Jan 04 2010

Best Phone App Ever!

Posted by in cellphones, communication, israel, social media, start-up, web 2.0

Image via CrunchBase

So I was looking for something to blog about when I decided to write about my new favorite phone program, TuneWiki – when I came across this press release that said that it was actually an Israeli-made program! But of course that makes sense – of course it would be an Israeli company that came up with the ultimate on-the-go music/social/internet program out there!

TuneWiki turns listening to music into an event – a social event. You can use it to play music on your device’s library (there’s a version for Symbian, iPhone, and Android), and display the lyrics and album cover art. Not only do the lyrics automatically show up for any song, but they display “karaoke style” – meaning they change in the window as each line of the song is sung. You also get access to videos of the song on Youtube – TuneWiki will create a page of all the videos with the name of the song you’re listening to (not necessarily only by the artist performing the version you’re hearing), which you can play just by clicking on it.

TuneWiki works not only with your device’s music library – it can also play any online Shoutcast station! The app connects with a mobile version of the Shoutcast service, where thousands of stations of all genres are available right on your phone! I have three different internet radio apps on my Nokia XM5800, and none really work (two do absolutely nothing and one connects to just a few stations). TuneWiki “picks up” all the stations, even the high-bandwidth ones (tip: when you connect on 3G, go for the lower bandwidth stations). If for nothing else, TuneWiki is invaluable for its Shoutcast component, finally giving phone users real access to online music.

But wait, there’s more! My favorite part of TuneWiki is its social component. On the TuneWiki menu there is feature called “Where is this song playing,” which connects you to other TuneWiki users listening to the same song you are right now! You can then follow/connect with those listeners, and check out what each of you are listening to anytime. When you follow someone, they send the name of their selections to your “song inbox,” and you can display the lyrics, as well as play the songs on your device (there were buffering issues, though). And, you can comment on any song to Twitter or Facebook, with a “blip,” either “love it” or “hate it,” or give a whole commentary (140 characters or less, of course!)

And the best part? It’s all free! I don’t want to give the TuneWiki people any ideas, but one question I am dying to ask TuneWiki CEO Rani Cohen is – why aren’t they charging for this app, considering so many apps of much lesser capability seem to be selling very well?

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This entry was posted on Monday, January 4th, 2010 at 1:28 pm and is filed under cellphones, communication, israel, social media, start-up, web 2.0. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1. newzgeek (David Shamah) says:

   January 11, 2010 at 11:19 am

   FriendFeed Comment
   

   
   of course, the coolest phone app ever made is made in Israel! – [link to post] http://friendfeed.com/e/f2d87367-75bd-4db1-bc55-e9d59d57165d

   – Posted using Chat Catcher
2. newzgeek (David Shamah) says:

   January 11, 2010 at 11:38 am

   Twitter Comment
   

   
   of course, the coolest phone app ever made is made in Israel! – [link to post]

   – Posted using Chat Catcher
3. BuyIsrael (Buycott Israel) says:

   January 11, 2010 at 11:39 am

   Twitter Comment
   

   
   RT @newzgeek: of course, the coolest #iPhone (and other smart phone) app ever made is made in #Israel – [link to post]

   – Posted using Chat Catcher
4. talknsave (Talk'n'Save) says:

   January 11, 2010 at 11:40 am

   Twitter Comment
   

   
   RT @newzgeek: of course, the coolest phone app ever made is made in Israel! – [link to post]

   – Posted using Chat Catcher
5.