Last.FM

I guess I was a late convert to Last.FM on my Mac but once I got into it I realised what a great app it is. Last.FM is effectively a virtual radio station that plays music that matches your personal tastes.

It 'scrobbles' (analyses) the music you play in iTunes to help understand which types of music you like and then plays music from similar artists. It's a great way of discovering new acts, particularly more obscure bands and artists.

The iPhone Last.FM app is the iPhone extension of this PC/Mac service. It has the recommendation service as the PC version meaning you can let it play music from artists that are new to you or it can stick to music you already have. It's ideal for adding an extra dimension to your iPod/iPhone speaker stand as you can play Last.FM through this instead of your

Whilst this works well over WiFi it can be a bit unreliable over 3G and you can't easily use it whilst traveling. The sound quality could be better and sounds flat when compared to your iPhone's own music. Oh, and it does seem to drain the battery very quickly.

Great for discovering new acts and extending the use of your iPod speaker stand. Not much use when you're out and about. But then again it is free!