Lex Friedman, for Macworld on the HiddenRadio:
>But even if sound quality wasn’t an issue, the HiddenRadio’s frustrating ports and volume-dial mechanism keep me from endorsing it over its rivals.
I received mine yesterday and I was pumped — no really, I was. I opened it and was met with a beautiful packaging, and a solid feeling product. Then came the problems:
1. I had to charge the device for 4-5 hours before using it if I didn’t want to damage the long-term life of the battery. Or so said the card that came with the speaker.
2. I then struggled to get the USB plugged into the speaker, as Friedman notes, it’s a huge pain in the ass.
3. Then I waited 6 hours for it to fully charge.
4. Now at home I quickly paired the speaker with my iPhone and started playing some Al Green (my daughters current favorite artist).
5. The speaker turned off before the song finished.
6. I restarted the speaker and kept going.
7. I complained on App.net
8. I restarted and re-paired everything.
9. I came to the conclusion that the speaker shuts off between 1:30-2:50minutes of playing audio. From responses I have gotten, I am not alone.
So as a speaker the HiddenRadio is a huge piece of shit (I emailed support, no response yet, but I emailed late at like 6pm) for me right now. If mine worked, it sounds like I’d still hate it. But hey, it makes a fantastic paperweight.
Side note: Friedman notes that it is hard to turn with one hand, I found that to be the case only if you didn’t also apply downward pressure, as you would if you were using a screwdriver on a screw. When you apply downward pressure it turns just fine one-handed.