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July 15, 2009
Pandora for BlackBerry -- Now in Stereo
I'm happy to announce that we've just released the latest version of Pandora for BlackBerry. This version has a bunch of cool new features but I think the one that many people have been anxiously waiting for is improved audio quality. While we have had stereo AAC+ over Wi-Fi for a while, our BlackBerry mobile stream has been constrained to mono AAC - until now!
We've just switched the BlackBerry mobile streams over to stereo AAC+ in our servers. If you are using an older Pandora client (1.0.3 or earlier) then you're now hearing an AAC+ stereo stream. Once you upgrade to 1.1, you will have access to a new "High" quality AAC+ stereo stream in addition to the "Normal" stereo stream (in case your mobile connection isn't fast enough to keep up with the high quality stream).
Point your BlackBerry browser to http://www.pandora.com to download and install the app. It should be available on App World within the next day or so.
Here are the full release notes for 1.1. As usual, if you have any problems please feel free to leave a comment here or email our support team at pandora-support@pandora.com
New Features
- Significantly better audio quality over mobile network - now using stereo AAC+ (HE-AAC) for both Wi-Fi and mobile connections
- Listener preference option to select "High" quality stream over mobile network or "Normal" for slower connections. Both are stereo.
- Create Station screen now has auto-complete functionality as you type
- Added user preference option to enable or disable station auto-start
- Moved "Log Out" from main menu into Options screen, it now shows the currently logged-in username
- Visual overlay when changing volume; easier to see actual volume level
- Application will check for correct application permissions on startup, and offer to set them to appropriate values if required
- You can now get to the "Options" screen from the menus of both the Station List screen and the
Now Playing screen
- Reduced download size of app by about 30-40%
Bug Fixes:
- Fixed stream resume problem on some Storm devices after being interrupted by a system alert (phone call, SMS, email, etc)
- Fixed bug where Wi-Fi capable devices without a SIM card or data plan were not able to use Pandora over Wi-Fi
- Fixed reports of "low volume" settings not being low enough - the lower volume settings now go as quiet as possible before being muted
- Fixed bug where album art may not have been displayed for some tracks
- Mute button should now properly sleep the device when holding it down
Posted by Tom Conrad at July 15, 2009 04:01 PM
Comments
I will check it out now with my Bold! It better be good...I kid. I am excited though!
Posted by: Stacey Storey at July 15, 2009 04:25 PM
Rock on guys! I've been waiting for the Iphone-like quality version of Pandora for a little while now. This is awesome. Thanks so much for creating such a killer product!
Posted by: Dan at July 15, 2009 08:50 PM
Thank you, thank you, thank you. On my new Verizon Blackberry Tour (CDMA/EVDO), the new high-quality stereo streams sound incredible.
Posted by: Brian at July 16, 2009 03:27 AM
That's great! How about a pandora app for BlackJack II??
Posted by: Jen at July 16, 2009 06:54 AM
is there an ETA for a windows mobile version? more specifically sprint's touch pro?
Posted by: Guest at July 16, 2009 08:47 AM
Well I just downloaded the new version......EXCELLENT! I deleted slacker radio within minutes of trying the new Pandora.
A suggestion for updates.....ability to rename stations to a custom name....
Thanks for a great app!
Posted by: John Farrar at July 16, 2009 10:18 AM
Anyone know if this fixes the random memory/connection issues Pandora has after running for a while with the .151 firmware for the storm?
Posted by: Bryan at July 16, 2009 10:41 AM
I will never use your program again due to your limits and advertising. You once had a great idea and you sold it out to corporate capitalism. Shame on you.
Posted by: Conor at July 16, 2009 12:22 PM
Bryan - this is a known bug in the leaked .151 Storm firmware. I would recommend avoiding that firmware build if possible. Other apps that make frequent HTTP connections may suffer the same "out of memory" problem.
Posted by: Marc Novakowski at July 16, 2009 04:16 PM
Conor, don't be stupid. They need to pay royalties for the music you listen to. Where do you think the money is going to come from, thin air? They put a very reasonable limit on people, and if you go over it, it only costs $1 for the rest of the month. Plus, the Pandora One service is fabulous, and has no such limits.
Posted by: Louis Castrogivanni at July 16, 2009 07:09 PM
Sounds great in the car through the BB, thanks! Was using Slacker more b/c of the sound quality, but I'm back.
Posted by: Jeff at July 16, 2009 08:39 PM
So you get a great free app and you complain because they need to cover their costs? I suppose you think every developer of an app should just be independently wealthy and pay out of their own pockets to provide YOU everthing you want for free?
Yes Pandora, shame on you for monetizing your service so you can bring us this nice app for free and provide paying jobs for those on your team!
Posted by: John Farrar at July 17, 2009 06:47 AM
It's a long-shot, but does this update give users a way to listen to music when the Blackberry has the firewall turned on without the ability to turn it off (via your job's IT department)?
Posted by: Mike at July 17, 2009 10:00 AM
Audio quality of new Pandora is too good. I was searching for "Logout" for a while though...found it under options. Good upgrade!
gadgets
Posted by: websolutions at July 19, 2009 10:53 AM
Awesome app idea! I've been waiting to integrate my Pandora playlist on my Blackberry. Thanks again.
Posted by: Mechele Pellebon Writer at July 20, 2009 11:08 AM
Hey guys love the BB app.
Was wondering if there were any plans to add a "Don't play this song for a month" to the mobile app though.
I have a whole bunch of songs that I'd rather not give a "Thumbs Down" to and don't want to use my skips on them either.
Thanks.
Posted by: patrick at July 21, 2009 07:58 AM
Palm Pre before Android? :( Just upgraded my membership, hopefully you can get it going for my G1!
Posted by: Aaron at July 24, 2009 09:57 AM
You should have sent an email to users about this upgrade. I am a pd. member w. a BB. GREAT upgrade. Use it on T-Mobile. Every now and then music will come out on their Edge network.
I assume 3G users have no problems with the data stream.
Will start using new version tomorrow.
Posted by: Mike T at July 28, 2009 11:28 PM
Have had Pandora for months, then the invitation to download the up-grade. During the download it freaked my Blackberry Bold out and had it go into master reload. It wiped and then scrubbed my phone clean my phone of all pics, tones, texts and other vitals. The only thing it saved was the up-graded Pandora. Oh lucky me. I spoke to ATT and Blackberry about this. They said that using a third party app can trigger the phone to go into master reload. I'm pissed but learned a time consuming lesson,
Posted by: karen at August 5, 2009 09:47 PM
Does anyone know how I can get the older version back 1.0.3.... The new version does not work on my blackberry, I just want the old one back.... please let me know...
thx
Posted by: Aileen at August 13, 2009 05:10 AM
