The Sound of (mobile) Music: Pandora and Last.fm fan out mobile offerings
Two of the biggest names in the new wave of personalized internet radio, Pandora and Last.fm, have announced new mobile offerings this week that are sure to please subscribers. For those who aren’t familiar with these services, we’ll give you quick rundowns: Pandora is a free ad supported service (with an ad-free subscription option) that delivers custom radio stations based on the tonal qualities of each song. The user starts by entering an artist or song and Pandora continues the stream with songs of similar musical quality as determined by a panel of 50 analysts who have spent years listening to and cataloging songs. Last.fm on the other hand, is a similar free service (with enhanced subscription option) but it has a much bigger focus on social networking. It creates custom stations with similar tracks like Pandora, but relies on socially-applied tags when offering up new songs.
On to the topic at hand, Pandora released an official Windows Mobile client that brings the Music Genome Project straight to the hands of HTC Touch and Motorola Q9c users. The client is completely free and it allows users to create and stream Pandora stations to their Windows mobile handsets via the phone’s data connection. Moving away from Windows mobile, Last.fm announced that it has launched its first official Symbian client via a carrier. Vodafone customers with S60 handsets can now enjoy Last.fm for free on the go. S60 users did already have a free Last.fm streaming option in Mobbler but it’s nice to see Last.fm embrace S60 and offer an official client. All in all, it’s been a good week for smartphone users but we still have a long way to go – how about a couple of BlackBerry clients fellas?
[Via All About Symbian]
lol…Blackberry’s always the last to get a client.
Sweet I wonder if they have an extream metal station lol
BB support is definitely needed… I mean c’mon it’s only the most used smartphone in the US! C’mon people let’s get with the program! LOL
Let’s see a pandora mobile app for android
As much as I want a Blackberry App for Pandora, i’m not sure they could create one that works as well as the iphone’s does. The Pandora App for the iphone is simply one of the best apps for any user.
Pssh … Pandora. Last time I was on there and tried to create a station from my favorite band at the time, it didn’t even have it. Last.fm FTW! Plus, CHARTS.
Unfortunately this Pandora WinMobile service costs $8.99 per month and only iPhone users can enjoy it for free.
I shot off a letter to Pandora’s support last night and got a “Blame AT&T response” in just a few hours (see http://www.istudioweb.com/pandora-windows-mobile-and-att-2008-12-20/ for full text).
The Pandora web site insists that my Sprint Touch isn’t supported even though it is one of only TWO devices that is. Silly Pandora!
that’s weird, works like a charm on my sprint touch. and to whoever said you have to pay a monthly fee, ur completely wrong. its totally free
Completely wrong for Sprint maybe, but not AT&T so get your facts straight please. Or was that $8.99 subscription message a figment of my imagination? Or those emails from Pandora that Vlad posted in his link? Free if you use the hacked cab file maybe.
There is a monthly fee but not for everyone. Is that fair? Heck no, not one one device – iPhone – gets preference over another – WinMo – on the same freaking network. Maybe Sprint and the other carriers will eventually push AT&T to not charge us Touch Pro users. I doubt it but one can always dream, huh?
dario9,
as per Pandora’s rep, their short-term plan is to have two devices per carrier with free (as in ad-supported) client as means to promote the brand/service (look at AT&T forums, there is a bunch of people who don’t even know what Pandora is).
We need a blackberry APP!!!!!
Andrew Hillman
iphone sucks
At&t disables Blackberry Maps so they can get $10 a month for their own navigation program.
Now charging for Pandora? These guys are making a reputation for themselves as gougers.
To everyone looking for a Blackberry last.fm client.. There already is one, check it out: http://flipside.fm/
We also have one for Windows Mobile: http://www.last.fm/group/Pocket+Scrobbler
And of course the iPhone client, available in the app store.
I have been running both Pandora and Last.fm on an iPhone for many months. Boy this WM version looks ugly! Guess BB will have to wait for this also! Lack of apps like this on BB kills me. The iPhone has loads of apps like this available, Tuner, AOL Radio, FlyCast, Simplify Media, Stitcher, I heart music, Poptiq, vSnax, etc.
Would have been nice on my VZW Curve, but even SlingPlayer beta is cut out of the VZW BBs. God forbid VZW allow competition to VCAST!
Flipside does not stream radio, it scrobbles – so it is like having a peanut butter and jelly sandwich without the jelly. I am on last.fm and am there to explore new music, not simply listen to my own again and again. Also, in my opinion, developers who are worth their salt are part of the open source community.
does anyone know how I can get pandora to my sprint palm centro?
I downloaded it to my windows mobile MOTO Q9 and it looks like the photo above but I have no sound any advice?