FlyCast 2.0 Internet radio streaming is now available for the Blackberry platform, with an iPhone app to follow later this quarter. While the software features a variety of performance improvements and new capabilities, the notable enhancement is the ability to cache content:
With FlyCast 2.0, users can quickly store their favorite stations to their mobile devices when connected to a cellular or Wi-Fi network, then disconnect from the network and listen to the stations at their leisure. Cached content is maintained in the context of the station and can be kept for a maximum of 30 days or three plays, whichever occurs first.
Unlike Slacker‘s Blackberry app which requires a USB connection to archive music or WunderRadio which lacks caching capabilities, FlyCast will grab five hours of content over-the-air (or 20 over WiFi) for later playback on the plane or subway. I’m not sure what, if any, licensing deals could be in place to allow this across the board. So let’s not look a gift horse in the mouth and ask that question. Traditional radio streaming remains free, whereas the caching capabilities require a one time payment (after free 7 day trial) of $9.95 (5hrs) or $19.95 (20hrs) good for the life of the device.
It’s a shame that Apple won’t allow the caching. I tried it out on the Blackberry Bold w/Slacker and loved having my stations still available to me on a plane, etc.
You would think if you have a 32gb Iphone you should be able to cache whatever you want and not get Apple all worked up about it.
Not sure why I would pay for this when Slacker let’s me do this for free….
Gregg, The FlyCast people tell me it’s coming to iPhone… Hope they can pull it off!
Jason, For folks who don’t plan ahead (like me) being able to cache over-the-air before boarding a plane is worth $10. Also, there are some differences in content including access to a variety of terrestrial and Internet radio stations. Having said that, I’m a big Slacker fan and it’s my music app of choice on my iPhone. I also need to revisit WunderRadio which has gotten some positive coverage lately.
I love that someone else is getting on board with the caching feature. That said, I don’t have to plan anything with my Slacker portable player. I only *have* to update cached stations once every 30 days.