|
HD Radio App Is an Accessory for iPhone and iTouch
|
IBiquity Digital has released the first HD Radio accessory for the
iPhone. While the app is free from the Apple App store, it requires a
Gigaware HD Radio Tuner to receive FM HD Radio signals.
This is the third mobile device for HD Radio, following the release of
the Insignia HD from Best Buy this summer and the Microsoft Zune HD in
September.
The Gigaware accessory lists for $79.99 at Radio Shack and uses the
listener's earphone cord as an antenna.
When you combine the HD Radio App with the Gigaware Navigation
Controller, you can listen to FM HD Radio with your iPhone and iPod
Touch.
Using the Gigaware accessories, users can use iTunes Tagging to tag
songs and download songs for later purchase. IBiquity showed prototype
Gigaware devices at the NAB Radio Show.
Bob Struble, head of iBiquity, told the Wall Street Journal that the
relatively high cost of the HD tuner is offset by the fact that digital
signal can often be picked up in areas where there is not Wi-Fi or 3G
signal capabilities. "The signal is coming from your local radio
broadcast, so in most cases, if you're within range of that signal," the
app will work exactly as a radio does, he said. Users are able to access
multicast channels as well as local radio stations.
We've reported that iBiquity has been talking to Apple about building in
HD Radio capabilities to its popular consumer devices. Struble told
Radio World at the fall convention that those discussions were
continuing.
|