Lately, I've been hearing a lot of fanfare about an application called DoubleTwist that is at its core a free music jukebox that offers content syncing to a variety of portable devices, including the BlackBerry, the PSP, and the iPod, as well as pretty much anything that can mount in Universal Mass Storage mode. One of the main draws of the program is that it can take your iTunes library and sync it to a variety of non-iPod players, an important feature for anyone who has ditched the ubiquitous device in favor of a music phone or other MP3 player. And soon, the Windows version of the jukebox will offer built-in support for Amazon MP3 store purchases as well (note: the Mac version already supports Amazon MP3 purchases), a move in line with the company's goal to offer consumers choice when it comes to digital music management.
The DoubleTwist video view.
Certainly, DoubleTwist is a useful solution for a lot of people, especially since it incorporates automatic video transcoding for a lot of the supported devices, which is the feature that drew me to the software. However, the program is not without its pitfalls, and some of them are sure to cause no small amount of frustration. For example, the video transcoding--done during the syncing process--takes forever. Conversion speed was roughly two times normal speed, so a 90-minute movie took 50 minutes or so to encode and transfer. Still, considering DoubleTwist offers this feature for free and integrates it so simply, I'm willing to forgive the sluggishness.
Much more annoying is how slow the video library loads in thumbnail mode, and while it is loading, you can't actually browse the selections. ... Read More
We don't need no water...
(Credit: Pete Sparrow)A couple weeks back, I strapped on my best convincing boots and had a little lovefest with Rhapsody. But all is not roses in the realm of subscription music, and Rhapsody is definitely no exception to the rule. In fact, I have yet to come across the perfect piece of music software or the perfect online music service. True, I am exceedingly picky and jaded, but I also believe that there is always room for improvement when it comes to technology, be it hardware or software.
Certainly, Rhapsody could use some improvement. As much as I love the service and would have difficulty living without it at this point, there have been multiple occasions when my irritations with it have led to frustrated utterances. Most of the problems I have with Rhapsody are tied directly to the software, but as you need to have that installed to organize your own music and use the service effectively with portable devices, such as the Walkman, I feel these gripes are perfectly justified.
- Software interface issues: The Rhapsody software just looks so...1997. If you don't believe me, open up the software alongside Windows Media Player. See that pretty stacked-album-art view in WMP? Nice, isn't it? I'm not particularly fond of how Rhapsody organizes music, either. You use a drop down to switch between artist, album, and genre views, which are listed on the left, while related songs pop up in the right column; programs such as WMP and iTunes offer more elegant navigation. I also don't like that in the artist, album, or genre window, you can't simply type a letter--say "H"--and be taken directly to the artists that start with that letter.
- Transfer hangups: In my estimation, my portable device transfers hang about 40 percent of the time. For example, I'll be transferring a list of 30 songs and the files will just freeze up at 17. Unplugging the player and reconnecting doesn't help, nor does shutting down and restarting Rhapsody. I just have to wait until the software decides it's "ready" to give me my music to go. It always corrects on its own and the timeline is completely arbitrary. Seriously...what the??
- General bugginess: I've spent a lot of time using a variety of software jukeboxes, and they have all suffered from bugginess from time to time. However, the one that full-on crashes the most--by far--is Rhapsody. And this hasn't been a problem recently, but it suffered from a rather nasty, long-lasting bug that wouldn't let me sign into my account for certain periods...again, completely at the app's whim. ... Read More
For better or worse, buying an iPod also means committing to Apple's iTunes software. Apple's seamless combination of hardware, software, and online store has made it many fans, but for some folks, the iTunes way of doing things feels unbearably confining.
If you love your iPod, but can't stand being tied to iTunes, there are some compelling and capable Mac and PC iTunes alternatives that can sync with your iPod. Depending on your iPod model, you'll probably still need to keep iTunes around for firmware updates, video purchases, games, and some advanced features (calendar syncing, for instance), but there's no reason you can't sync your music and podcasts using a different program.
Each of the following media jukeboxes has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. This list isn't meant to be comprehensive (by all means, add your own suggestions in the comments section), I'm just taking an opportunity to highlight my personal favorites. Also, every application listed here is free, so there's no reason not to try them all and see what sticks.
Media Monkey is a control freak's dream come true.
Media Monkey
http://www.mediamonkey.com/
(Download Media Monkey from Download.com)
Ideal user: File hoarders, control freaks, meticulous taggers, boutique format users (FLAC, Ogg), people with messy collections.
- Ideal for large, scattered collections
- Advanced tagging features and auto tagging
- Supports iPhone 3G and iPod Touch 2G
- Copy songs from iPod to computer
- Album art lookup
- Skinnable
- Podcast catcher... Read More
Click to see the Zune software 3.0 photo gallery.
(Credit: Microsoft)With any luck, Zune users will be treated to revamped software and firmware tomorrow, compatible with all generations of Zune media players. The PC-only Zune software is now in version 3.0, and includes some practical improvements along with some gee-whiz graphical enhancements. I'll briefly run through some of the new features here, but you can click over to our photo gallery for a more detailed look.
On the practical end of things, Zune user can now use the Zune software browse and subscribe to content channels (similar to Rhapsody Channels), which push new music selections to your device every week. Keeping in the music discovery theme, you'll also see a Picks page in the software offering up personalized music suggestions based on your listening habits. If you've signed on to the Zune Social and have hated jumping back and forth from the Zune software to the Social Web site, you'll be happy to see better integration of your Zune card, profile, and listening stats within the software.
There's also some stunning visual enhancements to the software that may prove useful. For instance, a new Mixview window offers a way to see music and friend suggestions in a Web of connected images. The Mixview feature makes for an impressive demo, but time will tell if it holds up as a music discovery tool. Zune has also updated their software's Now Playing screen with a slowly animated selection of artist photos and related text mixed up into attractive, full-screen eye candy.
Don't let the new color fool you. The third-generation Zune update is all about the software.
The best thing about the upcoming third-generation Zune? I already own it.
Just like last year's free update for first-gen Zune owners, Microsoft has confirmed that all existing Zune owners will get a free third-generation firmware upgrade once the product sees its official launch on September 16. Not "Apple free"--but "free" as in zero-cost.
As earlier articles have already shown, the details for Microsoft's third-generation Zune MP3 player hardware have been revealed as a few of the devices have accidentally hit the shelves. This year's Zune hardware offers a new color option (blue) and 120GB hard drive and 16GB Flash capacities, but is otherwise unchanged from the hardware we saw with its second-gen players. This means that side-by-side, it should be nearly impossible to tell a third-gen Zune apart from an updated second-gen Zune.
So, what will the new Zune update get you? Let's recap the leaked features.
Device to Cloud
Finally, the Zune's Wi-Fi feature does something worthwhile. With the ability to access public and password-protected Wi-Fi hot spots, your Zune can now update itself on the fly and download tracks directly from Zune Marketplace. Zune Pass users will get the most from this feature since they'll be able to stream as much music as they want directly from Zune Marketplace as an added value. Pair this feature up with a speaker dock and you essentially have a killer commercial-free jukebox.
New firmware updates for the Zune allow you to tag songs on FM radio to download later.
(Credit: Microsoft)
FM radio tagging
We've been a longtime fan of the Zune's RBDS-enhanced FM radio, but the third-generation firmware promises to make the feature even better. So long as the FM radio station you're listening to supports RBDS or RDS song data, you'll be able to earmark any song you hear and download it later when you connect your Zune to your computer or over Wi-Fi in the Device to Cloud scenario. Seems like a great feature for folks who often use the radio to discover new music, and again, Zune Pass subscription users will now have a new way to milk the most new music from their monthly fee.
Zune Channels
If you've already played around with your Zune's Social and Zune Card features, you probably know that you can automatically download recently played songs from folks you've befriended using Zune Social. Think of Zune Channels as the Friends feature on steroids (or better yet, think of it as Rhapsody Channels). You get regular and automatic updates of new music from channels you select based on artists, genres, DJs, and celebrities. You'll also get a personal recommendation channel based on ratings you've made to your music library.
Channels can be updated by connecting the Zune to your computer or using a Wi-Fi hot spot, and content will refresh weekly by flushing old songs out and bringing new tracks in. Zune Pass users will have the option to hold onto any of the Channel content, while non-subscription users will be bound by the Zune's three-play rule with the option to buy.
... Read More
The flaming pushpin is never a good sign on a support message board.
(Update: As of 2/01/08, many of the bugs discussed in this blog post have been addressed in Firmware update 2.3 and the PC software update 2.3. While no software is 100% perfect, the Zune software development team has been making significant strides in the past few months, and most users shouldn't experience these same hiccups that were encountered early on.)
Legions of first-gen Zune owners are are downloading the latest version (v1.2) of the PC-based Zune software, and profoundly regretting it. If the Zune support message boards are any indication, there are some bitter first-gen Zune owners out there who are feeling slighted by Microsoft's all-inclusive upgrade to their Zune line.
The major sticking point on the forum (with 9,200 views and counting) seems to be abducted library metadata (album art, ID3 tags, playlists, song ratings) caused by upgrading to the latest version of the Zune PC software. The Zune support team has posted a seemingly viable solution to the problem, but not everyone is happy having to poke around on their computer's Local Settings folder to rename and delete files.
To see if the complaints had any merit, I upgraded from v1.1 of the software (the version I was given for the official CNET review) to the latest version. The result? The majority of my personal music library had been scrambled--artist and album information got all mixed up, and album art was reassigned randomly across my collection. My Zune Pass subscription music files, however, survived unharmed. To be clear, the Zune software upgrade didn't scramble my actual music files, they just appeared scrambled within the Zune software. The same files displayed perfectly fine in Windows Media Player. Instructions posted in the Zune forum solved my metadata scramble problem, but it was a hassle.
Another problem people are running into with the new Zune software ... Read More
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Donald Bell is an electronic musician, a veteran record store employee, and a fearless hardware hacker. He's also CNET's Senior Editor for MP3 and digital audio.
Jasmine France is CNET's resident digital audio doyenne, writing and editing product reviews, crave blogs, and feature stories on all things MP3. And if you need advice on headphones, she's your girl.
