02-14-2002, 11:35 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Do you want a better audio player?
Once upon a time, in a land before Pocket PCs (the era of the Palm-size PCs), a little company named Conduits released a product dubbed Pocket Player. Pocket Player supported MP3 files, had a visualization option, and the developer actually listened to user feedback. Here's what the artifact looked like:
Conduits charged $14.95 for the player, and it was the most popular player around until Microsoft released their free player (Microsoft Mobile Audio Player) for the 2nd generation colour Palm-size PC devices. Still, the initial Microsoft audio player was very limited, and many users (myself included) kept using Pocket Player. Back in the day, we also had UtopiaSoft Hum, and a very basic, almost command line-like audio player based on the XAudio MPEG Audio engine that all these non-Microsoft players were based on.
Fast forward to February 2002, and what options do we have for audio players on the Pocket PC? We have the Windows Media Player 8.0 for the Pocket PC, but it's rife with frustrating problems that didn't get corrected from 7.1 to 8.0. Ever tried to build play lists off a 1 gig Microdrive with 300 songs? You need the patience of someone in a trance.
There's iPlay from 40th Floor Software, but it doesn't play WMA files, has a brutal user interface, and you need a degree in cryptography to figure out their web site (and the blessing of Buddha to get a registration key). That, and the author flames me publicly every chance he gets. Hi Cornel!
We have a combo video/audio player in Pocket DivX, but it's an evolving tool that isn't designed to work like a traditional audio player. It has promise, but I didn't find it very easy to use for audio.
And that's about it. I've emailed the makers of Winamp to ask if they have any interest in making a Pocket PC version of their software, but I've never received a response. So far, no one has stepped up to offer a Pocket PC audio player with the features that an audiophile like myself really needs.
Here's the point: if Conduits were to create an updated player that supported MP3, WMA, perhaps (??) Ogg Vorbis, and offered killer play list support, and other features, would you be interested in buying it? I'm not working with Conduits on this - this is a completely independent survey for my own information. Of course, the goal in doing this survey is to gather some information that might convince Conduits to invest the development time in creating the ultimate Pocket PC audio player. If anyone can do it, Conduits can. :-) Cast your vote! (I've opened up voting to unregistered users as well)
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02-14-2002, 11:52 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 99
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Visualizations
Yeah, and it would be killer to include visualizations  !
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02-14-2002, 11:55 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 126
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If there was a way to remove the WMP from the ROM image then I think any third-party app would be a huge hit. Obviously, there are those who would load a 2nd Media Player on their units because they play MP3, WMA files so much. I just think many will stay with WMP because it doesn't take up space as it is already in the ROM.
People who have upgraded from the PocketPC 2000 to 2002 would be the perfect target for the app, as they have to load a Media Player themselves.
It would be nice if Microsoft just fixed the issues, as we all know they can.
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02-15-2002, 12:17 AM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 88
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I'm happy using Media Player. I'm not sure how many people out there use Microdrives and have the space for 300+ songs. I'm using a 128 MB CF for storage and it holds enough songs for me.
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02-15-2002, 12:23 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 226
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I'd pay for this!
I want a WMA file player that actually *saves* my place when I pause it and quit the app! Otherwise the hassle of ripping CDs and juggling CF cards makes it easier to just use my Discman...
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02-15-2002, 12:27 AM
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Thinker
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 332
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It would have to be at a good price point. I've (like everybody else it seems) had problems with WMP, but if they were to charge US$15 that's AU$30 for us suckers here in AU (Yes I am thankful that most people price in USD as opposed to UK Pounds!).
I'll give it a go for sure.
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02-15-2002, 01:25 AM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 95
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Playing OGG files on a Pocket PC is not so obvious. This would take up alot of resources, as it uses a complex decoder.
BTW, would anyone be interested in the ability to play MOD files on a Pocket PC ??
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02-15-2002, 02:10 AM
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Mystic
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,768
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MOD Files?
Yes.... my Amiga roots yearning to break out. A WinAmp port with WinAmp skins, visulazations, plug-ins, etc would be the best.
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02-15-2002, 02:46 AM
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Neophyte
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 6
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PocketPlayer must be developed!!!
I absolutely LOVE PocketPlayer so far. What it needs is:
-Windows Media Audio playback
-user-mappable buttons (current mapping is incomplete and impractical)
-screen toggle option mappable to a hardware button
(just like WMP, so we can conserve battery power)
-a fix for that nasty clicking preamplifier!
(I'm talking about PocketPlayer's own preamp module)
-more skins
If the above things are included in the next version,
PocketPlayer will become perfect. I'll be the first one to buy it!
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02-15-2002, 03:20 AM
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Sage
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 784
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Here's my priorities in a music player:
1. Audio Quality
2. EQ
3. Microdrive/CF/SD caching support
4. Good playlist editor, one that makes it easy to change while driving, maybe large buttons where the user can use their finger instead of a stylus
5. Map hardware buttons
6. MP3 support
7. Low processor usage
8. Skin support
9. Visuals would be cool
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Linear Mode
