Radio "Apps" for the iPhone

The Apple iPhone is a wildly popular device of which 1 million units were sold in the first 74 days and 14 million are estimated to have been sold by the end of 2008. One of the most innovative and exciting features of the iPhone is its ability to run a myriad of applications (referred to as “Apps”), some of which make use of the iPhones advanced features like the Multi-Touch interface, accelerometer, GPS, real-time 3D graphics, or 3D positional audio.

Literally thousands of Apps are available to iPhone (and iTouch) users through Apple’s iTunes PC application (as well as from the iPhone directly). Among these are Apps which make it possible to listen to local radio stations on an iPhone in real time, using either the broadband data capabilities of the iPhone (which supports both 3G and EDGE digital mobile phone technology), or alternatively using the iPhone’s built-in Wi-Fi connection. Listed below is a selection of Apps which support local radio listening, as well as some Apps geared more towards “Internet radio” listening, and finally, two Apps which use the GPS capabilities of the iPhone to generate a list of radio stations that should be receivable at the iPhone’s current location.

iheart Radio – (released September 8, 2008, cost – free) iheart radio, developed by Clear Channel Broadcasting, delivers streaming radio and also makes available the song lyrics and album art for the song that is playing. Stations include KIIS-FM/Los Angeles, KFI-AM/Los Angeles, WHTZ-FM (Z100)/New York, WWPR-FM (Power 105.1)/New York, WXKS-FM (Kiss 108)/Boston, KYLD-FM (Wild 949)/San Francisco, WKSC-FM (103.5 Kiss)/Chicago, KTRH-AM/Houston, WWDC-FM (DC101)/Washington, DC, and KFAN-AM/Minneapolis. Additional information is available on the Internet at http://www.iheartmusic.com/cc-common/iphone/.

101 WRIF Radio – (released November 11, 2008, cost – free) Greater Media’s Detroit station, Rock Radio 101 WRIF, now has its very own iPhone App, which streams both WRIF’s main and HD-2 (RIFF2) channels. Greater Media has plans to release Apps for additional stations in the future including WBOS 92.9 (Boston, MA), WMMR 93.3 (Philadelphia, PA), and WRAT 95.9 (Point Pleasant, NJ).

AOL Radio - (released May 30, 2008, cost – free) AOL Radio powered by CBS Radio features over 200 stations that span more than 25 genres of music plus 150+ CBS radio stations from across the U.S. including WFAN-AM and 1010 WINS in New York, KLSX and KROQ in Los Angeles, WXRT in Chicago, WVEE in Atlanta and more. Listeners can tag favorite stations and songs for easy access later. When activated, this App automatically detects your location and provides the nearest CBS Radio station, along with a list of other available stations (by city). Also available are lists of stations and songs recently listened to, with links to the songs on iTunes or AOL Music.

Radiolicious – (released October 8, 2008, cost – free) Radiolicious allows listeners to hear FM and AM radio stations and Internet streams, and allows listeners to tailor their content and share it with friends. This App was developed by “MySimBook” which is a “radio station super network, and content aggregator.” MySimBook is also a social networking community and members are able to broadcast themselves to both individuals and groups through text messaging. Broadcasters interested in having their stations made available through the Radiolicious App should visit the Radiolicious website at www.mysimbook.com/radiolicious for more information.

FlyCast Mobile Broadcast Network – (released August 22, 2008, cost – free) Flycast partners with radio broadcasters and Webcasters to offer a comprehensive collection of live radio streams, including those from AccuRadio, Entercom, DI, SKY, Radio Paradise, 977 The Music, and many others. The FlyCast native application includes enhancements such as a pause feature on all stations, song skipping on certain Webcasts, “StreamAhead” which allows a listener to continue to listen to a station even during extended periods without a connection, and “Top of the Hour” which allows latecomers to jump to the beginning of a talk radio show.

Minnesota Public Radio – (released September 12, 2008, cost – free) MPR’s App lets listeners listen to three audio streams: The Current 89.3, which plays independent emerging artists and the legends who inspired them; Classical MPR, which is an all-classical station; and, MPR News which provides in-depth coverage of regional, national, and world issues. The Current and Classical MPR use 128 kbps streams (3G or Wi-Fi recommended) while the MPR News stream uses 64 kbps (plays with 3G, Wi-Fi, or EDGE).

Tuner Internet Radio – (released June 26, 2008, cost - $5.99) this is a “full-featured Internet radio player” which includes an OpenGL visualizer (which provides images that are synchronized to the audio). This App supports four different stream formats: AAC+, MP3, PLS, and M3U.

WRNI Radio – (released September 11, 2008, cost – free) WRNI is Rhode Island’s only NPR news station broadcast on 1290 AM around Providence and 102.7 FM throughout southern Rhode Island. This App was developed by Stormy Productions (www.stormyprods.com) which is a small software house focusing on applications development for the iPhone and iTouch.

Wunder Radio – (released September 25, 2008, cost - $5.99) WunderRadio plays thousands of streaming Internet radio stations and other audio streams. WunderRadio will also locate nearby radio stations and NOAA Weather Radio streams (not all stations or NOAA radio stations are available) and browse the ScanAmerica.us emergency scanner stream directory.

Radio Finder ! – (released October 2, 2008, cost - $0.99) Radio Finder! will find radio stations local to the user’s present location using the GPS features of the iPhone. Listed on the display are the stations (call sign and name) that should be receivable as well as the format of each station and expected signal strength. Currently this App only supports radio stations in the U.S.

Local Radio Finder – (released October 21, 2008, cost - $0.99) this App uses a database of U.S. radio stations and the GPS-based location capabilities of the iPhone to provide a list of radio stations and the estimated power at the listener’s current location. Format information is also provided. This App can also be used when the iPhone is not connected to any network as long as the iPhone still has GPS reception.

A brief description of the iTunes App Store is available at www.apple.com/iphone/appstore/; for a list of Apps go to http://iphoneapplicationlist.com/. iTunes software is available for free from Apple’s Web site at www.apple.com/itunes/overview/.

The November 24, 2008 Radio TechCheck is also available in an Adobe Acrobat file.
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