RadioDNS demonstrates Hybrid Switching in US and Europe

[Nick Piggott]

I'm very pleased to announce the latest development from RadioDNS,
which we demonstrated yesterday at the NAB Radioshow in Chicago (IL)
and at Nextradio in London (UK).

RadioDNS is the open project that bring together broadcast radio and
IP to create a better radio experience. We believe that broadcast
radio is the best way to deliver radio to people ubiquitously.

There has been an explosive growth in people listening to radio on
their smartphones, and almost all of that listening is using streaming
over the wireless (3G/4G) networks. Using IP streaming to deliver
radio uses up listeners' data plans and flattens a smartphone's
battery faster. It can also cost the broadcaster more, both in
infrastructure costs and royalty payments.

Today we've demonstrated a prototype of a concept we'd previously
proposed - a radio that could switch audio reception intelligently and
automatically between broadcast radio and IP. Wherever possible, it
receives the broadcast radio signal, but when that signal becomes
weak, it switches over to IP. As the broadcast signal improves, it
switches back to broadcast. All this happens without listener
intervention.

It also enables listeners to choose which station they want to listen
to, not which system (FM, DAB, HD, IP). The station preset can store
all the information needed to find the station in a number of
different ways, and the receiver works out which one is best. That
means if you're in the coverage area, it will use broadcast radio, but
if you're out of area, it will automatically try IP streaming.

The discovery of the information needed to make all this happens uses
the RadioDNS lookup process, and a small amount of configuration
information held on each station website. RadioDNS doesn't aggregate
this information, it just links radio receivers to it.

You can see videos of the switching in action:
* On an Android device - http://youtu.be/c1t0FFGpAnM
* On a Nokia device - http://youtu.be/5OrPdd8E0b0

Smartphone manufacturers have expressed strong interest in
implementing this functionality in their handsets, and we would
welcome more radio stations to provide the configuration information
to make it possible. To help that process, we'll be shortly adding a
tool that will let you create that information for a station.

RadioDNS continues to enjoy support from broadcasters and
manufacturers around the world, and delivers innovation to broadcast
radio. Anyone is welcome to join the collaboration, as a member,
supporter or user. Find out more at http://radiodns.org/

I'd like to end by thanking those people who contributed to this new
development and the demonstration devices; Ben Poor, Peter Redhead,
Byrion Smith and Ben Matthew. I'd also like to thank David Layer and
Skip Pizzi of the NAB in the US for their support and help in making
the demonstrations at NAB Radioshow possible, and to James Cridland
for the same opportunity at Nextradio in London.


Nick Piggott
Chairperson
RadioDNS