Public Radio Exchange

Same Great Taste

Emily posted on Friday, May 13th, 2011 | Blog, PRX, PRX Projects | 1 Comment

PRX’s 24/7 radio stream — formerly known as REMIX Radio and formerly broadcast on XM 136 — underwent a few changes last week.

New Satellite Channel: 123

The first thing to know is that our XM channel has changed to XM 123. Not bad numbers, right?

We’re not the only ones with a new channel. After Sirius and XM merged in 2008, SiriusXM has finally remapped their channel lineup to integrate stations from both networks into a single program schedule. It all went down last week.

New Name: Public Radio Remix

To go along with our shiny new SiriusXM Channel, PRX is also announcing a new name for our 24/7 stream of public radio goodness: Public Radio Remix. We liked our old name, REMIX Radio, but rather than eschew our public radio heritage, we want to embrace it. We are Public Radio Remix, public radio that sounds and feels decidedly different, but is still very much, public radio. Public radio rocks.

Although our blog has moved to publicradioremix.org and our XM station is now parked at XM 123, we are still streaming from the same place online and broadcasting on the air in Spokane, WA on KPBZ. Not listening yet? Come get some Remix.

Get In Touch

Are you a radio maker? Submit your stories to Public Radio Remix.

Are you listening to Public Radio Remix? Let us know what you think at remix (at) prx (dot) org.

Tags: Emily

Mobile App Picks from the PRXperts

Emily posted on Tuesday, April 19th, 2011 | Blog, PRX, PRX Projects, Tech | 1 Comment

We’re pretty into our phones over here at PRX. And that’s as it should be, I suppose, as many of us spend our days conceiving, coding and promoting mobile apps for public radio.

A couple months ago Radio Diaries producer Joe Richman — equipped with his first-ever iPhone — asked me what PRX’s favorite apps are. I put the question to my colleagues, and return with the following list of our favorite mobile apps.

---

First, meet our team of mobile app enthusiasts:

Matt	John	Robert	Rekha	Jake	Chris	Farski	Kerri	Roman	Jones

Our big list of favorite apps:

App	Recommended by	Description	Device
Ad Hoc Helper App	Matt	The Ad Hoc Helper allows developers to create a special version of their apps that can be run on anyone’s iPhone outside of the normal AppStore channels.	iPhone
Amazon Kindle	John	Kindle books on your phone including thousands of free books.	Android
Amazon.com	Robert		iPhone
Android API Browser	Chris	Not amazing as an app, but the first android app on the market written 100% in Ruby.	Android
AnyStop	Robert	Real-time MBTA bus schedules.	Android
Audible	John	“This free app features the most comprehensive audiobook experience ever, including Wi-Fi delivery of your Audible.com library.”	Android
Beluga & GroupMe	Farski	Group texting, even with feature phones. Maybe the best thing ever.	iPhone
Bloom	Jake, Robert	“Part instrument, part composition and part artwork, Bloom’s innovative controls allow anyone to create elaborate patterns and unique melodies by simply tapping the screen.”	iPhone
Boston Bus Map	Robert	Real-time MBTA bus schedules.	Android
Camera (on the device)	Matt, Kerri		iPhone
Catch The Bus	Matt, Rekha	More GPS-driven MBTA bus schedules. I love/Hate this one. – Matt I feel the same way about it on Android – Rekha	iPhone, Android
Chirp! for iPhone	Rekha	Look up birds from any region and play their songs. John (hubby) and I use it to freak out birds from other regions.	iPhone
Clock/Stopwatch (on the device)	Robert		iPhone
Congress for Android	Chris	Indispensable. One reason to be on Android. – Chris Track elected officials’ activities, read the latest bills and laws…	Android
Cut The Rope	Robert	A game that’s easy to start and hard to finish.	iPhone
doubleTwist AirSync	Chris	Keep your music synced without ever plugging in.	Android
Dropbox	Farski	Instant Cloud for photos and files.	iPhone
Epicurious	Rekha, Kerri	Great recipes, and it generates a shopping list for you.	iPhone
Enjoy Sudoku	Robert	Has the best Sudoku hint system.	iPhone
FIP for iPhone	Rekha	Amazing Paris radio station – every song is a winner.	iPhone
Facebook	Kerri, Rekha	Socializing without all that nasty human interaction.	iPhone, Android
Flash Player 10.2	Chris	Browse the whole web.	Android
FlightView	John	Real time flight info.	Android
Genius Scan	Jake, Kerri	Genius Scan turns your iPhone into a pocket scanner, enabling you to quickly scan documents on the go and email the scans as JPEG or PDF.	iPhone
GeoDefense	Roman	Space shooter game.	iPhone
Gigstar – Music Guide	Chris	There *are* shows you don’t know you’re missing.	Android
Google Latitude	Farski	Share your location with friends.	iPhone
Google Maps (on the device)	Kerri, Chris, Rekha	The BEST google maps experience ever is the one on Android. Same  deal for GMail. – Chris I don’t know, I think Google Maps are more usable on iPhone, strangely. – Rekha	iPhone, Android
Google Voice	Farski	Phone service with cheap international rates, and helps organize your calls and texts.	iPhone
Hipstamatic	Jones	Take photos with an analog feel.	iPhone
Huffington Post	Rekha	As much for the decent UI as for the content. Not a lot of great news apps on Android yet.	Android
IMDB	Kerri	Movie information.	iPhone
Inception	Jake	Also from RJDJ, this app plays music based on the ambiet information it receives through the phone’s mic.	iPhone
InstantWatcher	Robert	Great for finding good Netflix instant streaming movies.	iPhone
Itsy Bitsy Spider	Jake	“Award-winning Childrens’ app.”	iPhone
KCRW Radio	John	Live stream and on demand.	Android
Library Books	Robert	Alerts when your books are due.	iPhone
Mapquest	Farski	Free turn-by-turn navigation and driving directions.	iPhone
Melodica	Jake	“Melodica is a revolutionary music application that mixes lights and sounds in a unique way, allowing anyone to compose music intuitively creating amazing visual effects just with the tips of your fingers.”	iPhone
Mobile Mouse	Matt	Remote trackpad.	iPhone
Mobile Safari (on the device)	Matt, Robert		iPhone
MotionX GPS	Farski	Tracks your path and gives you a bunch of extra data. Great for cycling.	iPhone
NASA	Farski	Explore space through videos, images and more.	iPhone
NPR News for Android NPR News for iPhone	John, Kerri		Android, iPhone
NPR Music	Farski, Kerri	First listens, interviews with artists, and good lists and mixes	iPhone
NYTimes	John, Kerri		Android
Netflix	Matt, Robert, Kerri, Farski	Instantly watch TV shows & movies streaming from Netflix.	iPhone
Notes (on the device)	Robert		iPhone
Osmos	Jake, Robert	“Asteroids meets a lava-lamp.”	iPhone
Pandora	Matt, Robert, Kerri, Jones, Farski	Personalized radio streams.	iPhone
Papa Sangre	Jake	A video game without the video.	iPhone
Public Radio Player for iPhone	Rekha	From PRX! Find your favorite public radio stations and shows, streaming and On-Demand.	iPhone
RDIO	Chris, Robert	Mounds of music for $10/month. – Robert	Android
RJDJ	Roman, Robert	Reactive music, the next step in the evolution of music. I did a story about it a couple years back. http://bit.ly/e274XK. – Roman	iPhone
Remodium	Farski	Allows you to remotely access Adium on your Mac.	iPhone
Shazam	Kerri	Discover new music through your friends.	iPhone
SoundHound	Robert	Read lyrics while using Pandora or RDIO.	Android
Soundcloud	Jones	Record, listen and share your sounds on the go.	iPhone
Speedtest	Matt	Measure the network speed of your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch.	iPhone
Square Up	Matt	Reads credit cards.	iPhone
SynchStep	Robert	Automatically finds music to match your pace.	iPhone
TestFlight	Matt	Beta testing on the fly.	iPhone
The Weather Channel	Robert	The weather!	iPhone
This American Life	Kerri, Robert	Developed by yours truly!	iPhone
Tiny Wings	Roman, Farski	Move over angry birds.	iPhone
Trace	Robert	Free, and my 8 year old son enjoys it.	iPhone
Twitter	Matt, Kerri, Rekha		iPhone, Android
Unblock Me	Jake	A puzzle-ey block game.	iPhone
WeatherBug	John	Get the weather.	Android
WhiteNoise	Matt	Ambient sounds for sleeping.	iPhone
Yelp	Jones, Rekha	Restaurant and other business reviews. Monocle on the iPhone is pretty cool.	iPhone, Android

Tags: Emily

Enabling This American Life’s Mobile Takeover

Rekha posted on Thursday, April 7th, 2011 | PRX Projects | 1 Comment

Beloved public radio show This American Life just blew through another milestone in its plan for mobile domination.

Announcing the This American Life app for iPad!

Our PRX tech team developed it, we had a lot of fun doing it. Just like we had when we built their iPhone and Android apps.

The iPad app has everything the other apps have, and more, including:

• Save up to THREE episodes for offline listening
• Play and share individual stories, not just entire episodes
• Not sure where to put your eyes while listening? Put ‘em on the Twitter feed of all TAL mentions
• A comic strip about the show. But of course!

This American Life’s blog has screenshots to whet your appetite.

Get Your Car Talk Fix on iTunes

Rekha posted on Wednesday, March 16th, 2011 | PRX Projects | 2 Comments

You finish listening to Car Talk’s latest podcast episodes in, like, no time. Then what? you ask.

Well, visit the wider world of Car Talk on iTunes and delightedly partake in the wealth of episodes before you. What’s 99 cents when presented with such joy, such entertainment? These albums make great pick-me-up gifts for someone who hasn’t laughed — or snort-laughed — in a while.

In the latest chapter of PRX’s life as a record label for iTunes, we’re proud to have the privilege of delivering Car Talk to iTunes in the form of:

* weekly episodes
* 50 Classics everyone loves
* several compilations of great stuff, too

Car Talk albums on iTunes: When the podcast simply isn’t enough.

Please Ask Apple to Allow Donations

Rekha posted on Friday, December 3rd, 2010 | PRX in the News, PRX Projects | 2 Comments

***Update 12/14: Well over 6000 signatures and counting. Is yours on there?***

***Update 12/9: In yesterday’s New York Times, PRX CEO Jake Shapiro gets interviewed on this issue: Donations Ban on iPhone Apps Irritates Nonprofits. Petition signatures are nearing 2000 – add yours!***

With the holidays and the year’s end upon us, many of us think about donating to charity. Many of us have iPhones, and iTunes accounts that already have our credit card info. Since we also like things to be easy, it seems obvious we should be able to give money to deserving nonprofits through our iPhones.

But Apple prohibits this. Nonprofits can’t ask for donations in their apps, and any purchase transaction through iTunes gives Apple a 30% cut. In June, Jake Shapiro, our CEO, called on Apple to change this no-donation policy.

PRX’s Public Radio Player iPhone app is a great example of what such a change could mean. The app has had over 2 million unique downloads. Nearly 500 noncommercial stations across the U.S. have a page in the app. Imagine if each page had a Donate button that, with two or three taps, let you send money to the station.

Many of you have asked us how to donate to your favorite Player stations. Now there’s a petition so you can ask Apple to change its no-donations policy.

For a brief time, PayPal found a way around this rule, and made nonprofit donations possible through its PayPal Mobile for iPhone app. Soon after, Apple asked PayPal to remove the donation feature, which they did. In “Why Does Apple Make Donation Apps So Hard?” Gizmodo provides a good review of the situation.

Beth Kanter posted about this on her blog about nonprofits and technology. We’re glad she’s on the case. Especially if she’s going to keep making these wacky graphics!

Flickr: cambodia4kidsorg

Flickr: cambodia4kidsorg

This American Life Goes Android

Rekha posted on Thursday, September 30th, 2010 | PRX Projects | 2 Comments

This American Life’s iPhone app was such a success, they didn’t want it to stop there. Nor did the many Android owners who begged for an app of their own. So we built one.

Get the details – and the download info – here.

REMIX Radio: It’s Terrestrial!

Emily posted on Tuesday, September 14th, 2010 | Press Releases, PRX Projects | 2 Comments

After 16 months streaming on XM, REMIX Radio — PRX’s remix of amazing stories, cool podcasts and more — is now broadcasting on real-live radio-radio, from the brand new KPBZ 90.3 in Spokane, WA. Thanks KPBZ!

We received such great feedback from our XM listeners that our tech team and the good folks at Backbone Radio couldn’t help themselves but pull on their white coats, get out their test tubes and clone that friendly beast.  Now you can hear REMIX on terrestrial radio, on XM, online and on your iPhone and iPod too.

REMIX Radio is curated and hosted by Remixer-in-Chief Roman Mars, and streams 24/7. Hear what folks are saying!

Bravo. Only been on for a couple of days and don’t want to be without it. Bits on Mandela, border crossings, street dogs, mass hysteria… where have you been all my life? -Ralleuc, KPBZ listener

I was about to throw out my XM radio until you guys came along.  PRX is amazing, I love it.  -Richard, XM 136 listener

This is great. I recently moved to Spokane and…. I’m so excited to hear what you guys have to offer. I’ve been listening for a half-hour and have already heard a Bob Dylan song I’ve never heard and learned something new about Ben Franklin. THANK YOU! -Agille, KPBZ listener

I LOVE your channel.  It is the only one I really listen to and love on XM. Today, you had a piece from The Moth from 2006 around 1:45pm EST.  What a compelling man!  I had an appointment and had to leave the broadcast midway.  I simply cannot bear to not know the ending to the story!!! … Thanks, many blessings and thank you for the many amazing stories and pieces. -Karen, XM 136 listener

Amazing Stuff! -Purav, XM 136 listener

You should join in the fun!

Tags: Emily

Al and Glynn are unstoppable

Rekha posted on Wednesday, August 18th, 2010 | Blog, PRX Projects | No Comments

Two of public radio’s newest shows, State of the Re:Union and Snap Judgment, have been busy expanding their multimedia empires. Broadcast carriage on hundreds of stations, online video, live performance, audience participation… these folks deserve a shout out.

Current describes how the crew at Snap Judgment — led by host/EP Glynn Washington and co-EP Mark Ristich — work non-stop:

“We kind of just go-go-go all the time,” says Mark Ristich, co-executive producer with Glynn Washington, a Talent Quest winner who is host and creator of the series. “We’re going to try to keep the content as fresh as possible, because we’ll lose people if we don’t.”

The small production team is busy creating 26 weekly radio episodes and a series of live storytelling performances, the first of which was recorded in June at San Francisco’s Brava Theater. The performances will be adapted for radio and television programs.

Meanwhile, host/EP Al Letson, EP Ian DeSousa, and team over at State of the Re:Union keep finding and making new tools for engagement and support. There’s the My Community in One Picture series of listener submissions. There’s also a Kickstarter campaign to crowdfund a video documentary to accompany SOTRU’s Austin, Texas radio piece. (The campaign ends in three days, on August 21… tell your friends!)

Both shows are co-distributed by PRX and NPR. We’re really proud of what they’ve accomplished and continue to achieve… and we’ll be sure to keep bragging about them.

Great new features on the This American Life iPhone app

Rekha posted on Tuesday, August 10th, 2010 | PRX Projects | No Comments

Here at PRX and there at This American Life, we listened to people’s feedback about the This American Life iPhone app. Generally, it’s been great, and we thank you for that. Naturally, there were requests, some of them ardent. Now, they are a reality:

• Multitask: Listen while you do other things on your device, like check email and surf the web
• Multitask without an internet connection: Save an episode for offline listening so you’re *never* bored.
• Stay organized: Mark as “Heard” the episodes you’ve, um, heard

(I’m sensing a trend… efficiency. Doesn’t anyone ever just listen anymore?)

Ira Glass talks about the new features in more depth here: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/blog/2010/08/awesome-new-features-in-version-20-of-our-iphone-app

Get the app (if you already have it, download the update from the iTunes App Store.)

Tags: iphone, this american life

WBUR goes even more mobile (with our help)

Rekha posted on Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 | PRX Projects | 2 Comments

WBUR, the powerhouse Boston public radio station, has been mobile for a while, thanks to broadcast, internet streaming, and a great mobile website.

There was more to be done, however, and we’ve done it: We’re proud to announce the launch of the WBUR app for iPhone and iPod, developed by PRX. The app is free. Get it now.

This app has many things going for it, and we list most of them here. There’s the live stream of WBUR’s excellent programming, top-of-the-hour news and weather, a program schedule, and access to past episodes.

But both WBUR and PRX wanted to push the limits of what a public radio mobile app could be. The result are some important new features we hope to see in other station apps in the future: Support, On Assignment, and Benefits.

Support
You may have gathered that we’re passionate about channeling donations from iPhone users to the stations they listen to. It’s not easy, since Apple prohibits direct donations from iPhone apps, but our team got real close with just two buttons: “Call Now to Pledge” and “Remind Me Later”. The former requires the phone number of someone on WBUR’s development staff. The latter doesn’t need anything except the listener’s own email address, since they’re just emailing themselves a reminder with a link to WBUR’s pledge form. We can’t wait to see the impact of these two little buttons.

On Assignment
This feature brings public radio and its (iPhone toting) audience closer together, letting editors create assignments that anyone with the app can fulfill. A breaking news event is happening in your region? Put out an assignment asking for text, audio, or photos from the scene. Use PRX’s On Assignment curation tool to manage the submissions, then work them into your on-air or online coverage.

Benefits
Here’s yet another groundbreaker for public radio. The WBUR app provides a list of underwriters offering discounts and other treats to WBUR listeners. Then it maps them. Then it lets you generate a Virtual Member Card right in the app that you can show to the participating business for instant gratification. Anyone involved with station membership and underwriting knows just how amazing this is.

These innovations, and the overall app, could not have been achieved without a true sense of partnership, collaboration, and vision among both WBUR and our own PRX team. We are also grateful to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for support that gave us the ability to explore, experiment, and refine. We look forward to hearing what you think!

Tags: iphone, mobile, stations, wbur