Posted on 05/10/2010 12:47:22 PM PDT by a fool in paradise
...Internet music services like Pandora, Slacker and Last.fm, already popular with computer and smartphone owners, are being tailored by software developers, consumer electronics companies and even automakers to work more seamlessly with car stereo systems...
...These handsets all have free applications that play customized music channels streamed over the Internet using the phone’s 3G wireless data connection. The services are generally free, although smartphone owners typically pay about $30 a month on top of regular voice service for unlimited data usage.
The attraction is that rather than being shackled to the same old hits from local radio stations, listeners can customize the music channel to suit their tastes. Pandora has about 750,000 songs and 40 million listeners...
...During a test drive when I became irritated by a Beyonce song, I simply pushed a “voice” button on the side of the Pioneer display and told the system to “play the Doors.” Within a couple of seconds, the unit began to play songs from the “Soft Parade” album. The sound quality, while not equivalent to a CD, was as good as typical radio reception and better than some satellite radio stations. And when a call came in, the built-in Bluetooth hands-free system automatically muted the music.
I did discover some limitations, however. AT&T’s 3G wireless service is notoriously patchy in New York City, so there were occasional dead spots when the music dropped out as the cellphone searched for a signal...
However, such limitations may soon disappear as automakers integrate streaming Internet services directly into their cars...
Of course, traditional radio broadcasters have heard the drumbeat of mobile apps. They have responded with their own apps, streaming live broadcasts from thousands of stations to handsets and through them, to cars...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I would pay to lose the stupid commercials and babble of even more vapid DJs
Ah yes. The joys of 8-track. Cross-channel talk. Low-fi. Channel drop-outs. Songs interrupted half way thru by a channel switch (ka-CHUNK). Mangled tape. What a crummy format!
Speaking of terrestrial radio, I wish they would dump the "morning Zoo" format already. You know, when they have a male and female DJ bounce a bunch of lame scripted jokes at each other and make fake phoney phone calls.
And they can do away with the "Get the Led" out segments (where they play three Led Zeppelin songs in a row). Also, there is no need to play that idiotic "I Want To Bang On The Drums All Day" song every weekday day at 5.
Lastly, it is time to remove the following three songs from all terrestrial radio playlists immediately. I think a million airplays is enough already:
"100 Years" by Five For Fighting
"Counting Blue Cars" by Dishwalla
"This Love" by Maroon 5
Thank you and good night.
Google “FM Modulator”
I should heck that out. My car has bluetooth, and I can get Pandora on my phone that has unlimited web access.
You're right, of course, about the benefits of having all of the music even if the sound quality isn't the greatest. And, of course, there's the news, talk and sports for which sound quality is irrelevant. If you're happy with the sound quality that's all that matters. I'm a little spoiled because I've had a custom "carputer" for years and have access to 32k mp3s with bitrates of at least 128k, Internet radio, Shoutcast, etc. I did have XM for a while, but found that there was little value added to me. If it was pristine sound I would probably resubscribe. I will admit that I am an unusual case.
OK, thanks. Looks like it plugs into power outlet, accepts and reads thumb drives and broadcast the signal to an FM point on the dial.
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