 RAIN 6/29: White House calls for more spectrum for wireless broadband ·Jun 29, 10:35 AM ADMINISTRATION EXPECTS MOBILE WEB USE TO GROW 20-45 TIMES 2009’S RATEPresident Obama has voiced his support for freeing 500MHz of spectrum for wireless broadband by signing a Presidential Memorandum. The Memorandum calls for a “sustained effort“ to free up the spectrum over the next 10 years, Ars Technica reports. The White House’s roadmap is “not much different from the one outlined in the FCC’s National Broadband Plan” (RAIN coverage here).
“The White House expects that U.S. wireless data usage will balloon 20 to 45 times beyond last year’s rate,” writes the L.A. Times (here). “That makes sense, with many new smart phones gaining capabilities like shooting high-def video and streaming radio stations over the Internet.” Find more coverage about the White House’s announcement from Ars Technica here. SMART CAR & KIA JOIN PUSH TO BRING WEB, STREAMING RADIO TO DASHBOARDSSmart Car and Kia join the ranks of Ford, Mini, Pioneer, Alpine and others in the push to deliver web content — including Internet radio — to car dashboards.
Smart Car will launch an iPhone app that — when docked in a $300 “Smart Cradle” — will play Internet radio streams and podcasts through the car’s audio system (pictured left). It will also mute the music for hands-free calling, provide directions and more. Find out more from Smart Car here (PDF). Kia is also debuting an in-car system called UVO that, while it doesn’t yet stream Net radio, is the first step towards such a system. “Kia is just ramping up its infotainment offerings – and it’s still an early adopter,” writes SeattlePI (here). UVO can already pull down RSS feeds, display social media updates and weather reports. It will appear first in the 2011 Kia Sorento and then roll-out to the entire Kia line. LISTENER DRIVEN RADIO BRINGS CROWDSOURCING TO VIRGIN RADIO ITALYCrowdsourcing radio service Listener Driven Radio, similar to Jelli, has announced it has partnered with Virgin Radio/Italy to launch its “Radio Comando” platform. Using Listener Driven Radio, listeners request or rate songs online and that input is used to automatically change over-the-air programming.
“With Radio Comando, powered by Listener Driven Radio, listeners help to shape the sound of Virgin Radio in real time,” said GM Francoise le Genissel. “It’s distinctive and powerful.” All Access has more on the story 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 |
