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Top 5 Free Apps

Release Date: August 05, 2009
Genre: Games
Release Date: May 22, 2009
Genre: Games
Release Date: August 29, 2009
Genre: Games
Release Date: March 27, 2009
Release Date: August 07, 2009

iTunes New Music Releases

Release Date: September 29, 2009
Genre: Rock
Release Date: September 20, 2009
Release Date: September 15, 2009
Release Date: August 25, 2009
Genre: Rock
Release Date: August 25, 2009

Top 5 Paid Apps

Release Date: April 22, 2009
StickWars $0.99
Release Date: March 31, 2009
Genre: Games
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Release Date: April 05, 2009
Genre: Games

Discover New Music

  • Abnormal Anonymous

    • 8 out of 10
    • Congo Norvell
    • Very few albums manage to capture snapshots of a quality of life in the manner that Congo Norvell's sophomore record, "Abnormals Anonymous," does.

      Comparisons to the Velvet Underground are

  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Once More, with Feeling

    • 10 out of 10
    • Various Artists
    • Most musical episodes of TV shows frankly stink. They are usually little more than ill-conceived vehicles intended to let the stars show off what musical talent they have. Once More, With Feeling,

  • Plans

    • 8 out of 10
    • Death Cab for Cutie
    • With the introduction of Plans, Death Cab for Cutie became a new addition to many user's Artist list after the single "Soul Meets Body" became a hit on iTunes. Offering a fresh alternativ

  • So Jealous

    • 8 out of 10
    • Tegan and Sara
    • So Jealous is the third album from these sisters, and easily the one to single out for an introduction to their music. Some people may not get on board with their vocal styles, which are slightly

  • Cocked & Loaded

    • 8 out of 10
    • Revolting Cocks
    • It's hard to believe it's been more than a decade since Ministry founder and front man Al Jourgensen's side project Revolting Cocks released any new material. 2006 brings us Cocked and Loaded

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Quick Look Review

NPR App for iPhone is Practically Perfect

On August 15, National Public Radio (NPR) released its iPhone app, version 1.0. For a first version, the app is just about perfect. You can listen to NPR from any city, save as a favorite, catch up on recent programs, download the podcasts, and read the latest news as text. The app is smooth, refined, and essential. Best of all, it's free.

It always shows when a news organization is experienced and self-confident. It knows that the content it delivers is useful and sought out. That results in a certain low key approach combined with application excellence. The NPR app is one of those.

 

NPR main

NPR Main page

The home page has three tabs: Top Stories (text), More stories (broken down by U.S., world, politics, business, science and health) and Newscast -- the current hourly news in audio.

Tabs at the bottom include: News, Programs (by name), Stations (a list of all U.S. stations by state), your Playlist, and More....

 

NPR Programs

Program List

For example, if you want to listen to the August 8 edition of Car Talk, just click on Programs -> Car Talk and tap it to select and then tap "Listen Now." Or you can add it to a playlist or download to iTunes. When playing directly, there's no way to jump ahead (or around) in the program. But if you download it as a Podcast, then you can. Each program includes a text synopsis to help you recall if you heard the program before. A very simple start/pause/timer display is at the bottom and comes up just by tapping near the bottom of the display.

 

NPR Car Talk

Car Talk (and controls)

For those people who commute every day in the car, they're bound to the program that's live at the time. However, having the complete works of NPR available at your finger tips on the iPhone or iPod touch is a game changer. It's possible to listen to or catch up with almost any recent program at any time and place of your choosing. It opens things up in a way a car radio never could.

Devotees of "All Things Considered" or "Morning Edition" can, with ear buds in place, tune in and catch up while in their cubicle at work or save the Podcast for later listening during the commute or Saturday lawn mowing.

If desired, just pick your favorite NPR station from anywhere in the U.S. and listen live.

 

NPR KCFR

 

KCFR (K - Colorado Front Range)

I was impressed with the quality of the app for a version 1.0. I worked it over pretty hard, and it stood up fabulously. (The developer is Bottle Rocket Software.) A nice touch is that when you quit the app, the sound doesn't just cut out. It does a nice, sloooow fade.

There's a lot of stuff out there, gnawing and hyping for your attention. This Must Have app is worth the few seconds it takes to download. Even though this is a quick look, I'll give it a five out of five rating.

The NPR app for the iPhone or iPod touch is free. It requires iPhone OS 2.0 or later.

4 comments from the community.

You can post your own below.

ry said:

Any idea how this compares to the (also free) Public Radio Player?

http://www.publicradioplayer.org/

   Quote

CommonSense said:

Except that NPR slanted (censored?) so their credibility as a news source is greatly diminished.

   Quote

Mike said:

S’okay, but there’s no pause, no fast forward or rewind, and it didn’t seem to buffer well enough to listen over the Edge network (lots of skipping and drop-outs).  I have high hopes that they’ll get these things ironed out though.

   Quote

Bottle Rocket Apps said:

1.1 is now on the App Store. Enjoy… - Bottle Rocket Apps…

Twitter, Facebook, Email share, Pause, Scrubbing (fast forward/rewind), Pinch Zoom pictures and more… We hope you enjoy.

   Quote

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