Conduits Releases Pocket Player 2.8: Replay Gain, A2DP/AVRCP Support, and More!

[Darius Wey]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.conduits.com/products/player/' target='_blank'>http://www.conduits.com/products/player/</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Conduits Technologies, Inc., announced today the release of Pocket Player 2.8, an alternative music player for Windows Mobile 5 Pocket PC and Smartphone, supporting the latest media player standards and formats. Pocket Player aims to satisfy consumers who demand more from a media player on a mobile device. The new version introduces additional device support for the Motorola Q, support for Replay Gain and Widcomm BT Headphone controls, new audio format support, additional plugins and a multitude of bug fixes."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/wey-20060719-PP.gif" /><br /><br />If you're constantly weighed down by the woes of Windows Media Player Mobile, then Pocket Player may liberate you. This impressive player has been <a href="http://www.conduits.com/company_news.asp?pr20060724.html">updated to v2.8</a>, and as evident from the blurb above, it includes a wide range of new features, with Replay Gain (a normalization standard) being one of the big ones. <a href="http://www.conduits.com/products/player/download.asp">Download the free trial</a>, and if it's to your liking, head over to our <a href="http://www.handango.com/ampp/store/PlatformProductDetail.jsp?siteId=311&platformId=2&productType=2&productId=79548">affiliate software store</a> and scoop it up for $19.95.

[RobrechtV]

I'm playing around with the free trial version and I have one major complaint.

Why does Pocket Player have to scan all folders and rebuild its entire media library every time it's started? I have a 4gb storage card with a LOT of music so this freezes the program for about half a minute. Very annoying. WMP10, downweighing woes aside, at least stores its library for future use. Granted, there's an option to switch the automatic scans off, but that means Pocket Player just starts up with an empty library!!!

Surely that must mean I'm doing something wrong? Because this definitely is a deal breaker, along with some minor niggles (why can't you exit the library screen with a single stylus tap on the ok button, like in WMP10?). Pity, because some other extra's like the equaliser and gain normalization are pretty cool.

[Jason Patterson]

The library is not 'rebuilt' (in the common sense of the word) at each launch -- it is merely validated. This has been greatly sped up in 2.8 and only takes a few seconds on our 4GB test devices here. Validating the library should not hang the software as it's done in the background and at a low priority. One thing that can trip it up is if you (literally) put your 4GB of music into one folder. If you use any modern program to sync music, it will normally be put into subfolders for artist/album name.

The library is built once, and saved once you exit. On future startups, the library is read in, and all items are marked as 'availability: unknown'.. the Browser is OK with that, and should list all your content before it's validated. After scanning folders, it then ticks through all the files it found, marking all of them as 'available', and those it didn't find as 'unavailable' (to eventually be purged from the library storage).

You should not find an empty library when you first start the program. It will list anything it added in the previous instance.

It does not re-read the tags at each startup, so this step goes by pretty fast. Again, you can use the Player and the Browser while it's performing this step and should not encounter any problems.

Note that this was very improved for version 2.8. Make sure you are using that version. Older versions (2.72) took longer to update the library, and it took more resources to do so, but these problems were definitely fixed for 2.8. Also, we'll certainly re-add the OK button to the browser to exit it. Currently, you can use the d-pad to navigate, and pressing Left will back out of it.

[haesslich]

Just downloaded it - it's more responsive than 2.72 was, so that's a plus. I'll update my entry after using it some,t o see if the tweaks to the 'rebuild library' thing in 2.8 makes it faster on loading up after a shutdown than it was previously.

[RobrechtV]

Ok, I must be doing something wrong then. My media files are spread over many different folders (as automatically synchronized by WMP), that shouldn't be the problem. But it does take some time to launch Pocket Player, during which time I can't open the menu or playback music.

The reason I assumed this delay went into actually rebuilding the library each time was this: when I switched the "automatic library scan" off, the next time I launched Pocket Player the library was empty. Only after I actually opened and played some items, those (and only those) were added to it.

I'll play around with it some more as soon as I have the time and see if there were perhaps some external factors that caused this behaviour. Believe me, I like Pocket Player a lot and am still contemplating buying it, so I hope I can sort these issues out.

Edit: I reinstalled Pocket Player and my impression is more positive now. When launching it, it's not as snappy as WMP10, but the program doesn't "freeze" as I experienced earlier and once the library validation is done, it becomes very responsive.

Getting in and out of the library browser quickly and effortlessly is very important so I'm glad to hear you'll be (re)implementing the OK button. For now, I can navigate with the hardware buttons as you said.

I just ordered the full version, by the way. :wink:

[Golfer]

I'm having similar 'freeze' problems. I have re-installed it, but it still hangs for about 30 seconds or longer and then suddenly responds. I want to buy it as well as I like it, in particular the fact that you can go back to a podcast and it will continue from where it left off.

I'm using it on an ipaq 5550 using wm2003 which should work. I'll keep trying over the next couple of days.

[Joseph Moon]

It still runs like a tired dog on my Treo... I am switching over to Pocket Music...

Joseph...

[Darius Wey]

Two things I'd love to see fixed in Pocket Player.

First, the inclusion of a Back button in the media browser (much like Windows Media Player Mobile) would speed up navigation. There is one included in the right soft-key, but that's an extra tap for every instance of jumping back.

Second, it appears that genres with a forward slash result in Pocket Player adding an "Other" genre tag to the media. Can this be dropped?

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/wey-20060727-PocketPlayer.gif

Otherwise, this application just keeps getting better and better. :)

[RobrechtV]

the inclusion of a Back button in the media browser
Yes! That and an "OK" button instead of the "X" button in the top right corner (like Jason Patterson said would be reintroduced) would make the media browser much better.

It might also be handy to put a little library button on the main screen of the Player so you wouldn't have to go through the menu to quickly enqeue some tracks (same problem exists in WMP10). And while I'm ranting: I'd prefer it if the library would stay where you left it (in the same artist/album/... folder) when you open it the next time, instead of returning to the top categories.

As for the delay at startup: it takes a little getting used to when you come from WMP10 which has no delay at all, but it's not as bad as it seems at first. I have to mention, though, that when you turn "auto-scan" off to speed up the launching process, the library does get incomplete or even empty. Jason, maybe you should check if that's a bug?

All in all, this program is growing on me. I like it.

[Jason Patterson]

Ok, I must be doing something wrong then. My media files are spread over many different folders (as automatically synchronized by WMP), that shouldn't be the problem. But it does take some time to launch Pocket Player, during which time I can't open the menu or playback music.

This should not be occurring though -- it should not be rebuilding the library each time, but should be picking up on the previous run's build.

Can you follow the steps posted at the end of this thread from our support forum (http://www.conduits.com/community/forum_posts.asp?TID=608&amp;PN=1) to help us debug this problem? It would certainly be helpful for version 2.81.

[Jason Patterson]

I'm having similar 'freeze' problems. I have re-installed it, but it still hangs for about 30 seconds or longer and then suddenly responds. I want to buy it as well as I like it, in particular the fact that you can go back to a podcast and it will continue from where it left off.

It still runs like a tired dog on my Treo... I am switching over to Pocket Music...

Can both of you verify that you haven't installed it to Flash ROM, and that the About screen does list it as version 2.8? The program should never freeze up, and we've actually heard reports (and through testing) that it runs better on the Treo than version 2.7.

Joseph, you could try disabling the library auto-scan (in Options > Advanced) which might speed it up, but the library scanning should not be slowing the program down. We suspect it might be the Flash ROM problem. Since we store the library alongside of Pocket Player, the many reads/writes (though we try to buffer them) to the flash ROM is quite slow.

[Jason Patterson]

First, the inclusion of a Back button in the media browser (much like Windows Media Player Mobile) would speed up navigation. There is one included in the right soft-key, but that's an extra tap for every instance of jumping back.

You can always just push 'Left' -- would that suffice?

Second, it appears that genres with a forward slash result in Pocket Player adding an "Other" genre tag to the media. Can this be dropped?

Interesting. If you tap-and-hold on the track(s) that have this, you'll likely see that the tracks contain two "Genre Collection" items. This is how many WMA's are structured, and for a future version of the Browser, we'll try to patch that (it will likely not be fixed in 2.81).

Yes! That and an "OK" button instead of the "X" button in the top right corner (like Jason Patterson said would be reintroduced) would make the media browser much better.

Just added to 2.81.

It might also be handy to put a little library button on the main screen of the Player so you wouldn't have to go through the menu to quickly enqeue some tracks (same problem exists in WMP10).

That will likely not make it into 2.81 -- you can, however, bind a hardware button to Browse for Content.

I have to mention, though, that when you turn "auto-scan" off to speed up the launching process, the library does get incomplete or even empty. Jason, maybe you should check if that's a bug?

This is due to the fact that it's not ever touching the library, if you turn that off.

[haesslich]

Odd - I can't use PocketPlayer with AVCRP with the Widcomm stack on an hx2490 (WM5), but it'll work fine with WMP10 - both stream to the headset I'm using OK, though.

EDIT: I got the headset working with AVCRP by installing the WM Plugin Handler, and having it load the AVCRP plugin from WMP (the important part may have been including the Play/Pause Workaround). Now it works great with PocketPlayer... well, outside of the unavoidable occasional skippage and tinniness associated with the headphones themselves.

[Darius Wey]

You can always just push 'Left' -- would that suffice?

A-ha, I missed that. Yes, that helps. Thanks! :)

Interesting. If you tap-and-hold on the track(s) that have this, you'll likely see that the tracks contain two "Genre Collection" items. This is how many WMA's are structured, and for a future version of the Browser, we'll try to patch that (it will likely not be fixed in 2.81).

Correct. There are two "Genre Collection" items for the affected files (MP3s). Look forward to seeing it patched in a future release.

[Jason Patterson]

Darius,

I just wanted to drop a note to say we have fixed the "Other;" genre stuff for version 2.81 of Pocket Player. We'll have it available soon. The performance with library scanning and updating has also been increased, and memory usage has been reduced.

[Darius Wey]

I just wanted to drop a note to say we have fixed the "Other;" genre stuff for version 2.81 of Pocket Player. We'll have it available soon. The performance with library scanning and updating has also been increased, and memory usage has been reduced.

That's great. Thanks! Looking forward to it. :D

[Golfer]

I'm having similar 'freeze' problems. I have re-installed it, but it still hangs for about 30 seconds or longer and then suddenly responds. I want to buy it as well as I like it, in particular the fact that you can go back to a podcast and it will continue from where it left off.

It still runs like a tired dog on my Treo... I am switching over to Pocket Music...

Can both of you verify that you haven't installed it to Flash ROM, and that the About screen does list it as version 2.8? The program should never freeze up, and we've actually heard reports (and through testing) that it runs better on the Treo than version 2.7.

Joseph, you could try disabling the library auto-scan (in Options > Advanced) which might speed it up, but the library scanning should not be slowing the program down. We suspect it might be the Flash ROM problem. Since we store the library alongside of Pocket Player, the many reads/writes (though we try to buffer them) to the flash ROM is quite slow.


Sorry to take so long to get back, but I've been away on holiday (vacation).

I uninstalled the app and used Memaid to cleanup the registry, then re-installed it. Took it on holiday and it works well. I will finish using the trial version in 9 days and then buy it. It still freezes, twice maybe three times during an album, then say 30 seconds later it starts again. I installed it using the defaults.

[Jason Patterson]

Greetings all,

We've released Pocket Player 3.0 which addresses most, if not all, of the issues in this thread. Thanks again!

Discussion has moved over to this thread (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=51511).

[angelsarabians]

Hello,
I thought this was going to be the answer to being able to use my Jabra 620 bluetooth headset to listen to my music. I can't get it to work. The Jabra works for the phone only, because when I use the Poket Player 3.1 it only plays out of my phone speakers. I don't know how to get it to play though the headphones.

Can you help me before the trial runs out?
thanks,
angelsarabians