
We first heard about iTunes Tagging
back in September and it looks like it is going to make an appearance at Macworld 2008. iTunes Tagging, in case you don't recall, is the name of a method by which one would dock their iPod with an HD Radio. You hit a button when you hear a song you like and that song's info is 'tagged' onto your iPod. When you sync your iPod with iTunes those tagged songs show up as a playlist which lets you easily purchase the songs.
iLounge
reports that since many HD Radio broadcasters and manufacturers have signed on with this technology Apple is ready to push it onto eager consumers. It sounds interesting, though I can't recall the last time I actually listened to a radio (HD or not).
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
KenC said 3:16PM on 12-28-2007
I hope this will be enabled with Satellite Radio somehow too.
HD radio is going to bomb, as in detroyed. They claim commercial free now but guess what it wont be after long. Plus I never dock my itouch in my car to listen to unless I am on a long road trip HD radio doesn't go all over the country.
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Eric said 3:22PM on 12-28-2007
I haven't seen anyone with HD Radio...
Commercial-free doesn't mean much to me anyway, since XM claimed that they were, but I certainly haven't heard it.
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Ryan said 3:25PM on 12-28-2007
If you have an iPod, why are you listening to the same 20 songs on commercial radio? Seems like a goofy add-on that (if introduced) will get forgotten about like the Hi-Fi and aTV.
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russdogg said 3:45PM on 12-28-2007
I find it to be quite the opposite actually. When I'm just using my iPod, I end out listening to the same songs over and over. I always hear new songs in my car when I'm listening to Sirius and end out trying to remember them when I get home so I can download them and add them to my iPod.
Ryan said 3:58PM on 12-28-2007
@russdogg
Yeah, satellite is a totally different story.
I was referring to the FM band (HD and analog) as the report mentions. While its true that we have a finite amount of music to listen to on an iPod, the odds of hitting the same song on even a 8GB nano while on shuffle in a work week are wwaaaay higher than the same 20 song rotation (mind you it takes them an hour and a half to get through those songs with commercials) that is on FM.
David said 3:36PM on 12-28-2007
My old phone (pre-iphone days) used to have an application that would listen to any song and then spit out the artist and song title. At first I didn't think I'd use it either, but I ended up using it about once a week for songs I'd never heard (on the radio or not). With the iphone, I've been googling the lyrics..but that takes a lot longer and isn't always possible...
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h8rain said 3:47PM on 12-28-2007
I hate commericals, so I generally don't listen to the radio. I have XM, but they have started to infect some of the channels (YEA channels 21 and 22 I am talking about you!)
I don't have an "ipod" interface in my truck, but I do have the AUX jack, which I used with my iPhone. I could see where this could be useful. I always hate when I forget the title of a song I wanted to buy.
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Magnus said 3:52PM on 12-28-2007
Why would I ever wanna dock my iPod to a HD radio? If I wantet a radio I‘d buy a mp3 player from Creative! The only radio for the future is the internet radio!
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KenC said 3:53PM on 12-28-2007
@russdogg
Same here man, I hear alot of new stuff on Sirius and always need to try and remember what I heard.
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Drupa said 3:58PM on 12-28-2007
Will someone actually use this feature? Yawn. I hope they didn't put too much effort into this feature. I thought radio was dead anyway?
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Jon said 4:04PM on 12-28-2007
There seems to be a misunderstanding...
HD(Hybrid Digital) radio is free. It's the same as FM radio, except it's broadcast digitally using a modified AAC codec, instead of using Frequency Modulation. It's cd quality broadcasts over the air... for free. Currently, there are no DRM systems in place, the protocol does not support it. Even if it were, it would be stupidly easy to rip them. The music industry is welcoming the iTunes tagging, instead of recording the song, you will save it for later to purchase it.
Think of Hybrid Digital radio as the equivalent of HD over-the-air broadcasts on your TV. No one is screaming that High Definition TV broadcasts are going to bomb are they? Good riddance to FM, it's old technology.
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Dennis Bates said 4:31PM on 12-28-2007
zzzzzzzzzzzz If this is true, I sure hope that this is the first thing that his Steveness introduces and not the last. 2 words: iPod socks.
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Thataboy said 5:28PM on 12-28-2007
Yes, this is so iPod Socks, it's not even funny.
Who on Earth uses radio outside of cars? And you're going to fumble to hit a "tag" button on a docked ipod while driving? Greeeeeat idea.
And here I was hoping iTunes Tagging meant they'd introduce a more robust tagging feature in iTunes to complement/replace the inadequate ID3 tags.
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Rhywun said 9:53PM on 12-28-2007
Same here. I was so excited about the possibly of tagging my tracks. Oh well.
Trevor said 5:30PM on 12-28-2007
"which let's you"?
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C. Buckland said 7:33PM on 12-28-2007
FYI: The term HD doesn't mean anything. It doesn't stand for Hybrid Digital, or High Definition. It doesn't have a meaning, it is only a marketing term. Catchy...
The tech used to broadcast the digital signal is still FM, it is only FM digital. We actually inject the digital carrier into the sidebands of our regular analog signal. The method is called IBOC, In Band, On Channel. It is actually pretty cool.
The whole iTunes tagging thing is also pretty cool in my own opinion. We may be rolling it out in the near future.
Opinion on commercials is varied. Advertisers love 'em, and listeners hate them. But it is really the ONLY thing to keep radio free in the US. The ONLY thing... Otherwise we have a radio tax and less stations. That means less representation of your local community (I know there are lots of local small stations that serve their community with local news and weather. I have visited ALOT of them.)
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C. Buckland said 7:33PM on 12-28-2007
FYI: The term HD doesn't mean anything. It doesn't stand for Hybrid Digital, or High Definition. It doesn't have a meaning, it is only a marketing term. Catchy...
The tech used to broadcast the digital signal is still FM, it is only FM digital. We actually inject the digital carrier into the sidebands of our regular analog signal. The method is called IBOC, In Band, On Channel. It is actually pretty cool.
The whole iTunes tagging thing is also pretty cool in my own opinion. We may be rolling it out in the near future.
Opinion on commercials is varied. Advertisers love 'em, and listeners hate them. But it is really the ONLY thing to keep radio free in the US. The ONLY thing... Otherwise we have a radio tax and less stations. That means less representation of your local community (I know there are lots of local small stations that serve their community with local news and weather. I have visited ALOT of them.)
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C. Buckland said 7:34PM on 12-28-2007
stoopid 1password... sorry for the double post.
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Fritz Laurel said 10:26PM on 12-28-2007
Yawn....
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Samuel said 12:43PM on 1-07-2008
You can't remember the last time ou listened to radio, well too bad for you, I listen to nothing but and in contrast can honestly say I cannot for the life of me remember the last time I watched television.
Also, we have The BBC in the UK, I know there is the world service and The BBC broadcasts all over the world, but we have it. And that mean anything left is for other stations to fight over i.e. not much, especially in terms of quality.
What I would like to know is how this technology will fair with diverse media channels like BBC Radio 3, the sheer obscurity of the tracks leaves me wondering if such a touch-and-buy service can be realised, although much effot is made on the BBC website relating to the broadcast and the availability of the music played.
I hope this is being looked into and adopted at greater pace than what Starbucks has done partnership wise with their wireless service - its only available in the states and technology like that has such potential and scope.
So bring it on!
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