RadioDAVE Gets a Facelift
Submitted by dave on Mon, 12/19/2011 - 9:07pm
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If you’re a regular listener of RadioDAVE, then you will have noticed that it looks quite different this week. The hosting service is in the thralls of a major upgrade. Some of the upgrade is pretty cool, some is a little irritating, and some of it just does not work.
Let me start with the ugliest problem.
The “High Def” (HD) stream is broken. It’s just not there. The upgraded system was supposed to “auto-detect” the abilities of the computer playing the music and automatically adjust, but it doesn’t work. I’ve asked that they reinstate the old “HD” / “SD” switch in the interface; it should reappear as the programmer gets done with the biggest problems. In the meantime, the standard definition stream still works – it’s just not as clear or clean as the HD stream.
There is a new interface for mobile devices, such as smart phones. It is far easier to use than the old web interface. With the old interface, I had to zoom in to see the controls, and often hit the wrong button; it was very frustrating. The new interface couldn’t be any easier, although the HD stream is missing. After they get the HD stream working correctly for computers, I’ll bug them to get it working for mobile devices. I miss listening to it in my car through my phone!
The computer web browser interface has some cool new features. It will display pictures of the current artist most of the time. Sometimes they don’t have the pictures, and it just shows a generic image that I created to fill the space. Still, it’s kinda neat. I’ve had one listener who was concerned that the images were using more Internet capacity than they wanted; I’ve asked that a switch be made available to users so that they can turn off the images, if they desire.
So, is the upgrade a good thing? It’s been a rough start, but I think it will be better in the long run. I’ll feel much better about it after the HD stream is running again.
Let me know what you think.
Oh, by the way, the Christmas music will disappear after Christmas is over… there are some pretty obscure songs in there!
The “High Def” (HD) stream is broken. It’s just not there. The upgraded system was supposed to “auto-detect” the abilities of the computer playing the music and automatically adjust, but it doesn’t work. I’ve asked that they reinstate the old “HD” / “SD” switch in the interface; it should reappear as the programmer gets done with the biggest problems. In the meantime, the standard definition stream still works – it’s just not as clear or clean as the HD stream.
There is a new interface for mobile devices, such as smart phones. It is far easier to use than the old web interface. With the old interface, I had to zoom in to see the controls, and often hit the wrong button; it was very frustrating. The new interface couldn’t be any easier, although the HD stream is missing. After they get the HD stream working correctly for computers, I’ll bug them to get it working for mobile devices. I miss listening to it in my car through my phone!
The computer web browser interface has some cool new features. It will display pictures of the current artist most of the time. Sometimes they don’t have the pictures, and it just shows a generic image that I created to fill the space. Still, it’s kinda neat. I’ve had one listener who was concerned that the images were using more Internet capacity than they wanted; I’ve asked that a switch be made available to users so that they can turn off the images, if they desire.
So, is the upgrade a good thing? It’s been a rough start, but I think it will be better in the long run. I’ll feel much better about it after the HD stream is running again.
Let me know what you think.
Oh, by the way, the Christmas music will disappear after Christmas is over… there are some pretty obscure songs in there!
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