Microsoft Tips for Mobile Beginners: "Windows Mobile is Playing Your Song"

[Darius Wey]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/articles/music.mspx' target='_blank'>http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmob...cles/music.mspx</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Windows Mobile-based devices make easier to take your CD collection with you—and you don't have to carry an extra piece of equipment. In addition, Microsoft Windows Media Player Mobile, which is already installed on your Smartphone or Pocket PC, makes it a breeze to find that song you absolutely have to hear right now. Once you have your songs installed, you can even set it on 'shuffle' to listen to a selection of all your tunes without having to press a button."</i><br /><br />I see quite a number of posts on the forums asking for tips on getting the most out of a Pocket PC's media capabilities. While this article is very basic and straight to the point, it does have a couple of tips on using Windows Media Player on a Windows Mobile device and a PC to maximise your music experience. If you're new to Windows Mobile, you might want to give this <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/articles/music.mspx">article</a> a read.

[Gator5000e]

I don't know. I think the WMP options are confusing and difficult to figure out. Especially for a newbie. I don't particularly like the syncing option. While I prefer WM10 to Real Player generally, I think Real does a better job with options for copying music.

With Real, once you start it up and go to your music library, it will show your Smartphone/PPC as conected and differentiate between internal and storage card memory. You can then copy an entire album or part of an album or wa song to the memory destination you choose. No syncing option and thus no having to adjust the source list each time. I think Real is much easier. The only downside is that I don't think Real copies album art, but that is not a big deal. If it does, someone let me know, please.

Also with Real, when you copy music to a ripped CD, you can have Real add CD Text to the ripped CD. This is a great option as it will display the Artist Name and Song Title on your CD display if it is capable of this (as it is in my car). WMP10 does not have this option. Not Smartphone/PPC related but a cool option nonetheless. Comes in handy in my 6 disc changer as I can see what discs I have loaded.

So on the whole, I think that Real is easier to use than WMP10 for copying music to a Smartphone/PPC, IMHO.

Also

[alabij]

I use WMP10 on my desktop with my PPC WM9. It's ridiculously easy. Everytime I cradle my PPC H6315, WMP 10 automatically switches to the sync page. and syncs automatically. I set it to sync my favourites since I'm constantly changing that list.

However I do wish that they would provide a software upgrade to WM10 for the PPC. With all the music phones comming out this Holiday, Microsoft is really loosing out on an opportunity to portray the PPC as more than just a glorified Palm

[Gator5000e]

When it syncs with the device, will the music on the device be shown as albums or just individual songs?

[Jordan Rosenwald]

By default it copies the files into folders on your PPC named for each artist and album.
When browse the library, you can load up albums or individual files to play.
Personally, I love WMP and WMP for PPC. If they'd just add a bookmark function.

[choyboy]

Come on Darius, you can do better than this. This is less a new item or even a "info" article and much more pure propoganda. Is it really that slow a news day?

The only reason why Microsoft put this article up is because the iTunes Motorola phone (as **** as it is) was released US time wednesday.

Anyone who is tech savvy enough to get to this website isn't going to learn anything new from that very basic, light-on-the-info Microsoft propaganda piece.

Is it that slo a news day in the windows mobile news that you have to "report" on this?

How about more info on the new smartphones? :)

[Darius Wey]

Come on Darius, you can do better than this. This is less a new item or even a "info" article and much more pure propoganda. Is it really that slow a news day?

Come on, that's a little unfair, isn't it? I posted on this out of good sense for the many readers I have come across who haven't the slightest clue on using their Pocket PC for media. In fact, I showed this to a friend and he found it to be a good read. Remember, not everyone is as tech-literate as you or I, so it pays to be a little open-minded and remember that there's always a group of people out there who benefit from something like this.

Anyone who is tech savvy enough to get to this website isn't going to learn anything new from that very basic, light-on-the-info Microsoft propaganda piece.

I disagree. You need not be tech-savvy to get here. Google the word, "Pocket PC" and this site (along with any other Pocket PC site) is only a click away.

Is it that slo a news day in the windows mobile news that you have to "report" on this?

If you don't think it's worth the read, then don't read it. No one's forcing you. The post isn't titled with the words, "mobile beginner" for no reason.

[Mark Johnson]

I think this is quite interesting given the timing that Apple's iPod Nano was just released this week. I've ALWAYS got my Axim x50v with me throughout the day, and yet NEVER use it for mp3 playback. The one-handed navigation on an iPod is good - you actually CAN do all the management you need to with only one thumb. The navigation for WMP on PPC is HORRIBLE, beyond bad, just absurdly bad. There is essentially NO way to use WMP without two hands.

Imagine that you looked at several new HDTV sets in the store, and of course they all included a remote control. One of them, however, had such an incredibly badly designed remote control that you couldn't change channels without holding it in one hand, then pulling out a stylus with the other, then clicking some virtual button. It would be surprising if anyone anywhere bought any of them ever. This is exactly why the Apple iPod is thrashing ALL the Microsoft-partner devices. (And let me emphasize I am in NOT a Mac/Apple fan.)

So I think it is VERY newsworthy that MS is putting out (and trying to attract attention to) this sort of Tips for Mobile Beginners. What I think is important about it is not that it is actually helpful, but it shows how out of touch Microsoft is in thinking that "educating" people is going to help them get WMP out of the shadow of the iPod. It would be like that TV manufacturer with the ridiculous two-handed/stylus remote sitting down and having a strategy session and saying: "You know we're just not getting market penetration. It must be that people just don't UNDERSTAND how to use a two-handed/stylus-based TV remote control. What we ought to do is write up a detailed article on how it works, then people will start to use it." How insane is that?!?

If they really want WMP to get traction, they need to REQUIRE every member of the PPC WMP team use an iPod for a month, then have them sit down and completely rework the WMP interface. You can bet Steve Jobs has never once said to his team: "Hey guys, you know what would make the iPod really great? A stylus! Let's change the navigation in the next generation to have stylus-clicked menus! Yeah, that way there's no chance people will be able to use it while driving without risking their lives. It'll be so uber-complex the user has no way to navigate their catalog while on the ski-slopes."

It's funny that MS seems to be approaching this as an "education" issue and can't recognize their interface is so bad (and has always been so bad) that even hardcore PPC enthusiasts (like myself) who already own one, and always have it with them anyway, still buy other devices to do the same job.

I'm buying a Nano. At least then I'll be able to change the volume while I'm on the freeway...

[wirelessbeachbum]

On my XV6600 I depend on MS voice command to play my music... Being able to say the album name, artist name or name of the song I want to play beats ipod one hand navigation anyday.

You can also us the voice command skin which does make one handed operation a little better. In past devices you could download updates to newer versions of wmp, I remember upgrading my old Jornada to wmp8.

I would love to have wmp 10...mainly for the album art that pops up when you play a song.

[PDANEWBIE]

I had to laugh reading this article -

If you're using Windows Mobile 2003 SE or above, your device will have Windows Mobile 10 Mobile

fails to mention that any OS lower than WM 2003 SE will even support WM10

For most types of music, a good rough guide is that a typical song will need about 4-5 megabytes of space

Why not give the actual spec to determine the size yourself. To say songs will be 4-5 megs is just simplistic short songs will be less long songs will be more not to mention all the fators in determining the size...

It's important to always sync your music through your mobile device. Do not attempt to copy the music directly to your memory card through a card reader

I am sorry but I have seen SO many people with activesync timeout issues making large file syncing an impossibility via bluetooth, hardwired, or wifi, that this solutions problems really snould be resolved before putting this as the preffered way of doing it.

In all nice little piece of writing just chalk full of facts I would either expound upon or say a little differently.

[thenikjones2]

It's important to always sync your music through your mobile device. Do not attempt to copy the music directly to your memory card through a card reader


Unless you have bougght-content - surely much less likely than simply ripping your own CDs - this is poor advice. Using Activesync is so slow it's almost unusable (when it doesn't hang, of course)