Audio Entertainment

Commuting can be such a drag! Whether alone, cocooned in your car, or travelling with the masses on public transport; getting to work is not usually a happy part of the day.

Of course, there is the radio; but with so much doom and gloom in the world, who needs to hear the hourly, or half-hourly news bulletins.

I have recently taken to two forms of entertainment whilst travelling.  Podcasts and audio books.

Podcasts

For the uninitiated, a podcast is series of broadcasts covering a plethora of subjects.  Some produced by well known broadcast organisations, such as the BBC.  Others are produced and presented by less known individuals.
In fact, that's one of the bonuses of a podcast; anyone can get in on the act and produce weekly episodes looking at their favourite TV show, or gardening, or politics or.... anything.

When I say anyone - I mean anyone.  I have a podcast of my own; which is available to listen to right here.

The BBC use podcasts alongside their regular progamming; providing either additional elements to a show, or an extra outlet for extended shows.  My favourites include "The Chequered Flag", their Formula 1 podcast.  Or, there's "Kermode and Mayo's Film Review".  This is broadcast on a Friday afternoon, but the podcast contains extra bits before and after the main show.  It's almost compulsive.

Other podcasts are "No Such Thing As A Fish", produced by the QI Elves, and is look at totally useless facts.  Funny as well as interesting.

Hollywood & Crime is a weekly series investigating a series or murders back in the 1940's, in Los Angeles.

The beauty of podcasts is that they're totally free; and you can download and listen to them on your phone.

Audio Books

My other, more recent discovery is audio books.  I had heard of them, but not really investigated them in detail.

I decided to have a look at Audible, which is an Amazon company.

Here you can listen to samples and purchase and download the entire book for listening; using their app (or on your laptop).

Audio books are not cheap.  Bearing in mind the production costs for a full, unabridged book, lasting upwards of 11 hours, they range from £2.99 to £20.

There are literally thousands to choose from.

"Mythos" read by Stephen Fry,
"Harry Potter and the Philosphers Stone" - also read by Stephen Fry
The Michelle O'Bama biography "Becoming"

The best way to enjoy Audible is through a membership plan.  For £7.99 per month, you get 1 credit.

You can use this credit for any book in their vast library.  They even have a guarantee that says if you don't enjoy a book, you can just return it.  Plus, if you decide to end your membership, which you can pause at any time, then you keep the books you already have.

You also get 30 days to try, without any obligation - and keep the book that you get in your trial.  It's a no-brainer.

Listening to podcasts or books, keeps my mind focused and I can progress the storyline, or learn something new.

What will you listen to next?

Review - Nobex

Following on from my post yesterday, about Soundhound, today I'm looking at an app to listen to radio and podcasts via your BlackBerry10 device.

There are many apps and websites where you can 'listen again' or encouraged to listen "online, on digital and on FM", but there is one app that I go to for managing my podcasts and, if necessary, listen live.

Podcasts, for those few of you who don't know, are audio programmes, created by absolutely anyone, for anyone else to listen to.  They could be about education, religion, technology, gardening, television, films; in fact anything you have an interest in, there's bound to be a podcast about it.

I have recently taken to using an app from Nobex.  With over 16000 radio stations available to find and discover new material, my main use is to manage podcasts.




Specifically built for BlackBerry 10 (it has the Built for BlackBerry designation) the free version give you:

• Listen to radio stations in your country for free
• Listen to or watch your favourite podcasts
• Get notifications when a subscribed podcast is released
• Share what you are listening to via BBM, facebook or Twitter
• Sleep timer function
• Watch YouTube videos

When listening to the radio, it tells you the name of the track and artist, along with an image, if available.

It's possible to also download the podcast, for future listening, to save using data, when out and about.

If you like your daily or weekly podcasts, and want them delivered to you with ease, then you can't go too far wrong with Nobex.

As mentioned, it's free to download, but there is a premium version which give you access to more radio stations, the ability to customize with your own pictures, and access your account on their website.

Nobex is available in BlackBerry World

My first wireless...

At last. The central heating has been fixed, and normality is restored. Thanks to the British Gas engineer who, when he got here, resolved the issue. Thanks also to my brother-in-law who helped the diagnosis which meant the gas man wasn't here long.

Now; in today's blog I want to extol the virtues of digital radio. Last week I decided to treat myself to a DAB (that's Digital Audio Broadcast if you didn't know) radio. Tesco. £29.99.

OK. So it's cheap, and I was taking a risk. But, I switched it on, it ran it's setup, found all the stations it could, and I set the programmable buttons. Easy.
And the quality? Great? I've never heard Radio 5 Live so crisp - so that's how it's meant to sound!
BBC 7 - tremendous fun. Comedy. Drama. Wonderful. Alright, so there is much more than the BBC, and I intend to delve in and find some little gems.

I know there are more expensive models available, and ones where you can pause live radio (a bit like the audio version of Sky+) and some where you can set the time to record specific programmes, but for 30 quid, it's a great way to dip a toe in the digital radio water and see how it is. Next time (don't tell the wife) maybe I will spend a little more on a radio with more features. Right now, I don't need it.

That's all for today. Not a rant in sight.

Sleep well.