Tapping through the Public Radio Player I found myself diving into guilty pleasures — pop culture and celebrities — and being pleasantly surprised with KCRW’s Guest DJ Project. You can find it by going into On Demand, then Categories, then Pop Culture.
Artists, entrepreneurs, chefs, and an array of other cultural icons share who they are through their personal musical tastes. From Tyler Perry to Cillian Murphy to Anthony Bourdain, KCRW gives a unique twist to the idea of celebrity by having them bring and explain five music faves. While these people are public figures, the intimate setting of the KCRW studio brings out deeper stories that make me feel like I’m a fly on the wall in their one-on-one conversation with the host. When Tyler Perry recalls his mother calling him right after she heard a Boyz II Men song, I could tell this wasn’t just another publicity interview. Finding meaning in specific songs is something we all can relate to.
Each guest DJ gets around 10 minutes so each program is short, sweet, and straight to the point. The Guest DJ Project website has playlists, information, and a transcript of each interview.
Rene Dongo is a senior at Emerson College majoring in Film Production. He’s interning at PRX this summer, and he’s always asking to borrow the iPod.
We’re hearing from some folks having trouble with the Public Radio Player after upgrading to the new iOS4. It seems that most cases are associated with the initial launch of the app either after upgrading the OS or installing it for the first time onto your phone.
This is due to a data syncing issue – the app is trying to access new content (stream and episode info, schedules, etc.) from our servers, and that needs a fast internet connection. If you’re having problems on cellular 3G or Edge connections, try relaunching the Player while on a strong wifi connection. It might take a little longer to load, but after that things should work fine on both cellular and wifi.
Why then, you may ask, are some iPod Touch users also having a problem, when their devices *only* work on wifi? Our own tests on the iPod suggest this, too, is a connectivity issue. iPod Touches have a history of problems with some wifi networks, even when the wifi indicator shows full connectivity. If you want to check the speed of your wifi connection, you can download the free Speedtest.net app.
And to address the root of this issue — the amount of time it takes for the app to sync — the PRX tech team is working on a fix. Thanks for your patience, and please contact us if the problems persist.
AT&T is closing down the all-you-can-eat data buffet. The exclusive U.S. carrier of the iPhone announced Wednesday that it is ditching unlimited data plans in favor of metered billing. New customers will now choose between a 200MB plan for $15/month or a more substantial 2GB plan for $25/month. Customers who exceed these caps are able to add data a la carte.
Long story short: this news sounds scarier than it actually is. Most of us who stream audio via the Public Radio Player will be just fine with the 2GB plan (which costs $5 less than existing unlimited plans). And if you have an existing unlimited data plan, it is grandfathered-in until the contract ends or you upgrade to a new phone.
The new limits apply only to data you download over your Edge/3G connection. If you generally use the Public Radio Player at home or at work over a Wifi network, there’s not much to worry about. But if you’re streaming public radio during that long bus ride to work every day, you may want to start watching your data consumption.
An audio stream’s bit rate will impact how much data you consume while listening to the Player. Bit rate refers to amount of data transferred per second (Read more about the fascinating world of bit rates here). Most streams on the Player range from 32kbps to 128kbps (kilobits per second, often shortened to just “k”). The larger bit rate, the better sound quality on that stream – and consequently, more data to download.
When you select a station on the Public Radio Player, the little icons on the station’s page tell you the connection speed that should work with that stream’s bit rate.
If a stream’s bit rate falls under 48k, the app will show icons for EDGE, 3G, & Wifi
Above 48k, but under 128k, the app will show only 3G & Wifi
128k will show Wifi only
Most news/talk stations opt for 32 or 64kbps, while many music stations will stream at 128k. A little back-of-the-napkin math shows us that a 64k stream uses twice as much data as a 32k stream, and 128k twice as much as a 64k stream.
To put that in perspective, here are the number of streaming hours it will take to hit the new AT&T data plan caps.
On the $15 200MB data plan
3.6 hours of streaming at 128k
7.2 hours of streaming at 64k
14 hours of streaming at 32k
On the $25 2GB data plan
36 hours of streaming at 128k
72 hours of streaming at 64k
145 hours of streaming at 32k
As you can see, if you plan to use the Public Radio Player over your Edge/3G connection on a regular basis, you should skip the 200MB plan and go with the 2GB plan. 2GB should be plenty of data for most users.
Consider this scenario: you use the Player over a 3G connection 1 hour a day on your commute to and from work and listen to KCRW, a station that streams at 128k. At 22 workdays a month, you’ll blow through a 200MB plan in less than a week. But under the 2GB plan, you’ll still have plenty of room for other data needs (AT&T estimates that 98% of their smartphone customers average less than 2GB a month in data usage).
But you iPhone power users out there will need to keep an eye on your data usage as the month progresses. Between the Public Radio Player, Pandora, and YouTube (not to mention Netflix for iPad users), 2GB will be just the beginning of your data consumption. For a sense of how much data you use, try AT&T’s data calculator.
On the Give Feedback page, Paul W. mentioned he is having trouble using the small play/pause button that displays when you’re listening to a stream on the Player. I also found this difficult at first. But fear not – the builders of the Public Radio Player did not design this app for Barbie-sized avatars. There’s a little trick for toggling the play/pause switch: Tap anywhere on the black bar with the stream name and a much larger play/pause button appears.
Like Paul, I didn’t even realize this was an option at first. So in the interest of your full enjoyment of our app, here are a few other features of the Public Radio Player you may not know about.
Browse the Internet – While multitasking is not (yet!!) part of the iPhone OS, you can access the web from within the Public Radio Player without interrupting your listening. There are two ways to do this. On most station and program pages in the Player, there is a link to that station’s website. Convenient for finding more info about upcoming programs and other station info. Alternatively, you can select the “More” tab on the main menu, then “Surf the Web”. Note: browsing the web uses the same data connection as the audio streams and there is the potential for more frequent audio buffering when surfing the web. It all depends on your internet connection. It works fine on WiFi, but not recommended for an Edge signal.
Alarm Clock – Wake up with your favorite station by setting the Public Radio Player’s alarm clock. From the main menu, select “More”, then “Alarm Clock”. Once there, just select the time and which station in your favorites list to launch when the rooster crows. There’s also a sleep timer, allowing you to doze off to the sweet sounds of public radio.
Search live streams by program – If you’re undecided about which station live stream to choose, you can browse the programs currently airing. From the main menu, select “Live”from the bottom menu and then the green “Program” tab at the top. You’ll quickly be able to scroll through and see the breadth of great programs broadcasting across the public radio universe.
Favorites – I won’t call favorites a “secret” feature, but it is probably the one that adds the most value to the Public Radio Player experience. With hundreds of stations and thousands of on demand programs, organizing a favorites list will make it quick and easy to listen to what you love. Remember, you can add both live streams and on demand programs to your favorites list. From any station or program page on the app, just tap the star in the upper right corner.
NPR’s Carl Kasell fires a fastball
[Tim Eby / Flickr / cc]
NPR’s Go Figure blog has published an interesting post, The Surprising Side of the Public Radio Audience. It highlights some new research about the demographic makeup of pubradio fans. It turns out we’re not just a monolithic lump of 27 million latte-sipping liberals. There is a delightful diversity in the public radio audience that counters conventional wisdom.
This got me thinking about a similar diversity found among public radio shows. Browsing through the categories in the On Demand section of the Public Radio Player, you’ll find topics you may not immediately associate with public broadcasting. Take sports, for example. On public radio, “sports talk” is quite different from the high-volume AM radio gab-fests. And there is more sports-related content than you may realize. Here are some examples of sports shows you can stream on the Public Radio Player:
Weekly Morning Edition commentaries from sportswriter Frank Deford
Only a Game, a weekly magazine for the serious sports fan and the steadfast sports avoider alike
On KCRW’s The Score, host Diana Nyad examines the poetry, sociology, and philosophy of sports
These programs, and more, are all available in the On Demand section of the Public Radio Player under the sports category. With baseball season underway, the playoffs heating up in hockey and basketball, and the World Cup just a month away, it’s a great time to try out some of these public radio shows on your iPhone.
If you’re looking for some top-shelf radio, check out The Mediavore, a website that provides daily highlights from across public radio. Their picks are a useful way to catch stories you missed and discover some new voices and programs along the way. Here are a few of their recent picks:
Nearly every program and station mentioned on The Mediavore is available to stream on the Public Radio Player. When you find something you like, look up the station call letters or program title in the Player and add it to your favorites list by tapping the star icon at the top of the page.
The Mediavore provides public radio recommendations most every weekday and you can subscribe to their RSS feed.
Imagine a world where you can stream your favorite public radio stations on your iPhone while you check your inbox, text your bff, and surf the web. Folks, the future is now! (Well, technically…later this year).
Exciting news from Apple yesterday as CEO Steve Jobs previewed the new iPhone operating system, OS 4.0. This new OS will allow the Public Radio Player to run in the background (aka multitasking) while other features and apps on the phone are utilized. This is, by far, the most popular feature request we hear from fans of the Player and a big, big deal for the future evolution of the Public Radio Player.
Ah, but there are a few caveats. First generation iPhones and iPod Touches will not be able to install the new OS. Also, the much desired multitasking feature will only be available on devices 3GS or later (a 4G phone is expected this summer). Apple has released an SDK 4 for developers and the OS is expected to roll out in the Fall (details on Apple.com). You can read more about the Apple announcement on MobileCrunch.
Lately, I’ve been exploring the On Demand offerings on the Public Radio Player. I’ve been amazed at the range of topics and diversity of perspectives you get by browsing the hundreds of programs available on the app. It’s well worth your time to try out a few of these shows.
When you open the app, select the “On Demand” button near the bottom of the app and you’ll see our list of featured programs. You can choose to view programs by category or browse the entire list alphabetically.
Version 2.1 update to the Public Radio Player is now live in the App Store. The PRX tech team has rewritten the code for the app from the ground up, resulting in greatly improved performance. Current users should be receiving an update notice in your app manager on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You can also download the new version from the iTunes App Store.
We’ve got some exciting additions to an already great public radio resource. Here’s what’s new in this version:
Addition of advertising on directory pages to support future Public Radio Player
development efforts
Over the next week, we’ll focus in on some of these features and discuss what they mean for the app. But for now, go and download the 2.1 update of the Public Radio Player and enjoy your weekend with public radio on-the-go.
New Update: Version 2.1.1 is now live in the iTunes store. As with any major upgrade, we have run into a few post release issues. With your help, we have identified the problems and our developers are already working on them. We expect fixes to be made shortly and after testing, we will re-submit to iTunes for a 2.1.1 release.
Here are the known issues for version 2.1 of the Public Radio Player
The feedback link on the FAQ page results in a routing error.
Streams and On Demand programs with (‘) single quotes in the title are causing breaks in data sync and these streams are not displaying in the directories.
The local tab is currently displaying options based off of the stations in the Featured tab rather than searching the entire station directory.
The app is prompting for location services to be used when not using the Local tab.
Possible loss of Streams and On Demand items in a user’s Favorites list.
We are working to push a fix for these issues as soon as possible. Thanks for your patience.
We’re all set to submit the Public Radio Player v2.1 update to the iTunes App Store and we expect it to be available for download in a matter of days. I recently got my hands on a beta version of the update and can confirm that it includes some of the features most requested by users of the Public Radio Player.
Alarm Clock – Version 2.1 lets you set a public radio wake up call. Choose a station from your favorites list, set the alarm for the break of dawn, and get ready to rise and shine with the Public Radio Player.
Sleep Timer – Tossing and turning all night and counting sheep won’t help? No problem! Just put the new sleep timer to work. You can be lulled into dream time by the dulcet tones of Ira Glass or Terry Gross knowing your Public Radio Player will switch off at the appropriate hour.
Browser integration – Safari is now accessible within the Public Radio Player, allowing you to visit websites of the stations you stream.
Manage Favorites – You can decide which of your favorites goes to the top of the list. You can sequence your favorite stations and programs in any order you choose.
“Fresh from the Oven” Code – the PRX tech team has rewritten the code for the app from the ground up, resulting in greatly improved performance.
Video Tutorial – We recorded a great video tour (embedded below) of the Player and added a link to it within the app to help new users get to know the Public Radio Player.
Improved Search – Search results are now sorted by live stream and on-demand categories
As you can see, we’ve got some exciting additions to an already great public radio resource. We’ll be sure to let you know as soon as 2.1 goes live in the app store. In addition, an update notice will be automatically pushed to current Public Radio Player users, so keep an eye on your phone’s app manager.
Public Radio Player
AT&T is closing down the all-you-can-eat data buffet. The exclusive U.S. carrier of the iPhone announced Wednesday that it is ditching unlimited data plans in favor of metered billing. New customers will now choose between a 200MB plan for $15/month or a more substantial 2GB plan for $25/month. Customers who exceed these caps are able to add data a la carte.
If you’re looking for some top-shelf radio, check out 
Lately, I’ve been exploring the On Demand offerings on the Public Radio Player. I’ve been amazed at the range of topics and diversity of perspectives you get by browsing the hundreds of programs available on the app. It’s well worth your time to try out a few of these shows.
