When I first heard that Howard Stern wasn't going to be available, I thought it was due to the fact that Apple wants to parent the apps and make sure nothing bad can be accessed. They denied the nine inch nails app after all, simply because it linked to their song "Closer."
But they allowed the Raw Dog comedy channel which is 24 hours raunchy with F@CK and SH!T all day.
Pushing aside the whole ?no Howard? BS, this app is eriously lacking a few KEY features:
1) No album Art
2) No scrolling text (PDT?)
3) No ability to browse by channel #
4) No ability to enter a channel # to go to that channel
5) App does not tune into the last channel when restarting the app (user setable feature)
6) No back button. If you start digging down into the channels, find a channel but want to go back to that catagory to find another channel, no dice. You have to click on catagories and go back to that catagory
7) No lyrics
All of these things were in the uSirius. You?d think Sirius would have at least looked at their effort before developing this piece of grabage. I was part of the beta test for uSirius and all of the things I listed above (and many I didn?t list) all came about due to user testing.
I am one who downloaded it just to listen to Stern. This is a major flaw with the app, I will not be signing up for their premium service without Stern.
XM came with the new vehicle we bought. I think we get a 90 day trial. We like it. Wide variety of stations - children's music for our kid, Euro-pop for my wife, grungy-alternative for me. And lots of other stuff to explore. Also great for long road trips - no dead zones or station hopping/hunting. I don't understand this "Stern is the only reason to get it" argument.
Now, sitting at my desk at work, I tend to listen to last.fm, streaming radio stations (KEXP is a fav), or stream my iTunes library from home using SqueezeCenter. But I have to believe the vast majority of people are not in front of a computer they can stream music on all day long.
Have handsets and mobile connectivity matured to the point where they deliver viable connectivity to an in car sound system? Say, at least 128kbps? I'm talking streaming from a remote source, not from an iPod or similar local cache of content. And what do you pay for that sort of streaming? Do the cell carriers' data plans allow that sort of thing?
XM came with the new vehicle we bought. I think we get a 90 day trial. We like it. Wide variety of stations - children's music for our kid, Euro-pop for my wife, grungy-alternative for me. And lots of other stuff to explore. Also great for long road trips - no dead zones or station hopping/hunting. I don't understand this "Stern is the only reason to get it" argument.
I don't think many people are making that argument.
It's more like, they would be willing to pay the extra subscription fee for web streaming if Stern was available via streaming. Most people are just expressing their preference and buying criteria. Perhaps in doing so, some can come across as proclaiming that everyone else must think the same way. But I don't think that this is truly their intention.
Just another way to suck money out of us. This should be a free service for normal (not premium) subscribers, the same way it is on the internet if you want to listen and you are grandfathered in on your subscription.
The weird thing is, I already have a premium streaming subscription so I can listen to Sirius on my Squeezebox Duet, and the Howard channels are available there, so it's a specific restriction of the iPhone app.
What makes no sense is that, as mentioned earlier, Pocket Tunes lets you listen to all streamed channels (including Howard) using the standard, cheaper streaming subscription (which used to be free with each $13/month radio subscription)
Another irritating feature of the Sirius/XM app: channel selection. Not only can you not punch in the numbers directly, but they're not even displayed, so you have to scroll the entire channel list.
The only good thing I see in this debacle is that in the end they were allowed to enable 3G streaming instead of restricting it to WiFi.
But the bottom line is that PocketTunes, even at its $10 price, is a much better deal.
Just another way to suck money out of us. This should be a free service for normal (not premium) subscribers, the same way it is on the internet if you want to listen and you are grandfathered in on your subscription.
There is no ?should?, that implies an obligation, and I see no reason why any of us should feel entitled. As for sucking money out of us, well, that is the point of a business, however you have the option to not buy it.
as an end user, and potential subscriber, I dont care about rights, all I know is that it doesnt get howard stern, they own the stinking stern show and they cant get the rights? WTF?
No Stern == instant FAIL
other than stern this is a great app! better than pandora
The channel restriction isn't the iPhone, the restriction is ALL mobile markets. Per the FAQ on Sirius/XM's site
"SIRIUS & XM offer all of the channels for which we have mobile performance rights. For that reason, certain channels which may be available on your satellite radio or online radio service may not be available on a mobile device like the iPhone."
Did you ever stop to think that the people that own Howard Stern's contract will not allow mobile rights to his show? Complain to Howard Stern. Same goes for any sports program. The premium service for online access is better than their previous streaming service. You now get higher quality audio with the premium upgrade. Thankfully, I have a three year plan that doesn't expire until 2010, so I still get to listen to the original streaming feed on my computer. I don't get WiFi at work, so the iPhone app doesn't do much for me.
Comments
When I first heard that Howard Stern wasn't going to be available, I thought it was due to the fact that Apple wants to parent the apps and make sure nothing bad can be accessed. They denied the nine inch nails app after all, simply because it linked to their song "Closer."
But they allowed the Raw Dog comedy channel which is 24 hours raunchy with F@CK and SH!T all day.
1) No album Art
2) No scrolling text (PDT?)
3) No ability to browse by channel #
4) No ability to enter a channel # to go to that channel
5) App does not tune into the last channel when restarting the app (user setable feature)
6) No back button. If you start digging down into the channels, find a channel but want to go back to that catagory to find another channel, no dice. You have to click on catagories and go back to that catagory
7) No lyrics
All of these things were in the uSirius. You?d think Sirius would have at least looked at their effort before developing this piece of grabage. I was part of the beta test for uSirius and all of the things I listed above (and many I didn?t list) all came about due to user testing.
Guess I won't be paying for internet delivered sirius after all.
Now, sitting at my desk at work, I tend to listen to last.fm, streaming radio stations (KEXP is a fav), or stream my iTunes library from home using SqueezeCenter. But I have to believe the vast majority of people are not in front of a computer they can stream music on all day long.
Have handsets and mobile connectivity matured to the point where they deliver viable connectivity to an in car sound system? Say, at least 128kbps? I'm talking streaming from a remote source, not from an iPod or similar local cache of content. And what do you pay for that sort of streaming? Do the cell carriers' data plans allow that sort of thing?
- Jasen.
XM came with the new vehicle we bought. I think we get a 90 day trial. We like it. Wide variety of stations - children's music for our kid, Euro-pop for my wife, grungy-alternative for me. And lots of other stuff to explore. Also great for long road trips - no dead zones or station hopping/hunting. I don't understand this "Stern is the only reason to get it" argument.
I don't think many people are making that argument.
It's more like, they would be willing to pay the extra subscription fee for web streaming if Stern was available via streaming. Most people are just expressing their preference and buying criteria. Perhaps in doing so, some can come across as proclaiming that everyone else must think the same way. But I don't think that this is truly their intention.
What makes no sense is that, as mentioned earlier, Pocket Tunes lets you listen to all streamed channels (including Howard) using the standard, cheaper streaming subscription (which used to be free with each $13/month radio subscription)
Another irritating feature of the Sirius/XM app: channel selection. Not only can you not punch in the numbers directly, but they're not even displayed, so you have to scroll the entire channel list.
The only good thing I see in this debacle is that in the end they were allowed to enable 3G streaming instead of restricting it to WiFi.
But the bottom line is that PocketTunes, even at its $10 price, is a much better deal.
Just another way to suck money out of us. This should be a free service for normal (not premium) subscribers, the same way it is on the internet if you want to listen and you are grandfathered in on your subscription.
There is no ?should?, that implies an obligation, and I see no reason why any of us should feel entitled. As for sucking money out of us, well, that is the point of a business, however you have the option to not buy it.
No Stern == instant FAIL
other than stern this is a great app! better than pandora
"SIRIUS & XM offer all of the channels for which we have mobile performance rights. For that reason, certain channels which may be available on your satellite radio or online radio service may not be available on a mobile device like the iPhone."
Did you ever stop to think that the people that own Howard Stern's contract will not allow mobile rights to his show? Complain to Howard Stern. Same goes for any sports program. The premium service for online access is better than their previous streaming service. You now get higher quality audio with the premium upgrade. Thankfully, I have a three year plan that doesn't expire until 2010, so I still get to listen to the original streaming feed on my computer. I don't get WiFi at work, so the iPhone app doesn't do much for me.