Dream come true

Ever since I came to the US, I've missed listening to Jordanian radio, I've been glued to it for years ... but 8000 miles away

Few months back ... I got my I-Mate SP5 which is my second Windows Mobile phone. Apparently these nasty smartphones grow on you, and you just can't go back to a dumb phone anymore. No matter how many features they pump in, I just can't switch back! I need my outlook integration, with over the air synchronization (No, not bluetooth, dummy!, it's over the GPRS network)

Since I've had an all you can eat data plan from T-Mobile, I decided to put it to some use and try to ... say, Stream audio over the internet?

So I give it a shot, fire up Windows Mobile Media player, enter MazajFM's address and BOOM! It's blasting streaming audio and the quality at 33.6� kb/s is not that bad at all. Just as good as ANY FM station you hear on the Radio. It didn't make much difference

So I thought, lets see how long this would go ... and for my Amazement .. it went on for 14 hours straight, not even dropped once! Amazing Huh?

Sure, I can put all some music on my 2GB MiniSD card, but where's the fun in that? I know what's going to play so, there is nothing "new" so to speak

Now, with this long introduction, here's the dream that actually came true: drive around listening to ... yes yes ... Radio streaming from Jordan ... Plugged in my FM Transmitter (nifty little gadget, but I've had these since the 80's) and went on a drive ... and again BAM ... I'm listening to Radio .. FROM JORDAN ... and Boy oh boy was I happy.

The best thing about this one is that it actually has a usb port, and no other cables needed to play songs stored on�your USB key.�That USB port doubles as a�charger for my cell phone ;-). Ain't that awesome?�

Of course, all FM transmitters/Modulators are noisy by nature, and have so many issues. So I decided, I want this hooked up directly to my radio. And being the geek that I am, I opted for a line-in solution. No Antenna line hacks or anything (Antenna line is just FM Transmitter that plugs directly to the antenna, better quality, but still goes through another layer of modulation/demodulation)

So, where's the damn Line-In Jack on this? I have a 2005 Nissan Murano with factory installed Bose radio. I check the Manuals, I go online. There is none. CRAP. So I do a little bit more research and I come with a cool idea. I looked at after-market XM Radio stuff. And I immediately found what I'm looking for, an Auxiliary input device. (with these damn smart radios you can't just splice a line a be connected to line in)

Anyway, went online, checked a million retailers and big disappointment. Version1 of this device has been discontinued .. WTF!? version 2 is out but it's on backorder! humph! I place the order and continue to use my FM transmitter in the meantime

A month later, I got it, look at all those wires, unbelievable. I didn't want to mess with my new car's interior, so I opted to have it professionally installed. So I head to circuit city, give it to the folks there and an hour later. I'm blasting MazajFM at FULL and enjoying my beloved Arabic music, as I cruise the streets of Seattle...! My dream has finally come true :)