While Best Buy’s HD Radio may not meet our mobile audio needs, we’ve got two new and solid contenders in the digital streaming space.
As promised at CES, Slacker is now available for webOS and can be downloaded via the App Catalog. And, fortunately, I just so happen to have Kevin Tofel‘s Palm Pre on hand (pic above). Of course Slacker rocks. And the app functions much like you’d expect it to. Although, as a webOS n00b, I’ve had to get used to finger swiping in lieu of tapping a back button. Otherwise, it’s quite comparable to their other mobile apps – a wide variety of “radio” stations and the option of upgrading to a paid subscription (~$50/yr) to display song lyrics, provide unlimited skips, and do away with all advertising.
Also new today is the Sirius XM app for Blackberry. I’m still somewhat down on Sirius XM these days (and will probably cancel yet again in the near future). But grandfathered subscribers or those willing to pay the online streaming surcharge ($3/mo), should find this app nicely rounds out satellite radio’s mobile offerings.
Related to webOS, I started off with Slacker before it was to be available in the App Catalog. When working with ad hoc iPhone apps, you merely drag the app and a provisioning file onto iTunes to sync it all. For webOS, you need to force the Pre or Pixi into dev mode SuperContra-style by typing
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Two Windows PC programs are also needed (one downloads the other) along with a recent version of Java to load the IPK file/app over USB. Fortunately, it’s all quite simple and documented well at PreCentral.
If you like Sirius XM then see their “rags to riches” story on DVD. The movie is called “Stock Shock” and it goes over the history, development, and near-death experience of the stock. I did not know the inventor of sirius xm was a woman!–well she is now, at least. DVD is cheaper at http://www.stockshockmovie.com, but the DVD is pretty much everywhere for sale.
As a XM sub since ’02 each month I seem to become more unhappy with overall service. There customer support is HORRIBLE, I have called a couple of times of the last 9 months and each time treated pretty badly. They took away our online package unless we’re willing to pay for it. Offer free radios and reduced rates to get people back but if a current customer calls in “sorry you’re out of luck, don’t like it cancel service.” I still overall love satelliate radio, it’s great for those that travel a lot and don’t want to switch stations.
Those of us who were supposedly “grandfathered in” on the free 32k streaming have started to lose it upon renewal. I called right before my auto-renewal and was told it would probably stay by the rep, though he couldn’t guarantee it.
Surprise surprise, on the day my online subscription renewed, my free online listening was gone. When I tried calling Sirius to find out what happened (after taking 10 minutes to get through their poor excuse for IVR), I was told their systems were down. I think they use this excuse a lot (personal experience).
It is amazing how $12.95/month turns into $16.30/month with taxes, online listening, and the new “music royalty fee.”