I just wanted to kno different thing people put on there SD just in case i wanted that...so ill b the first (follo my lead! ) and if you guys see something you want just post here n ill do the best i can 2 send
4GB MiniSD - Transformers, Robin Hood Men In Tights, Fantastic 4 Rize Of the Silver Surfer, Oceans 13, Pirates of the Caribbean AT Worlds End n ALOT of rap music...-_- no PPC apps...(looking tho)
What do you use to convert movies? I am assuming you are ripping them from DVD. I guess what format do you use?
lol not ripping from dvd they are .avi's already...but i use Spb Mobile DVD...it makes crystal clear movies!
I have a wikipedia backup in spanish (tomeraider), pharmaceutical specialities dictionary (spanish version, very useful), some other books, also music (english, pop) and cab's to easy restore data when trying a new ROM... =)
In the region I live in, I haven´t found any wifi resource even cell's line have poor reception... that's why i have to keep this king of info with myself... =(
jorgejs76 said:
I have a wikipedia backup in spanish (tomeraider), pharmaceutical specialities dictionary (spanish version, very useful), some other books, also music (english, pop) and cab's to easy restore data when trying a new ROM... =)
In the region I live in, I haven´t found any wifi resource even cell's line have poor reception... that's why i have to keep this king of info with myself... =(
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
good idea with the cabs! that what i will do right now
I got my MP3's and Youtube videos on my SD
I store my maps and route overlays for PPC version of Memory Map on. Great for use with Bluetooth GPS when i'm out doing Outward Bound Stuff
Andy
Music, good cartoons (venture bros, ATHF), pics, super troopers
Lots of music, games (NES games, all the LucasArts classics), all my e-mail attachments, some random cartoons.
Loads of muzic
I have a 2Gb mini SD. Store plenty of music on it - rock, pop, alternative. About 1.5Gb of music. Can't live without it. Other than that, have some contact pics, documents, installed apps. No games, I don't get time to play them these days.
only xxx film
some books
some music
some pictures
navigation software & maps
backup cab's from the programs I use
I like the wikipedia idea .... must look into this
I've got about 100 songs, 150 pictures, Fring and Skype, and a few ringtones and themes on my 1GB card
1gb card
tomtom 5 plus gbmap and gbmap plus
ER.........
Music ,apps , games and my back up
I have most of my ppc apps installed on my sd, a sh*tload of music, college lecture notes, ebooks, pix, ringtones, themes...that is my main sd (a 2G), then on 3 different 1G cards I have movies (converted with Pocket DVD), TV shows like Firefly, Heroes, Ugly Betty, and cartoons...Megas XLR, Invader Zim, Family Guy, Futurama. The extra cards store neatly in my wallet along with my BT Dongle, Headphone adaptor, and spare car key.
If I ever lost my Wizard, my life would come screeching to a complete stop. I use my phone to manage appointments for me and my kids, it has ALL my contacts, I keep my life in order with the task lists, use it to check emails/text/IM friends and family...I use the internet for directions, to check movie times, get the weather...then there are all my programs and extra's on my sd's. I'd crap puppies if my cell ever got lost!!!
Mine's a little more boring... I install everything (cabs) that will install there, I've got some music and temporarily store photos there.
tons of music, porn videos (yay!!), backup installers, kung-fu novel e-books
Whats on my MiniSD?
I got a 2gb!! Transcend from Newegg.So whats on it already!.
-TCPMP-+.flv plugin,allows me to watch,and save youtube videos.
-Google Maps.
-GPS2BlueA201,this allows me to turn my wizard into a BT gps reciever!
connect with other GPS bluetooth, laptop,or other enabled
devices,havent gotten it to work though,or dont know how
to set it up to work with GoogleMaps,might uninstall it.
-PocketNester. YAY! Why waste your money spending $100's of dollars
on games when you can play NES!!had PocketSNES,but
Mario Kart ran too slow,as well as Street Fighter II,wish
the wizard had a seperate graphics chip.
-BatteryStatusv1.0.5or wutever it is, Essential tool program for any WM
device,and it has good status info.
- Couple Youtube videos,my pics,about100 NES roms,another 120 mp3s.
device My Documents folders are also stored on SD,the
rom i have automatically did that.
AND I STILL GOT 1.4G left!!!I like this SD card,no issues
with it,just gotta take it out and stick it back in once in
awhile,cause BatteryStatus shows --.G sometimes,then
stick it back in,and its fine,would def get another one.
But id make sure to get a good Reader first if you want
to copy movies.
T-mobile U.S.A.
G3Wiza200
CID/SIM-Unlocked
2.26TMO-US Rom,running you know who's
WM5SE.rev4.TouchFlo,and
HTC Home,Cube.
Related
Well the title says it all is there a freeware applications out there to convert DVDs to file size to work on a 128/256 SD card and in the correct format Windows media player will reconise it
Thanks
Try TMPGenc for making mpegs and Virtualdub voor making Divx
For guides check out: www.doom9.net (or com)
DVD to Pocket PC software
hi
you can buy the software now - ive done about 20 movies from DVD to Pocket PC and they are between 100 and 200 MB depending on the res. Just download the new software that is called DVD to Pocket PC it will come up in a google search - works GREAT and is WMV format!
How to guide
Check this:
http://www.mathiaspohl.de/mda
regards,
Haven't come across any free software that is straightforward or one-step, but if you don't mind spashing out $24.99 DVD to Pocket PC by Makayama Software is an ace bit of software. Does one step conversion from your DVD to WMV files with 2 output options - low res (to fit on a 128MB card) and high res (to fit on a 256MB card). I have found the quality to be really good, even on the lower resolution. Be aware that if only movies shorter than 100 minutes can be compressed to fit on a 128MB card, otherwise the files end up nearer the 256MB mark.
You can download a trail version (does a 5 minute encode) at: Handango (http://www.handango.com/PlatformPro...ionId=0&catalog=30&txtSearch=dvd+to+pocket+pc)
for those having problem with the link - here you have short
version of it http://makeashorterlink.com/?K372120F6
and apart from that, it seems a great piece of software
regards, monika
check out this URL. I use this software combination all the time and it works great!
http://www.pocketmovies.net/dvdrip.php
the resource is nice and easy
thank you, I would definitely give it a try
regards, monika
what media player would i need then?
I tried loads and found Windows Media Encoder the best so far- find it on MS site. It converts to WMV, lets u change lots of settings and its free!
For those interested in DVD to Pocket PC I have written a review which can be fount at: http://www.pocketreview.net/default.asp?section=article&id=5&page=1
http://www.pocketmatrix.com/guides/compression/
hass all you need id recomend using divx conversion you get better quallity and smaller filesize then the wmf 2hours 30min into 124mb at 320x240 res with 250bps and 21kbs sound
can't play large files
My experience has been that i can't play any files bigger than 4 mb
on my XDA using Div-x player , windows media is even worse struggles along with 1mb files, i tried opening a 5mb file on dix-x and after waiting for 10 minutes watching the coloured pie chart go round and round, rebooted and gave opening big files a total swerve, i found setting my cache setting to max helps out, but still no joy with big files, i can't imagine to think how guys are getting to watch full length movies,
cheers
C
not all sd cards are the same
http://ixbt-labs.com/articles2/flashcard-test/flashcard-test-p5-memsol.html
http://ixbt-labs.com/articles2/flashcard-test/flashcard-test-p5-memsol.html
there were another articles at that site mainly about CF i know that we use SD but sandisk were soooooo much slower then any other CF cards so if thats the same thing with SD cards and you have a sandisk SD card then that could be the reson for poor video playback
weird my sandisk works fine i play full 140mb full screen vids and they work fine also doesnt take long for it to plan routes on tomtom either
Re: can't play large files
netaxiz said:
My experience has been that i can't play any files bigger than 4 mb
on my XDA using Div-x player , windows media is even worse struggles along with 1mb files, i tried opening a 5mb file on dix-x and after waiting for 10 minutes watching the coloured pie chart go round and round, rebooted and gave opening big files a total swerve, i found setting my cache setting to max helps out, but still no joy with big files, i can't imagine to think how guys are getting to watch full length movies,
cheers
C
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
for a change I have to admit having NO PROBLEMS whatsoever playing avi files ranging from 200MB to 400MB on my WMP 9.0 which has been built into WM 2003, maybe you have to make a software upgrade ??
regards, monika
thanks
thanks guys, atleast I know that a problem exists and it is not the limitation of my XDA
for the record i have a lexar 128mb sd Card, i will do some research and poking around
and hopefully can report back with a fix
tks agin
cheers
Re: thanks
netaxiz said:
thanks guys, atleast I know that a problem exists and it is not the limitation of my XDA
for the record i have a lexar 128mb sd Card, i will do some research and poking around
and hopefully can report back with a fix
tks agin , cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
maybe it a lexar fault, previosly I've had 256mb lexar one and that card produced some problems - files were disappearing just out of blue, SpB benchmark software ... has reported errors on that card - after changing for a new one ... problems have finished
but even though (ie. having those problems with) lexar card has been playing video with no hassle
regards, monika
upgrade to 2003 complete
took your advice monika
just upgraded from 2002 to 2003
now have WMP 9
great upgrade, except, 2003 IMHO has not been for me as stable as 2002
find myself needing to reset a lot more, but the added feautures and functionality do make up for it.
anyway, vid files still buffer a hell of a lot and the bigger they are the more they skip
i will try a different make of SD card and see what happens,
cheers
C
BTW whats the difference between PPC 2003 400.05 and 400.21
BTW whats the difference between PPC 2003 400.05 and 400.21 ?
Cheers
C
Simple problem. I have several thousand mp3s at home and want to stream them to my phone so that I have all my songs regardless of my location. Even an 8GB MicroSDHC card will not hold all the songs, so streaming is the next best alternative.
I've tried using ORB, and it's a great idea, but the interface through PIE leaves much to be desired. It's difficult to drive around and click the little links, even on large font. Also there is no easy way to queue songs up without making a playlist prior.
Are there any alternatives to ORB that have a better front-end? It'd be nice to have a touch-friendly scrolling type of "catalog" of my songs, and then stream/queue them when I select them. Doesn't seem so hard.
I even tried creating a home web page with IIS, and that worked to a point, but there's got to be something better.
Thanks!
cpujunky said:
Simple problem. I have several thousand mp3s at home and want to stream them to my phone so that I have all my songs regardless of my location. Even an 8GB MicroSDHC card will not hold all the songs, so streaming is the next best alternative.
I've tried using ORB, and it's a great idea, but the interface through PIE leaves much to be desired. It's difficult to drive around and click the little links, even on large font. Also there is no easy way to queue songs up without making a playlist prior.
Are there any alternatives to ORB that have a better front-end? It'd be nice to have a touch-friendly scrolling type of "catalog" of my songs, and then stream/queue them when I select them. Doesn't seem so hard.
I even tried creating a home web page with IIS, and that worked to a point, but there's got to be something better.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I read in one of the other threads that SanDisk has announced a 12GB micro SD available this summer and they speculate that it may be a 16GB by the time it comes out.
I agree 100%...I love ORB but it is way too difficult to navigate.
They really have it all down except the few things you mentioned
Anyone else??
SelectRadio 4.0.2 ?
This prog has such an option, and I do use the program but have not tried it out for that so I do not know how well it works.
Lobster Tunes will do it for you. It's not free, though.
http://lobstertunes.com
Lobster looks pretty cool. I'm going to check it out and see if it offers a better experience than what I currently use (Andromeda - http://www.turnstyle.com/andromeda/home.asp).
sputnik said:
Lobster looks pretty cool. I'm going to check it out and see if it offers a better experience than what I currently use (Andromeda - http://www.turnstyle.com/andromeda/home.asp).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you find bad about Andromeda? I was thinking about giving it a try...
Here is one I have been wondering about. What software can you use to stream your local radio stations to your phone? I know about tuned.mobi and such, but the problem is that when a game comes on, they usually block the broadcast of the audio stream even though it is playing on the local AM radio station. I want to be able to broadcast my local radio stations (AM and FM) to my phone so I can still get the games.
I wonder if someone could not write a program that integrates everything available through orb into you wmp library i.e. some sort of plugin maybee we could put together a donation pot to get one of the dev's to work on the project
djlenoir said:
Here is one I have been wondering about. What software can you use to stream your local radio stations to your phone? I know about tuned.mobi and such, but the problem is that when a game comes on, they usually block the broadcast of the audio stream even though it is playing on the local AM radio station. I want to be able to broadcast my local radio stations (AM and FM) to my phone so I can still get the games.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you cant...if it isnt streamed, it cant be made out of thin air. get a radio.
dtrell said:
you cant...if it isnt streamed, it cant be made out of thin air. get a radio.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol, I have a radio...multiple radios. I think you may have misunderstood me. If I got something like this device would I be able to stream it to my phone? I travel... when I am in another state, I can not stream my local radio station broadcasts through the internet to listen to games (blacked out). However, they are playing on the radio station if I were at home and able listen to my radio.
well I think I finally found my cream of the crop... saw this thread and I have to say, andromeda is the BEST solution I've found for getting my music to my PPC...
it works very well with PIE and is very zippy zippy zippy...
I've tried:
1) lobstertunes - buggy, slow, doesn't work with all ROMs
2) gnump3d - buggy perl script, cool features but crashes a lot
3) orb - as you all have stated, interface sucks in PIE and too hard to navigate
4) andromeda - FAST, stable, and CLEAN... worth every penny of the $20 lol
I like the interface of Andromeda the best, not to mention it's speed. Although you can create a playlist, you still can't just "queue" one up...unless I'm missing something.
Took me some tweaks to get it to work too. Have to rename the asp to m3u and make it executable on the server. I also had to use a third party player.
What player are you using? Also, when I click on a file to stream, it always asks me if I want to overwrite the existing m3u. I say yes and it works fine, but ya know
cpujunky said:
Took me some tweaks to get it to work too. Have to rename the asp to m3u and make it executable on the server. I also had to use a third party player.
What player are you using? Also, when I click on a file to stream, it always asks me if I want to overwrite the existing m3u. I say yes and it works fine, but ya know
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup gotta do a few tweaks but it ends up workin'... yes same thing with overwiting the file but that's typical... I use TCPMP and it works flawlessly.
Zenoran said:
well I think I finally found my cream of the crop... saw this thread and I have to say, andromeda is the BEST solution I've found for getting my music to my PPC...
it works very well with PIE and is very zippy zippy zippy...
I've tried:
1) lobstertunes - buggy, slow, doesn't work with all ROMs
2) gnump3d - buggy perl script, cool features but crashes a lot
3) orb - as you all have stated, interface sucks in PIE and too hard to navigate
4) andromeda - FAST, stable, and CLEAN... worth every penny of the $20 lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like both mundu and resco radio, but they are streaming only. I may try andromeda, PM me with details please.
Do you have a mac?
I'm not sure this would work for you, but it's something that I'm going to try once the needed adapter comes in.
I feel slingbox works really well on my phone and I use it to stream live TV. For my media files I'm planning on using my mac mini which has an IR sensor for the remote and Front Row. The front row interface is very similar to the interface on an ipod and the commands are supposedly supported by slingbox. Once I get the adapter for vga-svideo I will set it up. The only downside I can think of is that audio when watching TV doesn't come over in good quality unless I have it in audio only mode, but this might not be a problem with Front Row where there will be very little visual data transmitted for audio files.
The reason a mac mini is nice is that it has a built in IR sensor. This bet this will work with windows media center too if you have something to control it with IR. Another potential downside is that the computer pretty much needs to be dedicated to working as a media server lest you forget to put it back into media mode.
been searching the forum and came across cases where some owners of PPCs have gotten WMP to transfers DRM music downloaded from Rhapsody on to their PPCs.
I subscribe to RTG and tried to transfer downloaded DRM protected music to my mogul's SD but had no luck. WMP can't sync "Windows Media Player cannot sync the file because the device needs to be updated"
The WMDRM, MSMETADATA, and PLAYLIST folders were created so i know the SD was prepared for DRM music but i can seem to get it to work on the mogul.
maybe it's not compatible how did those other people get it to work??
I will tell you from my own personal experience, DRM content does work on the Mogul. I work for Napster's call center and I am able to get my music from Napster to my Mogul, very easily! Napster recognizes it, and the card, then all I have to do is transfer to the storage card and I'm done. Don't even have to use Windows Media Player.
Just FYI, you might want to check it out. 7-day trial available during registration. Make absolutely sure you get Napster To Go.
EDIT: Please remember, the phone is not officially supported by Napster. If you can't get it to work, there is nothing that anyone in the call center can do, so please do not call looking for support.
eXplicit815 said:
I will tell you from my own personal experience, DRM content does work on the Mogul. I work for Napster's call center and I am able to get my music from Napster to my Mogul, very easily! Napster recognizes it, and the card, then all I have to do is transfer to the storage card and I'm done. Don't even have to use Windows Media Player.
Just FYI, you might want to check it out. 7-day trial available during registration. Make absolutely sure you get Napster To Go.
EDIT: Please remember, the phone is not officially supported by Napster. If you can't get it to work, there is nothing that anyone in the call center can do, so please do not call looking for support.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
now i'm jealous. who's rom/version are you using? did you need to prep the device or SD before you could transfer the music?
anyone done this with rhapsody?
I've been using rhapsody to go for some time. Works very well with a bluetooth enabled car stereo.
In rhapsody, you should have two devices listed:
One for your phone itself
One for the memory card
You need to put at least one song on the phone itself so that it licenses the phone to accept the drm. Since I like to use songs for ringtones, dropping the selected song to the phone will usually do the trick. After that, I use the memory card for the main storage of music.
Hope this helps
Haha...napster....the original CEO of napster, shawn fanning, was my roommate in college at Northeastern. I remember him sitting in our room for hours and hours developing the original napster...i miss the original napster lol.
Napster got its name from his nappy hair, which is why he always wore a hat.
schoalz said:
I've been using rhapsody to go for some time. Works very well with a bluetooth enabled car stereo.
In rhapsody, you should have two devices listed:
One for your phone itself
One for the memory card
You need to put at least one song on the phone itself so that it licenses the phone to accept the drm. Since I like to use songs for ringtones, dropping the selected song to the phone will usually do the trick. After that, I use the memory card for the main storage of music.
Hope this helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What rom are you using?
ME: WinXP SP2, WMP11, Lastest Rhapsody....DCD 3.0.1
is WMDRM supported in DCD's 3.0.1?
My computer is "Authorized" already
I plugin my mogul
I start Rhapsody. It's finds and scans the PDA and Storage Card.
There is a WMA file on the device.
The WMDRM files and folders are created on the PDA and Storage Card
In Rhapsody, I try to drag a song from my library to the Storage card and get
"You cannot transfer this subscrition content because this device is not a subscrition device"...blah blah blah...pay. I already pay $15/mo
There's no option to "Authorize" my mogul...What exactly did you do to get it to work? what rom are you using?
ROM's really have nothing to do with it. It just recognizes it as a Windows Mobile device, and the rest goes from there. You can use any ROM with any configuration.
Give it a shot, let me know your username and I'll make sure everything goes smoothly on the back-end.
Rhapsody has worked OK (complaints below) for me on the three different devices I've tried (1 Mogul, 2 Touch's).
The particular ROM you are running can make a difference, as some custom ROMs leave out Lockstream DRM.
In my experience Rhapsody's online player is great. The software that you have to run to download music on the other hand has given me nothing but headaches. In my experience it is buggy, bloated, unresponsive crap. I've spent hours troubleshooting issues (some might be related to Vista, but come on, it's been out for a long time now), uninstalling/reinstalling Lockstream components, etc. And for some reason it never recognizes my storage cards the next time I try to transfer music. I have to deauthorize the card in my account settings, and then reathorize it in order to transfer music. There are just way to many issues for it to be a useful service for most people. I'll probably give it another month, but I will likely be looking into trying Napster and some others if their selection is comparable to Rhapsody.
I use rhapsody on my Mogul/XV6800 with no issues. I just plugged it in, authorized it, and started adding music.
J Shed said:
I use rhapsody on my Mogul/XV6800 with no issues. I just plugged it in, authorized it, and started adding music.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's all great that all of you can use rhapsody on your mogul..at least i know it works....
BUT I HAVE NO OPTION TO AUTHORIZE MY STORAGE CARD!!!!!
can anyone please give me a solution/procedure...
Fr3nZy said:
It's all great that all of you can use rhapsody on your mogul..at least i know it works....
BUT I HAVE NO OPTION TO AUTHORIZE MY STORAGE CARD!!!!!
can anyone please give me a solution/procedure...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I FIXED IT!!!!!
looks like I have to install MS-KB929399 DRM hotfix. I can authorize now...
BUT now i have another problem!!!
after a few seconds of playing the song it stops and i get..."Not enought storage space is available to complete the operation"
I got 142MB free space in my rom and 350mb free in my SD...this would happen to any file i played in MediaPlayer..
Is it talking about RAM?
CrayDeng said:
There is a useful guide including:1. How to free download DRM Music 2. How to convert the DRM music to play them with any players.
http://www.crapware-link.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, but those methods currently no longer work in XP
MS and Rhapsody are pushing a different version of the DRM IBX in XP and the keys can't be retrieved with those methods anymore.
(are we allowed to talk about this on XDA forum)
Anyway i got Rhapsody to work with my mogul.
Rhapsody + HTC Audio Manager + 8GB SDHC + Dopod remote control + Sony Fontopias + SRS WOW HD = pretty decent portable music player
but this thing has some serious issues with RAM...64MB SUX!!!
can't multitask with the Audio Manager running..even WMP has problems with running out of RAM
There are legitimate reasons to want to strip the DRM from protected Rhapsody tracks. The lack of a universal DRM system means that iPods, etc. can't play the Rhapsody tracks that you legally have the license to use. Granted, stripping the DRM is not legal, but morally I don't have a problem with it in this case. If you were to keep using the files after canceling your subscription that would be another story of course.
All that said, I've been using a program called MuvAudio to "strip" the DRM from my Rhapsody tracks. It actually doesn't strip anything, but instead runs the file through your sound card and digitally records the output into a new (and not copy-protected) MP3. The benefit of this system is that anything you can play on your PC can be converted into an unprotected MP3/WMA/etc. All the tag data (artist, album, year, etc) is preserved, and it will even search for and attach album art. I was a little worried there would be some quality loss, but it turns out that is not an issue. The quality of the MP3 output is excellent. The program can also be set to monitor your Rhapsody download folder so that new downloads are automatically converted. The best part is that you can get the program for free with TrialPay. Basically, you sign up for a trial of some other, unrelated service, and you get a free license for MuvAudio. You can then cancel your trial of the other service without ever paying a dime. Pretty cool. And now my wife can load up her iPod with Rhapsody tracks.
Now if Rhapsody would only offer a Pocket PC client so that I could bypass my PC all together...
bedoig said:
There are legitimate reasons to want to strip the DRM from protected Rhapsody tracks. The lack of a universal DRM system means that iPods, etc. can't play the Rhapsody tracks that you legally have the license to use. Granted, stripping the DRM is not legal, but morally I don't have a problem with it in this case. If you were to keep using the files after canceling your subscription that would be another story of course.
All that said, I've been using a program called MuvAudio to "strip" the DRM from my Rhapsody tracks. It actually doesn't strip anything, but instead runs the file through your sound card and digitally records the output into a new (and not copy-protected) MP3. The benefit of this system is that anything you can play on your PC can be converted into an unprotected MP3/WMA/etc. All the tag data (artist, album, year, etc) is preserved, and it will even search for and attach album art. I was a little worried there would be some quality loss, but it turns out that is not an issue. The quality of the MP3 output is excellent. The program can also be set to monitor your Rhapsody download folder so that new downloads are automatically converted. The best part is that you can get the program for free with TrialPay. Basically, you sign up for a trial of some other, unrelated service, and you get a free license for MuvAudio. You can then cancel your trial of the other service without ever paying a dime. Pretty cool. And now my wife can load up her iPod with Rhapsody tracks.
Now if Rhapsody would only offer a Pocket PC client so that I could bypass my PC all together...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Analog rips aren’t really what I want, I may sound like a stickler for quality but I can notice the difference, especially with high quality headphones or rips using low quality sound cards
But this automatic monitoring and converting sounds intriguing…I’m gonna give it a try
I'm sure many people have noticed this, but figured I'd start a little discussion on this.
For those that have not seen or heard about it: Amazon started offering a "cloud" service. Basically functions as a typical online storage service with a few neat features. Using the amazon mp3 player (free download), you can stream music files stored on the "cloud" account to your phone. Obviously this doesn't completely replace the functionality of having music stored on the device, as you wont have access if you don't have a network connection of some sort, but I know I can store more of my music on the cloud server and keep a limited amount of music on the phone for those instances that I wont have a network connection.
It looks like their basic/free service will provide 5 GB of storage, though you can get that upgraded to 20 GB for free with the purchase of an MP3 album. Obviously, not everyone will want to do that, but I had been looking at buying an MP3 album from amazon anyways (finding the actual CD was looking to be impossible or WAY too expensive) so it kind of worked out well for me. I wouldn't say there's a whole lot of innovative features, just a bit of innovation in combining features for convenience I guess. So, with my limited testing so far, I wouldn't call anything groundbreaking, but definitely nifty.
So far, it streams perfectly fine over both wifi and 3G which is to be expected. The player is fairly basic/minimalistic, but gets the job done. The widget also follows the minimalistic design. I feel that both are a bit too simplistic and prefer using winamp, but it's really just a preference thing. I can't really fault anything specific about the amazon player at this point other than being simple in design. The player also functions as an amazon music store so you can purchase music to be added to your cloud storage and you download the files directly to your phone. So far, I'd say the convenience is the best part of the service.
One thing I'm wondering about: Why didn't they combine the app store and music store into one app? I know it's not that difficult to switch between the 2, but it seems like it would be "cleaner" to just put both into one great package. I'm guessing they were concerned about it becoming cluttered, especially with search results, but it still seems like they could have worked the 2 together.
I tried this an it seemed to work good to me. The only thing that sucks is that my upload speed is terrible at home so uploaded 5gbs would take me forever, yet alone more GB.
Be sure to check here for some essentially free space.
http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/03/29/tip-get-20gb-of-amazon-cloud-drive-storage-for-only-0-69/
Tested and works fine on Nook Tablet 8gb 1.4.2.
0. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1005633
Buy a Sandisk MicroSD card like this thread suggests to prevent read/write problems due to a slow card. I simply went with a class 4 Sandisk 16gb from Microcenter. Not the fastest loading big movie files, but cheap and works fine.
AVOID 4GB Microsd cards!! One that I had was just a few 10kb short of fitting the CM7 below. >_<
1. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1529553
Follow the instructions for Option 1 to root the tablet.
a. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1529553
Get the SD CARD VERSION of from here.
CHECK THE MD5 checksum of this download to make it MATCHES THE ONE IN THE THREAD ABOVE! This is to prevent problems if the image isn't the same as the original.
b. Write the image to the Sandisk card above. No need to format it beforehand.
On windows, Option 1 noted using win32diskimager linked works fine.
http://nookdevs.com/Nookie_FroYo:_Burning_a_bootable_SD_card
c. Power the Nook off per instructions after making sure it has sufficient charge!! I'd say at least 25% to be safe even though it takes only two minutes. And boot from card per instructions to root.
d. After rooting, feel free to boot without the card in the nook, then insert.and format the card in the nook.
2. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1481826
Now, download the CM7 sd card image. Make sure MD5 checksums match. Write to SD card. It won't fit some 4gb microsd cards because some are a little too small.
4partitions will be created. They'll show up as fat32 for partition resizing later.
Follow the instructions to boot from this CM7 card.
Simplest way to ensure it boots from card is to power off the nook, the plug in the nook usb cable that is plugged into the ac power adapter, or pc. If you don't, it may ignore the card and boot back into the original OS.
3. Optional if you are using a card larger than 4gb.
Once you've booted successfully into cm7, you can power off and eject the card. Take it to a PC and download Easeus Partition manager for free. Launch Easeus and stick the card in. Refresh if needed to make it show up. Select the last partition (one adjacent to any unallocated space on your card) and resize it.to fill up the rest of the card. Apply, eject card and boot the Nook from it. Should still work and you can now use all available space.
4. Now that you're in CM7, go launch NT Hidden Settings app that comes with this. Hacks ->BLock OTA updates to prevent BN from disabling all this fun. You don't need to do it from the Nook OS after this here (but you can if you choose not to do it from cm7).
x-xx Whew. That all is just to get the.cm7 up and running.
5. Start up Google Market or Play app and let it update as needed. (optional, if you desire. Lots of other Android Markets and download sites with the same stuff-eg. getjar.com,.amazon market, etc.-if you don't like setting up a google account)
6. Search the market for QQ. This is the Chinese keyboard, and for english, I like it far better than the default keyboard. You can slide a key up to access.the alternate key. eg. slide up on n to type ?.
7. Search and download Multiling Keyboard along with the Chinese, Japanese keyboard plugins and Handwriting plugin. This is ThE only keyboard I've see for Android that allows pen input of kanji and chinese without driving you nuts, and works for kanji AND hiragana characters AND Japanese varients of Chinese characters like 気 气 氣. Yes, even the iOS can't do this!! :-D (only within Midori can it input Japanese kanji version, but not systemwide).
8. Search and download Adobe Reader, Adobe Flash, ComicReader, MX Player, AEDict, wwwjdic, and EBPocket to start. I like Opera Mini as well.
These basic apps get you up and running on the Japanese dictionary side. Load epwing dictionaries, videos, books, cbz, etc through usb.
9. To view pdf, adobe reader works well because it can also display text only. Zip folders of your jpg book scans, if they're not in pdf yet, and Comic Reader will nicely let you browse tons of ebook scans of texts, magazines,.etc fast! Customizable tap zones let you read right to left books just fine.
Download Xplore to manage your files. TubeMate to download tube videos offline. Winamp to play mp3s.
Firefox is good for option to save pages as pdf.
MX Player just rocks on videos. Fast, subs support, and 1080videos in mp4 at 8000kbps play fine on the Nook 8gb.
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Whew. Lots of setup for a first week Asian Nook Tablet user to make it useful for the lot, but nice thus far for a useful mobile language study, ecomic and book viewer, and tube downloader.
Will update later on as I get into the Nook more, but works fine and fast with 12gb of book, mp3, mp4, etc content and Chinese/Japanese IO.
Tested apps for Chinese/Japanese study, and a bit more for the Nook Tablet 8gb.
Top Chinese study apps
---------------------------
Pleco - Nice Dictionary, must have.
Pinyin Lite - pronounciation practice
Trainchinese - Dictionary & flash cards
Xiaoma Hanzi - Flash cards
Top Japanese study apps
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EPPocket Free - Load it up with EPWing dictionaries (Genius, Kenkyusha), must have if you have EPWing dictionaries to load.
NariTra - Voice translator (30+ langauges to 30+ languages!), must have internet and for travel.
AEDICT - EDICT Dictionary, Must have.
JA Sensei - kana, kanji, vocab, etc.
INPUT KEYBOARDS
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Must haves for Chinese/Japanese input:
Multiling + Chinese/Japanese/Handwriting plugins - pretty much does it all if you decide never to install anything else. Handwriting input is nice, free! Must have for inputting Asian characters/kanji!
QQ - Fastest keyboard I've found for typing by thumbs in English or Chinese! Almost perfect layout for rapid typing with very few mistakes in portrait. To die for!
To try:
7notes - Interesting handwriting input, but can be less accurate than Multiling - try the demo out to see if you want to buy this.
Swype - If you must slide input, this solid keyboard does it well on the Tablet.
Tools
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ADownloader - Torrents, fast, nice.
App Manager/Explorer - Nice, can run Java MIDLETS on the Tablet.
DroidWall or Avast - both have nice Firewalls.
Kingsoft Office - a free, but decent Office program for the basics - taking notes, typing in outlines, etc.. (see other XDA thread for that huge 7 program Android Office comparo for alternatives)
X-Plore - the only MUST HAVE file manager!!! The best ever!! Very powerful.
Programming
----------------
AIDE - When you're bored, create APK programs on the Tablet itself in Java! Yep, no need for external PC for compiling or editing.
MEDIA
-------
Flipboard - nice use of the tablet to read news from various categories and sites.
MX Player - plays just about everything it can play without a hiccup. Other players can handle more formats, but never as quick or nice. As long as you encode to 1080 or less at Level 4.1 High or less H.264 at 8000kpbs or less, the Tablet will generally play it.
NHK World TV/SPB TV - catch up on news from around the world.
Talkatone - free Google incoming/outgoing calls.
TubeMate - The BEST youtube downloader ever. Much like MXTube for iPhone.
TuneIn Radio - Nice online radio app.
WinAmp - Like the desktop app, good for listening to language audios.
Browsers
--------------
Opera Mobile - solid, fast, can easily turn on/off features. Logical layout across all mobile platforms from Android to iPhone to Symbian to Java phones.
Firefox - only because you can add adblock plus plugin to block ads.
Default browser - Sadly, you still need this to access some free WiFi login pages.
Viewers
------------
Adobe Reader - default PDF viewer. Can extract and view just text in Japanese/Chinese, but won't handle every PDF out there.
PerfectViewer + PDF plugin - handles those PDFs Adobe Reader can't.
ComicRack Free - Very nice image/comic viewer. Simply ZIP up a folder of pictures and voila! You can flip through them like a book. Handles standard CBZ/etc. comic formats as well. You can scan in all of your Language books as JPG, then ZIP up the folder. (Note: Mac ZIPping sometimes creates zips that don't work - use a PC!) Must have.
CoolReader/EbookDroid/FBReader - handles those other EPUB/DJVU/etc. formats.
QuickPic - Fast picture viewer. Quick, logical, fast.
Games
========
Ataroid, Gensoid, PianoPerfect, Cut the Rope - Some of the better emulators/games out there. Gensoid is totally perfect for Sonic the Hedgehog!
Thoughts for the 1st week.
Very easy to get a hacked system up and running. Faster than the iPad since you don't have that ugly 700+MB ROM image to download for the usual Sn0w.
Very little OS protection. Thus, backup a clean image of the MicroSD card once you've got it setup and running. No root password even! What was G thinking?!? Would not trust the tablet for credit card/etc transactions since you really don't know if it's been hacked from outside or infected due to OS weaknesses. (Not like BB or Symbian where it's far, far, far, harder or impossible to be hacked/infected from the internet if you've got the device secured. Can't remember a single virus report for the Symbian platform in the past couple of years...)
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Powerful HW - thus, 1080i H.264 videos playback fine after encoding on the PC. Screen is iPad quality, nice at all angles. Bright enough for everything except outdoor daylight use. Sound quality over headphones is decent, speakers could be better and placed in front/side - otherwise can be muffled.
Dual core sometimes lags as you load up more programs at the same time, so install and bring the SYSTEMPANEL LITE app to KILL ALL programs fast! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED APP!!
BRIGHTNESS LEVEL widget for the home screen is another nice app to install since it doesn't have auto-brightness control.
WiFi sees routers and connects quickly. Nice, no trouble here.
Lack of Ad-Hoc means you can't connect it to a phone that's sharing on such. Might try the Ad-hoc fix....the reports of it messing up the OS and resetting everything isn't enticing however...
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Runs most things like they ought to run - like a mini-version of Windows. That said, it isn't Windows and you do bump up into the usual limitations of the Android OS quickly.
Browsers quickly run up against the usual 'tablet' but not 'pc' issues - sites are not formatted correctly, don't come up right, can't open, don't run, etc. Thus, trying multiple browsers like Opera and Firefox is the only way to access some sites, while others are simply not available.
Can't run a DOS game easily (virtual keyboards block what you see, must get an external keyboard then), can't program in C++ in a VS-like editor on the tablet, can't run Java apps without converting to APK, and.... none of the zilliions and zillions of apps already out for the iOS platform.
That's probably the biggest lag - you can find everything, often better, for the iOS platform, but not for the Android platform. This is where the iPad mini will take $$$ away from millions of users as they switch over when it arrives.
Even a simple program like GoodReader alone is enough to make or break. For language study, Midori and Japanese on the iOS is awesome vs. anything out for Android.
Also, it's not Windows, so when the sub 1lbs Windows 8 tablets arrive later this year, many will switch over just to get 'real' work done along with full desktop app access - VS, Office, etc.
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The $150 price point is great! Can't say anything about it other than Best Purchase Ever for This Price Point in a multimedia tablet device. It won't do everything an iPad or Windows Tablet can do, but nothing they've released sells as cheap as $150. Thus, for the 90% of Tablet tasks, this one does them all quite nicely - the best iPad alternative for the time being until the iPad mini arrives.
Form factor is just about perfect for the lightweight, one-handed, quick net access and ebook reading. iPad is just too heavy; Windows Tablets even more so.
As long as you don't need the GPS, cameras, bluetooth, etc. of other Android tablets, this one will do fine, cheaper. (probably never since my phone will do all that)
Plus, it's one of the BEST Sega Genesis Sonic the Hedgehog emulators I've ever played! Responsive, fast, crisp, nice!
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16GB MicroSD is just barely enough to hold several dozen music videos and several dozen scanned langauge/ebooks. JPEG ebooks take space and that's the reason. Otherwise, if it's just PDFs, you can get much more free space. Would rather have stuck in a 32GB card as a heavy multimedia user...
While class 4 is slow to load vs faster cards, once the media is loaded, they all play and access fast and fine. No problems scrolling through 2 hour videos in an instant.
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Tested a few converters thus far.
Handbrake on the Mac can make playable videos, but now and then, for no reason, the video won't play. Not sure what's the cause yet, but still looking into this. Probably one of the advanced settings or something...
IMTOO on the PC works fine as long as you set the LEVEL to 4.1 or less for H.264 conversions. It'll convert to 1080s that play fine on the tablet all the time. Recommended.
Nero Recode doesn't work if you select all of the advanced options like 8x8, etc. on that one page before starting the encode. Still working through those settings as well.
Naturally, if you upload to YouTube then download it using TubeMate, it'll generally play fine.
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BEST/CHEAPEST Screen protector film ever?
Daiso stores in the USA and Japan sell the KO-11-P10/D-139 No. 31 LCD Protection Film A4 size for $1.50. Cut it yourself and you can make 2 screen protectors. Applies very easily, sticks perfectly, no bubbling at all, barely a color or tint shift, and thin. (Just don't crease it or you'll get a bubble after applying. Use removable Scotch tape to take off a dust particle on your screen if it lands as you're applying. Make sure the screen is perfectly clean beforehand - use removable Scotch tape across the entire screen after it's been microfiber wiped.)