Public Radio Exchange (PRX)

Bandito is an iPhone-based aggregator for music news that has a twist. Instead of a mass-produced feed, the app scans your iTunes library and delivers you personalized news based on the artists you listen to most. On first launch, the app asks for permission to scan your iTunes library. Once you agree, the scan takes less than a minute and you're presented with a list of blog posts and reviews about your favorite bands. If you want to stay current with music happenings, there's also a "Hotlist" containing news about the top bands and artists. The app includes a viewer so you can read the news right inside the app which is a nice touch. There's also an option to open the article in mobile Safari and email the link if you want to share the info with friends. There's no social network integration so sharing via email is the best you're going to get. Bandito does exactly what it says, but the results you get may vary. If you have a library of older songs, the news you receive could be several years old. More contemporary listeners will enjoy the benefit of receiving the information that's only a few days or a few weeks old. The app is a joint project between the Public Radio Exchange and The Echo Nest, a music intelligence company whose music engine powers apps from MTV, the BBC and more. Bandito is available for free from the App Store. A $1.99 in-app upgrade will give you unlimited news, reviews and blog posts. Read More

by The Public Radio Exchange has teamed up with music intelligence company The Echo Nest to create an iOS app that serves up music news based on your iTunes. Once you download Bandito [iTunes link], the app scans your iTunes library in order to determine your most-played artists. From there, the app presents you with a list of blog posts and news related to bands you dig, as well as a list of news about “hot” artists. In terms of concept, this is pretty solid app. Yeah, you could get a Google alert every time your favorite band’s name graces the digital headlines, but this app makes it pretty simple to cut through the fluff. However, Bandito could use a little work in execution. For instance, the app keeps insisting that my “Top Artists” are Depeche Mode and Spoon. Yes, I have one Depeche Mode album. I have no idea where it came from and I have never listened to it. And as for Spoon, yeah, if it were 2005, we’d be in business. With the kinks worked out, Bandito could definitely be a fun little app to keep the casual listener updated on his or her favorite bands, and the hardcore music head satisfied during those interminable tune-less moments spent in the elevator every a.m. Photo courtesy of Flickr, João Pedro, uai! Read More

Wildly popular public radio show has released an app for the iPad (iTunes link). The app was built by the Public Radio Exchange, the same organization that built the fabulous Public Radio Player iPhone app two years ago. How is the iPad app? It's ok. It's certainly worth the $4.99 it costs, if you're a fan. It's a great way to listen to archives of the show. I can't help but be disappointed though, to see that it's read-only. There's no way to discuss the content with other members of the listening community. Can you imagine how great it would be if text or even audio comments could be submitted, enjoyed and maybe voted up or down in an app like this? There's so much potential here to augment the official content with discussion from topic experts and everyday people. Making the app another method of broadcast instead is disappointing. None the less, it's a good app that makes it easy to consume great media. Read More

13 Mar 2010 alle 12:08 roduttore: Public Radio E. | Download Link: AppStore | Prezzo: Gratis Public Radio Player è un’applicazione che ci permette di ascoltare la radio in streaming sul nostro iPhone. E’ dotata d una semplice interfaccia grafica divisa in 5 tab con una categorizzazione per Genere, per Nome e per importanza. Comprende circa 500 stazioni radio ad alta qualtà su un totale di circa 1000 radio. Appena avviamo l’applicazione ci troveremo nella sezione Live. Da qui avremo accesso alle stazione “Featured” ch teoricamente sono quelle migliori. Potremo anche spostarci nel menu cliccando sul tasto “State” per vedere le varie stazioni in base al Paese e lo stesso potremo fare anche con “Program” e “Local” che rispettivamente ci permetteranno di vedere le stazioni in base al tipo o in base alla posizione in cui ci troviamo. Precisiamo subito che si tratta di tutte stazioni radio americane quindi l’applicazione è dedicata a quelle persone che amano la musica in inglese. Tramite la sezione On Demand potremo richiedere l’ascolto dei programmi Radio registrati, mentre se ci spostiamo su Search avremo modo di inserire il nome della stazione radio che intendiamo ascoltare. Abbiamo anche i preferiti, dove memorizzare i migliori canali per un accesso più rapido e la funzione Alarm Clock accessibile tramite il tab “More” che ci permetterà di utilizzare l’applicazione come radiosveglia. Ogni mattina ad un determinato orario ci sveglieremo con la musica della nostra stazione preferita. Una volta scelta la radio, basterà un Tap sull’etichetta per avviare la riproduzione. Una piccola barra inferiore permetterà di regolare il volume o di metterla in pausa. E’ un’applicazione gratuita che mostra tutte le radio pubbliche americane ma tenete conto che in USA le radio pubbliche sono veramente piene di pubblicità e trasmissioni per cui utilizzate i preferiti per memorizzare quelle che danno pià spazio alla vostra musica preferita. Read More

Fans of This American Life, a weekly Public Radio show hosted by Ira Glass, were thrilled to discover that a dedicated iPhone app had been released. Developed by Public Radio Exchange, the This American Life (TAL) app not only gives users unfettered on-demand access to the show's entire archives going back to 1995, but provides the content in a user-friendly and interactive format. Now, instead of buying those back episodes for 99¢ apiece on iTunes or getting stuck listening on the Web, you can grab those episodes anytime for a flat app cost of $2.99. We gave the TAL app a whirl—being the huge TAL fanboys and girls that we are—and found that it was definitely worth the money, despite a few of the typical annoyances that come with third-party apps. The most obvious appeal of the app is exactly what we just mentioned: you can access any episode, all the way back to 1995, for free at any time. That is, assuming you have some sort of wireless connection; you can stream the shows over 3G or WiFi all you want, but you can't download them for offline use (like, say, when you're about to board a plane or go underground in the subway) unless you buy the individual shows from iTunes. The upside is that the app gives you an easy way to do that, should you decide you loved the episode that much, but you don't have to. As long as you have wireless, you can stream the episode at no cost. That's likely to be the main reason anyone will use this app, but the extra features are just as good. For one, you can search episodes by contributor—say you're a fan of David Sedaris, and you know that he contributes regularly to TAL. Just bring up the "Search by Contributor" screen, found under the "All Episodes" tab, and filter by whoever you like best. Additionally, the All Shows tab contains clips from the TAL TV show that is broadcast on Showtime. No, you won't be able to get free access to full episodes, but you will be able to watch short clips (provided through YouTube) from right within the app. Should you decide you like that episode, it's easy to buy from iTunes here as well. Another cool tidbit is the app's countdown to the next show, which you can stream live. Not only is there Read More

Give your ears a treat with the awesome new This American Life app. I'm a giant fan of public radio show "This American Life," and I'm not alone: it's long held the No. 1 spot on the iTunes podcast charts. That being the case, you might wonder why there's now an app for that. Simple: This American Life, the app, lets you stream or download any episode of the show, not just the current week's as with the podcast. Suppose, for example, you want to hear the much-ballyhooed episode about the subprime mortgage meltdown, or the classic about the "squirrel cops." The "TAL" app provides access to every episode in the show's history. You can stream episodes for free or download them for 99 cents apiece. The app also provides summaries, preview clips, and buying options for both seasons of the "This American Life" TV show. But wait, there's more. A tap of the Share It button lets you e-mail an episode to a friend, post it on Facebook, or tweet it. You can add individual episodes to a favorites list, read the "This American Life" blog, and listen to a smattering of nifty extras (such as "Fresh Air's" Terry Gross interviewing "TAL" host Ira Glass). The app's Live Stream option shows how many days/hours/minutes left until you can listen to the next live broadcast of the show on WBEZ, and lets you set a weekly push-notification reminder. Perhaps best of all, the app offers many ways to peruse the "TAL" library. You can scroll through the entire thing in chronological order, browse favorites (your own and various collections of staff picks), and find episodes that have specific contributors (John Hodgman, anyone?). In short, there's never been a better way to enjoy "This American Life." My one complaint is with the search feature, which is accessible only when viewing the chronological list of shows and doesn't always produce the desired results. For example, I went looking for the aforementioned "squirrel cops" episode and found only the follow-up, not the original. Even so, this $2.99 app is a no-brainer for any fan of the show, or anyone who enjoys interesting stories well told. Read More

“This American Life,” the well-loved personal narrative public radio show, today released a paid iPhone application for on-demand access to its nearly 15-year-old archive. It’s a good fit; the show’s demographic ostensibly overlaps quite well with iPhone owners, and its podcast often tops the iTunes charts. The price of Ira Glass’ dulcet monotones in your pocket? $2.99. Given its programming is largely paid for by those (everlasting) local fundraising drives, public radio is in a bit of a pickle when it comes to centralized web distribution. TAL, for its part, offers free downloads of its most recent episode for seven days, then charges 99 cents for library downloads via iTunes or offers free streams on its web site. In the past, host Ira Glass has reportedly indicated that the show delivers up to 500,000 episode downloads a week at a cost of more than $100,000. How to address that online audience in a way that’s monetizable? Charge a fee. That’s a new strategy for the non-profit Public Radio Exchange technology arm, which built the TAL app in conjunction with Chicago Public Radio, and has seen success with its free Public Radio Player (formerly Tuner) app, which provides streaming access to public radio archives. It’s been been downloaded some 2.5 million times. Clearly, the value of the TAL app is not just a few bucks but also relationships with loyal listeners. The app includes a complete searchable library of the show, behind-the-scenes content, alerts and live show streams. Related GigaOM Pro Content: Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial. Read More

There are few public radio apps out there, but the official NPR News app [iTunes link] takes some of the best features of these offerings and goes one step beyond. NPR News app was developed by Bottle Rocket Apps, the same folks who brought us Gas Buddy and a number of other well-executed iPhone apps. And, NPR News does not disappoint. When you open the app, you're presented with a layout similar to other news apps. You have top stories, more offerings beyond that, and then a newscast where you can listen to a brief update of the top news of the hour. Along the bottom is a toolbar toggling among news, NPR's programs, a comprehensive listing of NPR stations nationwide with the ability to listen to your station of choice. For that, I tried out WUAL -- broadcast from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama -- my alma mater. The stream loaded quickly and I was listening to WUAL from my iPhone at a Barnes & Noble in Phoenix, Arizona. Pretty sweet. It's one of the things that I loved from Public Radio Player, and I'm glad to see this feature on the official app as well. Under the Programs heading, you can add stories to a playlist or be taken to its podcast listing in the iTunes Music Store except for programs where you can select individual stories rather than the overall broadcast. If a program is currently airing in your local area while you're perusing the offerings, tap on the "Select Station" icon to pick a station to listen live. While in both program or station mode, the menu expands to expose a volume control if you tap on the arrow right above the time indicator. Other than the lack of some programs, the only other big drawback to NPR News is the inability to scrub back and forth in a program. It's especially hindering if you have to stop the program for any reason because you'll have to go all the way back to the beginning. NPR News is a free download and definitely worth checking out. Edit (7:55 AM PDT): Some programs such as "Marketplace" aren't available because they are not produced by National Public Radio, according to Andy Carvin with NPR in our comments. These programs are available when you tune into a station live, but are not listed under the NPR programs section. Read More

The much beloved Public Radio Tuner has been updated, and now sports a new name. Public Radio Player [App Store] is your easy way to get to most of the NPR stations in the country. This new version, which remains free, also allows you to find archived shows, like Car Talk, Speaking of Pets, Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me, Fresh Air, and many others. This allows on-demand service of your favorite Public Radio programs. You also can get a station's current schedule when you start to stream. Some stations don't support it, but if the metadata is there you'll see it in the app. A couple of things to note at this point: Since the app has been renamed it may not appear when you check for updates at the App Store. However, when you run the older Public Radio Tuner, it will advise you of the new app and download it, leaving your older app in place. The new app won't have your favorites, so those will have to be added in manually. There is a search function so you can find what you want by station name, call letters, frequency, city, region or category. I find the new version a bit sluggish, and this is reflected by many other users comments. It's a bit slow to respond on either Wi-Fi or the 3G network. Some of the stations appear in the list without their location, so it looks like the database should be cleaned up a bit. The app also has to my eye a rather sickly green color. Not a favorite of mine, and I think many people won't be wild about it. Note: The App Store page shows different, better colors (my view) but you can't get them on the release version. Finally, I had some problems installing this app. On first run it said 'loading' and spun a gear for more than 10 minutes. I bailed out, re-booted my iPhone and it came up fine. If you see something similar, try re-starting your device and see if it solves it. I love the new features in this app, but it has some rough edges. Luckily it doesn't write over the original version, so you can retain your favorites. I'd like to see a quick update and bug fix for this app, but as it is, it improves on the original feature set and should make Public Read More

Listen to your favorite public radio shows on your schedule. Is today my birthday? No? Because I just got one helluva gift: Public Radio Player 2.0, the latest version of the killer radio-streaming app, which now lets you listen to your favorite shows on-demand. Missed last week's "This American Life"? No problem. The app has the latest episode. Want to catch up on "Talk of the Nation Science Friday?" You'll find several weeks' worth of back catalog. Same goes for "Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me," "Fresh Air," "Marketplace," and countless other radio gems. Granted, you can get a lot of the same content in podcast form, but those downloads require precious space on your iPhone or iPod Touch. Here you just tap and listen. As before, Public Radio Player also lets you stream live broadcasts from public radio stations around the country, and it easily zeroes in on local stations if that's what you prefer. One particularly nice touch is that each station listing shows what's currently playing, be it "Morning Edition," classical music, or whatever. The Public Radio Player app lets you search for shows and/or content. You can use the search function to look up station call letters, show names, and even subject matter--and searches span both live and on-demand content. There's also a favorites list so you can easily return to specific shows and stations later on. The new version seems a bit slower to load than its predecessor, but that's my only complaint. The addition of on-demand content cements Public Radio Player's status as one of my all-time favorite apps. I freakin' love this thing. Read More