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HD Radio: iTunes 'Tagging' Feature Announced
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Doesn't Apple still make the Tuner/Remote? (Just noticed that it seems to work with the Classic, but not the Touch...)
Sorry to be a stickler here, but bandwidth is a measure of spectrum, not channels. Digitizing a signal and then transmitting takes more bandwidth than the analog signal, but it can be bought back with good compression.
Lots of announcements about new ways for us to find and buy music from the iTMS lately... That is cool and everything, it isn't like anyone has to use this stuff.
However it is a little ironic that the first official new application that has been announced by Apple for the iPhone is the WiFi iTMS thingy. I'd much rather get some apps that help me get more use out of the phone WITHOUT spending more money... perhaps some games, iChat, etc. (things that are so obviously missing from 1.0)
However it is a little ironic that the first official new application that has been announced by Apple for the iPhone is the WiFi iTMS thingy. I'd much rather get some apps that help me get more use out of the phone WITHOUT spending more money... perhaps some games, iChat, etc. (things that are so obviously missing from 1.0)
Has anyone figured out how this is all supposed to work? I get the button on the radio bit, but where does it go from there? This seems like a really strange idea, being tied to a one way system like broadcast radio.
Better would be Bluetooth to the iPod/iPhone (and yes, I know iPod doesn't have BT which is half my point here) where you hit a button and the song gets downloaded as soon as a connection can be established with the iTMS.
Better would be Bluetooth to the iPod/iPhone (and yes, I know iPod doesn't have BT which is half my point here) where you hit a button and the song gets downloaded as soon as a connection can be established with the iTMS.
Too bad HD radio is a bad idea. I agree they should have set this up with XM/Sirius.
I have XM radio in my car and while the quality could be better, it's nice to have very little commercials (except on Kiss CM) and coverage almost every where. Not to mention the wide musical selection.
I purchased an HD reciver for my mom's car (they had a deal with the iPod adapter I bought her, where it was free after a rebate) and while my car was in the shop for a week, I took the time to test it out. They claim that HD radio is nice because you don't get any static and the truth is it actually does sound better. The problem is, if your getting static you probably don't have enough reception to get the HD signal. It seemed that it very rarely picked up the HD signal and I live on the outskirts of LA. Also you still have to put up with the non stop commercials and limited musical selection.
I do like how my new Pioneer XM unit has a memo button. I guess that's a step forward.
Bad move apple.
I have XM radio in my car and while the quality could be better, it's nice to have very little commercials (except on Kiss CM) and coverage almost every where. Not to mention the wide musical selection.
I purchased an HD reciver for my mom's car (they had a deal with the iPod adapter I bought her, where it was free after a rebate) and while my car was in the shop for a week, I took the time to test it out. They claim that HD radio is nice because you don't get any static and the truth is it actually does sound better. The problem is, if your getting static you probably don't have enough reception to get the HD signal. It seemed that it very rarely picked up the HD signal and I live on the outskirts of LA. Also you still have to put up with the non stop commercials and limited musical selection.
I do like how my new Pioneer XM unit has a memo button. I guess that's a step forward.
Bad move apple.
Curious about how it works. Perhaps in tandem with the Starbucks - Touch/iTunes technology? Makes sense and probably could be implemented with the Touch right away.
It's a good idea for radio because assuming it requires the iPod to be in the car then they have a gimmick to get you to listen to the radio instead of your iPod. That's a big deal because the terrestrial radio industry definitely feels a pinch from listener supplied music - it started with CD's quality & ease of use, is now a big factor due to iPods/MP3 players, and also a little bit with satellite, too.
It's a good idea for radio because assuming it requires the iPod to be in the car then they have a gimmick to get you to listen to the radio instead of your iPod. That's a big deal because the terrestrial radio industry definitely feels a pinch from listener supplied music - it started with CD's quality & ease of use, is now a big factor due to iPods/MP3 players, and also a little bit with satellite, too.
HD stands for Hybrid Digital but you have to have a radio that will play it... And on FM radio it will make the sound quality around CD level and AM radio at FM quality.
http://www.hdradio.com/
Traditional AM and FM broadcasts aren't digital, they're analog, so there's no "bitrate".
The concept of the announced feature is somewhat similar to the ill-fated Sony eMarker. I had one of those and kinda liked it. You set your location and favorite radio stations on their web site. You'd press a button on the device when you heard a song that you liked on the radio. It'd basically keep track of the date and time stamp. When you plugged it into your PC, it'd sync over and tell you what songs were on the radio in your area at that time (favorite stations listed first).
Too bad Sony axed it. Fortunately, they gave everyone a refund for sending their eMarker back. I actually made a small profit (was ~$20 for the device, got $24 IIRC for sending it back).
I know this is a little off topic, but it's about the starbucks deal.
I know the deal is "exclusive" but imagine if this were a new technology Apple was going to market to businesses? You walk into anystore they are playing music and have this to Wifi iTunes Store Broadcast, now when your in the Apple Store, Starbucks, Macy's, ect. you can buy what your hearing and sync it back later.
so not only can they sell the songs, they can sell the equipment to businesses that want to be "iPod/iPhone compatible." As a hair salon owner I think it would be a cool feature to offer guests.
I know the deal is "exclusive" but imagine if this were a new technology Apple was going to market to businesses? You walk into anystore they are playing music and have this to Wifi iTunes Store Broadcast, now when your in the Apple Store, Starbucks, Macy's, ect. you can buy what your hearing and sync it back later.
so not only can they sell the songs, they can sell the equipment to businesses that want to be "iPod/iPhone compatible." As a hair salon owner I think it would be a cool feature to offer guests.
There's another advantage to this. It would give businesses a new incentive to play music we like!
HD AM is supposed to sound like FM and HD FM is supposed to sound like a CD.
http://www.hdradio.com/what_is_hd_digital_radio.php
It is digital.
And because it is digital they can split their allocated wavelength into different channels... so one old AM station can have multiple "sidebands" for lack of a better term.
Built in: New iPod Nano
Did you see that this is now built into the new (released today) Nano?
http://www.apple.com/itunes/tagging/
That's pretty cool.
Did you see that this is now built into the new (released today) Nano?
http://www.apple.com/itunes/tagging/
That's pretty cool.
It is not High Definition, although that is an understandable confusion. Originally, it was said to mean "hybrid digital" or "home digital." Now they say it doesn't mean anything, it's just a name.
One wonders if they chose the initials "HD" for the very reason that people would assume it means "High Definition."
At any rate, while this is an interesting feature in general, HD radio in my area exclusively consists of rebroadcasts of regular radio and music I'm personally not interested in. HD radio allows the use of extra channels, but the extra channels are generally in my area at least being wasted.