Internet Radio for iPhone and iPod Touch

MacRumors · Feb 11, 2008, 03:32 PM

GCap Media has launched a new mobile website that provides iPhone and iPod Touch users a way to listen to live radio over the internet.

The new site launched at MusicRadio.com provides a mobile Safari optimized browsing experience that allows users to listen to live radio streamed over the internet. 5 stations are presently offered from the London based company:

Capital 95.8 - hits and new music
Xfm - interviews, rock, highlights from the Top 20
Choice FM - hip hop and R&B
Classic FM - classical music
Gold - classic hits

The service also provides users to see the last 5 tracks played and buy them through iTunes on your iPhone. In our brief testing, the service worked quite well with good quality through Wifi.

Article Link

Popeye206 · 03:45 PM

The concept here is totally cool! Now if they would just let me pause and rewind the Radio too (like TIVO).

The challenge is going to be how this is delivered... of course, you can't be walking or driving around with WiFi access to listen. But I still love this concept and think this is one of the areas that Apple needs to exploit and expand on more - doing so would take the iPod line to a new level changing the playing field once again for MP3 players.

Cool!

mainstreetmark · Feb 11, 2008, 03:56 PM

Yeah! Really! Works great. I don't know if I'd ever use this, but it's a good demo of what can be done!

All this free bandwidth for YouTube and now Radio, yet our tiny SMS messages are (artificially) limited.

maehara · Feb 11, 2008, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Popeye206

I still love this concept and think this is one of the areas that Apple needs to exploit and expand on more

Yup - a central list from Apple of iPod-compatible radio streams would be a really useful app (or a good idea for someone else to do once the SDK comes out, maybe?). Not much of a fan of the stations featured, but the idea's a good one...

The Phazer · Feb 11, 2008, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Popeye206

The challenge is going to be how this is delivered... of course, you can't be walking or driving around with WiFi access to listen.

It just about works on Edge too...

This about the single best innovation Gcap has done for years. I remember giving a presentation there a few years ago talking about building a site that linked to stores to buy the track you just heard as a revenue generator, and there didn't seem to be any buy-in at all, so it's come a bit out of the blue.

But a very welcome surprise.

Phazer

RevolutionOne · Feb 11, 2008, 04:35 PM

I'm glad it has XFM on it or I wouldn't have cared.

This is going to get a lot of use

Drumjim85 · Feb 11, 2008, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Popeye206

The concept here is totally cool! Now if they would just let me pause and rewind the Radio too (like TIVO).

nope, that gets into royalty battles... and how many times does the station have to pay the artist for that song play....

there are pretty strict rules on internet radio about that kinda thing... pandora.com (a great site!) talks about that some.

sammywoj · Feb 11, 2008, 04:46 PM

Can the Sirius/XM stream be accessed on the iPhone/Touch via WiFi? I access my satellite internet radio from my home computer now. Would be nice to take it with me around the home or office. If not, is this a possibility soon?

Popeye206 · Feb 11, 2008, 04:47 PM

You know... sometimes you just have to try it. :-) For some goofy reason when I read UK... I assumed it would not work in the US... silly me!

Anyway.. I tried it... seems to have some quirkiness to it, and one annoying feature.... when your iPhone sleeps... the connection is lost! Yikes! Still this is cool and I'll have to play some more to see if I have a setting wrong.

brucebrendon · Feb 11, 2008, 05:07 PM

Oh if only the BBC would move away from realplayer etc for some qt. Would gain them instant easy points until their mac compatible iPlayer comes out. Simple. Easy. Ideal. Unlikely.

madhive · Feb 11, 2008, 05:25 PM

Finally!

deannnnn · Feb 11, 2008, 05:38 PM

How is this any different from FlyTunes?

fart · Feb 11, 2008, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RevolutionOne

I'm glad it has XFM on it or I wouldn't have cared.

This is going to get a lot of use

XFM!!!! THE HOME OF KARL PILKINGTON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

rediffusion · Feb 11, 2008, 07:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fart

XFM!!!! THE HOME OF KARL PILKINGTON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yep, he's a genius

breath of apple · Feb 11, 2008, 07:55 PM

Streaming radio - excellent idea!

California · Feb 11, 2008, 08:41 PM

I just would like an AM radio player for my iPod or iPhone. Is that possible?

Wolf103FM · Feb 11, 2008, 08:50 PM

I'ved been running Tversity media server on my windows box, along with uxm and usirius to allow mw to listen to live XM and Sirius satellite radio at work on my touch, where I can't get the satellite signals. as well as many radio stations I have manually added to the library

Fender321 · Feb 11, 2008, 09:01 PM

This works perfectly for me over Edge (Atlanta, GA)! I've been hoping for something like this for a long time. Let's hope for more stations in time.

Popeye206 · Feb 11, 2008, 10:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drumjim85

nope, that gets into royalty battles... and how many times does the station have to pay the artist for that song play....
there are pretty strict rules on internet radio about that kinda thing... pandora.com (a great site!) talks about that some.

Well... then they are going to get into royalty battles... this service does allow you to pause and rewind. Just Like I was asking for.

Honestly, I don't see what the issue is... I understand the royalty issue, but recording TV and Radio has been out there for years... how is pausing and rewinding any different than that?

Popeye206 · Feb 11, 2008, 10:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fender321

This works perfectly for me over Edge (Atlanta, GA)! I've been hoping for something like this for a long time. Let's hope for more stations in time.

Hummm... I really can't get it to work all that well... even on my WiFi... when the iPhone sleeps... I'll loose the feed for the station... so I assume I'm loosing my internet connection when the iPhone sleeps... do I have a setting wrong somewhere???

Looking for some answers if anyone has any suggestions.

Ronnoco · Feb 11, 2008, 11:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Popeye206

Hummm... I really can't get it to work all that well... even on my WiFi... when the iPhone sleeps... I'll loose the feed for the station... so I assume I'm loosing my internet connection when the iPhone sleeps... do I have a setting wrong somewhere???

Looking for some answers if anyone has any suggestions.

Mine did that a couple of times as well but now it is working perfectly even while it is in sleep mode...perhaps there are still a few quirks to work out which is to be exoected...all in all a brilliant new function IMO...Cheers to GCap!

fpnc · Feb 11, 2008, 11:34 PM

I was able to get this to work over both WiFi and EDGE, but it seems to last only about a minute and then the playback stops. I suspect it has something to do with power management on the iPhone and it could simply be that the iPhone isn't designed to hold an internet stream indefinitely. Also, the sound quality was somewhat suspect. If my results are typical I don't think I could use it to listen to music, maybe talk radio and news but not music.

Fender321 · Feb 12, 2008, 01:33 AM

I played it for about 20 minutes on edge, in sleep mode, before it stopped.

It appears as though the "streaming" is done by having the iPhone download a huge file (4 hours long) that the server is writing on the fly.

This means the iphone is likely caching the file as it downloads. Perhaps it's stopping once the phone runs out of memory, because I doubt it has any idea to delete the file as it goes.

Am3822 · 04:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brucebrendon

Oh if only the BBC would move away from realplayer etc for some qt. Would gain them instant easy points until their mac compatible iPlayer comes out. Simple. Easy. Ideal. Unlikely.

How about using their 'embedded' player (the one that pops up from their website)? Will it work on the ipod touch?

EDIT: obviously, the realplayer plug-in is required, and until RealMedia comes up with one compatible with the touch's architecture and/or the helix people do the same (and also manage to install it successfully), there's no chance of it happening.

Wyvernspirit · Feb 12, 2008, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mainstreetmark

Yeah! Really! Works great. I don't know if I'd ever use this, but it's a good demo of what can be done!

All this free bandwidth for YouTube and now Radio, yet our tiny SMS messages are (artificially) limited.

I'm sure you could get your SMS' for free if you allow for advertising on each message and message creator/sender.

Feb 11, 2008, 03:32 PM	#1
MacRumors macrumors bot Join Date: Apr 2001	Internet Radio for iPhone and iPod Touch GCap Media has launched a new mobile website that provides iPhone and iPod Touch users a way to listen to live radio over the internet. The new site launched at MusicRadio.com provides a mobile Safari optimized browsing experience that allows users to listen to live radio streamed over the internet. 5 stations are presently offered from the London based company: Capital 95.8 - hits and new music Xfm - interviews, rock, highlights from the Top 20 Choice FM - hip hop and R&B Classic FM - classical music Gold - classic hits The service also provides users to see the last 5 tracks played and buy them through iTunes on your iPhone. In our brief testing, the service worked quite well with good quality through Wifi. Article Link

Feb 11, 2008, 03:43 PM	#2
Popeye206 macrumors regular Join Date: Sep 2007	Excellent! The concept here is totally cool! Now if they would just let me pause and rewind the Radio too (like TIVO). The challenge is going to be how this is delivered... of course, you can't be walking or driving around with WiFi access to listen. But I still love this concept and think this is one of the areas that Apple needs to exploit and expand on more - doing so would take the iPod line to a new level changing the playing field once again for MP3 players. Cool! Last edited by Popeye206 : Feb 11, 2008 at 03:45 PM. Reason: Missed a couple points! :-)

Feb 11, 2008, 03:56 PM	#3
mainstreetmark macrumors 68000 Join Date: May 2003 Location: Saint Augustine, FL	Yeah! Really! Works great. I don't know if I'd ever use this, but it's a good demo of what can be done! All this free bandwidth for YouTube and now Radio, yet our tiny SMS messages are (artificially) limited. __________________ iTunesRegistry.com <-- v3.0 Now Playing

Feb 11, 2008, 04:35 PM	#6
RevolutionOne macrumors member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Essex, UK	I'm glad it has XFM on it or I wouldn't have cared. This is going to get a lot of use __________________ MacBook Air - 1.6GHz C2D - 2GB - 80GB MacBook - White - 2Ghz CD - 2GB - 120GB iPhone 3G - Black - 16GB iPhone - 8GB

Feb 11, 2008, 04:46 PM	#8
sammywoj macrumors newbie Join Date: Feb 2008	Satellite Internet Radio? Can the Sirius/XM stream be accessed on the iPhone/Touch via WiFi? I access my satellite internet radio from my home computer now. Would be nice to take it with me around the home or office. If not, is this a possibility soon?

Feb 11, 2008, 04:47 PM	#9
Popeye206 macrumors regular Join Date: Sep 2007	You know... sometimes you just have to try it. :-) For some goofy reason when I read UK... I assumed it would not work in the US... silly me! Anyway.. I tried it... seems to have some quirkiness to it, and one annoying feature.... when your iPhone sleeps... the connection is lost! Yikes! Still this is cool and I'll have to play some more to see if I have a setting wrong.

Feb 11, 2008, 05:07 PM	#10
brucebrendon macrumors member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: UK	Bbc Oh if only the BBC would move away from realplayer etc for some qt. Would gain them instant easy points until their mac compatible iPlayer comes out. Simple. Easy. Ideal. Unlikely.

Feb 11, 2008, 05:25 PM	#11
madhive macrumors newbie Join Date: Nov 2007	Finally!

Feb 11, 2008, 05:38 PM	#12
deannnnn macrumors 6502a Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: New York City & South Florida	How is this any different from FlyTunes? __________________ MacBook 2.2 GHz Intel, 2 GB RAM iMac G5 20" 1.8 GHz PPC, 1.25 GB RAM iPhone 3GS 32GB

Feb 11, 2008, 07:55 PM	#15
breath of apple macrumors member Join Date: May 2007	Great! Streaming radio - excellent idea! __________________ The mercies of G-d are new every morning, falling like a breath of fresh air, like a sweet, sweet rain. iphone, MBP Powerbook G4

Feb 11, 2008, 08:41 PM	#16
California macrumors 68030 Join Date: Aug 2004	I just would like an AM radio player for my iPod or iPhone. Is that possible?

Feb 11, 2008, 08:50 PM	#17
Wolf103FM macrumors regular Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Huntsville AL	I'ved been running Tversity media server on my windows box, along with uxm and usirius to allow mw to listen to live XM and Sirius satellite radio at work on my touch, where I can't get the satellite signals. as well as many radio stations I have manually added to the library __________________ Opie & Anthony - XM 202 G4 Mini 1.42 GHz, uMBP 17" 2.8GHz 4GB Gold iPod Mini, 30GB iPod 5G, 16GB iPod Touch, 16GB Black iPhone 3G

Feb 11, 2008, 09:01 PM	#18
Fender321 macrumors newbie Join Date: Oct 2007	This works perfectly for me over Edge (Atlanta, GA)! I've been hoping for something like this for a long time. Let's hope for more stations in time.

Feb 11, 2008, 11:34 PM	#22
fpnc macrumors 6502a Join Date: Oct 2002	Promising but drops connection every minute or so I was able to get this to work over both WiFi and EDGE, but it seems to last only about a minute and then the playback stops. I suspect it has something to do with power management on the iPhone and it could simply be that the iPhone isn't designed to hold an internet stream indefinitely. Also, the sound quality was somewhat suspect. If my results are typical I don't think I could use it to listen to music, maybe talk radio and news but not music.

Feb 12, 2008, 01:33 AM	#23
Fender321 macrumors newbie Join Date: Oct 2007	I played it for about 20 minutes on edge, in sleep mode, before it stopped. It appears as though the "streaming" is done by having the iPhone download a huge file (4 hours long) that the server is writing on the fly. This means the iphone is likely caching the file as it downloads. Perhaps it's stopping once the phone runs out of memory, because I doubt it has any idea to delete the file as it goes.

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