Let's start with a simple truth – if Nokia would hurry up and either port Internet Radio to their S60 5th Edition devices, or announce that it's internally dead and here's the source code, then wouldn't be this gap in the applications suite on the latest Symbian smartphones. For all the gigabytes of storage on modern smartphones, there is still a desire for live information and engagement.
Perhaps it's not knowing what's next on a music show, or wanting to find out how the local traffic jams are being affected by the weather (and to listen to the weather report itself), but radio, in the traditional sense where you get information to listen to, is something that there is still a strong demand for around the world. Even on your smartphone.
So what options do you have on our touch screen devices?
FM Radio
Could well be built in to your handset.
Depending on your phone, you might already have a low cost, unlimited bandwidth solution on your phone – the FM Radio. Yes you'll be limited to whatever is broadcast in your local area, be it local community stations or the national broadcasters, but don't dismiss this just because it's not online. And it's a lot gentler on your battery (and monthly bill) than other options.
Energy Radio
http://store.ovi.com/content/29235.
With 18 stations under the Energy brand, Energy Radio packages all of these into a single application. There's no option to add in your own stations, this is a branding exercise for the parent company. But it does mean that you have a very slick interface – the stations are in a carousel that can be flicked with your finger in a similar way to cover flow and album art exploring.
Given that the app is a promotional tool for NRG NRJ (one letter makes all the difference to a station call sign! - Ewan), it's interesting to see that they have added in some advertising to the application. I think this is a mistake, the small amount of revenue this could gather is offset by a garish colour strip at the top of the application that projects the image that this app was done on the cheap. There's also the matter of the error codes. Throwing up “Error -5120” gives me no idea what's going wrong. There's no documentation with the application and I wish it had done more than reflect the message from the Java runtime. It's only useful to the developer... and I'm not the developer.
Finally, the UI is nowhere near S60 standards, so it's confusing to use. The biggest flaw here is that the interface is missing a close button, so you'll need to use the task manager to exit the application.
Absolute Radio
http://store.ovi.com/content/25939
Another package of radio stations, this time under the UK Absolute banner. Formerly Virgin Radio, a number of stations, mostly broadcast on the DAB frequencies of Digital Radio in the UK, can be found in here. As with NRG, you only have the bundled stations available, but you do get... er... hold on, this is the same application! They've just changed the colours and station feeds.
Sneaky. So yes you do get your stations you were hoping for, for but you can't combine the databases, you'll have multiple icons on the screen, and the same faults are still present.
When you look at the various "radio" options in the Ovi Store, you'll see a similar story for many radio stations out there - either they all have the same CEO, or a canny company has managed to get development deals with all of them. After all, if the desktop colour is a different colour, it's a new app. Right?
Mobbler
http://store.ovi.com/content/27017
With it looking unlikely that there's an all-purpose Internet Radio application out there in third party land, it's time to look at some more alternative ideas. The rise of streaming music services could compensate if you're looking for entertainment, and Mobbler is going to provide the radio equivalent of “what song is going to be next”, but it will be tailored to your listening. Mobbler runs with last.FM , which takes a note of the music you listen to and from that determines what other music you should like, and makes this available as a stream. Mobbler is freeware, although some of the streams are available for paid memberships only. The latest version is reviewed here, which does the noting of the music you listen to, and acts as the streaming application to listen to music you should like.
Spotify
While not strictly radio, given that you choose the music you want to listen to and this is streamed from the Spotify servers to your handset, then you can argue that it is a solution to getting streaming media. There is an ongoing cost, with the application only available to premium members, currently around £10 a month, but this gives you access to the desktop client as well as the mobile application.
There's an added bonus in that you can download the chosen tracks to your phone and listen to them without streaming and maintaining a connection. But if that's your solution, then sorting out music on your desktop would be a far more efficient way of doing it unless you have a very small music collection at home.
Podcasting
Built into your handset
Streaming is just downloading an audio file in real time (with some cacheing). While podcasts aren't strictly streams, they are a download of a media file, they're often very radio-like on content, and the fact it comes down in one great squirt saves battery power, and allows you to listen in areas without coverage.
There's also a wide range on offer, and while you'll be forced to go for unsigned or smaller indie bands for music, if you are looking for information, news and current affairs, then the major talk-based radio stations have a huge range of pdocasts that you can download shortly after the live broadcast. Look at America's NPR Directory of podcasts for news and current affairs, and the BBC's podcasts include delights such as Radio 4's Today show, which posts the major interviews online within an hour or so of the show finishing.
BBC iPlayer
Speaking about the British Broadcasting Corporation, the iPlayer client gives you access to their range of UK radio stations. There is an obvious caveat here in that it's only available when you are physically in the United Kingdom (they have a number of tricks to spot you spoofing your IP and location, but you're welcome to try). The widget passes the link to the stream to the Nokia Media Player, so you end up using a familiar interface to the audio.
Definitely recommended if you have a S60 5th Edition device that supports the service. Just a shame it's not more widely available.
In summary, it should be clear to developers looking for a new project that this is a gap in the market that could easily be exploited with a clear UI, a good directory of stations (not just in terms of volume of stations, but searching and tagging) and taking advantage of the rise of unlimited data packages.
The problem is that any work a third party developer could do would take a significant hit if Nokia were to suddenly release their own Internet Radio app updated for the latest devices. That's why I'd love to have Nokia make a definitive statement on the future of the application. If it's coming back, we could wait a bit longer, but if dead is dead, then let us know so the market can do what it does best and get out there to program a killer Internet radio application.
-- Ewan Spence, April 2010.