A_C's S2P gets an update to v0.70 beta

I'm a fan of A_C's S2P. It is and will be my main media player for my Touch Pro and was also the main media player for my Prophet. The contender to this is Microfi Nitrogen.

I like the finger friendliness of it and also the simpleness. You don't have a lot of options, it just works.

It's been a long wait for a new version of S2P. The last version, 0.58 was out a long time ago, 9 months in waiting. The wait is now over since A_C has released a new version: 0.70 beta. He's calling it a beta since Album view and playlists are still "experimental".

I have not updated yet because my usual laptop is going back to the shop for repair. My motherboard was just replaced, managed to use it for a few days & now the problem is back again! Damn you hp and your crappy laptops!

v0.70 beta
- temporarily disabled the "Album View" & "Playlists".
- added option to set/refresh the music library.
- added more views to play or shuffle songs; an artist's songs or albums.
- added option to play album by album randomly - "Shuffle Albums".
- added support to MP4/AAC as long as the device already has the corresponding WMP decoder.
- faster startup.
- AVRCP no longer requires WMP running in the background on some HTC devices (read the FAQ for details).
- a lot of enhancements made on the user interface.
- a lot of minor bugs fixed.

Discuss it at xda-developers

Download at http://s2p.ac-s2.com/

Microfi Nitrogen 1.0

Microfi Nitrogen keeps getting better & better. Current version is 1.0.0. A real contender to S2P by A_C who seems to keeping a low profile over the last month or so.

Microfi Nitrogen is a native opensource Windows Mobile application that allows you to play MP3/OGG songs stored on your Pocket PC device. It features a file browser, full skin support, smart shuffle and repeat modes, a 10-band equalizer with preset support (8 included presets), built-in sleep mode, a blank screen command to prevent energy waste while playing music and many more new features. Nitrogen uses the MAD/OVD decoders, which are opensource. As the official releases of MAD for Pocket PC seem to be discontinued, Nitrogen uses the libraries from an opensource player (GSPlayer).

Nitrogen was build due to the lack of finger-friendly players for Pocket PC (you have to use stylus even for simple tasks). It features large buttons and you can browse among your playlist by drawing circles on the screen (using skins which support wheel component). In future releases the program will be expected to have other extensions support and more features, but such things are still being tested to ensure stability and efficiency.

Key features
:: Full MP3/OGG playback;
:: Customizable interface with skin support;
:: 10-band equalizer with 8 presets;
:: Large and easy-to-use buttons;
:: Media browser with playlist editor;
:: Large menus to perform tasks with the fingers;
:: Kinetic scrolling;
:: Smart shuffle and repeat modes;
:: Adjustable sleep timer;
:: Amazingly fast to load and to play;
:: Blank screen command to save energy;
:: Native C++ code: no need for .NET framework;
:: Extremely lightweight;
:: File association support;
:: Album art support;
:: Opensource;

Get it here

Discuss it at xda-developers

Official Skin Thread at xda-developers

OMNIANO Beta - Piano for Windows Mobile PPC

OMNIANO Beta is a piano for our Windows Mobile ppcs. It is still a beta, but boy it feels like this is a real competitor to the iphone app! It is made by a developer in Korea called sheon

He made this for his Omnia, hence the name, but since it runs on Windows Mobile, we all can use this excellent software!

It looks really beautiful, like real ebony keys on a grand piano. Maybe it is because it's on a VGA screen but it supports QVGA as well. It supports QVGA, VGA, WQVGA & WVGA.

Installation is a breeze, either with a cab file or PC exe. I chose to install using the cab file and onto my sdhc card.

Once open, it shows the screen in landscape mode, fullscreen. The Omnia version from my understanding can utilise the accelerometer to turn the keys either way. This feature does not work on my Touch Pro.

There is no LED indicator since the Touch Pro does not have any LEDs to begin with.

The piano sound is excellent, not too sure how the developer did it. Record from a true piano?

The keys on my Touch Pro are a few miliseconds lag (not a big problem) from the time I press them & I hope it is resolved in the following versions. The right most key will not play & maybe it's the screens fault?

You can slide your fingers across the piano to have that 'wave' effect. The only problem is that you can't play proper notes - that is not the software's fault, but HTC, since the screen does not have haptic support.

Sheon also mentions that he will have user customisation/settings in future releases. Good!

Also noticed that if you go to the most right of the screen, the last 2 buttons play 'yes sir' in the vein of warcraft and a drum track respectively, which the developer made as joke! hehe

All in all, excellent 1st beta release from Sheon! congrats!

Features of OMNIANO:

* Fast Response PIANO KEYBOARD.
* Pretty good Sound Play and have no Delay.
* Full Screen Key
* Vibrate (M490, M495 only)
* 180 Rotate by Motion Sensor(M490,M495 only)
* Led Indicator by C position or F position
* Drag and Play
* 4 Octave(C3~c6)
* configuration by user(will be support)
* QVGA, WQVGA, WVGA support

Download OMNIANO beta here at sheon's site or discuss it here at xda-developers.

Microfi Nitrogen - free MP3 player for Windows Mobile

Here's a nice and free MP3 player for our PPC's. Called Nitrogen and is from microfi. Comes in all flavours of Windows Mobile - 5 & 6.x and VGA & QVGA as well. It's still in beta but looks promosing. A great contender to S2P. Finger-friendly as well. Current version is 0.2.1 and it does support skin which has it's own thread here

Features
:: High-quality MP3 playback with MAD decoder;
:: Intuitive and customizable user interface with full skin support;
:: 10-band equalizer with preset support;
:: Large buttons that makes it easy to perform common tasks without stylus;
:: File browser that scans directories to make playlists;
:: "Shuffle" and "Repeat" modes;
:: Adjustable sleep timer;
:: Amazingly fast to load and to play;
:: Command to blank screen while playing to save energy;
:: Native C++ code: no need for .NET frameworks;
:: Extremely lightweight: less than 2mb of storage, around 1.5mb of RAM;
:: Saves the settings in a separate file - does not fill the registry with useless data;
...and much more!