What's the best N95 Media Player?

There are no particually good media players for Symbain, sorry.

Software development for Symbian is very week on the whole, it's been massively overtaken by Windows Mobile now. Symbian is a child's toy in comparison. It's the lack of decent media software though that surprises me most with these 'multimedia *cough* computers'.

LCG Jukebox is probably the best, but it's not free. Oggplayer is a free option, but it's very 'homebrew' like. They did do a version of the amazing TCPMP, but it's not been updated in a long long time and does not have half the features of the Windows Mobile version.

I did email Conduits to see if the planned a Symbain version of the stunning Pocket Player (http://www.conduits.com/products/player/), but they said they did not 😞 Shame, because they would make a killing. As well as differences between different Symbain phones, they said the market was not as big as you would think because most average Joes dont buy extra software for there symbain phone. Unlike Windows Mobile where they buy the device for exactly that purpose.

With something like 20-30M Windows Mobile devices made, Symbian's recent statement of 126M Symbian based devices (or Nokia's earlier 100M S60 devices announcement in April), I think it'll still be a while before Windows Mobile "massively" overtakes Symbian.

Hi

N/A, I think you're missing the point. I'm no fan of Windows Mobile, but I recognise that most (75% ?) WM phone buyers add extra software to their phones. Possibly because the vanilla phones are so crap, but that's another story. I estimate fewer than 10% of Symbian owners add extra applications (beyond the usual Java games).

That makes the two operating systems much closer in this area than sales figures would suggest. Handango's catalogue of WM applications is much richer than the one for Symbian, and WM has a larger developer community than Symbian.

Perhaps we should pester Nokia to release really buggy underdeveloped phones with poor functionality...

<dons flameproof suit>

N/A wrote:With something like 20-30M Windows Mobile devices made, Symbian's recent statement of 126M Symbian based devices (or Nokia's earlier 100M S60 devices announcement in April), I think it'll still be a while before Windows Mobile "massively" overtakes Symbian.

🙄

I was talking about software development, not unit sales, smart arse.

And it has, take your head of of your Symbian sandpit and take a look at the massive wealth and quality of software available for Windows Mobile now and you see that it's leagues ahead. For every Fisher Price Symbian application, there is 10 that are far far better. It's a whole different world. Shame the Nokia fanboys that have never properly used some of the newest WM6 phones still seem to think they are some kind of corporate business tool. Ignorance is bliss though i guess. If the 95 is a "Multimedia Computer", then a Windows Mobile Phone with the right software (mostly free i might add) is a "Multimedia Super Computer With Bells On".

robgreb wrote:

Perhaps we should pester Nokia to release really buggy underdeveloped phones with poor functionality...

<dons flameproof suit>

What, you mean like Nokia's bug free (not) efforts, with half arsed GPS (HTC only use Sirf Star III), limp WiFi, no touch screen and terrible battery life? We don't need to ask them because they already do. The N95 is by far the best, and the N73 was ok after a few firmware upgrades, but the rest of the N series has been a bug fest and a true show case of where Nokia's designers lost the plot.

Even out of the box, a bog standard WM6 phone has more functionality than my N95. In terms of it's hardware, OS and software. Although admittedly none have a 5mp camera, which is largely overrated anyway. Even call, txt and email is better, although i do prefer a hardware keypad for numbers (not that i use it much, 90&#37; of my calling is done from contacts).

I get less problems and better battery life with my 2 and a half year old Vario. Have you seen the Vario III? - http://pdadb.net/index.php?m=specs&id=733

People need to have actual experience before making silly statements like the two i quoted above.

Don't get me wrong, I love my N95, but Symbian has no depth compared to where WM is now. And i really hated Windows Mobile 2003, it was a dog. Nothing like WM6 or even 5, it's like comparing Windows ME to Vista in some ways. I think a lot of people have had bad experiences with Windows Mobile 2003 and i have a fixed idea in their head of what its like now, and nasty at times it was too.

Oh, and remember this is all just forum banter people, i might be sharp sometimes but none of it's personal 😊 (flame proof suit at the ready anyway).

I actually like the Symbian platform. Or at least I do on my N95.

It makes me wonder why such an easy to use platform has never been extended more fully for more general desktop use?

I've installed dozens of apps since getting my n95 and the vast majority of them are excellent.

The only real snag I have encountered so far is that there is no really good media player.

I mean don't get me wrong, I can see Nokia's reasoning. Out of all of the commercially available media players, RealPalyer can probably deal with the most formats out of the box.

But that still doesn't change the fact that the bottom line is that RealPlayer still sucks. It might not suck as bad as Windows media player on mobile devices (well actually there is an argument to say that it does) but whatever way you look at it, RealPlayer truly blows.

What I would like is something like Mplayer, or VLC for Symbian . (This is where Windows mobile might have an advantage, as I think a version of VLC (and possibly MPlayer) does exist for this platform).

Of course it's not that easy either - as I don't know even if there was such a port if you can change the default file associations on the N95 to open another application other than RealPlayer when a specific media type is detected? But that of course is pretty academic since nothing like that exists anyway.

raid517 wrote:
It makes me wonder why such an easy to use platform has never been extended more fully for more general desktop use?

That like asking why the engine from a Mini Cooper has never bee used to power a cruise ship. 😊

raid517 wrote:

I mean don't get me wrong, I can see Nokia's reasoning. Out of all of the commercially available media players, RealPalyer can probably deal with the most formats out of the box.

But that still doesn't change the fact that the bottom line is that RealPlayer still sucks. It might not suck as bad as Windows media player on mobile devices (well actually there is an argument to say that it does) but whatever way you look at it, RealPlayer truly blows.

Actually, Realplayer on the N95 supports very very few formats compared to whats out there and in use.

But you are right, Windows Media Player on Windows Mobile 5 does blow, seriously blow (6 is better though). But Microsoft dont really put any effort in when they know that people serious about MP3 and Movies will download for excellent free stuff like TCPMP or Mortplayer, or pay for something like Pocket Player, which seriously put the likes of even the iPod to shame in terms for functionality or features.

Thats why i feel like i am banging my head against a brick wall with my N95. God damn it there is a market here, will some company please come up with the goods!!! Stop treating Nokia buyers like the lowest common denominator who does not know how to change a light bulb, people deserve better, not crap like Lonely Cats Jukebox made for 3 year olds FFS (the name says it all)!

Raid517, try the DivX player (mobile.divx.com). Not great, but better than the Real Player for showing video files.

Autopilot, the T-Mobile Vario/HTC Wizard was launched in November 2005, perhaps your two-and-a-half-year-old model is an early prototype.

I'm genuinely interested in which applications are:

Only available for WM or appreciably better than Symbian equivalents

AND

In daily use on your phone.

I know you can get WM software to encode live video streams and display them remotely on a PC, embedded in a PowerPoint presentation </sarcasm>, but who actually does that? What applications do you feel the Symbian platform is missing?

That like asking why the engine from a Mini Cooper has never bee used to power a cruise ship.

Well obviously it's an economy of scale. You could run a cruise ship on a mini cooper engine - providing you scaled the engine up. But anyway - all I was commenting was on the ease of use.

Anyway I've got no complaints about apps, other than a decent media player for the N95. I like to stream stuff from my PC to my phone, so having a wide format support would be cool.

What about VNC? It might sound crazy - but not as crazy as when I had VNC running on my PSP.

It would just be pretty useful for me to be able to access my desktop from my phone, download some music to my desktop PC to a folder that is shared by Orb - and then have that music be streamed directly to my phone.

robgreb wrote:Raid517, try the DivX player (mobile.divx.com). Not great, but better than the Real Player for showing video files.

Autopilot, the T-Mobile Vario/HTC Wizard was launched in November 2005, perhaps your two-and-a-half-year-old model is an early prototype.

I'm genuinely interested in which applications are:

Only available for WM or appreciably better than Symbian equivalents

AND

In daily use on your phone.

I know you can get WM software to encode live video streams and display them remotely on a PC, embedded in a PowerPoint presentation </sarcasm>, but who actually does that? What applications do you feel the Symbian platform is missing?

I stand corrected, i meant to say 1 and a half years. I had an XDA for while before that, but never liked it.

If you want to to show you, just name any application or application type, and i will show you whats available for WM now. You will be surprised. It's no wonder it's going so mainstream now.

Hi

I already know how rich the WM catalogue is (as I mentioned in a previous post).

I'm interested in what people actually use (I should add that I have a professional interest in this).

To give you an idea, here's a list of Symbian apps in use on my phone:

Navicore
Agile Messenger
Handy Safe
Sports Tracker
MobiReader
A-Z Maps (sometimes you can't beat a paper-like map)
Y-Browser
Collins Dictionaries
Handy Weather
DivX Player
Metr0
Google Maps
Solun
Opera
Putty

Will not install on my N95.
Downloaded the version for symbian6 gen3. Also tried the one for symbian6 gen1-2.
Anyone installation worked for on N95 ?
Did you change something in installations to accept this install ?

Thanks in advance,
😕

Hi

I'm assuming you have registered on the divx Web site and downloaded DivXPlayer_V3.sisx

This installed without problem on my N95. Note that it's in beta, and the installation keeps expiring. Perhaps the site is between updates.

EDIT: Have you set the N95 to accept unsigned apps? Tools - Settings - Applications - App Manager - Software Installation = All

Rob

I don't have much experience of Windows devices except a brief look at a mate's TYTyn, which looked excellent. I think the comments about third party apps are valid, and my understanding is that it's to do the the ease of use of the SDKs: programmers just seem to prefer programming for Windows.

I used Oggplayer on my N70, but it want install on my N95 😞.

nfinland wrote:I used Oggplayer on my N70, but it want install on my N95 😞.

The N70 is an S60 v2 device whereas the N95 is S60 v3. This is probably the reason it won't install.

I AM a WM fan, and I gave it up to come back to Sym. Mainly because of the N95 camera and high speed data, which I couldn't find with built in gps on a wm device (yet).

The 95 is easier to use as a phone and slightly (slightly!!!) more 'stable' than the XDA Exec I used before.

In all other ways, not having WM sucks as I can do anything to them/get any software/try other os's - even had linux on one and WM 6.0 before it was properly ported across. So range of options are great, stability wasn't.

N95 feels to me like a cheap old phone, it does what it does, if you like it great, if you don't tough. It doesn't feel like a micro PC at all - my old XDA was just like a PC in approach (can do anything/get software/make it 'yours' /homecook stuff etc).

I have no axe to grind either side, the only thing I learned is there is no perfect device!

Greg.

greg123 wrote:I AM a WM fan, and I gave it up to come back to Sym. Mainly because of the N95 camera and high speed data, which I couldn't find with built in gps on a wm device (yet).

The 95 is easier to use as a phone and slightly (slightly!!!) more 'stable' than the XDA Exec I used before.

In all other ways, not having WM sucks as I can do anything to them/get any software/try other os's - even had linux on one and WM 6.0 before it was properly ported across. So range of options are great, stability wasn't.

N95 feels to me like a cheap old phone, it does what it does, if you like it great, if you don't tough. It doesn't feel like a micro PC at all - my old XDA was just like a PC in approach (can do anything/get software/make it 'yours' /homecook stuff etc).

I have no axe to grind either side, the only thing I learned is there is no perfect device!

Greg.

:icon14:

My thoughts exactly. I have a WM phone and an N95. Both are great in different situations, i like the simplicity of Symbain and the power, customisability and flexibility of WM. But if i had to make the choice of just one device, it would have to be the WM hands down. I would not have said that 2 years ago, but now WM rocks. There is just so much fun to be had with it, it's almost endless and i can do things with it i never thought possible but now i love.

The built in GPS in the N95 was the main selling point for me, only use it on the odd occasion but its nice to have it whenever i need it (well that and uPnP, but i now realise it's not proper uPnP at all). I could have got an XDA orbit with built in GPS, but the device did not really cut the mustard for me. I knew there was not much software available for Symbian, but when i actually started looking properly i was utterly shocked. Luckily one area when there is some decent professional development going one for Symbian in in the GPS side of things, which shows it can be done.

I think that by the time the HTC Kasier (Vario III) come out though, which is the dogs nutz, i can't see any reason to keep my N95 and doubt i will go back to Symbain. You need a touch screen right there in front of when driving, it's no coincidence that all SatNav's have them. If only for safely is nothing else.

I like the N95 a great deal, but it's ultimately a shallow experience for users like me who want the real deal and like to play around. Yet it's perfect in some situations. But it's a fairly pointless argument between the two. The N95 is like a games console when the new WM6 phones are like fully fledged PC's. I would not recommend a WM6 device to most people i know. It just annoys me when fanboys slag off when they have no experience of and make statements like "The N95 is like a mini laptop!". Ah, bless.

Comparing the hardware is a clearer way to appraise the devices, putting choice of OS aside for a moment.

Hardware wise, then:

HTC P4550 (HTC Kaiser):
What the HTC P4550 has that the N95 doesn't:
+ QWERTY KEYBOARD
+ more data standards, quad band 3G, UMTS800, UMTS850, UMTS1900, UMTS2100, CSD, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA, HSUPA
+ touch screen

What the HTC P4550 doesn't have that the N95 does have:
- no TV out (N95 has this)
- proprietary audio jack, (N95 is industry standard jack)
- no camera flash (N95 has this)
- a 2.8M camera (N95 has 5M camera)
- lower quality video 320x240 30frame/sec, N95 does 640x480 30frame/sec
- bigger in size than N95 (99x53x21mm) vs P4550 (110x58x18)

Sources:
- http://pdadb.net/index.php?m=specs&id=733&view=1
- nseries.com

In summary, the N95 is better for imaging and video, connectivity and compactness while the P4550 will offer a more convenient mobile web access experience due to the support for more 3G/3.5G etc. data standards and the QWERTY keyboard when using search engines for example.

I don't think either device wins overall, it really depends on what you want.

Nice summary.

Small correction:

UMTS2100, CSD, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA are all covered by the N95.

rjamesd wrote:Comparing the hardware is a clearer way to appraise the devices, putting choice of OS aside for a moment.

Hardware wise, then:

HTC P4550 (HTC Kaiser):
What the HTC P4550 has that the N95 doesn't:
+ QWERTY KEYBOARD
+ more data standards, quad band 3G, UMTS800, UMTS850, UMTS1900, UMTS2100, CSD, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA, HSUPA
+ touch screen

What the HTC P4550 doesn't have that the N95 does have:
- no TV out (N95 has this)
- proprietary audio jack, (N95 is industry standard jack)
- no camera flash (N95 has this)
- a 2.8M camera (N95 has 5M camera)
- lower quality video 320x240 30frame/sec, N95 does 640x480 30frame/sec
- bigger in size than N95 (99x53x21mm) vs P4550 (110x58x18)

Sources:
- http://pdadb.net/index.php?m=specs&id=733&view=1
- nseries.com

In summary, the N95 is better for imaging and video, connectivity and compactness while the P4550 will offer a more convenient mobile web access experience due to the support for more 3G/3.5G etc. data standards and the QWERTY keyboard when using search engines for example.

I don't think either device wins overall, it really depends on what you want.

Fairly pointless comparison really, they are totally different architectures. Comparing the two hads no meaning really in terms of what they can actually do. For example connectivity; the N95 has everything you really need (although the N95 has slower WiFi) but there is very very little in the way of software to make us of them.

A couple of other corrections; The P4550 does do video out with the right cables etc. The P4550 may have a proprietary audio jack, but you can get a small adaptor for a couple of quid to use any headphones.

They are on a par connectivity wise, but i completely agree with the imaging comment. GPS is much better on the HTC's too. The photo will be a bit better (make that bigger, some people still think increasing the number of pixels increases the 'quality'😉 and the Video recording on the N95 is excellent 😊 That said, video playback will be much better on the HTC because of the better playback software.

Anyway, it's still like comparing a Console to a PC. The hardware is only ever as good as the software that makes use of it.

OK, well now I'm confused...

I am new to smartphones... (And new to mobile phones in general - I resisted the urge for all of 39 years - but being a gadget nut, the sheer range of capabilities of the N95 caught my attention). But the user experience of the N95 has intrigued me.

So far I have found it pretty good. It may not be quite on a par with a mini PC - but there is a lot that you can do with it - and the range of apps isn't so bad (if you know where to look).

But if you guys are saying that it is possible to have an overall 'better' user experience' with a HTC P4550 WM device, then I guess I would definitely be interested.

OK so I guess the question is, what range of media players are available for WM type devices? (Since this was the original topic) and where can I look at and gain a good impression of the range of software that is available for these kinds of devices also?

I also agree that the N95 is a very nice device - but where it fails most I think is in the lack of a touch screen and in the lack of a qwerty keyboard. Web browsing (although it is a good web browser) is still something of an awkward experience - with the strange need to learn how to use a non qwerty keyboard - and to also the requirement learn to use it sideways when in landscape mode.

I keep finding myself wanting (and trying) to rotate the main N95 slider screen about a central axis so that the phone would form a T shape when in use for web browsing - as this is the only way a keyboard like this would make any sense.

But of course that really is just a limitation of the current design.

GJ

PS

Has anyone got any info when the P4550 will be available and/or how much it will cost?

raid517 wrote:
OK so I guess the question is, what range of media players are available for WM type devices? (Since this was the original topic) and where can I look at and gain a good impression of the range of software that is available for these kinds of devices also?

There are quite a few. My personal fav is Conduits Pocket Player because, apart from playing loads of different file types and gapless playback etc, it supports direct streaming over uPNP. What does that mean? It means i install some free software on my (server software) then use a �2 cable which goes from my MDA into the HiFi's around the home. I can then stream my music (300 albums on my PC) to my MDA and listen to them through the hifi (or headphones/boombox in the garden). It's just like having 300 CD's on my MDA, but they are coming over my network. Great for parties and no my using CD's ever again. Even does internet radio, so bye bye DAB and FM radios too 😊

The two best are;
Conduits pocket player
TCMPMP (site seem to be down right now)

TCPMP is free and better for video then pocket player, does Divx etc and you can stream with it. In fact you can play any file with any software over a network as long as you use Resco Explorer to map your PC folders over a network.

Also there is mortplayer, pocketTV, Betaplayer (not used it, but it's meant to be amazing), ipod emulators, the list goes on.

Anyway, it's still like comparing a Console to a PC.

I'd agree, because they are aimed at different users. I don't think either can claim to be the best. The P4550 competes with Nokia's E Series business phones rather than the N series.

The N95 offers a real alternative to the expense and inconvenience of buying and carrying around a digital camera, a camcorder and an MP3 player.

Sure, dedicated devices will have the edge for example a camera will have a better lense with optical zoom and better flash or an MP3 will have more storage and even higher audio quality.

But for many situations and for many people the N95 spec is good enough and the all-in-one convenience with it's smallish size enables spontaneity, capturing more photo and video opportunities than otherwise. Plus the internet/MMS/wifi/bluetooth features enable instant sharing and publishing of the media which few dedicated devices can offer.

Meanwhile, the HTC P4550 Kaiser falls short with the afterthought 320x240 video quality and lack of flash. Regardless of whether the player is better than N95, if the video is substandard in the first place then there is little value. Plus, some will share and publish their video on the web or DVD anyway.

However it will perform better in mobile office situations with it's touch screen and keyboard. It's size, although larger than the N95 still makes it smaller than regular PDAs such as the iPaq or Axim. This smaller size coupled with a wide range of support for built-in mobile data options makes it a really good contender in the PDA and business oriented mobile market.

If they improved the video, added a flash and allowed for 2 sim cards to be installed e.g. Vodafone for the voice coverage and T-mobile for the generous data allowance then the P4550 would be a sure hit.

I'm not that impressed with the specs of HTC P4550. More interesting seems to be the E-ten Glofiish X800 which also uses Windows Mobile 6. It has a 480 x 640 pixel screen in 2.8". It has a SiRF Star III GPS, 3.6 MBit/s hsdpa (we think) and (finally) a FM RDS radio.

Of course it has its cons too: 2 MP camera (autofocus though), 65536 color screen and only 64 MB of RAM. They seem to have waisted one (of two?) USB ports on 1.1 as well, although it's not clear.

I'm not ready to abandon my so excellent camera in N95 for anything! So a successor that I would accept won't come, I reckon, for three quarters of a year or something similar...

I'm a DivX fan... Always have been. Installed DivX Mobile fine and most of my video media is in DivX anyway so it's easy. It's the best trade off between quality and compression.

Im Using Divx N I Cant Put It In Full Screen For My Tv... Helpppp

autopilot wrote:A couple of other corrections; The P4550 does do video out with the right cables etc.

Unfortunately, it doesn't.

hari623 wrote:Im Using Divx N I Cant Put It In Full Screen For My Tv... Helpppp

I use virtualdub to resize the movies. Usually the movies are widescreen format. So I cut away a little bit from both sides and make it fullscreen. I know I lose some of the movie, but it looks nicer on the phonescreen. And after that I use WinXMedia AVI WMV 3GP Converter to make it .3gp. I use high quality settings ( manually input ). So the .3gp files is around 450 mb for 1 cd movie, and about 550 mb for 2 cd movies. Then just watch with the realplayer in the N95.