JVC Kenwood made a pretty interesting announcement today [JP]. Their Ryoma is basically an HD digital TV tuner, BD/DVD recorder, AM/FM tuner and HDD recorder rolled into one. The bad news is you have to connect it with another device called M-LinX (the smaller one in the picture above) to access the radio functionality.

JVC Kenwood hasn’t revealed any details on the Ryoma/M-LinX concept yet. Apparently, the M-LinX box will make it possible to get additional (visual) information on certain radio shows while you listen to them, i.e. the content of the show, schedules etc.

JVC Kenwood markets the device as a way to monetize content for radio stations, i.e. by displaying ads on the TV screen while people are listening (see the screenshot below).

The company will start offering both devices in spring next year, at least in Japan. It’s unknown at this point whether this new concept will reach markets outside this country as well.

Via AV Watch [JP]