nprone
Latest
Waze adds built-in audio player to spice up your commute
You won't have to use Google Maps if you want a built-in music player to accompany Google's navigation tools. In the wake of a Spotify tie-in last year, Waze has released beta versions of its Android and iOS apps with a native audio player that supports eight services in total. Deezer, iHeart Radio, NPR One, Pandora, Scribd, Stitcher and TuneIn are now available alongside Spotify to give you a choice of listening material for your commute. Not every app is available on every platform (you can use TuneIn only on Android, for example, while Deezer only works on iOS), but you only need to sync Waze with a third-party app to have access to familiar tunes on your next drive.
Now the NPR One app is plugged into Amazon's Alexa
Amazon has been building out its voice-controlled AI system, Alexa, expanding into smart cars and Motorola phones. But part of its necessary growth comes from ingesting more content into its ecosystem. Today, National Public Radio announced that its NPR One app is now available on the fleet of Alexa-enabled devices, including Amazon's own Echo and Dot.
NPR won't push its podcasts or app on the radio
NPR is far from oblivious to the growth in podcasting. The organisation puts out a bevy of shows that people can subscribe to, download and stream, like From the Top and Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! So it's all the stranger that upper management has advised local stations against promoting them. In a note titled Guidance on Podcast 'Back Announces', Chris Turpin, VP for news programming and operations, says DJs can mention a podcast "but not in a way that explicitly endorses it."
'OK Google, Shazam this song'
Siri started handling song queries when iOS 8 arrived, and now Google's voice commands recognize Shazam as a prompt to do the same on Android. That's right, Android devices now recognize the "Shazam" command, in addition to "recognize" or "name" for "track," "song" or "tune" identification. It's not the only one either, as a few other apps like NPR One, TuneIn, Zillow, Flixster and TripAdvisor (a complete list is here) are also enjoying early access to the Custom Voice Actions feature. Previously you could search apps that way, but with this access developers can get more specific. It seems like the perfect kind of feature to use along with something like Android Auto, just when your phone is slightly out of reach.
NPR One delivers personalized public radio on the go
NPR already has a few options for sorting its range of programming, but now the public radio outfit is looking to get more specific. The latest effort is the NPR One, which offers a local stream along with curated content that's accessible with one tap -- all broken down into short segments. For example, upon launching the app and signing in with a Facebook, Google or NPR account, pressing play begins streaming the latest update from the closest station (WUNC in my case). Swiping to the left of the Now Playing section offers a history of recently broadcast content for a quick recap, while a swipe to the right allows you to scroll through upcoming bits. There's also controls for skipping back in 15-second increments and jumping from the current story to another. Of course, if you're after the latest All Songs Considered or Fresh Air episodes, those are easily searchable as well. Both Android and iOS apps are available via their respective repositories.
