Shazam my iPhone, Identify that Tune!

Article by George Norman (Cybersecurity Editor)

on 10 Nov 2008

Apple seems to be taking its “solving life’s dilemmas one app at a time” motto very seriously with its latest series of ads. The overall aim that Apple is trying to attain is getting people to understand that even though the iPhone is a great piece of technology, it can be improved upon with software, mainly the various applications that can be downloaded from the App Store. The ad will inform all the iPhone and iPod users of all the opportunities they are missing out on by not getting some rather handy apps.

Shazam is the name of the latest iPhone app to be featured in one of Apple’s ads. This is how this piece of software is supposed to work: whenever you hear a tune that you like very much, but no matter what you do you cannot figure out who is singing it, just place your iPhone next to the speakers (rather tricky if you are in a shopping center and the speakers are several feet above your head). Shazam will then proceed to analyze the audio stream and will provide you with all the necessary information that was driving you crazy: song title, band name, where to go and download that tune.

It all looks pretty good on paper, let alone in the commercial, but there are a few questions that bug me. First of all, how fast will the app actually work? According to Shazam Entertainment Limited, the whole thing should take just a few seconds – I wonder if it is really that fast. The other question that is bugging me is how well will it perform when the audio source is a long way away? Just like in the shopping center case I mentioned before – will Shazam be able to identify the melody over all the background noise?

Other iPhone apps that we at FindMySoft found entertaining and consequently reported upon are: the Google Earth app that “lets you carry the Earth in your pocket” and the Flying Aces flight simulator from Snakehead Software.

If you would like to watch the ad for yourself, you can do so by clicking here. Alternative link here.


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