Pocket Tunes 4 is out

[tckober73]

* NEW in 4.0! Internet radio presets, AAC, aacPlus, album art...

http://www.pocket-tunes.com/

[LanMan]

Yeah, I just installed it and it's reseting my TH55. Bummer.

[STBXXL]

Still no streaming WMA support. :confused:

Cheers.

[wellsjs]

Yeah, I just installed it and it's reseting my TH55. Bummer.Ouch!! :eek: And I'm sure you know of their declaration of non-support for Sony devices too? :(

[wellsjs]

I'm likely to pass on this one. I hate album art! Streaming Internet radio is cool, but hard on the Treo battery (maybe it's time to get a spare)!

Is there a "gotta-have" reason for AAC format?

[+Kardboard+]

Not worth the upgrade, and apparently you can't get an upgrade price from the 3.x series if you've previously bought a Deluxe. Bummer.

[Pdaman]

lol!!! I can't believe how stuped they are! they lost many and many customers if they don't support th55 anymore!! they suckers... heh

Peace.

[userwaldo]

Anyone know if you can have the v3.0.8 that comes with many of the Palm devices, and the new 4.0 installed at the same time and use them both, or do you only get access to the v4.0.

[Church Punk]

i believe that you are supposed to have only the last version available. However, whenever i launch pTunes from LaunchAnywhere, I get the version that came with my TX and not the registered deluxe one. Somehow it launches the one that was installed within the ROM and not the newer version. I really dont know why this happes, maybe because it is beta, but still there should be possible to do this? :confused:

ill try this version on my TX. As for the AAC files, this is a great plus for me, my brother only encodes his CDs to AAC so I could play AAC files only with TCPMP. :p

[Rob_T]

I am really really getting tired of buying Palm software and paying for upgrades to it every few months.

[wellsjs]

Here is some information about Sony Clies (http://www.normsoft.com/kb/idx/11/054/article/) and their interoperability with PocketTunes.

[Dolomite]

Is there a "gotta-have" reason for AAC format?

If you already ripped most of your CD collection to AAC then yes. Also alot of podcasts are encoded in AAC, so for me, this is a good feature.

[minimalposter]

Still no streaming WMA support. :confused:

Cheers.

Still waiting for it too STBXXL ... still waiting :(

[SoS]

Have to say that $20 upgrqade price is too rich for me...a little ridiculous imho!

[mrp123]

Anyone know if you can have the v3.0.8 that comes with many of the Palm devices, and the new 4.0 installed at the same time and use them both, or do you only get access to the v4.0.Yes, you can have both and use them separately. I tried this once with Ptunes v3.1.8 under different circumstances experimenting with SharkCache. Change the CreatorID of your newer version of the PTunes .prc (using FileZ or the like). Change the ID to anything random you'd like so long as it remains unique compared to any other file's ID installed on your device, both present and future.
The new version of PTunes will show up in your launcher (note I tried with the default Palm launcher at the time) and you can launch and manipulate each version at will despite them sharing the same displayed app name and being in the same launcher category, etc.

As a stand-alone, self-sufficient .prc, it will work fine.

If you need to use PTunes plugins as well, there the rub. As a result of changing the Creator ID, PTunes plugins will then not be recognized by the new PTunes version. However, the old ROM version will work as expected. For example, I use ogg a lot and the ogg plugin would not be recognized by the version with the different Creator ID. The old version in ROM still worked just fine. I couldn't get the plugin to be recognized by changing the plugin's Creator ID to match the new .prc's ID either.

Lastly, I think certain skin preferences weren't saving with the new version yet the old was fine. I can't recall.

The deal breaker for me was no ogg so I stopped testing then and there. However, my tests with SharkCache were 100% successful.

[blues]

Adding aac support is a big plus for me. I use iTunes quite a bit, and because of this I'm very tempted.

[pruss]

Well, if they added aac, they have to charge SOMETHING for the upgrade, since they have to pay patent license fees (probably about 50 cents per copy, though :-) ).

[Nekkutta]

Well, if they added aac, they have to charge SOMETHING for the upgrade, since they have to pay patent license fees (probably about 50 cents per copy, though :-) ).

which is why I don't care for proprietary formats, I perfer open source formats, like ogg and mp3, sure it may not be compressed as much as aac, but hey, whats the point of a 4GB SD card if not to fill it up???

Nekkutta

[mrp123]

I tried it and confirmed my suspicion I will not buy the upgrade either. The new features have no value to me. Let's face it, just like Alex said: the AAC decoding is the only reason it's costing money because the cost is no doubt being passed to the customers, plus extra I'll bet.


Am I bitter that I made 3 feature requests not added, 2 of them directly acknowledged by the developer as good ideas, as well as reporting a confirmed bug with it going unfixed? Yeah, I probably am. Is it worsened by the fact I quickly found two bugs in little time where the new high-res skin has a minor repainting bug as well as responding to initial screen taps coming out of background play in specific cirumstances? You bet. (note my old skins still work just fine) I have no incentive to report these issues in the PTunes user forum as that's already proven quite futile. I'll keep my eyes open for future features that are worthwhile that may justify spending money all over again. In my opinion, the Deluxe version cost was already quite hard to justify at the time way back when.

IMHO, if they were smart, they would have found a way to sell a protected AAC plugin tied to the unique registrations for those who wanted it rather than embedding it the app and forcing people to open wallets and infuse cash into Normsoft.

[PinCushionQueen]

which is why I don't care for proprietary formats, I perfer open source formats, like ogg and mp3, sure it may not be compressed as much as aac, but hey, whats the point of a 4GB SD card if not to fill it up???

Nekkutta

I'm with you! All of my music collection is in ogg format - it just sounds better and ironically I had to pay to "upgrade" to the Basic PT to receive the codec for ogg. Ah well, I did pay though - PT seems to skip and jerk less than AeroPlayer (free ogg codec) on my TX when playing in the background and I multi-task about half the time that I'm using PT.

On the PT website they do mention a long list of bug fixes and an enhancement to the Volume Boost (even though I personally don't boost the volume - maybe I'll try it out and see)

[dsaroff]

So...for those who are playing with it, could you confirm it will play purchased AAC DRM mp3 from iTunes?

[Dolomite]

Just to set the record straight.... this will NOT allow you to play protected AAC files purchased from iTunes. It will however, play any music you may have ripped from CD into your iTunes library using the AAC encoder. It will also play the many enhanced AAC podcasts that are available.

[dsaroff]

Just to set the record straight.... this will NOT allow you to play protected AAC files purchased from iTunes. It will however, play any music you may have ripped from CD into your iTunes library using the AAC encoder. It will also play the many enhanced AAC podcasts that are available.

Thanks...Disappointed. I see no reason to upgrade then. I'll just continue the silly routine of burning them to a DVD and then ripping them as MP3s.

[Tam Hanna]

Hi,
make a good backup before installing over v3 - I had a few weird problems with Treo 600 at the beginning; but it works after I deleted all PocketTunes stuff off the Treo and reinstalled v4 cleanly!

[blues]

I just got finished playing around with PT4, and I was impressed with the internet radio feature. I own a Treo 700p, with unlimited EVDO, and internet radio played loud and clear. I was impressed. I didn't experience any lag, or skipping at all. The people over at NormSoft did a great job. I can definatly see myself using this feature, especually since I don't need to fill up my sd card up with music beforehand. I can fill it up with other, more important stuff!

And I can also confirm that songs purchased through iTunes are not playable from within PT4. I'm assuming that's because there is no way to authorize the Palm as one of the 5 allows computers to play my encrypted files. Purchased songs can only be played one of my authorized computers. My ripped AAC files played great though.

[minimalposter]

I just got finished playing around with PT4, and I was impressed with the internet radio feature. I own a Treo 700p, with unlimited EVDO, and internet radio played loud and clear. I was impressed. I didn't experience any lag, or skipping at all. The people over at NormSoft did a great job. I can definatly see myself using this feature, especually since I don't need to fill up my sd card up with music beforehand. I can fill it up with other, more important stuff!

Did you use the internet streaming feature on PT 3.x? I have been using shoutcasts with my T|X and it works great. As far as I could tell, the only benefit is aac streams and preloaded stream origins. Since I don't use aac streams I didn't see a reason to upgrade. Am I wrong about that? Thanks

[Dngrsone]

Meh... no reason for me to upgrade-- I only play .mp3 or .wmv (I haven't broken down and paid for that capability yet, but probably will).

I have a large SD card and a short attention span... no need for streaming. :rolleyes:

[blues]

Did you use the internet streaming feature on PT 3.x? I have been using shoutcasts with my T|X and it works great. As far as I could tell, the only benefit is aac streams and preloaded stream origins. Since I don't use aac streams I didn't see a reason to upgrade. Am I wrong about that? ThanksI must admit, I have not. While using pt3, I didn't happen to use that feature. It seemed shoutcasts were more like an additional add-on that didn't get much attention. For me at least, within pt4, internet radio is more of a central focus.

[sportfisio]

working perfect in a Zire 72s, but no way to make it work on a CLIE UX50...
Yeah, I know, its NOT compatible with CLIEs...but WHY? I've been using it on a NZ90 and a UX50 till last 3.1.8 version, and then was working perfect, already there wasn't supported on CLIEs...
This new version 4.0 is resetting my CLIE...damn... Any idea to make it works??
Thanks for all!

[c-j-archer]

There was an update yesterday to 4.0.1 in which they fixed several Sony bugs. Perhaps with this version it'll work.
"Bug fix: Crashes on unsupported Sony devices (#3892)"
http://www.pocket-tunes.com/?page=history

[sportfisio]

ok, I've just tried it, and now it starts launching without any reset, but it gave an error-loading, and says that "this version is only for Palm OS5. PalmOS4 and before will not be supported"....
MMmmmm...I have a CLIE UX50...I thought it had palmOS5.2.1 ....
What the hell is happening?

[Modnar]

Dam that sucks I cant see much using it esp in having a z72 so streaming anything decent is out of the question and as for album art i think the old free tcpmp could do at least embedded pics as long as you added the picture plugin.

Cant see much reason to buy it at all :S

[sportfisio]

Still waiting for any ideas to make it works on a CLIE...refering to a UX50, I mean.
Anybody can help?

[bulls96]

Deal breaker for me is the inability to play AAC songs from iTunes... not worth the upgrade to Deluxe...

will probably make do with the Basic version... just love the album art :)

[Zano2004]

It sure is nice on my Treo 680. Web Radio is a nice addition.

[wellsjs]

It sure is nice on my Treo 680. Web Radio is a nice addition.OK, you tempted me! :D I installed 4.01 and searched through the radio stations. I like Christian pop/rock of the mercyme, Casting Crowns, Selah, Third Day, Delirious?, Audio Adrenaline, David Crowder Band variety. Of the fair number of "Spiritual" category offerings PTunes provides, only two came close and they are both mono.

I dumped it and went back to 3.18 where I can still get ShoutCast's "The Light" and "Best Mix" (bookmarked) at 56k stereo and they play awesome Christian pop/rock comercial free. About once an hour they say "Spreading the light through music. You're listening to The Light," and that's it!! ;)

[Zano2004]

Our taste in music is different by a mile. I've been thinking about web TV, but I'm not sure I want to spend $10 a month. Web surfing on a handheld is getting better every day.

[LanMan]

OK, you tempted me! :D I installed 4.01 and searched through the radio stations. I like Christian pop/rock of the mercyme, Casting Crowns, Selah, Third Day, Delirious?, Audio Adrenaline, David Crowder Band variety. Of the fair number of "Spiritual" category offerings PTunes provides, only two came close and they are both mono.

I dumped it and went back to 3.18 where I can still get ShoutCast's "The Light" and "Best Mix" (bookmarked) at 56k stereo and they play awesome Christian pop/rock comercial free. About once an hour they say "Spreading the light through music. You're listening to The Light," and that's it!! ;)

How did you bookmark these? Also, what is the best way to find streaming stations via Pocket Tunes v3.x?

[wellsjs]

How did you bookmark these? Also, what is the best way to find streaming stations via Pocket Tunes v3.x?- Use your PDA web browser to browse to www.shoutcast.com.
- Use either "Quick jump" or "Search for" (I entered "Christian") to narrow down the genre you're looking for
- For Christian stations, CMRadio.Net - The Light is excellent.
- Which ever genre or station you choose, tap "Tune In"
- You will see the "broadband connecting" window and your music should start playing.
- I believe there is a "go to" or "launch" PTunes option
- While still listening to the streaming radio station in PTunes, go to Menu -> Tools -> Add Bookmark
- The bookmark name will need cleaning up so go to Menu -> Tools -> Bookmarks, highlight and rename the just created bookmark to what you want.
- Repeat to add other stations from ShoutCast as bookmarks.
- Next time you want to listen to, say, The Light, you don't have to use the browser at all, just launch PTunes, select Menu -> Tools -> Bookmark, highlight the station you want and tap "Go."

Hope this helps. ;)

[LanMan]

Great, thanks wellsjs! That does help. There have been a few Shoutcast stations that I have listened to regularly, but I kept looking them up. This will be a great help. So you didn't think that PT 4.x was worth the upgrade? Not that I have a choice since my TH55 doesn't work with PT4. Any other options to find stations other than Shoutcast?

[archangel]

I went ahead and bought the upgrade and so far I'm liking it. Is it worth an extra $20? No. However, I hadn't bought software for my LifeDrive in a long time so it was nice to add something. So far it seems to skip far less and I like all the added internet radio. Some of the aacplus streaming stations sound really good.

[LupeValenz]

I like the new album art, very nice. I just wished Pockettunes could work with Audible formats. It says audiobooks and last I remember, Audible is that. Oh well guess I'll still use that for audio books and Ptunes for everything else. Now since there is album art, I wonder when can we see a new iTunes skin with coverflow ;)

[vw_bugg]

ok, I've just tried it, and now it starts launching without any reset, but it gave an error-loading, and says that "this version is only for Palm OS5. PalmOS4 and before will not be supported"....
MMmmmm...I have a CLIE UX50...I thought it had palmOS5.2.1 ....
What the hell is happening?Ahh, installed 4.0.1 (i had 3.0.9) on my NX80 and i get this screen. Can anyone make it worky? I love pocket tunes and now it wont work on my NX80. If not does anyone have the last 3.1 relese (3.1.8 i think)?

[LanMan]

Well, v3.1.8 is the last version that works on my TH55. The v4.x releases don't work on Clie's to my knowledge.

[dsaroff]

Does it reduce the background hiss on a LD at all?