We7 has announced the arrival of its latest service - a mobile radio app which lets users create their own personal radio stations that can work anywhere, regardless of data signal.
The new We7 mobile app works with or without an internet connection, so you can listen to personalised radio without the fear that you are eating into your precious data bundle.
The way the app works is by using a sequence of buffering and caching mechanisms.
Essentially you pack your phone with tunes before you set off – this requires a wired connection but is said to take only 15 minutes or so for hours of content.
Like a proper radio station, you won't know what tunes are coming up next but you can tailor your content by genre, or even artist.
Cache rules everything around me
The app is free and will eventually be ad-funded. Currently it is in its beta stage, so you should be able to try it out ad-free for now.
TechRadar spoke to Steve Purdham, CEO of We7, who said about the app: "Using buffering technology already in place on the existing We7 app, we have created a radio app that isn't tied to a data connection.
"Data has always been a problem for modern smartphones and we have found a unique way round this problem."
Although the radio app is free, users who want to choose their own songs, albums and playlists can upgrade to an 'on-demand' subscription for just £9.99 a month.
Existing users who already pay for We7 will get this new feature as part of their service – although they will need to download the new app for the new services to work.
The We7 radio app is available now for free from the Android Market, with an iPhone version coming in April.
