Apple apps bring radio to the iPhone

Radio is probably the most under appreciated entertainment / news media thing out there, but now Apple radio apps has brought it to the iPhone. That said, when I really think about it, I love radio. When I'm stuck in my car, or I'm out of iPod options in work, it's always there to help me out with a random track of brilliance.

However, with apps hitting iTunes at pace for radio channels like Xfm and Classic FM (two of my yin yang favourites) it sparked a bit of a resurgence for me. Streaming the radio channels, the iPhone turns into a portable radio player that you can either listen to with headphones or blair out like what those chavvy kids do when they gets on d bus wi' dey fones held up like it were a ghetto blaster.

All good, but I reckon it would be cool to sort out digital radio for the next iPhone incarnation, considering the digital radio switchover scheduled for 2015. It would also be cool if beloved radio stations like BBC 6 music could pull their finger out with their own app, which would bring programmes like Adam Buxton's Bix Mix Tape & Guy Garvey's Finest Hour to your pockets. You can stream them now by visiting links (e.g. http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/r6.asx), but an would make the process a lot smoother.

The radio apps on the iPhone work great though at the moment. They're free too. The quality's pretty good and they're really easy to download and work. You can easily switch between channels with the stations button, so when Xfm gets too annoying (it happens!) you can flick over to a little Bach on Classic. Pow!