For kicks, I Googled the keyword phrase "iRadio job," and found an employment ad for an iRadio web designer/developer. What I thought was kind of interesting was this little piece about "time-slipped radio/TV audio":
• Time-slipped & buffered audio – record & store radio/TV audio and play it back at a scheduled time or on-demand. The audio might originate from Satellite radio, AM/FM broadcast, Internet or Cable TV. Imagine listening to your favorite radio/TV show when & where you want to . . . not when it happens to be broadcast!
I'm guessing that initially, the Cable TV portion will consist of MusicChoice music channels and the like. But is Motorola planning to expand the offering to, say, (egad) Desperate Housewives audio? (actually, that's not cable, is it) I'm also interested in the mention of Satellite Radio... Is it possible Motorola will announce a partnership with Sirius or XM down the road?
I also noticed under "desired Secondary Skills": "• Familiarity with weblogs." Does Motorola have the entire iRadio team blogging about their exploits? :) Or perhaps, they plan to do something similar to what Microsoft does, where engineers are encouraged to blog about updates, bug fixes, software features, etc. Interesting...
I'll include the entire job ad below, for any web developers out there... It's actually an interesting read, especially the part that describes iRadio. See the "three key capabilities" section, i.e. Time-Slipped & Buffered Radio, Pause-Resume, and Push-To-Buy.
[I found this through Google at GetTheJob.com...]
Job Title iRadio Web Designer/Developer
Location UNITED STATES-TEMPE-AZ-AZ43
Job Category Software Engineering
Position Type Full-time experienced
Relocation Available None
Required Education Bachelors / Degree
Required Experience 3 - 5
Department Description:
iRadio™ . . . Reinventing and Personalizing Audio & Music!!!
Tired of the repetitive, one-size-fits-all, traditional AM/FM broadcast?
Try iRadio . . . Rock’n content with digital audio quality!
When you want it . . . you schedule when you hear it!
Where you want to hear it . . . in the car, at home, on the go!
Like what you hear . . . buy it!
iRadio is the software & subsystems that enable the delivery of broadcast and recorded audio seamlessly across the person, home & car through three key capabilities:
• Time-slipped & buffered audio – record & store radio/TV audio and play it back at a scheduled time or on-demand. The audio might originate from Satellite radio, AM/FM broadcast, Internet or Cable TV. Imagine listening to your favorite radio/TV show when & where you want to . . . not when it happens to be broadcast!
• Pause-Resume – pause audio playback in one domain (person, home or car) and resume it in another. Picture listening to NPR during your commute home, pausing when you reach your garage and resuming where you left off on your home stereo!
• Push-to-Buy – push a button to purchase & download audio to a target destination. Imagine listening to a great new song on a phone or in your car . . . a simple push of a button launches a transaction to purchase a legal, secure digital copy of the song, download it to your home PC and wirelessly stream it to your car and phone when you get home!
Think of it as a Virtual Personal Audio Recorder based on a few building blocks:
• Car – An aftermarket, Bluetooth/802.11 enabled storage capable device or a multi-function head unit
• Home – A multi-media, 802.11 enabled gateway
• Person - A Bluetooth, MP3 & FM capable handset (Cell Phone or iPod)
• Back Office - Client & Server software architecture to enable seamless services
iRadio . . . doing to analog AM/FM broadcast what HBO & PVR did to traditional TV broadcast!
This team will be based in Phoenix Arizona and is a small exciting team – it’s the place to join if you’re a hard working entrepreneurial type of person….
Scope of Responsibilities/Expectations:
This position offers a unique opportunity to assist in the development of internal and external (consumer) web sites and interfaces for iRadio.
The successful candidate will ideally be able to:
• Design and implement elements into existing web applications and websites while maintaining existing UI branding using
• Work with other members of the iRadio team (engineering, business development, marketing) to develop solutions to a variety of design-related projects
• Work with the iRadio marketing team to help evolve iRadio web interfaces based upon user experience and market demands
• Create custom art work, icons, and flash components to be integrated into existing, as well as new, iRadio web interfaces
• Apply standard web design principles to maintain a clean separation of data from presentation
Specific Knowledge/Skills:
BS in Information Science, Computer Science, Software Engineering or other relevant field with 3-5 years of applied experience.
Primary skills:
• Strong knowledge of basic design principles: page layout, typography, color theory as it applies to the web
• Expert-level experience in coding HTML and CSS is required
• Mastery and understanding of Web standards is required
• Proven design skills for developing web interfaces with a focus on user experience
• Thorough knowledge of Photoshop, Illustrator, Macromedia Flash
• Excellent organizational and communication skills, works well with a team
• Independent problem solving skill; flexibility to meet tight deadlines
Secondary skills:
• Experience in JavaScript and DHTML a plus
• Working knowledge of ClearCase
• Familiarity with weblogs
Introducing the Motorola V195, a mid-range clamshell phone whose claim to fame is an incredibly long-lasting, 1020mAh battery, later this year. Offering up to ten hours talk time and 21 days standby, the V195 is perfect fit for the Energizer bunny. It should be good for business users whose phones keep dying at inconvenient times. However, the lack of a camera and memory expansion will not make it a great consumer (or iRadio) phone.
