NX Support Audible.com

[ballistic]

Let's start an organized email campaign to get audible.com content support for the NX/NZ series.

If you ARE currently an NX owner AND an Audible.com subscriber, please copy the following text, paste it here (http://audible.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/audible.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php?p_sid=Lc7xdVbg&p_lva=&p_sp=&p_li=) and fill out the rest of the form.

If you are NOT currently an audible.com subscriber, but WOULD SUBSCRIBE when the NX is supported, see the next post.

Under Portable Device, choose 'Other'. Under Category, choose 'Miscellaneous', then 'Suggestions (audio or others)'. After you submit your question, hit the 'Finish Submitting Question' button.

Edit

Or, you can copy the text below and email it to greatideas@audible.com

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Audible.com Support,

I am a Premium Listener subscriber, and I truly enjoy my audible.com content. I own a Sony Clie NX series Palm OS5 PDA and I would like to request audible.com content support for my portable device.

Thank you for your time and assistance in advance. I'm looking forward to your response.

Best Regards,

INSERT NAME HERE


-----------------------copy above this line-----------------------------------

[ballistic]

If you own an NX and you are NOT currently an audible.com subscriber but WOULD SUBSCRIBE if the NX was supported, copy the following text, paste it here (http://audible.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/audible.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php?p_sid=Lc7xdVbg&p_lva=&p_sp=&p_li=) , and fill out the rest of the form.

Under Portable Device, choose 'Other'. Under Category, choose 'Miscellaneous', then 'Suggestions (audio or others)'. After you submit the question, hit the 'Finish Submitting Question' button.

Edit

Or, you can copy the following text and email it to greatideas@audible.com


------------------------copy below this line-----------------------------------

Audible.com support,

I own a Sony Clie NX series OS5 PDA, and I am very interested in subscribing to audible.com content. However, your website states that you do not have any plans to support this portable device.

I would like to request audible.com content support for the Sony NX Series PDA. When my device is supported, I will become a PREMIUM LISTENER subscriber.

Thank you for your time and assistance. I'm looking forward to your response.

Best Regards,

INSERT NAME HERE


---------------------------copy above this line---------------------------------

[ballistic]

When you're done, please post that you've submitted your request so we can get an idea of how many people participated.

Thanks to everyone in advance, I hope they hear us! ;)

[Cerin48]

Sent off my request. I got the following automated response:

The Answers below were automatically selected from our public knowledge base. If no solutions are listed or the solutions are not helpful, select Finish Submitting Question to submit your issue to our support staff.
The following solution/s were found based on your question:
• Can I request an audio program that you do not carry?


The link sent me to the following statement:

Can I request an audio program that you do not carry?

Question
Can I request an audio program that you do not carry?

Answer
To request that certain programs be added to our store, please send an email to: programs@audible.com. We cannot guarantee your request will be fulfilled.


The moral (I think :rolleyes: ) is to make sure to forward the message on by selecting "Finish Submitting Question"

[emmert]

I remember reading somewhere that it wasn't Audible's fault. Rather it was Sony who would not release the hardware specs to Audible so the could make their player work with the Clie. That's why there are any other mp3 plays for the Clie. Sony won't release the specs.

[polymath]

Sony will not release any deveopment specs without signing a comprehensive NDA agreement.

I know at least few software developers who are about to sign it or have signed in the last few weeks.

[bluguru]

I still sent it anyways. Cannot hurt.

[wombat88]

I hope it will help. It would be nice, although I wish I could swap batteries as easily on the Clie as I can on my Rio 500.

Wendy

[Investa]

I wont hold my breath, but I also sent it in.

Mike

[ballistic]

Thanks to everyone for emailing so far. Let's keep it going, I don't think it could hurt, it will only help our cause. If Sony keeps getting requests for developer's specs, maybe they'll get the message. It would only benefit them by allowing current and potential Clie owners to have as many capabilities and functionalities as possible. Sony is dropping the ball with regards to the CF drivers though.

It's kind of embarrasing for Sony that the TT, iPod, and most PPC's can do audible.com content and the NX can not.

It looks and sounds like Sony is really making a hard push to become the #1 PDA manufacturer. They have done the same thing in the video game console market and are by far the most dominant with the PS2. They have done this by helping game developers by providing developer's tools and specs.

Let's hope that they use the same strategy with the Clie line.

[polymath]

Sent mine in.

[ballistic]

Here's the email response I got:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Brian,

Thank you for contacting audible.com.

Unfortunatly the Sony Clie device is not AudibleReady. In order to ensure a pleasurable listening experience for spoken-word programs that typically are several hours in length or longer, as well as for Audible to obtain the distribution rights to the brand-name audio programs we have available, Audible requires that AudibleReady digital devices meet a certain set of minimum standards. These standards apply to digital music players and other audio-enabled devices, such as PDAs.

Audible offers a formal specification of these minimum requirements to all digital device manufacturers. Following are some of the key elements in this specification:

An AudibleReady device MUST be able to remember the position last heard for each Audible audio program on the device – so if there are 3 different programs on the player (as tracks 1, 2 and 3), the player must remember the listener’s 3 current play positions in each of the programs. This memory must be maintained when the device is switched off or loses power (e.g. battery runs out). It would be impractical to expect a listener to reposition at the last listening point each time the device is turned on turned on. We use this playback position memory to update the device contents with more of a long title that doesn’t fit into the device’s storage.
An AudibleReady device MUST not allow an unencrypted copy of the audio program to be easily copied off the device. To do this, the device must support some form of Rights Management, or otherwise encrypt the audio when it is placed on the device. This capability is required by the majority of Audible’s content providers, who are providing the audio through Audible with the understanding that they and their “artists” (writers, in this case) will be paid royalties for each program distributed.
AudibleReady devices MUST provide some means to navigate sections of audio within a single Audible program. For example, Audible inserts “section markers” at the start of each article in a newspaper or magazine publication’s Audible edition. Most players consider a single Audible file to be like a “track” of a CD – so special logic is required to have the player move forward or backward to “sections” within a track, versus moving forward and backward between tracks.
Lastly, while not an “absolute” requirement, most AudibleReady devices support one of the voice-specific audio compression formats that Audible uses. These voice formats allow for high quality spoken-word audio to be created with much smaller file sizes than would be required for the MP3 format (used for music). However, Audible does produce an MP3 format to support those manufacturers that are unwilling or unable to support one of our other formats (e.g. Philips Rush).
Audible has discussed the manufacture of AudibleReady devices with most major electronics manufacturers. Audible charges no fee for AudibleReady functionality. It is our goal to make as many players AudibleReady as possible.

You may however send a suggestion to greatideas@audible.com, for this device to be supported in the future.

Please include this message if you are replying with additional information.

Sincerely,
Chris
Audible Customer Support
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I just sent my original message to greatideas@audible.com.

[TheMooch]

Done. Sent. Again. :D I look forward to the day when syncing my NX includes downloading the latest episode of "All Things Considered directly to the memory stick!

[polymath]

This is the response I got from Audible.

"Thank you for contacting audible.com.

Audible would like to be compatable with all of the devices on the market, unfourtanatly it is not just up to Audible as to who is compatable with our content. The maufactures of the devices need to work with us so the firmware will let our encrypted files to become compatable.
Audible and Sony are currently talking about making an upgraded firmware for your device, but there is still no time frame. I am sorry for the compatablity issue with your device."

Sounds promising, but I don't expect much.

[ballistic]

Originally posted by polymath
This is the response I got from Audible.

"Thank you for contacting audible.com.

Audible would like to be compatable with all of the devices on the market, unfourtanatly it is not just up to Audible as to who is compatable with our content. The maufactures of the devices need to work with us so the firmware will let our encrypted files to become compatable.
Audible and Sony are currently talking about making an upgraded firmware for your device, but there is still no time frame. I am sorry for the compatablity issue with your device."

Sounds promising, but I don't expect much.

I agree, that's encouraging and it's the first time that I've heard that Sony and Audible are working together. Let's keep the pressure on! :)

[ddoran]

Sent mine in....

[Eric S]

Agreed, that's encouraging. Maybe Sony's is trying after all to support PalmSource's official Sound Streaming Featureset, which is what the Tungsten-T MP3/OGG players are using.

[mdicembre]

Are the mpeg files on audible.com not compatible with the NX?

[ballistic]

audible.com uses a proprietary encrypted audio format for copyright secure distribution. The NX does not currently support audible.com content.

[mdicembre]

Sent mine in for what it's worth.

[clieZilla2]

I read in another thread on this board somewhere that there was a program that could convert the content (goldwave or something i think it was called??). would this solve you guys problems?

PS i sent mine in. I've never used audible but i would ;)

PPS i found the link to that other thread:

http://www.cliesource.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1749

[ballistic]

Doesn't really solve the problem AFAIC. 1. The output file is pretty large; 2. It takes some time and effort to run the conversion, and splitting the output file into 'chapters' is even more labor intensive; 3. You can't bookmark your location.

In all, it is NOT the nice, simple, automated process that makes getting audible.com content delivered to your device so special.

With an Audible Ready device, you plug it in to your computer, keep the Audible manager running in the background. If you subscribe to any daily magazines such as The Wall Street Journal Morning Edition, it gets downloaded automatically from the server and then transferred to your device without user interaction. Books are only three or four mouse clicks.

[clieZilla2]

wow that does sound phat... damn i wonder when we can achieve this?

[MatNeh]

I posted my suggestion that they support the PEG-TG50 since that is the organizer I'm thinking about buying

[johnsonk47]

Originally posted by ballistic
When you're done, please post that you've submitted your request so we can get an idea of how many people participated.

Thanks to everyone in advance, I hope they hear us! ;)

I have two accounts at Audible and I sent an email.

I hope this works.

[n2ifp]

I suppose it all depends on Sony :(!

[Convert]

That's one advantage of the Tungsten, has Audible support. I think it's a partnership deal, one that Audible is eager to enter into. One requirement for all of the players that they support is that they must have simple bookmarking, where you stop listening is where you'll auto start the next time. Audible is great. I think it's Sony that needs to receive the suggestions.

[clieZilla2]

email i received from audible today:

Dear Rod,



We’ve been in discussions with Sony for a few months regarding adding Audible support to the CLIE. The CLIE’s audio system is proprietary, even on the newer OS 5 devices. Sony has finally confirmed to Audible that they are unable to provide the same quality audio playback found in their own music player app to 3rd party applications such as Audible. They can provide some kind of audio playback capability to us, but at a lower quality.



We are polling a few CLIE owners who have asked for Audible support to give us their opinions on the audio quality that Audible could provide if we used the capability that Sony is able to provide to us. I have a attached a couple of WAV files at that quality, one from our daily New York Times digest, and one from a recently popular audiobook, Three Junes.



I would greatly appreciate it if you would listen to these two samples and tell me whether you would find this quality acceptable.



Thanks very much.



Guy

[ballistic]

I'd say to give it the thumbs up as long as it is remotely intelligible. Any audible.com capability is better than none.

[idoc58]

I am lucky (or silly) enough to own both devices, it may be nice to have the audible player on the NX70v as I do on the TT, however for those that are not aware it takes the audible manager software 30-35 mins to transfer a 3 min audible file which makes it almost impossible to transfer some of my 6 hr content. Unfortunately you can not directly transfer audible files to the SD without using the audible manager so I have returned to listening audible books on my ipod. I have no idea why it takes so long and have asked audible but have not received an adequate reply. Until this issue is resolved having audible support would be useless.

My $.02 CDN

[ballistic]

Something doesn't sound right, the transfer rate should be quicker than that.

I would think that the NX series would be much faster (and acceptable) with the use of the USB/SCSI drivers for accessing the MS while in the cradle.

I have a Digisette Duo-DX (http://www.digisette.com/en/products/DUOdx.asp) that I use for audible.com content (The Morning Read from the WSJ, WSJ Weekend Edition, tons of books) in my car stereo's casette deck while commuting.

The transfer rate via USB 1.0 is acceptable; a format 3 40 min. program takes about a minute to transfer.

[idoc58]

I can transfer content to my audible otis (MP3 player) via usb and audible manager with rates equivalent to yours. MacOS X uses iTunes to transfer audible content via firewire to my ipod at 3X's that speed. Also using audible manager and my PPC Toshiba e740 (SD or CF) via usb transfer speeds are excellent (yes I am a gadget freak) so I assume it is related to the way hotsync handles file transfers to the device..... it takes forever. Even large photo files are excruciatingly slow using hotsync to transfer to the SD card on the TT. Admittingly, I do get better transfer rates on the NX70V so it may be a TT issue? MarkSpace makers of the missing sync driver to allow use of clie on Mac OS has a beta version of a missing sync for palm OS to mount the TT SD card directly on the desktop and the complaints have been that a 4 min MP3 takes up to 45 mins to transfer (I have yet to confirm this). So after a long winded reply, I too believe that a problem exists and am assuming it lies with Palm OS 5 or Palm Hotsync which may both in turn affect the Clie.....

[bluguru]

I have used audible content for years on various PPCs. It takes me no longer than transfering the same size mp3s to the device. Also note, that this is how it works for me installing them through the audible manager.

Regarding the QUALITY. I have never used the highest quality becasue until recently card size would not permit it. I use AM radio quality for books and it has worked and sounds just fine. Thus, I know the sound will be inferior to mp3, but it is a book not music. This is such a great idea for portable devices I would love to have the service on my clie.

[Convert]

Originally posted by idoc58
I can transfer content to my audible otis (MP3 player) via usb and audible manager with rates equivalent to yours. MacOS X uses iTunes to transfer audible content via firewire to my ipod at 3X's that speed. Also using audible manager and my PPC Toshiba e740 (SD or CF) via usb transfer speeds are excellent (yes I am a gadget freak) so I assume it is related to the way hotsync handles file transfers to the device..... it takes forever. Even large photo files are excruciatingly slow using hotsync to transfer to the SD card on the TT. Admittingly, I do get better transfer rates on the NX70V so it may be a TT issue? MarkSpace makers of the missing sync driver to allow use of clie on Mac OS has a beta version of a missing sync for palm OS to mount the TT SD card directly on the desktop and the complaints have been that a 4 min MP3 takes up to 45 mins to transfer (I have yet to confirm this). So after a long winded reply, I too believe that a problem exists and am assuming it lies with Palm OS 5 or Palm Hotsync which may both in turn affect the Clie.....

I don't know where the problem is with hotsyncing audible files to the TT, but it does need resolution, because it takes all night, which is ok if it doesn't fail. The point is, with MP3s or photo files (some), you can use a card reader/writer to transfer the files fast. However with the propritary audible files, you cannot. The Audible Manager SW binds to the PDA device, but audible does not offer support for the same process to a card reader/writer. Don't know if it would be any different with Sony devices.

[rclodfelter]

Hot syncing any large file takes time be it Clie or TT and I thought this was a Clie discussion forum anyway.

I too was contacted by audible. I listened to the files and though they are not great sounding I would take that over nothing. They sent wav files (go figure) so I converted them to mp3 to get a listen on the NX. I have asked if I can post them. They will get back to me.

[idoc58]

Yes this is a clie forum, the TT was used as an example of how useless the use of the audible player would be on the clie unless the issue of transfer rates is addressed and corrected. I'm sure you would agree that the time it takes to transfer a 30 - 40 mb file (~6hr content) should be less than 24hrs!! I'm patient but not that patient.... Therefore I stress again that the use of other devices MP3 players, iPod, PPC's are much more practical and acceptable until this transfer rate issue is resolved. Having a player without means to use it practically, is simply taking up space. PalmOS 5 is PalmOS 5 whether it be a TT or an NX.

[rclodfelter]

sorry, I thought that you meant your download from Audible was slow.

I guess we will have to see how they implemeant the process. It would make sense that they leverage the existing process/software that is used on the TT. Not owning a TT, just a Clie, I did not know that the final result of the Audible->TT was another proprietary file. I just assumed it produced a mp3. ;)

[idoc58]

Not only is the audible file proprietary but also encoded with the members' name so you can use it only on devices authorized to use that name (audible restricts the use to a total of 4 devices including the desktop) the discussion of usefulness would be moot if the file could be transfered via a reader/writer to the card, but it cannot, the audible player on PalmOS 5 only recognizes files transfered via the PC audible manager software and not by their file extension (ie .aa) - believe me I've tried.

[rclodfelter]

I will give this feedback to Audible and for now go back to Goldwave and my mp3s.:)

[rclodfelter]

Audible contacted several of use that had expressed interest in having Audible content on their Clies. We received sample wav files representing the quality that could be expected from them. I asked if I could post the files for this forum to listen to and comment on. They agreed to allow this and asked that I include this staement to preserve their good working relationship with Sony

"The Sony CLIE provides two different methods for applications to play audio. The method used by the Sony music player is designed for high quality. Unfortunately this method cannot be used by Audible, for technical reasons. Audible is able to use the other method, but the audio playback is of lower quality.

Audible has created two examples of their content in WAV file format, at the quality level of this second method. They are interested in your feedback on the playback quality, specifically whether, as a paying customer, you would find this quality to be acceptable. You can listen to the samples on your PC, ideally with the same headphones you use with your CLIE, and send
your feedback to cliecomments@audible.com."

Please let them know what you think! Here are links to the files.

http://www.pagemasterwebdesign.com/audible/nytimes_clie.wav
http://www.pagemasterwebdesign.com/audible/threejunes_clie.wav

[ballistic]

I was emailed these files and I came to the following conclusions:

1. To my ears, the proposed quality is between format 1 and format 2. I usually listen to format 3, which I personally find to be the best compromise of quality and file size.

2. The proposed quality is acceptable for listening to audible.com content on my Clie NX70V. I'd be willing to accept the slightly lower quality in order to have the capability to listen to audible content on my NX. My primary audible ready device is my Digisette Duo-DX which I use during my commute, but I'd really like to have the ability to listen with my NX anywhere. It won't replace my Digisette, it will only give me more options to listen to my audible content. The more situations (and time) that I can listen to my audible content will increase my demand for audible content.

3. MAKE IT HAPPEN, PLEASE!!!!! I'm a paying subscriber and an NX owner, and I think others in the same boat would agree with my conclusions.

For those of you that aren't familiar with audible.com, it has opened up a whole new experience for me during my commute. I find that I actually look forward to my commute; the content I listen to is much more relaxing, entertaining, enjoyable and mentally stimulating than listening to Stearn or Imus.

I'm able to listen to books that I would have not had the time to sit down and read. Going on a long trip, get a good audible book. It's the best subscription service that I've ever signed up for (with the exception of my 1Mbps Broadband access).

I'm encouraged and eagerly awaiting. Thanks go out to Mr. Story and everyone who is participating in the email campaign and subsequent trial.

[ClieNut]

I was also sent the email from Audible. I totally agree with ballistic. Please make it happen. I have an NZ90 and worked just fine.

[Art126]

I, too have listened to the wav. files and while I prefer Format 3, they are perfectly acceptable. The quality is still better than what I listened to using my old Rio 500.
I've sent along my support to Audible and look forward to a NX70 player.