Rdio Launches iPhone App That You Can't Use Yet (Updated)

Rdio, the upcoming music streaming and download service backed by the founders of Skype, Kazaa and Joost, may not be taking public beta registrations just yet, but it already has a free iPhone application live on the App Store that you can download right now (iTunes link).

The app, which apparently went live yesterday, was first spotted by the folks over at Music Ally.

Since it requires a login, only private beta testers are able to give the app a whirl for the time being, but Music Ally took some screenshots from the iTunes detail page which we embedded below.

The description reads:

Rdio is like carrying a giant MP3 player in your pocket – you have unlimited and unrestricted access to all the music, and you get to select exactly the song, album or artist you want to hear. And you can skip, pause fast forward as much as you want.

Build your collection and compose your playlists on rdio.com and listen to them all on the go. Or search for just the right song when you’re out and it will start playing instantly.

– Carry your collection in your pocket
– Build unlimited playlists
– Search the entire Rdio catalog
– Notification when your collaborative playlists are updated

We still haven’t been able to persuade any of the members of the killer team behind the soon-to-launch music subscription service to grant us access to the private beta, so we couldn’t tell you if it’s any good.

If any readers are in the private beta elite club, do let us know how it stacks up against the likes of Spotify, MOG and Pandora. And get some screenshots of the web/desktop version over to TechCrunch HQ please. Pronto.

Update: someone who would know informs us that the application is not in the App Store because the startup wanted private beta testers to try it out, and that it’s in fact pretty crippled at the moment. The real reason why it’s available for download: the company wanted to test the waters of the App Store approval process sooner rather than later.

Such teases.