Have you ever noticed that radio hasn’t significantly changed over the years? Sure you have fancier displays and clearer sound, but you are still pretty much stuck with whatever the stations want to give you…and on the schedule they decide.

Satellite gives you the benefit of much more choice, but even with over a hundred stations, there still isn’t one optimized just for you or with content available on demand when you want it.

Before Aha, if you wanted to hear a traffic report about where you are you would have had to pick a channel and wait for a city-wide report to in most cases hear about traffic everywhere else but in front of you.

Or maybe you wanted to listen to the latest version of your favorite podcasts, and realized it had been two weeks since you had synched. (And what was the purpose of hourly update podcasts?)

Now with Aha you can have an instant personal traffic report, hear the very latest podcasts, and still be able to switch over for some personalized recommendations for lunch.  And what about those times you just have to hear the latest from your high school or college friends on Facebook or the latest celebrity Tweets? (OK, probably never, but it is still entertaining.)

Traditional radio just can’t provide that on-demand combination of traffic, community, and web content…all in one place. Enter the all-new Aha Radio app for iPhone (now available as a free download from the App Store – HINT HINT).

Since launching our first App last fall, we’ve been iterating on the user experience with a focus on driver safety and believe an audio, radio-like interface is the optimal approach. Aha Radio answers drivers’ important questions, such as “why do I all of a sudden see break lights in front of me?” and entertains them with everything from Facebook updates to their favorite podcasts.

With Aha Radio, the things you want to know while driving are read aloud and organized like pre-set, on-demand, radio stations, letting you listen in while keeping your eyes on the road.

Aha’s station line-up will keep growing every month, but right out of the gate we have over 50 stations including (you’ll have to again forgive the transition to marketing/sales speak here):

• Nearby Traffic:  Wondering what traffic is like two miles up the road, at the next exit or on an approaching highway? Nearby Traffic gives you an instant traffic report based on your current location. Aha creates this report using data from best-in-class third party traffic providers Inrix and Clear Channel, and from voice notes left by other drivers near you. Tap the microphone icon to share a 15-second “Shout” about the road you’re on and help other drivers nearby.
• My Traffic:  During your first-time set up, use Settings to tell Aha which roads you care about, such as your daily commute, then tap the My Traffic button to get an instant traffic report on those specific roads.
• Facebook:  Tempted to check Facebook while you’re in traffic? Unsafe! Tap your Facebook station and Aha will read aloud your friend’s status updates. Aha filters out game updates, media item posts, and long Web addresses so you can just hear what your friends are up to. You can even post an Aha voice note to your wall for friends to hear.
• Community Stations, or “the new CB Radio”:  Bored in traffic and want to let loose your inner Idol? Tune into the “Caraoke” station to hear your fellow drivers sing along to the radio, then tap the mic and leave your own song clip for the whole world to hear. Or, tune into the “Jokes,” “Rants,” or other community stations for a laugh.
• Twitter Lists:  Want to keep track of what sports stars, TV show actors, or other celebrities are tweeting? Just select their Twitter station in Aha and hear their latest updates read to you.
• Hungry:  Want to stop for a bite to eat? The “Hungry” channel tells you about restaurants you might like that are coming up ahead. Only want to hear about sushi restaurants with average Yelp reviews of four stars or more? Do your kids like specific chains? Aha pre-filters the results based on your preferences, prioritizes them based on proximity to you, and describes their location so you can tell where they are. Tap the phone or map icon to put in a call or get a route.
• Podcasts:  Aha Radio gives you one-touch access to the current version of popular podcasts like Fox News’ hourly updates and NPR’s “This American Life” so drivers can get instant access, without having to sync their device. See break lights up ahead while listening? With one touch, interrupt your podcast to get a live traffic report, then continue listening to the podcast where you left off.

Aha Radio gives you lots of choices, but most importantly it is tailored for you, and with an interface that’s designed to minimize distraction while you are behind the wheel.

Check out our new intro video to learn more, and have a safe and entertaining drive!

Robert Acker

CEO, Aha Mobile

In last week’s post about CES I mentioned that we were demo’ing an all-new app.  I even offered a link to the “Coming Soon” so  you could get an idea of some of the stuff we are adding.

And now I have a nifty video that captures some of the ideas and directions (believe it or not that pun was not intended) we are heading with our services.

And now that you are all revved up with video coolness, have some fun with this week’s top shouts!

Caraoke
ahajunior – You Found Me + Free Fallin’
AhaRyan (no connection to ahajunior) – Umbrella

Traffic
Ghryswald – Get off before the tollbooth – New Hampshire
Nonny – Getting worse by the moment – Atlanta Metro Area

#%& DRIVERS!
golfgod – Three Lanes!!! – Atlanta Metro
guest_07LH903 – I’m gonna git ya! – Tulsa Metro

Ryan
Aha Community Czar

Did you really think I could pass up the opportunity to wish everyone a delightful Festivus?  Of course you didn’t!

I don’t want to overwhelm you guys with too much media this week, but this one seemed fun enough to share.  Especially since it highlights (rather humorously) how certain activities can be so distracting for drivers.

That’s why we have worked to make the Aha interface so simple.  In some ways as simple as a regular old car stereo, and much less attention sapping than many of the newer combo stereo/navigation systems (nothing quite like trying to navigate with touch screen arrows while leaning awkwardly toward the middle of your dashboard!).

Anyway, here is the clip…enjoy.

Couldn’t resist sharing this awesome shout today.  For anyone who may not understand the context, I’ve included the video that inspired it.  It’s long, but you can skip ahead to about 1:20 if you want (though you’ll regret it). Also, be advised that there is some NSFW language during certain parts of the clip.

guest_00HOUGL – Leeeroy Jenkins!!!

Some of the folks who have linked their Aha account to either Facebook or Twitter may have noticed recently that the speed we were attaching to your messages was sometimes a little off (in some cases it was even off by about half).

Well I have some good news to report, because we tracked down the issue and got it cleared up.

If you haven’t yet linked your Aha account to Facebook or Twitter (or both), you can get setup by visiting ahamobile.com/services.  Keep in mind that if you already have your Twitter updates being sent to Facebook, you may run into duplicates if you send your Aha shouts to both at the same time.  Check out the video to learn more!

Ryan
Aha Community Czar

Since we first hit the App Store last month, offering traffic coverage support for just a handful of cities, users from around the country have been asking when they could join in on the fun.

Well the team has been working feverishly, and I’m delighted to report that today we are going national, with specific emphasis on the top/worse traffic markets. That means that as of today places like LA and Washington DC have most of the major freeways and highways covered whereas a smaller market like Portland (my hometown—no favorites here) has the two major interstates covered.

We will continue to add more and more roads to our coverage map each week going forward and anyone can listen today to their city-wide traffic shoutroom to hear what other Aha Shouter’s are reporting about traffic on any road, as well as hear audio versions of all of the INRIX and ClearChannel traffic reports for your city.

Many of your were leaving such creative driver rants and caraoke shouts that we wanted to let you share them with people who don’t yet have iPhones. Thus, I’m excited to report that starting today users can automatically and instantly post links to their shouts to their Twitter account or Facebook wall. Now if you need to vent at the driver who just cut you off, all your Facebook friends can hear it before you even make it to the office.

With the new Facebook and Twitter integration, we let you customize which types of Shouts go to each. For example, you can send Traffic Shouts to Twitter, but opt to post “road rage” or Caraoke Shouts to Facebook. If you just want to post an update or make a comment for others, you can shout it to your local area shout room and have it also sent to your network of choice.

Posts are automatically created and populated with the type of Shout, your current location and speed (just for Traffic Shouts), any text you add during set-up, and most importantly a link to play the Shout.

We think this will not only be a lot of fun, but also help promote safer communication and keep peoples’ focus on the road (where it should be).

Happy shouting!

Robert Acker
CEO, Aha Mobile

We all know what you’ve been thinking.  Where does (California based) Aha get off only offering road and traffic support to users within the borders of the Golden State?!?!?  I mean who do we think we are anyway!

Well, I hate to rain on your jealousy parade (by the way, did I mention it seldom rains here), but California is no longer hording all of the Aha coverage support.  The expansion of Aha has officially begun.

Starting today Aha has expanded road and traffic coverage to the following metro areas:

• Dallas and San Antonio, TX
• Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Miami Beach, FL
• Seattle, WA
• Washington D.C.

What this means is that users in these metro areas, as well as those in California, should be able to view detailed information for the major roads in their areas, as well as create custom segments for the roads they care most about.

We will continue to add coverage for more cities in the coming weeks and months, so stay tuned, but in the meantime you can check out the Traffic feature demo to get a little more detail about how to add custom segments of your own.

Ryan
Community Guy

Have you ever found yourself slowing down in traffic and wished you knew what the drivers around the next bend were seeing out of their windshields? Maybe it’s a field of break lights and you should take that exit you are about to pass, or maybe traffic is moving again ahead and switching to surface streets will end up costing you 20 minutes of time you don’t have.

The only thing you can be sure of is whatever you choose to do will end up being the wrong choice. Fortunately, Aha has arrived to help you answer that very question…as well as many others about the road around you.

People have more ways than ever to access information while in a car, but most of them are too dangerous to safely use while driving. We believe that when you are behind the wheel, less really is more, so Aha strives to deliver just the information every driver wants, prefiltered for their preferences and location. We also deliver it in a new and better way.

For example, rather than having you try to study colored lines on tiny maps, we let you hear traffic reports from drivers ahead of you, combined with audio reports we create from data we get from the leading provider of traffic data (INRIX). Rather than having you run a search and sort through the results, just let us know you are hungry and we’ll constantly monitor the road ahead of you and let you know when you are within “spitting” or “throwing” distance from a restaurant that meets your minimum preset criteria.

We are NOT a navigation application, so don’t expect turn-by-turn directions. Instead, we are focused on giving you the information you need to safely make decisions while driving to a destination you already know how to get to, the situation that most of us find ourselves in 95% of the time.

Aha’s unique feature set (please pardon my transition to marketing/sales speak here) includes:

• Listen to Live, Personalized Traffic Channels:
  Like a radio station dedicated to the roads you care about, Aha lets you listen to traffic “Shouts” (or voice notes) from other drivers without taking your eyes off the road. Aha also uses best-in-class INRIX traffic data to tell you how traffic is flowing and alert you to congestion or accidents on the major road segments around you, without requiring you to study a map.
• “Shout” Out Your Own Traffic Reports:
  Tap the bottom section of any driving screen and you can and share a 15-second traffic report to help the drivers around you. Your Shout automatically feeds into the road and city-specific Shout Rooms based on your current location.
• Get “Nearby” Alerts for Things You Care About:
  Are you hungry, want to grab a cup of coffee, or need to take a bathroom break? Select “yes” to any of those questions and Aha’s “Nearby” function alerts you to places along the way, like restrooms from SitOrSquat or highly rated restaurants from Yelp. Aha will also alert you to red-light and speed cameras as you approach them, using data from PhotoEnforced.com. At 65 MPH, less is more, so Aha only gives you the relevant results pre-filtered for your preferences and location.
• Be Entertained in the Car!
  Aha also wants to make driving fun. For example, the “Caraoke” Shout Room lets you send out a 15 second recording of your radio sing along, then get rated by other drivers. In the “#%& Drivers” Shout Room, let off steam by venting about a bad driver or your frustrating commute.

Thanks for stopping by, and joining us on the ride.

Robert Acker
CEO, Aha Mobile