Stitcher And TalkBack: The World In My Ears

Shortwave Radio --- and DXing was one my hobbies growing up--- I spent many hours listening to far-off radio stations ---and in the process developed a love for languages. Fast forward to the late 90's, and one could now listen to radio stations from all around the world on the Internet --- but this time without the hiss and static of shortwave propogation. But there was a catch --- you needed to be at your computer to listen to these stations. At home, I solved this problem by setting up a set of living room speakers connected to the computer in my office-bedroom; with a wireless keyboard, this brought Internet radio to my living room.

Fast-forward to the next decade, and I now have the Internet in my pocket in the form of a smart phone. I recently discovered Stitcher on the Android Market --- and it got me the final mile to having ubiquitous access to Internet Radio!

Using Stitcher With TalkBack

There is little more to say other than try it out! .Stitcher on Android is a simple Android application that worksout of the box with TalkBack. Once you install stitcher fromMarket, use the arrow keys or trackball on your phone to browse through the various categories. Clicking on stations launchesplayback immediately. Note that for now, the stop buttonin the player is not navigable by the trackball --- I have gotten used to hitting it by dead-reckoning since it always appears in afixed position. In the last few weeks, stitcher hasreplaced StreamFuriously , my previous Internet Radio solution on Android.

So here's to happy listening!A brief note on the title of this post --- The World In My Ears was also the title of abook on DXing by Arthur Cushen from New Zealand --- I remember hearing his voice in the 80's on the BBC's World Service.