SlinkyMike
Honorary Master
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2006
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There have been huge amounts of flame on this forum around the iPhone, if it is at all possible could we try to keep those discussions out of this thread?
There are many threads where you can vent iSpleen if the need arises.
My hope is that we can review applications here for the benefit of each other, possibly discovering new ways of using the iPhone or simply finding stuff we have been needing or looking for.
If you review keep it short and sweet (do as I say not as I do), indicate the price of the application or whether its a free official app or a jailbreak app.
I'll start with a mini-review of the Last.fm app, maybe try to use the same heading layout as you see below.
Application: Last.fm
Price: Free
iTunes / Jailbreak: iTunes
I love Last.fm, its a great community and a very cool, interactive way to discover new music.
I'll often spend hours opening countless tabs with different artists; related artists; genres, etc.
Its kind of like having all the music available online organised into a colossal flowchart that you can navigate up and down along and across the branches of at your leisure... listening to great music all the way!
The only problem that I have had with Last.fm is that I needed my laptop, power cable(a good Last.fm session can easily run down a laptop battery); mouse and headphones creating quite the 'cable nest' on the couch where I like to sit - this is not only an unwieldy situation to manage whilst reaching beerwise but it also provides endless ammunition to my girlfriend who thrives on pointing out anything even remotely nerdy or geeky that I might undertake... this is uncool when I am attempting to 'groove' to some good indie-rock, as result: I had resorted to keeping myself to the study using the excuse that I prefer the bigger speakers in the study to my Sennheiser cans (dynamics of the stereo field and all that) - but that's not true - what I really wanted was to be untethered whilst Last.fmming (let the record show that I just totally verbed that!).
Enter Last.fm for the iPhone / iPod touch.
I'd known about its existence for some time but hadn't gotten round to it until last night. There I was, sitting on my fav couch when the urge to LFM hit me (again: let the record show that I just totally acronymmed that ((and verbed that))) and I thought: "Hey! Lets give the iPhone app a try!"
Now I'm not sure if years of Windows Mobile have left me scarred and weary of such things but one way or another I had my doubts. I expected to have to open my laptop at some point and help the process along but I was very pleasantly surprised!
It took me all of 2 minutes to enable WiFi (WiFi toggle free from Cydia ftw!), log into the app store (from the phone), punch the word: 'Last' into the search bar which yielded immediate results, I then selected to install it - iTunes informed me that I had already 'bought' it (totally forgot about that) and asked me to confirm that I'd like to dload it again, I confirmed and in about 20 seconds I was looking at Springboard with a new icon, obviously that of Last.fm!
It works a little differently than the website in that you open 'Stations' (which are basically genres) as opposed to searching for an artist but the end result is the same: sweet, free, new music flowing into my ears!
Having only the iPhone next to me on the couch is a hundred kazillion times more convenient (read: less nerdy) and just (bear with me here...) 'feels' more 'modern'.
Whilst listening to a song you can select to add it to your favourites; tag it or buy it from iTunes - I bought three tracks last night and I am headed to Look and Listen this afternoon to find the albums they come from.
Bottom line: next time the TV schedule lets you down: mute that **** and download Last.fm on your iPhone - in under a minute you will be listening to a new song that you have most likely never heard of by a band that you have most likely never heard of... if you love music like I do: there isn't much that beats that!
Addendum:
I know that someone geekier than I will ask about scrobbling from the iPhone / iPod touch, if that's you the go here: http://michaelstech.wordpress.com/2007/10/27/scrobble-the-ipod-touchiphone/
There are many threads where you can vent iSpleen if the need arises.
My hope is that we can review applications here for the benefit of each other, possibly discovering new ways of using the iPhone or simply finding stuff we have been needing or looking for.
If you review keep it short and sweet (do as I say not as I do), indicate the price of the application or whether its a free official app or a jailbreak app.
I'll start with a mini-review of the Last.fm app, maybe try to use the same heading layout as you see below.
Application: Last.fm
Price: Free
iTunes / Jailbreak: iTunes
I love Last.fm, its a great community and a very cool, interactive way to discover new music.
I'll often spend hours opening countless tabs with different artists; related artists; genres, etc.
Its kind of like having all the music available online organised into a colossal flowchart that you can navigate up and down along and across the branches of at your leisure... listening to great music all the way!
The only problem that I have had with Last.fm is that I needed my laptop, power cable(a good Last.fm session can easily run down a laptop battery); mouse and headphones creating quite the 'cable nest' on the couch where I like to sit - this is not only an unwieldy situation to manage whilst reaching beerwise but it also provides endless ammunition to my girlfriend who thrives on pointing out anything even remotely nerdy or geeky that I might undertake... this is uncool when I am attempting to 'groove' to some good indie-rock, as result: I had resorted to keeping myself to the study using the excuse that I prefer the bigger speakers in the study to my Sennheiser cans (dynamics of the stereo field and all that) - but that's not true - what I really wanted was to be untethered whilst Last.fmming (let the record show that I just totally verbed that!).
Enter Last.fm for the iPhone / iPod touch.
I'd known about its existence for some time but hadn't gotten round to it until last night. There I was, sitting on my fav couch when the urge to LFM hit me (again: let the record show that I just totally acronymmed that ((and verbed that))) and I thought: "Hey! Lets give the iPhone app a try!"
Now I'm not sure if years of Windows Mobile have left me scarred and weary of such things but one way or another I had my doubts. I expected to have to open my laptop at some point and help the process along but I was very pleasantly surprised!
It took me all of 2 minutes to enable WiFi (WiFi toggle free from Cydia ftw!), log into the app store (from the phone), punch the word: 'Last' into the search bar which yielded immediate results, I then selected to install it - iTunes informed me that I had already 'bought' it (totally forgot about that) and asked me to confirm that I'd like to dload it again, I confirmed and in about 20 seconds I was looking at Springboard with a new icon, obviously that of Last.fm!
It works a little differently than the website in that you open 'Stations' (which are basically genres) as opposed to searching for an artist but the end result is the same: sweet, free, new music flowing into my ears!
Having only the iPhone next to me on the couch is a hundred kazillion times more convenient (read: less nerdy) and just (bear with me here...) 'feels' more 'modern'.
Whilst listening to a song you can select to add it to your favourites; tag it or buy it from iTunes - I bought three tracks last night and I am headed to Look and Listen this afternoon to find the albums they come from.
Bottom line: next time the TV schedule lets you down: mute that **** and download Last.fm on your iPhone - in under a minute you will be listening to a new song that you have most likely never heard of by a band that you have most likely never heard of... if you love music like I do: there isn't much that beats that!
Addendum:
I know that someone geekier than I will ask about scrobbling from the iPhone / iPod touch, if that's you the go here: http://michaelstech.wordpress.com/2007/10/27/scrobble-the-ipod-touchiphone/
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