On Time line of iPod alarm clocks. These are pretty small, and I think the addition of HD Radio is a simple but very smart idea, because it gives you access to lots more content. No iPhone support is dumb though.