Interesting news helps kick off our shiny new year in tech, as AOL (News - Alert) divests a couple properties that had been rumored to be on the selling block for some time, but not in the direction some were expecting said properties to go. While there were reports that Microsoft had an interest in the properties, Shoutcast and Winamp ended up being sold in a different, and potentially less expected, direction.

The properties in question were bought by Radionomy, a Brussels-based online radio aggregator that currently boasts around 6,000 online radio stations to its credit. Bring in Shoutcast's roster of around 50,000 stations and that gives Radionomy a serious boost to its capabilities. Some have even noted that Winamp might well play a role in the operation of the whole affair by making it easier to bring programming to all those stations, as well as bring in further services later.

The idea that Radionomy had posed an interest came when some users noticed that Winamp's nameservers—though at the time, not Shoutcast's—had been transferred to Radionomy. Further information then emerged saying that the deal between Radionomy and AOL covered both properties, and the whole thing was set to be finalized on Friday, if not sooner. The exact value of the deal is as yet unknown, and may well be made public when the deal itself is actually complete.

Going out to Radionomy's website, however, provided a bit of a revealing note in a pop-up window, which in turn noted that Radionomy and TargetSpot had united to form what the window described as the “world's largest, most advanced digital audio advertising network.” Radionomy, meanwhile, currently has mobile apps available for both iOS and Android (News - Alert) devices, and there seems to be a Windows version available as well, though users will need Windows 8.1 for the app. The web-based version, meanwhile, seems quite operable; I found a great station for smooth jazz within about four listings on the jazz page. Radionomy also has several tools on hand for making a radio station online, and that's the kind of thing that might be helpful. The more radio stations there are, the greater the likelihood of someone coming in and listening. That listener is a valuable advertising target, and makes the Radionomy / TargetSpot alliance all the more reasonable.

With more and more cars becoming connected, and more and more local radio stations under the gun to yield profits, it's worth suggesting that maybe online radio is gaining some ground. About the only thing missing to really make online radio a viable tool for cars was the issue of connectivity, and with some cars getting active Internet hotspots—the idea of a 3G / 4G connection for a car was scarcely out of line either—the idea of online radio available in a car wasn't out of line. The car is one of the biggest points of access for radio these days—there's certainly plenty of use going on in other points—but for online radio to achieve its full prominence it needs to find a way to get in the car.

This may be just the way to do that, and with Radionomy putting together more of an advertising infrastructure for online radio, this may well be the start of a huge movement in an old technology. While online radio itself isn't really new, this move may well give online radio a new and unexpected boost in its fortunes for 2014, a strange—but still exciting—development indeed.