Who knew radios could be.. well.. so cool? That’s exactly what you’d say if you’d spend a little bit of time at the Eton booth at CES 2009. Seriously now.. Eton transforms radios into must-have devices for both the home and the road. These products not only deliver what you’d expect from a radio – that is FM/AM reception – but also important information in times of crisis. With that said, here’s a quick rundown of their latest products announced at the show.

First up we have the newest addition to the American Red Cross Line by Eton – the Solarlink FR600.

In short, this is the radio to have if you’re going on a camping trip, traveling overseas, or just want to stay informed – in good times or bad. The FR600 features the following:

• AM/FM and Shortwave Radio Reception
• All seven NOAA Weather channels
• Digital Tuner
• Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME) for location based weather alerts
• Built-in flashlight
• Flashing red emergency beacon
• Emergency siren

As with many of Eton products, the FR600 is a self powered unit meaning you can use the hand crank or the built-in solar panels to charge up the internal rechargeable Ni-MH battery pack.

In addition, the FR600 can also be used to re-charge that cell phone of yours – making sure you can always contact someone in times of emergency.

The Solarlink FR600 will be available during the first quarter for a price of $80 dollars.

If you’re looking for something a bit smaller than the FR600 with practically the same feature set, there’s the Solarlink FR360.

Here’s a lowdown on the specs:

• AM/FM reception
• All 7 NOAA weather bands
• Alert functionality
• Built-in flashlight
• Flashing red LED emergency light
• Emergency siren
• Rechargeable Ni-MH battery pack
• Powered by hand crank or solar panel
• Built-in USB cell phone charging capabilities
• Digital Tuner
• Alarm/clock functionality
• Auxiliary input

The Solarlink FR360 will be available during the first quarter of 2009 for a price of $50 dollars.

For true portability, there’s the new Microlink FR160. This tiny unit is the “ultimate on-the-go preparedness tool” making sure there’s no excuse to never be prepared (which means I might just have to get one of these units).

Features of the FR160 include:

• AM/FM reception
• All 7 NOAA all-hazard weather channels
• Built-in flashlight
• Cell phone charging capability
• Access to FCC and EAS public alert systems
• Powered by hand crank or solar panels

The FR160 will be available in the first quarter of this year for a price of $30 dollars.

Now if you’re a true radio geek, then you’ll want to check out the Eton Grundig Mini 400. This thin, lightweight device is the ideal device for someone who loves listening to the radio no matter where they are in the world.

Features include:

• Weight of just over 3 oz
• AM/FM reception
• Shortwave frequencies from SW1: 5.8-10MHz and SW2: 11.65-18MHz
• Digital display shows frequency, time, sleep time, and symbols for sleep timer and alarm activation
• Telescopic antenna for FM and shortwave reception
• Internal ferrite bar antenna for AM reception

The Grundig Mini 400 will be available this quarter for a price of $30 dollars.

AND finally, we have the new Grundig Traveler II Digital G8. 

Key features of the G8 include the following:

• World time support – provides local and international time
• Clock with alarm
• Digital radio receiver
• Local AM/FM reception and shortwave from 3200KHz to 21950 KHz
• Auto Tuning Storage – automatically scan and store active frequencies into memory

The G8 will be available this quarter for a price of $50 dollars.

Technorati Tags: Eton, Radios, Solarlink FR600, Solarlink FR360, Microlink FR160, Grundig Mini 400, Grundig Traveller II Digital G8, CES 2009