Sanyo Canada on Monday announced the launch of its first Internet radio, the R227, which features an Ethernet jack and a built-in Wi-Fi module for no-cost, PC-free access to streaming radio stations and podcasts available on the Internet. Users can search for Internet radio stations by country of origin or genre, and save them on one of eight presets. An integrated FM radio tuner adds more flexibility to the system and includes its own eight presets.

The R227 also has an auxiliary jack to allow users to connect their personal audio players, and will support AAC, AIFF, MP3, RM, WAV, WMA files as well as M3V playlists stored on a networked computer. A headphone jack is present, while an output will let users connect the radio to external audio systems when the 4W of power from the R227's dual speakers is not enough.

A clock and alarm are part of the R227's features, allowing users to wake up to Internet or FM radio programming as well as buzzer.

The R227 in a black wood gloss finish will ship to retailers in Canada late in October, with pricing set at $220CAD (about $172).