Android radio round-up: 6, 5, 4

#6 StreamFurious is a Shoutcast/Icecast streamer that can handle PLS/M3U from the G1 stock or Steel browsers. It's pretty basic, but gets the job done. The problem I have with this app is organization. The user is presented with a long list of stations, and there's really no way to categorize or sort them. Still, for those who want a quick, nimble app, and don't want to mess with a bunch of options, SF works great. This is my default client for talk radio. It runs in the notification bar.

#5 Jinzora... Jinzora. Oh, you evil seductress. How, at once, I love and loathe thee. This app is supposed to stream media from your home library to your phone. I got pretty excited about this one because I'm already a Linux user. Properly setting up the LAMP server for Jinzora is a matter of following some fairly simple cut-and-paste instructions. However, dealing with the way Comcast handles IP assignment and the way my router forwards ports, are different matters. It's been a long time since I messed with this stuff.

I experimented, but my cable modem upload speeds are so bad that each change of a setting required me to wait for five minutes while Jinzora client tried to get the media. When it couldn't, I wasn't given any errors or other information, so it was too frustrating to continue. If I had more free time, you can bet I'd have Jinzora running trouble-free... or I'd die trying to make it happen.

There are Windows and Mac servers available, but I did not test either. They may or may not simplify the server set-up process. Unless you have some killer upstream flow, it isn't worth your time. This one is here for the tinkerers. Some of you will fall in love. Some will go mad. When you do, please let me know. I'll give this one another shot when my Mac Mini arrives. If things work out, I'll write a post dedicated to Jinzora. (And possibly switch to FiOS.) I rated this one on concept.

#4 AntPlayer accesses Shoutcast streams. You can search and bookmark your favorite stations, as well as add your own. This is a bare-bones program, which is exactly what some people want. I use it to listen to archived episodes of Coast to Coast A.M., which gives a voice to UFO witnesses and abductees, witches, people who are trapped in the future, the possessed, the haunted, the psychic, the keepers of ancient secrets, victims of government brainwashing, those who travel outside of their bodies, conspiracy theorists, grand conspirators, and people who have been to heaven, hell and Bigfoot's stinky cottage. Search for George Noory or Art Bell. It's a real kick in the pants.

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