The free upgrade brings all of the features of the Sonos CR200 Multiroom Music System Controller to the iPhone controller for the Sonos BU250 Multiroom Music System. One of these features includes the “Info View” command. This new feature (accessed using the “i” button on the Now Playing screen) allows you to discover even more music via the various music services available on Sonos.

[via Distorted-Loop]

From the ease of use to the accessibility of the iPhone App Store, unified hardware and software package, the panel discussed what it is that has made iPhone just so successful. Chief Technical Officer, Tom Conrad from Pandora, for one credited iPhone’s App Store with the success of Pandora’s free music discovery application. The company saw more customers after a few months on the iPhone than it did after two years under the carriers’ wings.

Jeff Smith, CEO of Smule said the iPhone was the only device that could handle their audio application. Ocarina (pictured) requires five audio scripts to run concurrently, Smith said, plus GPS, the accelerometer, multitouch and multithreading. Developers have an easier time as they can get started without having to negotiate with the likes of AT&T and Verizon on their own. iPhone has a huge slice of the market through the Western World. Overall, Nokia still has 40% of the hardware and there are a number of models coming out in the next few months (as well as associated app stores) to take iPhone on. I will be very keen to see statistics and thoughts by the end of 09.

[via CNET]

Other interesting features include a song progress bar, cover-flow view for song history and the ability to share stations with friends using Email.

While this update isn’t anything revolutionary, it certainly adds features that round out out cool features in the app, like embedded iTunes purchasing.

However, there is something missing, according to an user: the ability to run this application in the background. Or do you think we don’t need it?

[TechCrunch, CNET]

The CRB hit the customizable radio station with super high royalty rates and ever since, the company has been struggling to keep afloat. Tim Westergren, the company’s founder, has said that Pandora is currently facing a “pull-the-plug” situation, wherein they’ll be forced to shut down unless something changes quickly.

Unfortunately, change doesn’t seem to be on the horizon. As Pandora keeps spending their money to keep the company running, it looks like the day when their doors will close is swiftly approaching. And I was just getting my custom stations how I wanted them!

[via Gizmodo]

I’ve heard of other people having this issue with their apps, as well. Seems like I just need to re-download it. But I digress. I will pretend this inconvenience did not occur and proceed with my review. 

Pandora is not new. It’s been online for quite sometime, but now on the iPhone it makes traveling with music–any music you want–much easier. Plus, it’s free. It works like this: 

• Open Pandora
• Click the + sign and type in the name of an artist or song title
• Let Pandora work its magic

Now, sometimes the song you want to listen to will play right away, or you’ll get something the Music Genome Project thinks you will like. This is a very intelligent program because while it may not always play the specific artist you requested, it will play you songs that are very similar–and will give you the reasons why it’s similar. And if it plays a song you dislike or feels is not related to your initial query, vote it a thumbs down. And be sure to give songs you like a thumbs up.

I spent hours playing with this app over the weekend and it’s fantastic. However, there were a few times when it got off on a musical tangent, though that was probably my fault for not voting each and every song. 

The only real drawback is you can only skip songs six times within an hour due to their music licenses. That’s a bummer, especially when it goes off on a Steely Dan tangent. Hey, no offense to Steely Dan, but that’s just not what I wanted to listen to when I typed in “The Eagles.” 

Oh well. Good app, nonetheless. Now, if I could only get mine to work again!

Update: Just reinstalled Pandora and we’re back in business!

Updates and new features or Pandora for iPhone 1.1 include:

+ Stereo over WiFi – Pandora stations now play in high bitrate stereo when using Pandora over WiFi. This makes an iPod touch the perfect companion to your living room stereo. Just dock and play.

+ Station Resume – when you’re using Pandora and switch to another application, or take an incoming phone call, the music will resume right where you left off when you start Pandora back up. It’s not as good as background listening (which isn’t currently possible on the iPhone) but at least you won’t miss anything if you need to hop out to another app for a minute.

+ Search Auto-Complete – as you type an artist, song or composer in the station creation screen we will offer suggestions in real time as you go.

+ Station Sorting – view your stations either by the creation date or alphabetically.

+ On Phone Registration – users that are new to Pandora can now complete account registrations on the iPhone and iPod touch.

+ Settings Panel – swap your Pandora login without reinstalling the app.

I’m currently testing out this app–and it looks promising, folks–and will have a full review of it on Monday.

[via Pandora Radio Blog]