eyeTuner: Control iTunes Through Your Pocket PC

[marlof]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.manicwave.com/blog/archives/000145.html' target='_blank'>http://www.manicwave.com/blog/archives/000145.html</a><br /><br /></div>So... you have your PC running iTunes in the basement, an Airtunes Express AP hooked up to your stereo in your living room, and you want control over what you're going to play next without having to walk to your basement all the time? Enter eyeTuner, an application under development using the <a href="http://developer.apple.com/sdk/itunescomsdk.html">iTunesCOMSdk</a>. Jeff Schilling states he has a working version now that does a ton of things, except playing radio playlists which seems to have to do with the SDK limitations. What cool stuff can it do? Access a list of iTunes sources (cd, playlists, ipod, etc), select a track or artist, select next, previous, or pause, and display album art on the now playing page. :werenotworthy: For the developers among you: on the blog page covering eyeTuner, you can find a description and examples of part of the code that is used to create this. As an avid iTunes user (on both my Mac and my PC) I personally can not wait to get my hands on this. Jeff, you need a beta-tester? ;)<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/marlof-july04-eyetuner.jpg" />

[gorkon280]

I have been looking for something like this for quite sometime. It wasn't until I tried iTunes on a Mac that I liked any of the MP3 apps that have a jukebox feel to it, sticking with Winamp. Well, iTunes is SOOO much better then WMP and MusicMatch.

[Jonathan1]

Marlof ,

I didn't see anything that stated that this is platform independent. Are you sure it will work on a Mac? I ask because I have a few Mac friends who have been jones'n for an app like this for a LONG time.

[marlof]

To be honest the fact that it spoke about iTunes, and didn't distinguish for Mac or PC usage in the description of the functionality made me believe it was platform independent. As it's a Windows SDK, I think I was completely wrong. But it's more important this runs on Windows than on Mac OS X anyhow. After all, your friends should stop jones'n this instant since Mac OS X users already have webRemote (http://www.deadendsw.com/Products/webRemote.html). Since my main iTunes library is on a PC (my iBook contains only a subset) that was insufficient to me, and I was dying for a Windows solution.

[dean_shan]

Pretty cool but what's with the MSN Messenger guys in the screen shot?

[smashcasi]

In danger of being a shameless plug (ok, it is a shameless plug) I thought I'd let everyone know that RemoteAmp 2.0 should be out very soon and also supports iTunes for Windows. In addition to playback and EQ control you can also access your iTunes music library from the Pocket PC to edit user playlists so you can change the position of a track or add/remove songs.

We actually are looking for beta testers to help find any remaining issues with the new version - feel free to send me an email or PM if you're interested.

http://www.smashcasi.com/images/preview.gif

[Zack Mahdavi]

Wow, these new software developments sound interesting. I was thinking about getting an Airport Express, and these programs would be a perfect complement to it.

[zoomer777]

Alright SmashCasi,

Back when I first used your software I made you a nice little skin called "AtomicAmp" - do you remember? I never saw it pop up on your website - which made me sad :( well, not too sad.

So now we have some developers trying to make some software for Itunes control - now that's cool. My biggest question, will they play ITMS stuff? i.e., are there DRM restrictions? This is my biggest hurdle.

As for a few other things to both developers:

1) How is the connection made (wifi??), bluetooth (??)
2) How will you handle disconnects and reconnects. Since, once we have music loaded, we won't leave our PPC's on the whole time. Once we turn it back on, will it do a good job "refreshing" the connection?
3) On the fly playlist support?
4) Is this exclusively to be used with an Airport Express unit?

I'm sure there are other things too. I'd be interested in trying both of these out! Smashcasi, if you need some testers, I could possibly help depending on your requirements!

Hmmm...a wifi remote with LCD screen for Itunes/Airport Express Units....this is the missing link with Apple's new Express unit, interesting to see people developing this before Apple get's a new product on the market with the same capability!

[zoomer777]

Oh yeah, I am praying both of you guys make good interfaces for browsing large libraries. I love the "Browser" bar in Itunes (Ctrl+B) that lets you filter your library on the fly so easily (genre, artist, album), I also love being able to search my library so dang quickly (it begins filtering as you type!). Not sure how these could end up working for the PPC though (the Itunes XML file stored locally (on the PPC) for easy polling?).

Also, another couple of things.

Will you simply be able to select the Airport Express unit of choice, and will this lock up the instance of Itunes on the sharing PC (will the PC be able to play other files independent of what is being played through an Airport Express unit in another room)?

Anyways...

-Eric

[smashcasi]

Back when I first used your software I made you a nice little skin called "AtomicAmp" - do you remember?

I haven't forgotten :). In fact, on my list of post-2.0 items is converting your skin to the new format and finally getting that on the website. For anyone who's been asking about skins for the 1.x versions I've been pointing them at yours (http://www.smashcasi.com/remoteamp/skins/).

My biggest question, will they play ITMS stuff? i.e., are there DRM restrictions? This is my biggest hurdle.

Since the audio playback is going through iTunes it plays purchased music just fine.

1) How is the connection made (wifi??), bluetooth (??)
2) How will you handle disconnects and reconnects. Since, once we have music loaded, we won't leave our PPC's on the whole time. Once we turn it back on, will it do a good job "refreshing" the connection?
3) On the fly playlist support?
4) Is this exclusively to be used with an Airport Express unit?

1) Any network connection is supported. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth should both work.
2) The client automatically detects disconnects / power downs and attempts to reconnect when it detects the network conection again.
3) You can create new playlists at will - if you're referring to limiting an existing playlist based on search criteria I haven't seen any means of doing this via the iTunes interface yet.
4) Absolutely not! The use of the Airport Express is simply a choice of selecting where the audio is routed. The control still works when speakers are selected.

I am praying both of you guys make good interfaces for browsing large libraries

This has been a point of focus for the new release. Library browsing works much better in 2.0. You can also select the way you prefer to view the library (Genre/Artist/Album, Artist/Album, Album, or Folder structure). In addition there are robust searching capabilities to find tracks within the music library - you can enter partial search criteria and multiple keywords to match on just as you can through the iTunes search capabilities.

Will you simply be able to select the Airport Express unit of choice

Unfortunately it doesn't appear that the iTunes SDK provides a means to select the output device. Hopefully Apple will add this in a future version.

[jschi]

I started writing this because I've been trying to find a good solution for remote control of my tunes for some time.

Right now this is windows only (hence the use of the iTunesCOMSdk)

I should have something in the next week or so for limited distribution.

I'm testing against a 23MB itunes DB representing about 130GB of music. Performance is pretty good right now, but can always improve

The question about controlling which Airtunes is yet to be resolved. Mine shipped yesterday from Taiwan, so I'll work on it as soon as it ships.

The SDK does not offer any support, but there may be some other magic available.

BTW, the MSN messenger icons are there because I suck @ graphics and the first thing that looked like an artist was the MSN icon. I would gratefully accept some help with icons for the tree view and eyeTuner itself.

-Jeff

[nz0eBoy]

A little off topic (but not too much), I was wondering if anyone knows of an app that is available, or in the pipeline, that will allow me to play music directly to and Airport Express from my PPC.

I wouldn't expect MS to support this, but maybe one of the many other developers that have versions of music players out there.

For all I know, it isn't even technically possible, but I would be interested as I am seriously investigating the purchase of an Airport Express.

[zoomer777]

Will you simply be able to select the Airport Express unit of choice

Unfortunately it doesn't appear that the iTunes SDK provides a means to select the output device. Hopefully Apple will add this in a future version.

OK, I'm confused now. The guy with eyeTuner says that you will be able to select an Airport Express unit to "pipe" your music through (as if sitting in front of a session of iTunes on your desktop) from your PPC, but then you are saying that you can't select the AE unit of your choice? Is the Airport Express supported by RemoteAmp 2.0 and eyeTuner, or are these just for controlling what comes out of your audio card on your PC?

Thanks for the in depth response! Glad to see you didn't forget my skin. Maybe I could make another for 2.0?

As for eyeTuner...you said you need some graphics help? I could offer my services depending on what you need - I'm pretty good at that kind of stuff :) Let me know...PM me! Let's keep these products rolling!

[smashcasi]

The remote will work equally well whether the audio is routed to your speakers or the AirPort Express. You can take a look at Apple's web site for an example of the drop-down menu that appears in iTunes when an AirPort Express is present on the network. The limitation I was referring to is the inability to switch between speakers and an AirPort via the iTunes COM SDK (the interface used to talk to iTunes). So you couldn't switch between the computer speakers and the AirPort on the fly from the Pocket PC - you'd have to go back to the desktop to make that change. All the while the Pocket PC remote would continue to function.

It may be possible to come up with some creative means of making the switch via the Pocket PC but I haven't had a chance to look into it yet to say for sure.

[nz0eBoy]

It may be possible to come up with some creative means of making the switch via the Pocket PC but I haven't had a chance to look into it yet to say for sure.

I'm a novice at this kind of thing, no really I am, but my experience of the little lady's Mac, it seems to me there are keyboard shortcuts for everything, so maybe some kind of sendkeys or something?

[zoomer777]

The remote will work equally well whether the audio is routed to your speakers or the AirPort Express. You can take a look at Apple's web site for an example of the drop-down menu that appears in iTunes when an AirPort Express is present on the network. The limitation I was referring to is the inability to switch between speakers and an AirPort via the iTunes COM SDK (the interface used to talk to iTunes). So you couldn't switch between the computer speakers and the AirPort on the fly from the Pocket PC - you'd have to go back to the desktop to make that change. All the while the Pocket PC remote would continue to function.

It may be possible to come up with some creative means of making the switch via the Pocket PC but I haven't had a chance to look into it yet to say for sure.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh......ok, wasn't sure what you were saying. It looked like contradicting statements. So you would have to select the AE from the desktop...then use the remote control PPC software. I have to bet there is a work around for this. I am sure that someone has written an AppleScript to do is on a mac in some bizzare way. I realize that you are developing this for a windows platform though.

I wonder......cause this would be a huge feature. To me, the biggest goal would be to isolate the remote from the desktop as much as possible (I realize that Apple has really locked things down with DRM though).

We'll discuss more tomorrow! Night!

[jschi]

Currently the SDK doesn't offer any support for selecting an Airport Express, but as soon as mine shows up, I am going to try a few different strategies to support this.

eyeTuner is currently win32/ppc only - no mac support. The interface between the ppc and the server component is SOAP/HTTP, so it would be possible to implement a mac server component that implements the same server contract.

Need to walk before we run though.

-jeff

[hairyharrysnif2]

Can't remote control of iTunes be achieved via remote desktop? I.e. Use your pokect PC to remote desktop to your pc (which is running iTunes) and then select playlists that way?

Or am I missing something?

Thanks!

[zoomer777]

Wouldn't that be like killing a chicken with a sledge-hammer?

[hairyharrysnif2]

Wouldn't that be like killing a chicken with a sledge-hammer?

Too true, my friend.

In my quest to achieve Airtunes Nirvana, I am looking for an IR blaster that can be controlled via Wi-Fi. Anyone know if such a product exists?

All my music is on my computer in the basement. I have an Airport Express plugged into my receiver in my den. I then use my pocket pc with WiFi to control iTunes. My receiver powers a total of 8 speakers; however, I don't necessarily want ALL of the speakers on all the time. Enter the IR blaster, controlled by WiFi! I can then control my receiver (volume, input, speaker output, etc.) via my Pocket PC!! HEAVEN!!

Anyone have a similiar setup?