Car Internet Radio

Alan Milewczyk <(Address removed)> said:

They featured a new product from
Blaupunkt advertising itself as "the World's first Internet car radio", it
works by being connected to your mobile, via Bluetooth using the mobile
phone's data signal. It is scheduled to sell for 300 Euro or US$400 within
the next 6–12 months.

I don't quite see the point of it. Most mobiles are already a self-contained internet radio device, so all you need to do is connect the audio output from the phone into the existing car stereo, exactly as you might if you had an iPod you wanted to play through the car's speakers.

Seems a sorta backward step to have a separate system and use your mobile's 3G stream. If anything they should make the 'radio' self-contained with its own 3G data stream, to release your mobile for other uses.
 

Exactly. Why pay 300 Euro? For that money, I'd certainly be expecting built-in technology, as you say.

Alan

Alan Milewczyk aka The Pole with Soul
Soul pix on the net at http://www.soulman1949.com
Soulman1949's Blog at http://soulman1949.blogspot.com/

Christopher England <(Address removed)> said:
Alan Milewczyk <(Address removed)> said:

I don't quite see the point of it. Most mobiles are already a
self-contained internet radio device, so all you need to do is connect
the audio output from the phone into the existing car stereo, exactly as
you might if you had an iPod you wanted to play through the car's
speakers.

Seems a sorta backward step to have a separate system and use your
mobile's 3G stream. If anything they should make the 'radio'
self-contained with its own 3G data stream, to release your mobile for
other uses.

Seems like a another step towards making internet radio portable but i'm not convinced the 3g platform is robust enough. The trouble with any digital platform when mobile is that when the received signal becomes weak the sound will simply buffer under run and go silent or in the case of DAB , splutter ,squeak and gurgle until the signal recovers.Good old FM and AM just gets a bit hissy ar crackly but the sound can usually still be heard. Anybody actually tried streaming internet radio while driving around on here to see if it is usable at all over any decent distance ?

In article <404D56E0278A418281B966B723A1EA66@video2>, (Address removed) (Alan Milewczyk) wrote:

*From:* "Alan Milewczyk" <(Address removed)>
*To:* <(Address removed)>
*Date:* 10 Jan 2009 15:29:57 +0000

Exactly. Why pay 300 Euro? For that money, I'd certainly be
expecting built-in technology, as you say.

Alan

Actually that is another manufacturer who is playing. But again blue-tooth for now.

The one we're talking about is better detailed here: http://www.miroamer.com/

A journo view here: http://www.mydigitallife.info/2009/01/08/miroamer-and-blaupunkt-announce-t
he-worlds-first-internet-car-radio/

Regards
Eric

The Blaupunkt spokesman admitted the connection would drop if, say, you entered a long tunnel. Just thinking about it, with the legislation on the (non) use of mobile phones while driving, what do you do then? If there was a "reconnect" button on the radio, that would surely be a big plus. I'm not a bluetooth user, can someone advise whether that sort of thing is possible?

Alan

Alan Milewczyk aka The Pole with Soul
Soul pix on the net at http://www.soulman1949.com
Soulman1949's Blog at http://soulman1949.blogspot.com/

Thanks Eric, very interesting.

So if I read this correctly, miRoamer can act as a portal pulling together the various competing services such as Shoutcast and Live 365. Presumably you then have to pay to access premium services? To miRoamer or Live 365? As a potential user I just want to access whatever I want to access – I can understand services such as Live 365 attempt to provide a one-stop solution, except that it isn't, as there are competitors to Live 365 and plenty of broadcasters that stream direct. And what about listen-again services?

I love the idea of being able to listen in the car to whatever I want that's available on the net, but I would want it to be as unfussy as a car radio, with presets that I can just press to select. Also the issue of safety is paramount, if I lose the signal I'd like a re-connect facility to pick up where I left off.

I love the way the technology is going, though, even if we're not quite there yet.

Alan

Alan Milewczyk aka The Pole with Soul
Soul pix on the net at http://www.soulman1949.com
Soulman1949's Blog at http://soulman1949.blogspot.com/

2009/1/10 Alan Milewczyk <(Address removed)>:

Thanks Eric, very interesting.

So if I read this correctly, miRoamer can act as a portal pulling together
the various competing services such as Shoutcast and Live 365. Presumably
you then have to pay to access premium services? To miRoamer or Live 365? As
a potential user I just want to access whatever I want to access – I can
understand services such as Live 365 attempt to provide a one-stop solution,
except that it isn't, as there are competitors to Live 365 and plenty of
broadcasters that stream direct. And what about listen-again services?

Can't see why anyone needs to pay anything to anyone! Sounds like a
rip off to me. The reciva radio database, which powers many home internet radios, is free to use and for now anyone can add to it. I
see it like a kind of radio Sky EPG – only free. You get listen
again services (eg BBC) and it all works well.

And for mobile use there's Nokia's radio database which its N95/96/97 player users – again free. And it's not hard to create these
databases should any of these ever become chargeable.

Oh and what about shoutcast.com? Been there for years and always free!

The best things in life are free!

—
Regards,

Geoff

In article <F3F80ABFB37C4998B066078C0DAE6B2C@video2>, (Address removed) (Alan Milewczyk) wrote:

So if I read this correctly, miRoamer can act as a portal pulling
together the various competing services such as Shoutcast and Live
365.

That's how I saw and then I registered and added stations :-)

Presumably you then have to pay to access premium services?

I guess that's part of the business model

I love the way the technology is going, though, even if we're not
quite there yet.

That makes two of us

Eric

In article <(Address removed)>, (Address removed) (Geoff) wrote:

*From:* Geoff <(Address removed)>
*To:* (Address removed)
*Date:* 10 Jan 2009 18:39:45 +0000

2009/1/10 Alan Milewczyk <(Address removed)>:

Thanks Eric, very interesting.

So if I read this correctly, miRoamer can act as a portal pulling
together
the various competing services such as Shoutcast and Live 365.
Presumably
you then have to pay to access premium services?

Can't see why anyone needs to pay anything to anyone!

Not really Uncle Geoff – this the same as other data-base areas as far as we are concerned.
miRoamer is selling software solutions to manufacturers. Where the pay bit comes in is if the service provider is charging – a bit like the old DMX service. Now if the premium service guy wants to charge, that's there choice – unlikely I'll listen though.
I have to say the miRoamer site is a bit odd and whilst they were crowing about a new web site I think the lay-out is Martian. They talk about a big database of stations but where's the search tool – DOH!

It's getting close but no cigar just yet.

And as for 3G, that depends on who, where, when etc etc.
I can travel for hours and get a nice signal in the car. Admittedly I cheat and have the USB/Mobile Chip hanging up near the window, that helps a lot. Although I do get called a nerd :-)

Eric

Simon Crees <(Address removed)> said:

Good
old FM and AM just gets a bit hissy ar crackly but the sound can usually
still be heard. Anybody actually tried streaming internet radio while
driving around on here to see if it is usable at all over any decent
distance ?

AM is near impossible to listen to around London. It is constantly interrupted with buzzes, hums and other noises, or fades out as you pass through high buildings or under bridges. FM, apart from inevitably being very unlistenable to because of the arsehole type pirates who have no idea about stopping their 'sideband' splatter, equally suffers from dropping signals and flutter. And, horror of horrors, Radio 1 constantly flips back and forth (via RDS) between 98.5 and 98.8 as the signals on both are crapish.
 

Alan Milewczyk <(Address removed)> said:

I'm not
a bluetooth user, can someone advise whether that sort of thing is possible?

Think of the bluetooth concept as being an invisible audio or data lead, realistically only a few metres long, that connects one device to another. As in, connects a headset to a phone, or connects a phone to a computer, or maybe a phone to a 'radio'. It's secure(ish) but only really for short-range communication rather than having a nest of phono leads,etc.