As mobile devices have become more powerful and multimedia friendly – not to mention faster data networks – a slew of Internet stream radio applications have been released over the past year. One of the newest is from SPB Software in SPB Radio. SPB Radio brings you the ability to stream radio broadcasts from stations throughout the world that stream their content onto the Internet. It’s a great way to listen to content from your favorite radio stations no matter where you are in the world.
SPB Radio is available for Windows touchscreen or non-touchscreen Phones and requires approximately 1.1MB of storage on your phone. You can install SPB Radio in your phone’s main memory or you can install it on a storage card. Your Windows Phone will need to run Windows Mobile 5.0 or later to use the application and you will need to have a EDGE or 3G data connection or a WiFi connection to your phone. It is highly recommended by me and by SPB that you have an unlimited data account on your phone when using SPB Radio. Check with your carrier for details on how to get such a plan.
When you start SPB Radio you will immediately see the clean and finger-friendly user interface that has become the signature of all of the recent SPB Software applications. The main display is dominated by the list of stations that you have saved in the application (3 are there by default) while at the top you have a play/pause button to the left, streaming information in the middle and a speaker volume control on the right. The user interface of SPB Radio is designed to keep the stylus in its slot and you’ll see that immediately when you start the application. All of the controls and the station listing is big enough to press with your finger, something that has become a standard within SPB applications.
Figure 1 - The SPB Radio User Interface
To start playing a streaming station tap the station you want to hear will start automatically playing. In my testing it took anywhere from 5-10 seconds for the streaming to start depending on my data connection speed. In cases where I used WiFi as my connection, streaming started in less than 5 seconds in most cases. When you are streaming a station, the name and bit rate information for that stream are displayed at the top of the interface between the play/pause button and the volume control.
Figure 2 - SPB Radio Streaming Content
Adding a station to your list is also very easy in SPB Radio. SPB maintains a list of about 1500 stations world wide that stream content and you can access that list by tapping the <add a station> button on the station list. The latest version of the list is downloaded to your Windows Phone and is divided into multiple categories: Top 10 (the top 10 stations streamed by SPB Radio users), Music, News/Talk, Regional or by language. Each of these further divide into sub-categories to allow you to pinpoint exactly what you want to listen to. For example, the Music category breaks down into genre such as Adult Contemporary, Alternative, Classical and so forth. Like the main user interface, this list is completely finger driven and scrolling of the list is done by flicking up or down across the display of your phone. Once you find a station you like, tap it and it is automatically added to your station list and begins streaming.
Figure 3 - The Categories in The SPB Radio Add A Station Menu
Figure 4- The Sub-Categories of Adding A Station in SPB Radio
Figure 5 - Stations Available in A Sub-Category of SPB Radio
A nice and smart feature of SPB Radio is that the application will stop streaming automatically when you have an incoming phone call. This eliminates me having to turn it off so I do not hear the music while trying to have a phone conversation – a real possibility for those on 3G/HSDPA connections. SPB Radio also can run in the background (Windows Mobile multitasks exceptionally well) so you can use other functions on your phone at the same time.
If you want to delete a station from your station list just tap-and-hold that station and a semi-transparent menu will be displayed. This menu allows you to move the station up or down in your station list, edit it (such as the name) or delete the station.
Figure 6 - On Screen Menu for Editing or Removing A Station in SPB Radio
To change the volume while listening to SPB Radio you can use either the onscreen speaker control at the top of the user interface or you can use the volume control of your phone itself. When you change the volume a semi-transparent overlay is displayed showing you the volume level.
Figure 7 - The On Screen Display of The Volume in SPB Radio
You can also add custom URLs for streaming stations if they happen to not be on the list. This is done from Menu>Add Station by URL menu. This is particularly helpful if you have a station in your local area like independent stations. You can also search for a station using the Find Station option on the Menu. Just type in the station frequency or name and if SPB Radio has it in its database it will be displayed.
Figure 8 - The SPB Radio Menu
Figure 9 - Adding a Custom Station URL in SPB Radio
I’ve been using SPB Radio for several weeks now and have found it to be a great joy. It allows me to listen to content that I would not otherwise be able to access readily (I’m a big fan of Jazz music but in Dallas we do not have a Jazz-only station). The user interface is intuitive and the fact that SPB made it completely finger driven is a big plus. Another big plus is that you can use it with WiFi which can save on monthly bandwidth and you are not subjected to signal drops, especially if you are listening while driving.
As I mentioned earlier, I strongly suggest you have an unlimited data plan when using SPB Radio. The application does a great job of optimizing streams but you are still transferring data to your phone. I usually listen to music using SPB Radio 3-4 hours per day. In that time I easily rack up 100MB of data usage.
SPB Radio is available from a variety of online retailers and from SPB Software directly. The price is $9.95 for either the touchscreen or non-touchscreen versions of the application.
What I Like:
* Finger friendly user interface
* Extensive channel database
* Quick connections
* Ability to use data networks or WiFi
What I Don’t Like:
* Nothing
Price:
$9.95 for Touchscreen version
$9.95 for Non-Touchscreen version
