Explore the airwaves with your iPhone
Ah, the joys of streaming internet radio in these pioneer days. While on the move, iPhone users often encounter constant switching between the EDGE and 3G networks. The result: buffering, stalling, crashing. Joy quickly dissipates. Wouldn ‘t it be really cool to stream music reliably?
Mobilaria brings music to the masses via Tunin.FM iCar Radio in a Lite and Full version that gets streaming radio onto your iPhone on fast AND slower internet speeds “ via in excess of 400 stations worldwide, 100 in the Netherlands alone where the developer is located (these numbers are quickly rising).
Stations play in either 29K or 128K bandwidth, enabling good streaming audio quality even on GPRS networks (which means the iPhone 1st gen is in on the party). I was eager to test both versions of the app, and was pleased at what I found.
Upon launch, the lite app autoloads a list of genres by default. You can also search by station, alphabetically, or by typing in a query. While in player mode you can peruse genres or stations. Also, neat that some stations give you track info while streaming. This version is thus quite functional but yes, a bit lite.
The full version costs € 2.99 ($3.99) and offers a more personalized experience. You can create and store a favorites list, submit stations by clicking on the logo, view recently played locations and even choose from 4 designs (I like the speaker look the best). The full version also remembers your last location, so that pressing ‘start ‘ relaunches radio bliss. Cool and handy.
The good? Lots of choice. Honestly, you will not live long enough to enjoy all the included stations. Also the fact that it works well on EDGE and slower internet speeds cannot be stressed enough. The lite app has solid design and does what it supposed to, while the paid version is a nice evolution and improvement on its little brother.
What I miss: lack of personal preferences in free version. Info on the stations (eg. country of origin and web link) would also be nice.
Overall: A sleek app for radio lovers, one that delivers on its promise and brings stations you never knew existed onto your iPhone. I for one will be exploring the airwaves, or should I say bandwidth. 
BTW is there any rock station in the world that does NOT play Toto Africa?
Check out their site in English: Mobilaria
Lite: iTunes Store link
Full version: iTunes Store link
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Feel free to comment or contact me via Twitter @aliciabankhofer
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