Comments on: AeroPlayer Adds AAC Audio Support

Aerodrome software digital music player AeroPlayer has been updated with a new AAC audio plugin. This enables support for Apples Itunes format by adding playback of AAC encoded audio.
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Nice move buy Aerodrome

OrionNE @ 4/18/2005 3:00:43 PM # Q
After over two years of NormSoft (Pocket Tunes) beating AeroPlayer on many levels Aeroplayer finally makes a good move. I have iTunes and am getting tired of having to rip playlist to cd then rip the cd to mp3. I started with AeroPlayer but went to PTunes for the crossfade option. Does AeroPlay have crossfade now. If so I might think of changing back.

RE: Nice move buy Aerodrome
Surur @ 4/18/2005 3:13:38 PM # Q
Have you tried this? http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&c2coff=1&q=hymn+project

Left as a google search to protect PIC from the evil DMCA.

You can un-protect your purchased music and then use Itunes to convert it to MP3. You will need this utility in any case to play your purchased AAC files on anything besides an Ipod (if you dont want to burn and rip)

Surur

RE: Nice move buy Aerodrome
ChiA @ 4/18/2005 7:16:25 PM # Q
> >You can un-protect your purchased music and then use Itunes to convert it to MP3 < <

Is there an advantage in converting to mp3 when you've got an unprotected AAC file?

The iPod range of players aren't the only AAC music players but they're undeniably the most famous AAC players. Many players can play unprotected AAC quite nicely, even some mobile phones (e.g. Nokia 6230); the iPod range are the only players capable of playing DRM protected files from the iTunes Music Store.

MP 3 is the universal format
Surur @ 4/18/2005 8:46:51 PM # Q
The main reason to make an Mp3 copy is to have a track you can use with your Mp3 Car stereo, any random pda and many new phones. Sure there are other formats (and I'm not saying delete the source file) but mp3 is the most universal. Even the king of proprietary formats, Sony, has now finally caved in to this fact.

Surur

RE: They both stink
Foo Fighter @ 4/18/2005 9:02:45 PM # Q
Pfft! AeroPlayer...Pocket Tunes? Bah, they're both amateurish audio programs that offer inferior user experiences. Some of the necessary features are there, but the applications are overly complex and poorly designed. These are fine for Palmy geeks, but can't be taken seriously as legitimate media players. What Palm OS REALLY needs (if the platform is to become a SERIOUS media platform) is industry support from established (read: serious) media companies that know how to design simple elegant innovative user interfaces instead of relying on the work of hobbyists who frankly don’t understand how to design media player interfaces for mobiles devices. PalmOne should partner with Apple to develop iTunes for Palm OS, just as Motorola is doing with its phones. At least encourage Real Networks to get serious about developing a REAL version of RealPlayer instead of the crippled wheel-chair bound piece of....software, that we see today.

Microsoft has done a great job creating a simple elegant media player interface for WMP 10 on Windows Mobile (though the playlist/track access metaphor absolutely sucks), which is why I’d like to see them open their Windows Media platform for Palm OS. Possible...but not likely.

Tapwave has the right idea. They've partnered with Virgin to deliver music downloads to Zodiac users...all 200 of them. Lord only knows when we'll see the fruits of this labor, but at least it's a step in the right direction.

-------------------------------
Editor, http://Pocketfactory.com
Contributing Editor, http://digitalmediathoughts.com

RE: Nice move buy Aerodrome
viqsi @ 4/18/2005 10:07:09 PM # Q
This would be nice in theory, but I doubt something that big would happen. Frankly, though, I get the impression that 90% of what you'd want to see would be accomplished by just creating a decent skin for either of the players.

Beyond that... well, I could certainly go for hardware-button-only navigation through the music library, which I don't think either player has. But I'm kind of at a loss to think of anything else.

And no matter how nifty it might seem in theory, I *really* wouldn't want to see someone attempt something like an iPod wheel using the touchscreen. Smeared fingerprints are icky.

RE: Nice move buy Aerodrome
E Ben G @ 4/18/2005 10:25:04 PM # Q
What is the incentive for Apple to extend their barely profitable (even with 70% market share) iTunes store to Palm if it would threaten their hugely profitable iPod sales???

The partnership with Motorola is different...I doubt Apple views mp3-playing phones as the same type of threat that a 4gb Palm could be.

RE: Nice move buy Aerodrome
userwaldo @ 4/18/2005 10:32:22 PM # Q
actually both pocket tunes and areoplayer have good interfaces. and remember that winamp is still the most popular media player on windows, and it was created by hobiest, with a lot of skins made by hobiest.
RE: Nice move buy Aerodrome
viqsi @ 4/18/2005 10:46:50 PM # Q
I would point out that a significant part of Winamp's continued popularity in Windows is the ungodly huge number of plugins available for it - in many cases ONLY for it.

I would also point out that only Winamp 1.x and earlier was created by hobbyists. Further versions were created by a company those hobbyists later founded.

RE: Nice move buy Aerodrome
Foo Fighter @ 4/18/2005 11:54:01 PM # Q
Uh..that's the problem. AeroPlayer and Pocket Tunes are tyring to mimic a desktop media player when they should be emulating digital audio player interfaces. They're following the wrong horse, and it shows badly.

-------------------------------
Editor, http://Pocketfactory.com
Contributing Editor, http://digitalmediathoughts.com
RE: Nice move buy Aerodrome
hkklife @ 4/19/2005 12:10:05 AM # Q
VERY well (briefly and eloquently) said, Foo!

More handheld apps should take notes from Dataviz & SplashData. They could give a lesson on how to have a robut, powerful and reasonably feature-packed mobile app that doesn't try and ape an equivalent desktop app (with distressingly poor results).

Look at the Acrobat reader for Palm OS for an example on how not to make a mobile app, in addition to the two mp3 player programs you mention.


RE: Nice move buy Aerodrome
Foo Fighter @ 4/19/2005 12:24:36 AM # Q
Rather than posting a bunch of disparate responses I decided to blog it.

Suffice to say, it all comes down to usability. The PDA solution (as it exists now) sucks and is inferior to purpose built devices. PalmOne is going learn a hard lesson in this if it has delusions of grandeur, thinking Tungsten X can take on iPods or other digital audio players.

-------------------------------
Editor, http://Pocketfactory.com
Contributing Editor, http://digitalmediathoughts.com

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AAC != Protected AAC

WebMarc @ 4/18/2005 3:08:03 PM # Q
So I doubt if I'll be able to (legally) play my iTMS purchased content. Still, a step in the right direction!

webmarc

RE: AAC != Protected AAC
Ben S @ 4/18/2005 4:14:08 PM # Q
No, it can't play protected AAC, so it can't play iTMS purchased tracks (although it can play music ripped to AAC with iTunes).

Apple's at fault here for not licensing the DRM for iTunes, but the blame ultimately lands at the feet of the content providers, the record labels.

RE: AAC != Protected AAC
Altema @ 4/18/2005 8:31:28 PM # Q
That is because Apple wants to sell hardware, and someone like me who does not need/want an iPod is not interested in their music either for that reason.

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Why pay for ACC when you can get it for free..

Frenchie @ 4/18/2005 3:15:08 PM # Q
The core media player supports AAC, it is still a little iffy but hey why buy when you can get it for free.

http://tcpmp.corecodec.org/


I love it, better then any media player out there.

The world will end in 2006. Just as it was predicted in the bible along with the release of Microsoft Longhorn.... :p

RE: Why pay for ACC when you can get it for free..
viqsi @ 4/18/2005 4:27:30 PM # Q
The knee-jerk poster in me says "User Interface!"

However, the knee-jerk poster's information is based entirely on her/my experience with Free/Open Source software UIs, which are generally engineer-driven and not user-experience-driven. The knee-jerk poster hasn't actually even tried or seen TCPMP yet.

Please ignore the knee-jerk poster. She does not yet fully know what she is talking about.

(However, if she happens to be right (by some crazy coincidence), then I call first dibs on having been right. Nyah. ;) )

RE: Why pay for ACC when you can get it for free..
tfftruoa @ 4/18/2005 5:35:02 PM # Q
The knee jerk poster is partially right. The user interface is friendly and efficient, but it lacks the charm or polish or prettyness of the other music and movie players. As far as quality software goes, Core Media is top of the line, and im sure the UI will get slicker in time.

Sharp Wizard-->Handspring Visor "Deluxe"-->Sony Clie SJ30-->Palm Tungsten T3 w/ SE T68i
RE: Why pay for ACC when you can get it for free..
Frenchie @ 4/18/2005 5:38:08 PM # Q
what the hell, are you calling me a girl??? That was completely off topic and mean. Most people would rather get things for free then play for eye candy!

The world will end in 2006. Just as it was predicted in the bible along with the release of Microsoft Longhorn.... :p
RE: Why pay for ACC when you can get it for free..
joeags @ 4/18/2005 9:45:27 PM # Q
Oh Frenchie, can't you see that viqsi was calling HERSELF the knee-jerk poster, and hence is calling HERSELF a girl?!?!? The post was a bit cryptic, but I think you'll see that after re-reading!!!
RE: Why pay for ACC when you can get it for free..
viqsi @ 4/18/2005 10:14:35 PM # Q
joeags is correct. The viqsi occasionally talks about herself in the third person, largely because she is very silly and thinks it quite amusing. She probably should do something about that sometime.

...nah. ;)

RE: Why pay for ACC when you can get it for free..
Ben S @ 4/19/2005 9:41:11 AM # Q
I'm a little concerned by your assertion that F/OS sofware designs are typically "engineer-driven and not user-experience-driven". There are many, many Free/Open Source projects which were undertaken to correct the user interface flaws in other projects (both F/OS and proprietary/encumbered). Some excellent exaples are GNOME, which has some of the most well thought-out user interface guidelines ever written for any software, open-source or not.

There's no magic bullet for design that you get when you pay for software. A good designer can choose to write F/OS software just as easily as proprietary or encumbered software.

RE: Why pay for ACC when you can get it for free..
viqsi @ 4/19/2005 10:36:04 AM # Q
I'm aware of several of those projects. However...

...well. I would go into detail, but I *really* don't want to start a FOSS flamewar here ;), so let's just say that I do not particularly care for GNOME's direction and have a, shall we say, near-infinitely low opinion of Havoc Pennington, and leave it at that. :)

grumblemuttergrowlARRHETOOKAWAYMYSAWFISHTHEBASTARDAAAGHmuttergrumblegrr

RE: Why pay for ACC when you can get it for free..
Ben S @ 4/20/2005 8:29:36 AM # Q
No one took Sawfish away from you. It still is GNOME compliant and works perfectly well. And despite how you personally feel about GNOME, its HIG is well researched, proving that F/OS software *can* produce a well researched, well designed GUI. I'm not saying it's what everyone wants in a GUI... I'm quite sure such a thing does not and cannot exist.

RE: Why pay for ACC when you can get it for free..
viqsi @ 4/20/2005 11:51:47 AM # Q
And I quote... "I *really* don't want to start a FOSS flamewar here ;), so ... leave it at that."

--
Of course, I don't know how interesting any of this really is, but now you've got it in your brain cells so you're stuck with it. --Gary Larson
RE: Why pay for ACC when you can get it for free..
RhinoSteve @ 4/21/2005 12:39:30 AM # Q
People that matter will pay for it. The rest of you socialist free types can get what you pay for it -- nothing!!

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Hope they fixed some of the bugs introduced by 5.x.

userwaldo @ 4/18/2005 7:27:48 PM # Q
It's good to see they are doing development again. Hopefully they have addressed some of the bugs they introduced with 5.x.

http://www.palminfocenter.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=26412

And I sure would like to see bookmark support like PTunes has.

RE: Hope they fixed some of the bugs introduced by 5.x.
twrock @ 4/19/2005 4:32:58 AM # Q
Maybe they fixed some, but the one I keep complaining about is still there. Ever since version 5.0 I haven't been able to play Euchre and listen to music at the same time without serious music "skipping" (pausing) problems. The problem doesn't exist with Euchre only, but that is the simplest test I've found. So it's back to version 2.11.1 for me. I don't understand why an "upgrade" should work worse than the old version.

RE: Hope they fixed some of the bugs introduced by 5.x.
userwaldo @ 4/25/2005 9:34:51 PM # Q
i finally tried the new version and i can't see any improvements.
m3u files still don't work and the times arn't correct for mp3 files longer than 60 mins, and so on.

it looks like aerodrome just keep changing the version number and putting out the same software. it's rather disapointing.

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