News

A consortium of broadcasters and organizations united their efforts to develop an open and universal interface, which should facilitate the integration of digital radio reception systems in smartphones. The launch of the open interface for the reception of radio on mobile devices (OMRI) was announced at IBC 2016.

Nearly 50 million receivers were sold through the major countries, Germany, Denmark, France, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, the UK, Switzerland and Australia (48232000). In France, 292,000 DAB+ receivers have been sold into the distribution network.

A pop-up digital radio station, set up to air in the run-up to BBC Radio Cymru's 40th birthday, will launch on Monday. Radio Cymru Mwy will be available for 15 weeks on weekday mornings.

Standard 'GT86' equipment includes cruise control, aluminium pedals, DAB digital radio and keyless go. The 'GT86 Pro' adds heated seats and the spoiler.

The R2 follows the same design cues as the R4, but it sheds the latter's CD drive and adds Spotify connect support which, in addition to its AM, FM, DAB, Internet Radio, Bluetooth aptX and USB playback, means that it's a very well connected speaker indeed.

World DAB has released an infographic with the latest sales of DAB/DAB + radios and data coverage of DAB/DAB+ in Europe and Australia. Until the 2nd quarter of this year nearly 50 million DAB/ DAB+ receivers were sold in the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Norway, France, Italy, UK, Switzerland and Australia.

Standard kit includes climate control, a 7.0in colour touchscreen, sat-nav, Bluetooth, a digital radio, two USB inputs, LED headlights and a leather-trimmed multi-function steering wheel.

WorldDAB has released its latest figures on sales and DAB coverage for key markets in Europe and Asia Pacific for the end of Q2 2016. The statistics include road and overall population coverage, receiver sales, household penetration and, for the first time, the number of national stations on DAB/DAB+ as compared to FM.

The Netherlands has already sold 439,000 DAB+ radios this year, according to figures from WorldDAB. The number of cars with DAB+ radio on board has increased dramatically. In 2015 there were 77 144 units sold. In comparison to the year before where only 22,800 were sold. The Netherlands can be seen to have the fastest growth of DAB+ across the world.

WorldDAB's IBC session “Looking to radio’s digital future — digital switchover progress and plans” offered testimonials from various countries transitioning to DAB digital radio about the current market situation and progress. Patrick Hannon, President of WorldDAB, introduced the discussion showing highlights from the recently published WorldDAB second quarter 2016 report.