Internet Radio on an XV6700

[John Schaefer]

I occasionally listen to www.accuradio.com among other net radio streams, and now that I have an xv6700, I'm interested in listening via that device.

On a PC, all media players interpret a stream like those provided by net radio sites as a single, unending audio file. Once it's started playing, it keeps playing until user-terminated. On the PPC, though, each individual audio cue within the stream--one song, one commercial, one announcement--has to be individually started with the Play button, and is accompanied by a progress slider until it ends...at which time the next item has to be individually started.

This of course spoils the utility of an audio stream.

Is there a setup parameter for audio stream handling somewhere that I've missed?

[John Schaefer]

Heh. I'm learning more about the problem.

Apparently the WM5 media player does not handle streams...either the WMA streams used by many net radio stations, or the Shoutcast/MP3 streams offered by some stations for maximum compatibility with non-Windows systems.

There are a number of PocketPC players available. Most, though, apparently were designed for WM2003 or earlier. I haven't yet found one that (1) works and (2) supports streams...which is to say, I'm no better off than I was when I started. Except that I know a number of programs that don't work, so I guess I'm gaining ground.

[GSmith]

There's a chart at http://www.feederreader.com/mediachart.html
that lists the media players known (or advertised) to support streams. And it lists what kind of stream, too (look for the tilde "~" sign in the chart).

I have tested MortPlayer with HTTP-delivered mp3 streams and it works. I have not tried the others.

If you are looking for audio to listen to and you're interested in podcasts, it's hard to beat FeederReader for downloading and playing podcasts in any mp3 player. Just a thought, if you get stuck on trying to get streaming working.

Greg Smith
Author, FeederReader - Pocket PC *direct* RSS text, audio, video, podcasts
www.FeederReader.com - Download on the Road

[John Schaefer]

OK, a solution: GSPlayer, which has a free, supposedly beta version available for WM5.0 here http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA032810/. There's an earlier free version for WM2003 as well.

It works excellently on my XV6700 as a player of "playlist" (.pls) files for Shoutcast MP3 streams, such as are downloadable at AccuRadio.com/mobile. Runs fine in the background with low-processor-load software running in the foreground.

Of course, streaming audio goes through a lot of bytes, so you want to be in a no-cost-for-bandwidth situation.

Addendum: Thanks for the input, GSmith...I was writing this post while you were posting. I'd work with your chart if I wasn't already happy with the solution I'm running now. :D