Internet radio has been an App Store staple ever since it first debuted two years ago, sparked by the huge success of Pandora’s free app. Ever since, thousands of internet radio apps have come out. So why review another new internet radio app?

Because this one has a lot going for it. It’s called Livio Car Radio, and after using it for a few days it’s found its way to the front of my app selection. There are some extra features in Livio’s app that help enhance your experience:

• Variety of stations: Over 42,000 AM/FM stations as well as internet-only streams with RadioTime
• Optimized for vehicle use
• Background listening: port your station into Safari so you can listen while using other apps on the iPhone
• Direct Tune: If you can’t find your favorite station, Direct Tune lets you put in a unique code or address to begin streaming that station
• Find local stations based on current GPS location
• When searching for a specific station or song, the listing will show the program or song currently being played on that station
• Find plenty of podcasts

At first I had a hard time getting used to the user interface, but as soon as I dedicated a few minutes of my time to actually learning it I found it to be a rather easy experience. Sure, it still has its share of UI quirks, but not more than any other internet radio app out there.

The issue I’ve always had with internet radio apps on the iPhone is that there never seems to be one that does EVERYTHING I need it to do for me; but to be honest the Livio app is the closest I’ve found that gets me all of my podcasts, specific radio stations, and particular programs that I always enjoy listening to, all on the same app.

My favorite part of the app was the fact that I can port my current station over to Safari so that I can multitask — be able to send emails and listen to my podcasts at the same time. This to me is a necessity for any app of this category, and Livio nailed it.

Be sure to check out the Livio Car Radio app on the iPhone. The app typically is available for $4.99, though it is on sale for Memorial Day weekend for $1.99 until midnight Monday.

Here is a press release giving a few details on the app:

Many of us with cars will be travelling somewhere for the weekend. We all know how painful it can be to find a good radio station, only to have it fade out as we drive out of the tower’s range or how difficult it is to find a station playing the genre of music I enjoy.

This is where the Livio Car Internet Radio app comes in. The app provides access to over 42,000 AM/FM and internet-only radio streams from around the world, covering all genres of music and news.  Just browse and choose the genre of your choice to tune in to any one of a wide variety of broadcast stations, or just swipe your finger to find a recommended station of a similar genre.

Here are a few of the feature highlights:

- Optimized for the Vehicle: Designed for use in the car, with large preset buttons and horizontal or vertical positioning.

- Biggest Variety: More than 42,000 AM/FM and Internet-only radio streams from around the world in partnership with the RadioTime® radio service.

- Direct Tune: Input a radio station’s unique code to begin streaming the broadcast.

- Easy Search Options: Browse available stations by genre, location, or language, and search by station call letters or keywords. Find local stations based on current GPS location.

- Station Recommendation: Swipe a finger across the on-screen dial and the app will tune to a station of a similar genre.

- Listen in the Background: Stream music in the background on the iPhone while using other applications (via Safari).

- Share with Friends: Post favorite stations for your Twitter followers.

Slacker Radio is an extremely popular internet radio app on the iPhone and iPod Touch. It works great for the iPhone, but iPod Touch users get a bit annoyed by it because they can only use it when connected to WiFi, which in my opinion defeats the purpose of having it in the first place. Fortunately at CES 2010 Slacker announced a new update for both devices that will feature caching.

Caching simply means that while connected to the internet, the app loads in tons of new content and keeps ahold of it until you’re ready. Then once it’s used, that content will be refreshed next time you get on the internet. That way, you can listen to it when you don’t have internet access. For instance, anyone that uses an iPhone who flies a lot will love the fact they can use Slacker while in Airplane Mode.

One other benefit: less strain on your iPhone battery. Any improvement in the battery life of the iPhone is welcome!

I’m actually pretty interested in this update. I use Slacker regularly and would like to see this feature integrated. What do you think?

via Cnet

Tweak Warp will be a premiere audio remixing tool for your iPhone. According to the Press Release:

The application will boast a large collection of downloadable Artist loops which users will be able to easily manipulate with the flick of a finger or tilt of the phone, save and share them with the world or use them in their own production.

So it sounds like this will be a great opportunity for audio lovers to get inspiration for new creativity. This is about as detailed as they’ll get at this point, but we do know that beta testing will be commenced shortly with submission to the App Store sometime afterward.

With that said, let’s move on. When I first read that the RIFF app is going to be a guitar app, I sighed and thought that it would be just like every other iPhone guitar app on the market, something that gives you chords or pointers — or both.

RIFF is a little different though. Just by watching the 7 minute demo video, I was intrigued. It lets you play the guitar without actually, you know, playing it. Instead of giving you strings and chords, it gives you 6 rows of buttons to choose from, and you’re able to press the buttons to get the riffs you want (a la piano-style).

So don’t think it’s going to be a total guitar replacement, because it’s not. But it will be something cool to show off a few times and dink around with it.

The website only has the demo video on there, so I’ll just provide the video here. Is it “destined to rock the world”, as their tagline says? You be the judge.

RIFF was submitted to the App Store today, so allow the usual 7-14 days or 5 months for it to be approved.

A few months back I wrote about Grooveshark prepping an iPhone app, and we went a long time without hearing any updates. Finally we have heard the pleasant news that Grooveshark’s iPhone app has been submitted to the App Store.

Now, this doesn’t mean that Apple will actually approve the app. There are a couple roadblocks in the way, especially given Apple’s history of rejecting similar apps for whatever reasons it decides to reject them. First Grooveshark is on shady legal ground until they can reach a licensing deal with the record companies, and also Apple could reject it due to having a negative effect on iTunes revenue.

So we wait with our breath held and our fingers crossed to see if it will show up. Perhaps if it doesn’t get accepted, Grooveshark could always go the path of Google Voice and offer it on Cydia. And it doesn’t stop there; Grooveshark also has plans to put the app out on other mobile platforms, as it well should.

If accepted Grooveshark would be available for a monthly subscription fee. Given the service’s immensely large selection of available on-demand music I imagine this will be a very attractive offer for music lovers with iPhones.

Credit: CNET

Called ElectricFM, the app will focus on streaming dance/electronica music and will be available for free if and when it’s approved. If you’re still skeptical about downloading it for yourself even though it is free, check out the website where the same station is currently streaming.

As a fan of dance and techno I will be checking out the app once it comes out, and certainly will be putting it to the test. Will it hold itself up in the vast crowd of other internet radio apps out there? Time will tell.

ElectricFM on Twitter

As we gear up for the release of OS 3.0 sometime this summer, we’re starting to see quite a few brand new apps surface with concepts we’ve never seen before, and I have to say that these concepts are getting me rather eager for 3.0 to come out!

Adaptunes is such an iPhone app. Situation: you’re listening to your music while skiing, but it gets much harder to hear it when you speed up. Thus, you find yourself having to adjust the volume manually when you get on the ski lift because now the volume is deafening.

Solution: Adaptunes will automatically adjust the volume level whenever you speed up/slow down (skiing was just one example, but there are many others). You decide the min/max limits, and Adaptunes will do the rest.

Other possibilities will include Profile settings, where you can preset certain activities to your specific needs (motorcycling, skiing, etc); also, Adaptunes will integrate with the iPod so you can listen to your entire music library.

Alpha Acid is the developer behind this neat concept, and they claim to have a few more secrets up their sleeves for Adaptunes. They don’t want to give an advantage to the competition, obviously! Check out their website for some hints on what those secret features could be.

Get the word out: Alpha Acid is running a contest where you can win an iTunes gift card. Check out this site for more juicy deets on it.

UPDATE: Adaptunes is available in the App Store now. Go check it out with the link below.

Here’s the lowdown on Grooveshark: it’s an online music service, much like Pandora, Slacker, last.fm and all the other biggies. What’s different is that the company’s goal is to deliver you every single song in the world for free.

How close does it get? Hard to tell, but I have a rather diverse and eclectic taste in music and it had pretty much anything I would ever want to listen to. Another nice thing about Grooveshark is the search function is very well done; you can search by artist, song, or album. A few years back I had half my music collection stolen out of my car and a few albums were never replaced — in just a few minutes on Grooveshark I was able to find every track on those albums.

So now you know about Grooveshark’s service. Essentially the iPhone app will be an extension of that service. Throw in your username and password, and have access to the same playlists and search capabilities as you would on your computer.

While I don’t have screenshots here, Pat Dryburgh was able to sneak some into his blog post here.

No word on release time, but I have a feeling it’s coming pretty soon. Stay tuned!

Category: Music/Internet Radio/Streaming

Check it out, everyone, there is a website called Lala.com that is developing its own iPhone app. Lala is a music service that allows you to listen to any song you want to once for free, and then after that it requires you to purchase the song either for all-online listening at 10 cents each, or it lets you download the song as an MP3 for 79 cents.

Another nice thing Lala does is upload your entire MP3 library (no matter where you purchased/fileshared them) into the online streaming music player for free so you can listen to it anywhere as long as you have an internet connection. Thus, you only have to pay for the songs you don’t already have on your computer.

Now Lala is working on an iPhone app. We’re not sure when it will come out, as we’ve been expecting it ever since last fall. But when it does grace the App Store it will give us the ability to listen to our entire music collection via internet, as well as purchase those other songs for 10 cents. Not a bad little deal.

TechCrunch has been eyeing this app for quite some time now, and has had the opportunity to play with the beta. There are still a lot of bugs to work out which is why it’s taking so long to become publicly available, but it’s going to be a powerful app once it does get into our grubby little hands!

Watch a video tour of the upcoming Lala app below:

Will you get it? Let us know!