Is iPhone's secret radio a Last.fm style streaming service?
Apparently there’s four unused or ‘hidden’ applications on the iPhone: a translator, a converter, a phone book and a radio. At least, that’s what hackers are surmising after poking around the device’s software.
It’s the radio that’s the really intriguing one – as iPhonic points out, the others are standard OS X widgets. If the iPhone is going to have radio functionality, surely it won’t be just a bog-standard AM/FM tuner. So what’s Apple planning?
My money’s on a Last.fm-style streaming radio application…
Actually, given Apple’s desire to work with Web 2.0 firms (e.g. YouTube), it could even be the actual Last.fm, or its US equivalent Pandora.
Although such an application could be seen as competing with iTunes, it’s not hard to imagine the two working hand-in-hand, so when you hear a song you like on the radio player, you could click to cue it up for purchase and download, next time you sync your iPhone with iTunes on your computer.
This, obviously, is wild speculation. But it makes sense for these streaming radio firms to make the leap to portable devices, and the iPhone would be a helluva way to do it, assuming the business model works for both Apple and the radio provider.
Of course, Apple could opt to launch its own streaming radio service…
(via iPhonic)
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