Month: January 2015

Here are some great reviews on Google Play about our Pro version:

• Holly says, “Just what I have been looking for I’ve wanted a variety of viewpoints on the headlines of the moment and this nails it. Thank you!”
• A Google User – “Like having a shortwave radio. It’s like having a old shortware radio only better because it’s digital, you get more stations and there’s no static. Listen to news from around the world and in the U.S. Hear news stories outside the main stream that your missing. Great app, thank you. Works on my old Gingerbread and newer Android tablet.
• Bill adds, “Finally!!!!!!! A low load radio app! Bought in immediately! Please keep adding…”
• Charles makes our day, “This is brilliant. This has most of the major radio news streams in one place. It replaced several of my older apps, which only had a few sites.”
• In a private email, “In the five or so years I’ve been into Android I’ve never left a review because I didn’t want a Google plus account. But that changed today. I wanted too, and did, leave your app 5 stars and good review after joining Google plus today.”

And on our free version:

• Abdulrauf says, “News in reach. Excellent.”
• Amer sums it up, “Great app. Quick and easy streaming.”

Please add your own comments and/or rating. According to Google folks, rating plays a key role in letting users know this app is great. (Meaning, the more folks who rate it, the higher it will show up in Google Play searches.)

Our goal is to show-up near the top when people search “radio news,” “news radio,” etc.  We’ve been # 1 for “hourly news” but who searches for that. 🙂

Last week we tweeted radio guru James Cridland about our updated app and he replied:

Interesting – a new world radio app that focuses on news radio. Nice idea. http://1radionews.com/  /via @democracy

Today in his email newsletter, we made the cut again!

Radio apps gain a new niche: There now seems to be four tiers of radio apps – station-specific (“Absolute Radio”), broadcaster-specific (“BBC iPlayer for Radio”), country-specific (“Radioplayer”), or international (“TuneIn”). All of these tiers appear to have their obvious leaders in each country. But I suspect we’ll see more specific radio apps, carving out new niches. Here’s one: the 1radionews app, which acts as a portal to news broadcasters, and news broadcasters only – including on-demand news bulletins, too.

Glad you like the idea. We do too!

The launch of Google Cast for audio, a way to use ChromeCast to send audio to fancy new and probably quite expensive speakers, is generating a lot of buzz.

You’d think getting audio off of our devices was a new thing. 🙂

We built our “store” to help you listen to 1 Radio News stations and other audio on the speakers already in your life!

In short, we want to help you get audio off your phones or tablets and on to bigger, richer sounding speakers. The reality is that a household can’t listen to the radio together very well on a small device.

So here is a tour of how you can get audio from your device into your life right now!

$ – Wires – I have a simple headphone to RCA stereo wire stuck into the back of my 20 year old Denon stereo. Very simple. Plug-in, press AUX on stereo remote, then press play. If you have a car radio with an AUX plug-in, grab this cable. Wires don’t need batteries. 🙂

$ – Cassette Adapter – Yeah, my car still eats tapes, both of them actually. These things actually work. Use them all the time. You might need to clean your tape heads.

$-$$$ – Headphones – Get yourself some wireless headphones or stick with the basics with earbuds. The wireless kind also work great with your desktop or laptop. This is how I mow the lawn. On those long drives where my wife and I want to have a conversation, good old headphone splitters are handy to have for the kids watching a movie on a tablet we rig up with a bungee cord and tape. So grab some kid’s headphones. 🙂

$$-$$$ – Bluetooth Portable Speakers – Almost a dime a dozen, lots of choices. These often throw an impressive sound and are as portable as your mobile device. Rechargeable.

$$ – Bluetooth Thingy for Home Audio System – If you have a new receiver with built-in Bluetooth, that’s great. If not, you can buy a thingy. I guess they are called Bluetooth Music Receivers.

$$$-$$$$ Bookshelf speakers – If you going to use your home audio system, might as well upgrade your speakers. The top three bookshelf speakers come from Sonos which actually connect straight via Wi-Fi.

$$ – $$$ – iPhone oriented speaker docks … they often have side plugs that we in the Android proletariat can use. We lost our old iPod and happily use the little speaker dock in our kitchen. Some are now advertised as Android speaker docks.

$-$$$ – Computer Speakers – Down in my basement, I use a Roku box with computer speakers and an old TV. There are lots of great radio apps on Roku and other steaming media player. You can hook these babies right into your phone or tablet.

$$ – FM Transmitter – Before BlueTooth got popular I used to use these in the car and around the home. The one I still use is a whole house FM transmitter on my home office desktop. This lets me use all the old radios around the house and listen to whatever I want.

$$$ – $$$$$$- Speaking of cars and Android. We think 1 Radio News will be the perfect simple swipe and play app for news on the new Android-based car systems. Sure you could just get car stereo with built-in bluetooth, but why not get a new car stereo running Android. If you install 1 Radio News in your car stereo, send us pictures. While you are at it, why not buy a new car running Android Auto.

$$$-$$$$$$$$$ – Home Theater Systems, Soundbars, 4K HDTVs – Or gosh darn, why not just buy an all new Internet-connected  home theater system … adding Bluetooth right in seems like a good excuse to surprise your spouse with this must have item (check the specs closely). 🙂 Or perhaps sneak in a new soundbar with Bluetooth and use with your new Smart TV. In fact, I’ve heard 1 Radio News can work on Google TV and the under the radar Android-based TV set-top boxes (and perhaps we will get on the official Android TV from Google system.) Or what you really need is a new 4K Ultra HD TVs – pick up this 105″ beauty for over $100,000. 🙂

$-$$$$ – All kinds of crazy stuff – From a floating solar pool speaker (pool not included) to a Bluetooth shower speaker: Outdoor Bluetooth Speakers, Solar Speakers, Bluetooth Shower Speaker, Android Boombox, Android Car Stereos, Sonos, Party Speakers

Did you pick up a new Android tablet or phone over the holidays?

Perhaps you have an older Android smart phone looking for a purpose?

Or some other whiz-bang new Android device you found from our list of top gear?

In the new year, now is a great time to turn your device into an easy to use world radio for news.

And we just added new stations from three countries to our free app and just tripled the number of radio news stations on our “Pro” version  to over 65.

Three key audio/radio-lover “must do” steps:

1. Install TuneIn radio – No brainer. Get lost in 100,000 stations.
2. Install Pandora – Ditto. Music.
3. Install 1 Radio News – Grab the free version or the Pro version with the BEST 65+ English radio news stations we tested, evaluated, and selected to take you around the world.Whether you are a public radio fan, a shortwave listener, looking to spice up your talk radio listening by going global, or perhaps you don’t even have a radio (like my Millennial neighbors), if you like to be informed with news or engaged by the spoken word, 1 Radio News is a must have app for you.If you want more:
4. Optional – Podcasts – Consider Stitcher or another podcast program IF you want to curate purchase valtrex your own list of specific programs. If you invest a few hours now following shows, you’ll have programs “on the go” later.
5. Optional – Station Apps – If you search Google Play for your favorite station you might find a dedicated app. If you like to “channel surf,” I recommend 1 Radio News for the quickest channel changing. If you really just like to listen to one station, then a dedicated app is great.

Why add 1 Radio News to your app mix?

• Great Radio News Stations – We’ve found the best English-language sources from around the world and put them together for you in one handy app. Hours and hours curating the best for you.
• Quick – The quickest station changing we can find. 1 Radio News is fast.
• Headlines – The only Android app with a collection of on-demand hourly radio news headlines. Play-all option.
• Easy – Can you swipe and press a button? You can use with one hand. If you really just want radio news, this is the easiest app to use.
• Be Surprised – Embrace the serendipity of live news, talk, and cultural radio. Discover what’s on and relax. Key is to get the gear you need to actually listen comfortably.