The news has been the fact that iTunes updates have keep cancelling the hacks the good folks over at Palm keep trying to make so that the Pixi (and presumably the Pre) is able to sync its media through it. The attempt was to have iTunes recognize the smartphone as an iPod, but, at the moment, the best one could do to re-enable the feature was to load an older version of the media player.
For those who don't have a Pixi/Pre, when the unit is plugged in to a PC through the USB, a screen pops up on the smartphone with three choices: "Just Charge," "Use as USB" or "Media Sync." Pressing media sync would cue up iTunes, but no device would pop up in the left pane to configure it for podcasts, audiobooks, music, etc.
I had resolved to just plug it in as a USB device and drag my music/podcasts into it. It worked, but it was sloppy. I had tried Podnova, and the WebOS app, Stitcher, to get my podcast subcriptions, but since they're on the cloud, NYC subway rides were no fun.
Two days ago, on a tip, I installed MediaMonkey on my Win7 PC. While MediaMonkey's interface is clumsy, and it takes a few minutes to get a handle on the tiny icons and what is reminiscent of WinAmp back in the day, it DOES, nonetheless re-enable the media sync feature on the Pixi. It's free, and an upgrade, as far as I can tell, just gives you access to converting media types.
I find it refreshing as well that the there are a lot of fine-tune controls on how and in what way the media syncs on and off my device in the Auto Sync set-up screens. It recognized my audiobooks instantly (something iTunes never did), and the podcasts that had already been downloaded into my machine were cued up and ready to be selected for sync.
I feel a smug satisfaction that I am, at last, able to escape the tyranny of iTunes (or Apple for that matter). iTunes, in my humble opinion, tries to do too much, and does none of it very well.
Discussion about
Media Sync feature re-enabled with MediaMonkey
Is the Pre actually good enough as a podcast media player? I use my zune for my podcast consumption for a couple of reasons:
1. Pre headphone jack is scratchy; move it slightly and you get crackle (I assume to poor insulation between the 3rd/4th band on the minijack output.
2. Mark as played for podcasts; not supported on Pre AFAIK
I can probably get around the headphone problem (or ignore it), but what about the mark as played? I agree that iTunes is pretty horrible at what it does. It's been overstuffed with "features" for quite some time now. The Zune software, while not perfect, has great media organization and an elegant tabbed structure for podcasts/audio/video and local/player/store.
Anyway, Pre for podcasts with MediaMonkey?
1. Pre headphone jack is scratchy; move it slightly and you get crackle (I assume to poor insulation between the 3rd/4th band on the minijack output.
2. Mark as played for podcasts; not supported on Pre AFAIK
I can probably get around the headphone problem (or ignore it), but what about the mark as played? I agree that iTunes is pretty horrible at what it does. It's been overstuffed with "features" for quite some time now. The Zune software, while not perfect, has great media organization and an elegant tabbed structure for podcasts/audio/video and local/player/store.
Anyway, Pre for podcasts with MediaMonkey?
The Headphones: Just got at the Sony Style store some bluetooth stero headphones (cordless), the Sony DR-BT101, and I'm super-happy with them. It's on my "Have" list if you want to check out the specs.
The sound quality and connectivity to my Pixi is 5 stars. Every other headphone I've tried doesn't give me a lot of volume, but these have a lot of pow. I like to listen to music loud, and it's got the umph.
It's ability to advance tracks, play/pause with a switch on the right ear-bud works really well. I can keep my Pixi in my pocket and control the player on either Pandora or the Music app really well.
On an incoming call, it mutes the music/podcast and can answer calls without taking my Pixi out of my pocket with a button, again, on the right ear piece,. When the call ends, it resumes playback.
I live in New York, and the over-the-ear is a must for me. They double as my ear muffs, and I put some poofy pads over the felt that it came with out of the box with for some extra insulation.
Even on cold windy days, the folks I've been chatting with through the headphones seem to hear me just fine, and have yet to complain about the wind interference or the call. One complaint: it doesn't play my own voice through the ear pieces while I'm on a call, and, not hearing myself, I sometimes think that the call has dropped.
I got them at the Sony Style store while on the holiday vacations in Florida, and the guys there said they were listed at $80, but when I went to check out, the cashier said they had been marked down to $24. BIG SCORE! They're well worth 80 bucks, but you can't beat the markdown. I don't know how long the sale on them will last, but I'd recommend the headphones to anyone.
2) I'm not sure, yet, if Media Monkey will mark the podcsts as played, but I know it can import your ratings and # of times played and stuff like that from iTunes.
I agree that iTunes is more sleek, and, frankly, my biggest frustration with Media Monkey is its GUI. It's downright ugly, but for now it's working, and working pretty well once I find the button or tab I need to access to get what I want done.
My Pixi has functioned as a really nice podcast player. I had a iPod 80gb iPod before I got my Pixi, but I gave it back to my wife. I'm all about carrying less things and having all-in-ones rather than multiple gadgets for different things.
I read on a PreCentral that there's a homebrew app in the works for the pre-installed Music app that will add bookmarks so you can keep your place in podcasts if you happen to want to listen to something else and need to return to your place. I'm looking forward to it coming to the app store.
Here's the read: www.precentral.net/music-player-remix-offers-25-ke...
The sound quality and connectivity to my Pixi is 5 stars. Every other headphone I've tried doesn't give me a lot of volume, but these have a lot of pow. I like to listen to music loud, and it's got the umph.
It's ability to advance tracks, play/pause with a switch on the right ear-bud works really well. I can keep my Pixi in my pocket and control the player on either Pandora or the Music app really well.
On an incoming call, it mutes the music/podcast and can answer calls without taking my Pixi out of my pocket with a button, again, on the right ear piece,. When the call ends, it resumes playback.
I live in New York, and the over-the-ear is a must for me. They double as my ear muffs, and I put some poofy pads over the felt that it came with out of the box with for some extra insulation.
Even on cold windy days, the folks I've been chatting with through the headphones seem to hear me just fine, and have yet to complain about the wind interference or the call. One complaint: it doesn't play my own voice through the ear pieces while I'm on a call, and, not hearing myself, I sometimes think that the call has dropped.
I got them at the Sony Style store while on the holiday vacations in Florida, and the guys there said they were listed at $80, but when I went to check out, the cashier said they had been marked down to $24. BIG SCORE! They're well worth 80 bucks, but you can't beat the markdown. I don't know how long the sale on them will last, but I'd recommend the headphones to anyone.
2) I'm not sure, yet, if Media Monkey will mark the podcsts as played, but I know it can import your ratings and # of times played and stuff like that from iTunes.
I agree that iTunes is more sleek, and, frankly, my biggest frustration with Media Monkey is its GUI. It's downright ugly, but for now it's working, and working pretty well once I find the button or tab I need to access to get what I want done.
My Pixi has functioned as a really nice podcast player. I had a iPod 80gb iPod before I got my Pixi, but I gave it back to my wife. I'm all about carrying less things and having all-in-ones rather than multiple gadgets for different things.
I read on a PreCentral that there's a homebrew app in the works for the pre-installed Music app that will add bookmarks so you can keep your place in podcasts if you happen to want to listen to something else and need to return to your place. I'm looking forward to it coming to the app store.
Here's the read: www.precentral.net/music-player-remix-offers-25-ke...
