Mobile users tune-in to the radio

A TNS Global Telecoms Insight study said that the use of MP3 players on mobile phones rose by 78 per cent last year, but that radio via mobile went up by 140 per cent. Growth has occurred in all 29 countries surveyed, particularly in Latin America and emerging Asia regions, where 45 per cent of users list FM/AM radio as one of their top three choices for purchasing a mobile phone. (VNUNet)

SeeqPod IPhone Button Allows Instant Access to Free Music

We've been following SeeqPod for a while as the company has honed its music search engine, which lets you play the internet's hidden music on your computer, IPhone, or iPod Touch. After installing the latest firmware (in iTunes), you can add an SeeqPod icon to your iPhone or iPod Touch menu that offers direct access to the service. Once you search for or browse to a song (enter a band you like in the Discover menu to find new stuff), songs load as Quicktime movies on the iPhone. (Wired Blog)

Free Video Streaming Service Introduced For BlackBerrys

QuickPlay Media, a provider of content management for mobile TV services, on Monday introduced a free video streaming service for Research In Motion's BlackBerry smartphones. The new service, called VideoStreams, serves up music videos, comedy, horoscopes, and extreme sports, among other content, to BlackBerry users in the United States and Canada. The video is streamed over networks that use EV-DO, a third-generation cellular technology deployed by carriers including Sprint, Bell Mobility, Telus Mobility, and Alltel Wireless. (TechWeb)

Plugged And Unplugged

After three days of lines, sore feet and a crushing mass of rage-inducing humanity, my return from the international Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas is invariably greeted with one question:"What's the coolest thing you saw?"  This year, it came from a small, three-person company. t's called Jook, and it has developed a chip that can be cheaply added to any MP3 player accessory -- likely headphones -- that when plugged into the device will broadcast music played on the device to other Jook-enabled users. (Billboard)

FlyTunes to launch free digital radio services for the iPhone

Digital music startup, FlyTunes, is set to launch a service that will allow users to play internet radio for free on their iPhones and other portable devices. The music service, which will work on an ad-supported basis, lets users create personalised music channels with tracks taken from over 20,000 internet radio stations. It also promises to give uninterrupted service by caching hours of music that can be listened to when there is no connection available. (PR)

Jook Introduces Digital Music Standard with Social Net Features

Jook, developed by Jook Inc. - a subsidiary of Razer - is a technology standard that allows any portable music player to act like a personal radio station enabling everyone, regardless of their music player, to wirelessly transmit songs to people around them. For example, someone with an iPod™ can become a DJ and play music for someone sitting across from them on the subway listening to a Zune™. PR)