The idea of an FM receiver in the iPhone has excited many a commentator over the last several years, because sometimes, you’ve got to set aside podcasts and iTunes and just listen to the radio.  The hyperlocal nature of terrestrial radio makes it a cultural staple, yet it’s conspicuously absent from the iPhone.  Apparently, that may be changing when iPhone 3.0 hits some time in the next 8 - 10 months.

And how about song-tagging, so you can purchase the currently-playing song from iTunes.  Some folks think High Definition (that is, digital) Radio is required to do this.  Actually, the text labels embedded in most FM broadcasts should be sufficient to drive links to iTunes Music Store…. if this was Apple’s style.

iHeartRadio and similar apps already pipe HD-quality data into the iPhone (over 3G)–and those don’t offer links to the iTunes store. If an FM chip is coming in iPhone 3.0, it will probably be used first and foremost for navigation-related features like traffic advisories and weather, and if we get radio out of the deal (like on some of the Nokie N-Series phones), then it will just be a happy little bonus.

Me, I’ll take photo messaging and a camcorder app, please.

Tags: camcorder, fm, gps, hd, hd radio, iphone, itunes, navigation, nokia, radio, software, video

My new favorite iPhone app is definitely iHeartRadio–a program that allows you to listen to any ClearChannel radio station in HD quality on your iPhone.  While I’m not a huge fan of Clear Channel’s overwhelming dominance in the radio content arena (they make iHeartRadio), I do like how iHeartRadio shows you the playlist item for the current track, and it’s fun to listen to out-of-town radio stations.  Definitely get this one from the appstore if you’re into radio listening.  I can’t wait until the HD side channels show up on here — it’s only a matter of time.

Tags: appstore, clearchannel, hd radio, radio, software

My commute averages about 45 minutes one-way. I’ve also hit the age where the same 20-song rotation on the FM dial isn’t as appealing as it once was. For the past few years, I’ve been relying on my subscriptions to various podcasts, but with so much time in the car, it’s pretty easy to exhaust that resource. What’s a geek to do?

Try this: use your iPhone as a mobile internet radio! I’ve been very pleased with a number of free apps and services in the App Store that allow me to create my own radio station, tune in to streaming comedy and talk radio, and even predict the kind of music that I would like. Some of these services have been around for a while (AOL Radio, Last.fm), others are a little new to the game, but excellent nonetheless (Pandora). So far, all three work well over WiFi, 3G, and even Edge networks. Here’s a simple run-down of the features offered by each application:

AOL Radio: Uses your location to identify local (CBS and affiliate) radio stations with streaming content. Tons of stations from comedy to new age. Decent quality, buffers very quickly. Fair audio quality over the Edge Network.

Pandora: Uses music genome project to figure out the kind of music you like. Great audio quality, even over the Edge network. Can only skip 6 songs per hours (bummer).

Last.fm: Kind of like social networking for music. Stations based on ranking and recommendations. Rank you songs, learns what you like. Good audio quality over the Edge network.

All of the solutions sound great through headphones over WiFi or 3G. The built-in speaker is decent enough for spoken word content on the iPhone3G, but the original iPhone isn’t loud enough and distorts easily.

Since my commute will be growing by 15+ minutes each way in a few years, I’m glad I’ll have an alternative to a costly monthly satellite radio service. Hopefully, as 3G coverage grows, so will mobile media solutions.

Tags: internet, iphone, radio