BBC Radio delivered to your Dashboard

The BBC is renowned for its high-quality radio content and quite rightly – few broadcasters offer the breadth or diversity of programming that the incredibly rich BBC radio service does.

If like me you’re an avid BBC radio listener, then why not make it easier to access by installing this handy BBC Radio Widget to your dashboard? You can access almost any BBC radio channel from the widget including the World Service and all the regional radio channels.

To select a station, click on the ‘Info’ symbol in the bottom-right hand corner and then select the station you want from the drop-down list. Click ‘OK’ and the widget will spin round and play the station you want. You can view the schedule by clicking the little arrow on the right, which reveals a pop out timetable which is handy.

However, there are two problems with BBC Radio Widget. One is that many of the stations seemed to be mixed up. Selecting BBC Radio Lancashire for example took me to Radio 5 Live Sports Extra (which failed to load) and the World Service took me to Radio Jersey (which did at least load). In addition, some channels didn’t load properly, although it has to be said, mostly they did. Finally, the widget could do with being a little bit bigger. I know it’s meant to be discreet but you have to squint to find all the little functions on it.

BBC Radio Widget is handy for all major BBC Radio stations although when it comes to many of the minor ones, you may experience a few mix ups.

Schedule info for virtually every station, inc. R4LWWorkaround a RealPlayer bug to allow audio when Dashboard is closedFlash streaming option (option-click the “i” button)Improved Safari 4 connection performanceChanged some local radio stations to reflect recent rebrandingFixed some graphical issues

Changes

• Schedule info for virtually every station, inc. R4LWWorkaround a RealPlayer bug to allow audio when Dashboard is closedFlash streaming option (option-click the “i” button)Improved Safari 4 connection performanceChanged some local radio stations to reflect recent rebrandingFixed some graphical issues