 RAIN 9/3: Data-hungry iPhones clogging AT&T network ·Sep 3, 01:32 PM AVERAGE iPHONE CAN USE 10 TIMES THE BANDWIDTH OF OTHER SMARTPHONESTurns out those cool Apple iPhones are bandwidth hogs, according to an article in today’s New York Times, and their use is bogging down AT&T’s network and hampering service for customers on the network.
“Not only do iPhone owners download applications, stream music and videos and browse the Web at higher rates than the average smartphone user,” writes The Times, “but the average iPhone owner can also use 10 times the network capacity used by the average smartphone user.” The result: streams stutter, calls get dropped, downloads “time out,” and text messages are delayed. And experts warn that what’s now mostly AT&T’s (the exclusive carrier for iPhones) problem will likely spread to other carriers as other smart phones grow in popularity. Frank McCoy, writing in RadioWorld, says this bandwidth bottleneck presents a significant hurdle for Internet radio. Cisco says mobile data traffic is likely to double every year through 2013. Meanwhile, carriers are busy readying their 4G networks, which will be designed to better accommodate the heavy data loads. Read today’s New York Times article here. Read McCoy’s article in RadioWorld here. The photo is from Gizmodo. NEW SQUEEZEBOX NET RADIOS FEATURE TOUCHSCREEN NAVIGATIONLogitech has announced the addition of two new Internet radio listening devices to its Squeezebox line. The first, the Squeezebox Touch, is an enhanced version of the Squeezebox device which connects to an existing audio system and streams Internet radio and music files via your home network. The Touch (the top photo) adds a full-color 4.3” touchscreen, which displays album art and lets you navigate your library and the system menus by touch. For audiophiles, the Touch now supports 24-bit/96 kHz sampling. It’ll retail at $300.
The second device, as Kurt describes in his blog today here) is simply called the Squeezebox Radio (the lower photo), and it’s more of a clock radio-type device (you don’t hook it up to your Both products have a Facebook application which allows users to share music and photos with Facebook friends and view Flickr-hosted slideshows. Read more about the Squeezebox devices here here and here. SONGWRITERS SUE XM CANADA FOR ROYALTIESThe group that represents Canada’s composers, lyricists, songwriters and music publishers says XM Canada failed to make its royalty payment by the July 31 deadline, and is now suing the satellite broadcaster. Bloomberg reports, “XM Canada is required to pay 4.26% of its revenue to the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN)… The royalties cover the use of music by XM Canada since January 2005.” SOCAN wants XM Canada ordered to stop airing songs until it pays up. XM Canada is owned by Canadian Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., 23% of which is owned by Sirius XM Radio Inc. Read more in Bloomberg here.share: del.icio.us.  Reddit  Digg  Yahoo  Wink  Windows  Google  Newsvine 
CommentCommenting is closed for this article.  Other stories RAIN has upgraded (and moved)! RAIN 9/13: RAIN Summit Chicago takes place today! RAIN 9/12: First Summit in RAIN's hometown takes place tomorrow RAIN 9/9: Summer holidays, "doldrums" impact July Webcast Metrics, but audience up over last year RAIN 9/8: Clear Channel launches new customizable iHeartRadio beta; RAIN goes hands-on RAIN 9/7: Meet more speakers you'll hear at RAIN Summit Chicago in less than a week RAIN 9/6: Clear Channel taps The Echo Nest to take on Pandora RAIN 9/2: RAIN reviews Spotify's radio-like product Artist Radio RAIN 9/1: UK online radio aggregator Radioplayer campaigns b'dcasters to create "all radio" ratings RAIN 8/31: Execs from Merlin, Triton Digital, jacAPPS and more to appear at RAIN Summit Chicago |
He describes the current Internet protocol delivery system as the equivalent of needing a separate lane on the highway for each car. “The greatest appeal of Internet radio remains its most fundamental problem: the requirement that every user have a separate, custom-per-user data stream,” he writes.
audio system, it has its own amp and speaker). But, again, as Kurt describes, it features the new full-color touchscreen, and it’ll be $200.
