PocketMusic 3.0 Released

[Falstaff]

I just got an e-mail from PocketMind, they released the new version of Pocket Music, here is the text:


Dear PocketMusic customer! We are glad to announce a new major upgrade of the most improved and popular music player for Pocket PC - PocketMusic Player Bundle 3.0!

What's new in version 3.0:

- New skinnable interface with big controls (www.pocketmind.com/pmfp.htm)

- HTTP streaming support for MP3 and Ogg internet radio broadcast. Title streaming also supported - ShoutCast, IceCast. (http://yp.shoutcast.com)

- Audible audio books support (http://www.audible.com)

- Remove silence at the beginning/end of track feature

- Transparent mode for today plug-in (optional)

- Skin selection for Landscape mode

- Crossfading between tracks

- Gapless playback

This major upgrade costs $9.95 (for registered customers only). The full price of PocketMusic Player Bundle is $19.95.

You can try this new version before you buy PocketMusic 3.0 upgrade:
http://www.pocketmind.com/pmbundle3.zip

[Zack Mahdavi]

The new features look great! I personally just bought Pocket Player a couple weeks ago with the PPT discount. Oh well, they're both great programs, but I think the HTTP streaming featuers are a bit more developed on Pocket Player... :D

[ironguy]

Interesting. I'm a registered purchaser and did not receive an email.

Hmmmm... :?

[slothdog]

Seems to have major issues with clicking and volume adjustment on PPC2k3......

[ixion]

The streaming on Pocket Music 3 from an HTTP source works perfectly in the new release.

The increasing/decreasing volume while dragging the volume slider is also without flaw

Other neat features are the ability to cross-fade tracks and/or remove silence between tracks.

The ability to tell PM to play from where you last left off means that if you turn the device off, or soft reset it or close down PM the next time you fire it back up again it can pick up from where it left off, meaning you dont have to scroll through your playlist to try remember just how far you had got through it

I like it, and will probably pay the $25 to buy the software I think

[nategesner]

I just downloaded version 3 today and can't get it to work. I installed it, associated my files, and opened a folder to add songs to my playlist. It shows the songs, but I can't get anything to play. I've tried to re-install it, soft resets, copying new songs, etc., but nothing works. I'm using an Ipaq 2215. The program is stored in main memory and the songs are on a SD card.

I wasn't able to get a registration code because the web site is having problems. If anyone knows how to fix this issue, please let me know because I really like this program!

[ddavtian]

I don't know if this is the case for you but it won't play wma files if you don't install windows media player control for the explorer.

David

[Yo Boss]

Nice program, just installed the trial version and considering buying it...

But...

There is a problem for the "Auto display off feature". If I use any of the mapped buttons to ,say, increase/decrease the volume, the device wouldn't turn off the display. The only way to make it work is to tap the functions onscreen.

When I walk with my earphones on and I want to reajust the volume I tend to use the mapped buttons so I don't need to get the device out of my pocket. But then this makes the screen turn on, and in PocketMusic's case, it won't turn back off... massively reducing my battery life.

I have an IPAQ 2210. Does everybody has this same issue? Too bad there is this bug because the program is neraly perfect for me.

[maikii]

I have downloaded and installed the PocketMind PosketMusic Bundle V3 Trial, and have a gripe with it. I may even uninstall it before the trial period expires,

(By the way, using an IPAQ 2210, WM2003.

Since I installed the PM software, every time that I "wake up" my IPAQ from sleep, by pushing the power button, I get a "Notification Error" message:

"Cannot execute \CF Card\PocketMind\PocketMusic\pocketmusic.exe",

and I have to click "OK" to make the error message box go away.

Why is this happening? PocketMusic wasn't running. I was making no attempt to start PocketMusic. Why is the PPC trying to execute pocketmusic.exe in the first place?

Is the reason that it cannot execute it that I installed the program on the CF card? (The CF card is in its slot, however, so I don't know why it cannot execute the program.) (The program does start when I start it, from the "Programs" menu.) But again, why is it even trying to start when I did not have any intention of starting it?

I find that quite annoying. Happens every single time I push the power button, which is frequently, as it goes to sleep when unused for a few minutes.

Another suggestion--I don't think you should install your "Today" plug-in, without asking the user first if they want it installed. It's a very large obtrusive plug-in, and should only be there if the user decides they want it there. (I thought that plug-in might be the cause of the error message described above, so I removed it (via "Settings", "Today"). No more PM "Today Plug-in", but I still get that error message.)

[Dave Potter]

I have downloaded and installed the PocketMind PosketMusic Bundle V3 Trial, and have a gripe with it. I may even uninstall it before the trial period expires,

(By the way, using an IPAQ 2210, WM2003.

Since I installed the PM software, every time that I "wake up" my IPAQ from sleep, by pushing the power button, I get a "Notification Error" message:

"Cannot execute \CF Card\PocketMind\PocketMusic\pocketmusic.exe",

and I have to click "OK" to make the error message box go away.

Why is this happening? PocketMusic wasn't running. I was making no attempt to start PocketMusic. Why is the PPC trying to execute pocketmusic.exe in the first place?

Is the reason that it cannot execute it that I installed the program on the CF card? (The CF card is in its slot, however, so I don't know why it cannot execute the program.) (The program does start when I start it, from the "Programs" menu.) But again, why is it even trying to start when I did not have any intention of starting it?

I find that quite annoying. Happens every single time I push the power button, which is frequently, as it goes to sleep when unused for a few minutes.

Another suggestion--I don't think you should install your "Today" plug-in, without asking the user first if they want it installed. It's a very large obtrusive plug-in, and should only be there if the user decides they want it there. (I thought that plug-in might be the cause of the error message described above, so I removed it (via "Settings", "Today"). No more PM "Today Plug-in", but I still get that error message.)


This happens because memory cards initialze more slowly on power-up than a PPC's internal memory does. I am not sure why it happens when PocketMusic was not actually running when you powered down your PPC - but installing it to the internal memory fixes the problem. I suppose that it could be considered a bug of sorts. Then again - maybe not. Some apps just need to be installed to internal memory.

[QYV]

I cannot get the new gapless playback to work with WMAs. I've altered every setting I can think of, including making sure the decoder priority setting is at "highest" and playing around with various cache options (even though I'm not using a hard drive). No matter what I do, I still get a half-second gap between one file and the next during playback, which when you're listening to a DJ set really ruins the experience.

Here's the relevant info:

iPAQ 2215
Windows Mobile 2003, ROM 1.10
14 MB free storage RAM, 16 MB free program RAM
Bluetooth on
No card in CF slot
256MB SD card (SimpleTech) with approx. 10MB free
Music files are WMA variable bit rate (lowest setting) using Windows Media 9 encoding.
Running applications: ActiveSync, MagicButton (task switcher), cLaunch (Today screen plugin launcher).

Other than that, I love PocketMusic - I've been using it since v1.5 - so hopefully they can work this out. Is anyone else seeing this problem (or does anyone else even bother with gapless playback :? )?

[Falstaff]

I don't know why it wouldn't be working, it worked fine for me, but I was using mp3s. It seems odd that useing wma files would cause the problem, but who knows. I'd send an e-mail to their support people. They are VERY helpful and quick to respond.

[kona88]

I also can't get gapless to work with wma's. I have emailed support, but they have not found a solution as of yet.

I also have tried Pocket Player, but I could not figure out how to sort tracks by track number, which doesn't work with dj sets. It sorts the track titles alphabetically.

[Jason Patterson]

I also can't get gapless to work with wma's. I have emailed support, but they have not found a solution as of yet.

I also have tried Pocket Player, but I could not figure out how to sort tracks by track number, which doesn't work with dj sets. It sorts the track titles alphabetically.

Gapless and crossfading should work on WMA's in Pocket Player. Regarding the sorting capabilities, are track numbers in your filenames? If so, you can sort on that and it should work. We plan to have "Sort on Track Number" in a future release. Of course, you can manually drag the entries in the playlist until they are sorted properly - and save the playlist for later use.

Also, regarding the wake-up "Cannot execute" problems - Pocket Player has a workaround for that issue, and can be installed to storage cards.

[kona88]

It would be too difficult to go back and put the track #'s in all of my files, plus I don't really like having the numbers in the titles. I guess I will just wait until that future release.

[Jason Patterson]

It would be too difficult to go back and put the track #'s in all of my files, plus I don't really like having the numbers in the titles. I guess I will just wait until that future release.

We've found (but not tried) a freeware WMA batch renamer, available at: http://www.herve-thouzard.com/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=1 . It looks like it might do the job of renaming the tracks, if you ever choose to go that route. Thanks again!