(from CBS) The new Apple 3G iPhone has received a lot of attention, but the more important story isn't the new hardware, but Apple's application store and the many programs that run on the new phone.
Thanks to a few of those programs there's an even larger story - the iPhone may fundamentally change the way people listen to the radio when they're in their cars or otherwise on the go.
Two free applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch, and another program that costs only $4.99, make it possible to listen to live radio on the iPhone from anywhere, including a moving car.
Unlike those pre-TV days when families sat around a big radio console in the living room, a lot of people now listen to radio mainly when they're on the move. Internet radio has been around for more than a decade, car radios were introduced in the 1930's and portable transistor radios became available in the 1950s.
Until now, live radio pretty much meant listening to a broadcast station with transmitters relatively nearby. But with the iPhone you can listen to stations from around the world, including some that broadcast only on the Internet and don't even have transmitters.
Over time, this could be as disruptive to the radio broadcast industry as the Web has been to print. That's not to say that major broadcast organizations (including CBS, which owns CBSNews.com and for which I serve as technology consultant) can't survive in the age of mobile Internet radio, but it does mean they will face competition from new players, including startups operating from peoples' spare rooms.
Click Here for a demo of Pandora's FREE Internet Radio service.
...Full CBS Story...
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