[bikerj]

Happy Hump Day Everyone!

I came across an idea that's probably not new, but I wanted to share it to learn if anyone has already tried this, along w/ their experience w/ it. For others, perhaps it is somewhat new, but you haven't quite figured it all out. I love the idea of XM radio, and I went so far as to buy a GPS w/ XM capabilities, then I realized I absolutely hate XM radio's customer service w/ a passion! :cussing:

Here's the new part, mainly a new website (at least for me): I discovered a website called www.iheart.com. :yeah: It allows one to listen to music online and create personalized/customized radio stations that are commercial free, and so far the service is completely free. These custom stations can be created by inputing particular songs, artists, and therefore genres. It also has various traditional radio stations from at least around the U.S. One can listen to a chosen song, create a station based on that song's genre, and then listen to additional related tunes picked by the server. For each song, one can "like" or "dislike" (nothing to do w/ facebook). The server uses this information to help decide other tunes one might like. If a song is labeled as "dislike", then the server remembers that and doesn't play it again.

Here's the not so new part:
Use a smartphone/iphone to access this website while riding and interface it w/ one's favorite intercom, whether it be wired or bluetooth, preferably one w/ stereo capability.
Obviously, the cost arises from the data transferred/downloaded via the cell phone to stream music, but it should be comparably priced, especially for those of you whose calling plan includes unlimited data.

It has to be better than dealing w/ those freakin' clowns at XM/Sirius radio!

That's it. If anyone's tried it, I'd love to hear about your experience, as well as other possibilities. BTW, I've already thought of the lack of use in areas without cellular service, so we can skip that. :bmw:

 

[sdan451]

Yeah, Iheart radio is nice but like you said your only going to be able to listen to it if you have a signal and that signal would have to be strong enough to stream. We have the Zumo 665 with XM and were very happy with it. Yes, Sirius/XM's customer service sucks but thankfully I rarely have to deal with them. It's nice to be able to just ride and listem to Sirius/XM and not have to mess with trying to find a local channel which will soon disappear. I'm sure one of these days our phones will be able to pick up satellite radio, they already pick up gps signals. When they do maybe we'll have more choices available to us than just Sirius/XM. What would be great would be free high speed broadband available anywhere in the country.

 

[bikerj]

Yeah, Iheart radio is nice but like you said your only going to be able to listen to it if you have a signal and that signal would have to be strong enough to stream... What would be great would be free high speed broadband available anywhere in the country.

You know I didn't consider the strength of the cellular signal affecting the ability to stream. There could be something to what you say. I suppose it would be noticeable traveling between towers and being passed off from one to another, especially if there's any holes in the overlapping radiation patterns- they might not overlap at all.

Isn't the 4G network suppose to be the answer to broadband? Like you say, it's probably not available nationwide.

Perhaps we have a member who works in the industry to chime in?

You also mentioned rarely having to deal with XM's customer service reps. I can see the logic in your statement, but I prefer not to give my money to some entity who provides only half-ass products and services, and good customer service should be a key factor.
Just like buying groceries at a particular store- if the prices are great but I get short-changed or hollered at each time by the cashier, then it's only going to happen once, maybe twice, then I'll be shopping somewhere else. Yes, XM is the only act in town at the moment.

 

[DanDiver]

iheart sounds a lot like my favorite, Pandora that I listen to all the time, with a paid subscription. I'm very close to a new smart phone with blue tooth capability, just for listening on the bike.

I have a year of free XM/satellite service that I have not even turned on because of all of the bad press and the fact that I wanted to focus on my riding of a new bike, not listening to music.

I have not even set up a cell phone on the bike for that same reason.


T mobile just recently lowered the price of my cell plan, enhanced the service with unlimited data, more minutes and are begging me to get rid of my 12 year old phone, so maybe the time is right for a smart phone! My present Motorola flip phone is just so small and easy to carry. Not sure if I'm going to be happy with a much larger phone !!!!!

 

[bikerj]

iheart sounds a lot like my favorite, Pandora that I listen to all the time, with a paid subscription. I'm very close to a new smart phone with blue tooth capability, just for listening on the bike...T mobile just recently lowered the price of my cell plan, enhanced the service with unlimited data, more minutes and are begging me to get rid of my 12 year old phone, so maybe the time is right for a smart phone! My present Motorola flip phone is just so small and easy to carry. Not sure if I'm going to be happy with a much larger phone !!!!!

Dan, you're motorola probably has a lot longer battery life between charges, being it doesn't have all those extras to deplete the charge. Aside from my suggestion here, I have no desire for a smart phone. I want to be able to make a telephone call and that's it. Well, the alarm clock works pretty good, and it allows me to leave the watch in the drawer. Maybe I'm getting "old", but I don't see the practicality in trying to surf the web on a little 3 or 4 inch screen. Yes, I know all about zooming in- that's another joke, cause then I find myself constantly scrolling back and forth, up and down to read a web page. :wack: And they want to lock me into a 2 year plan? Well, you know what they can do with their phone. I use the trac phones. pay as you go, Baby.

 

[DanDiver]

Dan, you're motorola probably has a lot longer battery life between charges, being it doesn't have all those extras to deplete the charge. Aside from my suggestion here, I have no desire for a smart phone. I want to be able to make a telephone call and that's it. Well, the alarm clock works pretty good, and it allows me to leave the watch in the drawer. Maybe I'm getting "old", but I don't see the practicality in trying to surf the web on a little 3 or 4 inch screen. Yes, I know all about zooming in- that's another joke, cause then I find myself constantly scrolling back and forth, up and down to read a web page. :wack: And they want to lock me into a 2 year plan? Well, you know what they can do with their phone. I use the trac phones. pay as you go, Baby.

+1 Jeff

We tend to think alike. Presently, my cell phone is only for calls. Seems to work just fine. Hard to beat $52.00 a month for two phones and 1,000 shared minutes.

 

[Kornholio]

I already do almost the same thing using Pandora. My RT has satellite radio but I only used it for the three month trial period and ditched it. I never really liked XM/Sirius anyway. I just plug in my iPhone and turn on Pandora. Only down side is that I have to be stopped with a glove off to change stations since I have to open up the cubby and take out my phone to do so. Upside though is that I have Sprint's unlimited plan so I couldn't care less how much data I use and so far, it's worked pretty much everywhere as long as I stick to the main roads.

 

[LTFan]

I work in the tech industry and probably love tech more than required. I love the satellite radio because in majority of the good roads we don't have good network connectivity. I also am a information cruncher and need the latest news asap. So satellite radio works well for me.

But when I need entertainment I surely turn to Pandora. I use a 4g phone, 4g tablet and a 4g wifi device. I wish Pandora had a news station.

Do not ask me how much I pay for these services. It does hurt the back.

 

[Atomicman]

Yeah, Iheart radio is nice but like you said your only going to be able to listen to it if you have a signal and that signal would have to be strong enough to stream. We have the Zumo 665 with XM and were very happy with it. Yes, Sirius/XM's customer service sucks but thankfully I rarely have to deal with them. It's nice to be able to just ride and listem to Sirius/XM and not have to mess with trying to find a local channel which will soon disappear. I'm sure one of these days our phones will be able to pick up satellite radio, they already pick up gps signals. When they do maybe we'll have more choices available to us than just Sirius/XM. What would be great would be free high speed broadband available anywhere in the country.

+1 on XM/Zumo 665! works great, I have not had a problem with Customer Service the couple of times I need them since 2005.