Roberts Stream 105 internet radio

The problem with most internet radios is that their tiny screens are barely adequate for navigating the thousands of stations available online.

The Roberts Stream 105 gets round this by allowing users to control it using an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch – Android compatibility is apparently in the works.

Roberts has been around long enough for its iconic early models to have become collectable antiques but the Stream 105 has the two-tone styling of the company's more recent products.

Setup was a matter of entering the security details of the wireless network we were using. The device will store details for up to four networks, which should be enough to cover all the locations in which it's likely to be used.

An iPhone can itself function as an internet radio with the aid of a low-cost app so there is little point in buying the Stream 105 for purely personal use, especially if you have a dock for the iPhone. The advantage of the Roberts radio, which can also be controlled manually as well, is that it can be left at home for the whole family to use.

It is described as portable but of course it can only be used where there is internet access and it needs six expensive C-sized batteries to run without mains power, so users are unlikely to carry it around much.

Up to ten favourite stations can be set up for easy access and the Stream 105 will also play tracks from the users' own music collections. For the latter there needs to be to a Windows 7 or Vista PC on the network, or another streaming device supporting the UPnP standard.

The iPhone app provided a convenient way to browse stations, podcasts and music tracks, though oddly it cannot be used to set the radio's twin alarms. Stranger still for a product of this class, the Stream 105 does not support stereo, though sound from the single speaker was good.

The company tells us that all its future radios will support iPhone-control but this first model is an impressive start.