Pandora

[prog]

I finally got into Pandora Radio because of its free iPhone version. The application isn't flawless - unexpected events make it have a temporary seizure that makes even the phone's hardware controls unresponsive until it times out - but its normal mode is very impressive. You can start listening to music via WiFi, and then wander off into 3G territory, and it doesn't skip a beat. (Literally.) This is the first implementation of portable internet radio I've seen, something I've wanted since using my first iPod for the first time.

(That said, pulling in continuous data via 3G drains the battery like nothing else. But that's just the price of admission, right now.)

And, yes, Pandora itself is rather excellent. I love the idea of musical-classification "genes". Who knew that I was into extensive vamping? I'm using my jmac@jmac.org email address there, if people wish to connect. (Why, of course it has social-network features.)

Comments

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

So what kind of battery life would you project if you did Pandora it full-time?

('Cause my transistor radio gets approximately infinite battery life, but doesn't play such cool suggestions...it'd be sweet if the iPhone could be counted on to at least replace some of that functionality.)

[prog.livejournal.com]

My understanding is that the datasource currently being used directly affects battery drain, and the 3G is more energy-intensive than WiFi. (And the iPhone always prefers to use WiFi, when it's available.) So it varies, depending upon how you're connecting.

My only data available is that, starting with a full battery, I listened to Pandora for maybe 90 minutes total yesterday, both outside and in, and my battery was in the red by the time the day ended. But I also had a lengthy phone call, and used the iPod, and did other farty-around stuff.

[mrmorse.livejournal.com]

Early reports are that the battery supports three to four hours of continuous 3G use. That's if you're not using your phone as a phone or anything.

I've poked at iPhone Pandora a bit but haven't spent too much time with it because of the battery life.