Wireless technology and entertainment has evolved greatly over the last 3-4 years. Radio broadcasts are streamed to the desktop through your favorite media player, then to a handheld with an 80211 (Wi-Fi) connection so users don’t have to be tied to their desktops. Of course, the Treo can stream as much music as you can handle (given an unlimited data plan - which is highly recommended). From an application side, the standard model has been to use a media player (i.e.-Windows Media Player Mobile, Pocket Player and Pocket Music) to link within the device’s browser or to copy the link into the player and stream from there. With the release of SelectRadio, Treo 700w series users now have an application that is 100% geared towards those who wish to stream music without having to go through the browser or media player. But why would someone want to waste valuable Treo storage on a dedicated streaming application? Let’s take a look….

What makes SelectRadio unique?

SelectRadio has a tab system by which the user can access different streaming sources such as Accuradio (via subscription), XM Radio Online (subscription), RadioIO and Shoutcast. All of these default sources have their own tab. This is extremely helpful for those that are new to streaming and don’t know what is available out there to listen to. Each time this program is opened, SelectRadio updates each tab giving the user access to over 5,000 channels!

Within each tab, the channels are displayed detailing what is playing, artist, genre, and the bit rate of the stream. This can be further customized by the user with more or less data being displayed. Using the Treo’s navigation pad, you just press the button on the channel of your choice and it begins playing. Simple indeed!

Navigating the application is a little different but still works nicely. To navigate between the tabs, the user presses the OK button. Pressing the Windows button stops the stream, up/down navigates the channels, and left/right controls the volume.

Users are able to add their own tabs/favorites via a powerful search feature within the application. I was especially happy when SelectRadio found all of my favorite SomaFm streams. All are on My Favorites tab and connect without fail!

In addition to connecting over your Treo’s data plan, inserting a Wi-Fi Card also allows the user to stream over a wireless/hotspot connection.

For the advanced streamer, there are options to customize the quality of stream, artist, genre sorting functions that allow you to make it very personal. For the new user, SelectRadio provides many resources to choose from and exposure to music and artists with whom they might not yet be familiar.

I have used a good majority of the media players available for Windows Mobile, and SelectRadio is the best for streaming. If you like to stream content from the web, this killer app is for you.

Pros

• Most extensive amount of resources within one application for streaming sources.

• Powerful search functions.
• Powerful filtering functions.
• Quality streams over EVDO and Wi-Fi connections.

Cons

• Would like to see soft key menus for Windows Mobile 5. Older menus force the user to pull out the stylus.

• Would like to have the ability to dim/turn off the screen while streaming.

Related Links

SelectRadio

Treo Discussion Forum

Check Out Soma Radio!

Shoutcast

Filed under: Software reviews