Visual Radio launched in Delhi

Posted on | July 27, 2006 |

Radio Mirchi, Hutch, Nokia and HP announced the launch of Visual Radio service in Delhi yesterday.

Radio Mirchi has become the first FM radio station and Hutch the first operator to offer Visual Radio in India.

Visual radio allows listeners to tune in to local FM radio via the receiver on their Nokia devices while simultaneously receiving interactive information and graphics that are synchronised with radio broadcast through cellular network onto the screen of the handset.

The article quotes Hutch marketing head Naveen Chopra saying that Hutch has close to a million GPRS subscribers.

Visual Radio is only available on select Nokia handsets which are GPRS-enabled. GPRS is necessary to download the information and graphics associated with the song. For Hutch users only usage charges at the rate of 10 paise per 10 kb of data will apply.

The news of the launch is on Slashdot. MobilePundit got mini Slashdotted in the process.

Some people analogise Visual Radio with TV. But unlike TV, Visual Radio is interactive and only limited to songs on FM radio.

I think Visual Radio will face stiff competition from Podcasting and 3G mobile radio applications like Spodradio.

Do share your first impressions and comments if you are in Delhi and have tried the service.

Also Read:
Radio Mirchi to launch Visual Radio in India

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