Our users have asked us for support for Streaming media directly from internet, Radio, ID3 tags support, quick find in playlist for easy navigation, Advanced speaker modes - hey guys, we have tried to accomodate all your requests in this version. Hope you will enjoy:

The links to the downloads:
OTA install: http://www.dollars5.com/OTA/mediaPlayer.jad
(If you have problems with above OTA, please try the following:
Visit: OTA Install Links
select to install mediaPlayer - continue with download - this should work. Let me know if any problem persists or try the below Desktop manager installation)


Files for desktop manager install:
ZIP: http://www.dollars5.com/downloads/bl...ediaPlayer.zip
COD: http://www.dollars5.com/downloads/bl...ediaPlayer.cod
ALX: http://www.dollars5.com/downloads/bl...ediaPlayer.alx

The following improvements are done:

1] Radio streaming - fully Blackberry friendly, with background playback. Can also play media located on web (example mp3 shared over http - no delay - plays instantly) - default two sample stations are added (a) Nation Radio - a streaming internet radio station, (b) Dollars5 sample audio - mp3 located on server streamed instantly unlike Blackberry player which downloads and plays.
2] ID3 tags in playlists
3] Crossfade between songs (beta implementation)
4] Quick find for searching in the playlist
5] Keyboard navigation in playlist (8800 and 8300 only - requires QWERTY keyboard)
6] Advanced speaker modes (requires 4.2.1 OS) - stream audio to phone speaker, handsfree speaker, headset, both (headset and handsfree) and bluetooth headset (no A2DP support in Blackberries atp)
7] UI enhancements for better selection
8] Optimizations for improved performance in background mode and while playing songs
9] Improved shuffle logic for media player
10] Better search logic for files search and UI indications
11] Minor bug fixes.

To test more Internet radio stations, we have compiled a list with contributions from our beta testers at Internet Radio stations for mediaPlayer/Radio If you get many stations to work - please help us build the list.

You can also try streaming podcasts - for example you can Stream the TwiT podcast from

http://aolradio.podcast.aol.com/twit/TWiT0102H.mp3

With your valuable feedback - we can get more improvements.

Screen shots for Radio:


To configure the APN setting to use this application please refer these threads:
http://www.blackberryforums.com/blac...ip-no-bes.html

mediaPlayer stand-alone version cost you USD 19.99 and available for purchase from our site here

If you chose to purchase multiPlay Professional suit for USD 27.49 - you get four applications via un-restricted multiPlay v1.1, mediaPlayer v1.5, vNotes v1.0 and txtNotes v1.0. It is available for purchase from our site here

Does this work on the curve? I get Module 'mediaPlayer - 3' not found when I try to start the app.

Can you try the new version as listed above - feel free to test it as some of our beta tested were successful in using it with Curve.

That is the version that I tried. I went to the OTA install and that is the error that I received.

That error should be if the download is corrupt - can you also try the ZIP archive based desktop manager install?

BTW: i will also test the OTA install again

I will try that tonight. Thanks.

Came across this one on pinstack. dl and liked it.

Downloaded OTA on 8800 and worked like a champ. Thanks!

Seems great app ....
will give it a trial today

I get the same error message on my Pearl after a successful OTA download and install.

I also noticed that if I pull the battery, the icon no longer exists, and it disappears from the applications that can be removed.

- J

Does it work with BIS connection?

BR
Jaime

Is it possible to stream Sirius with this app?

I tested the OTA - things seem fine also got feedback from some of our customers and beta testers who were online reported that the OTA seemed fine - not sure why it fails for you. One other user who faced the same problem while installing on his Pearl reported he was able to install via Download Manager. Hope that will help you.

For BIS you need to have proper APN settings configured, please refer to http://www.blackberryforums.com/blac...ip-no-bes.html

Great question, it might be worth buying if I can stream Sirius with this app.

SIB

We do plan to support the Sirius online streaming sooner but current version does not support.

We are to support winamp compatible pls streams that many stations like Di.fm without using the hack outlined at Dollars 5 Community :: View topic - Di.Fm stations tuning Hack for mediaPlayer/Radio

More online radio streams and a station browser to follow sooner.

Please let us know when you guys have the Sirius streaming enabled. I will definitely buy this app at that point.

I am testing now, I love the Bluetooth Headset feature, I have been using the work around using call from the browser and letting it sit between connecting and disconnecting state but this is much better. Also, volume control is less of an issue because I can adjust the volume on my BT headset.

I would buy this app but the only problem I have is the lack of support for large/long MP3/podcasts. I listen to a 5 hour (300 minute) MP3 everyday and I often want to fast forward and rewind but mediaPlayer does not handle fast forwarding and rewinding very well unless I am doing something wrong.

Dollar5, if you have any tips or need a beta tester for this I would be happy to help. I would also like to see the time show in hours and minutes as opposed to minutes but I could live with this if the fast forward and rewind worked better.

SIB

Agreed, Sirius streaming and better support for large files would make me eat my words from a previous thread I posted about not needing third party media app. I will even retract my statements and sing my praises if/when the Dollar5 product has these functions.

SIB

Sure m8s, will consider all your suggestions fro version 2.0 a lot more is awaiting - will create a separate thread on v2.0 latter for gathering feedback and beta testing.

I dont have free APN access, so it won't work for me?

BR
Jaime

Btw: You seem to have 8700 - but this software will work only on 8800, 8300 and 8100. And to configure internet on BIS pease refer to http://www.blackberryforums.com/blac...ip-no-bes.html

I also got this error installing via OTA. I'll try DM to see if it works.

I am extremely sorry for the OTA problems, but I am not sure why few people are facing problems with OTA - I have gathered feedback from some beta testers who were available at the time of release and they all reported things are fine (and fortunately they all had all different devices 8800, 8300 and 8100) and when our QA team certified that the installation was fine only then I did announce in the forums.

But if you still face problems - it would be kind of you to use the Desktop Manager.

(If you have problems with above OTA, please try the following:
Visit: OTA Install Links
select to install mediaPlayer - continue with download - this should work. Let me know if any problem persists or try the below Desktop manager installation)

Not sure what caused these problems for few users (again majority are successful with OTA and our QA team has also confirmed this again). Hopefully the new OTA link should work for others facing problems.

I just downloaded it OTA, worked fine. I have an 8800 though.
When I try to access any radio station, I get Connection Closed, all except on your Sample link. I am on BES and am the BES admin. Do I need to make any changes on that?

I just followed the new OTA link you provided and now it works. Thanks. BTW, I am using a Pearl with the ATT OS 4.2.1.96.

Kindly be informed that at present we only do support Direct TCP/IP connection - we are working to support the BES MDS connection, if you are interested please feel free to contact us at Dollars 5 Complete » Contact us we can work on to get it sooner.

Regards.

RADIO STATIONS A PLUS!!!! Are we suppose to have a gap in audio when it switchings from one buffer to the next?

That explains a lot! I'm on a BES/MDS. I've been able to get a few stations to work sometimes, but most of the time I get the same connection closed message and data continues to go back and forth for quite a while after stopping or getting the connection closed message. It's very annoying.

To get it to work you'll need to have the APN settings under TCP. However, I haven't been that impressed with the Radio feature. Support for BES/MDS is a must.

First thanks for your interest with mediaPlayer.

@RDx: If your bandwidth is great - the audio will stream continuously. You can infer this from the buffering % and bandwidth display in the bottom status area.

@John Clark : We are working on it, sooner you can expect a BES/MDS compatible version. Btw: If you are interested I can send you a test version through our beta program that will support BES. Should you have any suggestions to improve the radio - we would love to her and implement them for you.

I would very much like to try the BES version beta. I get very mixed results with the current version.

Does this mean you can now listen to XM radio?

No XM radio stations are not supported at present - but we do plan to support them in future.

I am on 8800, I keep getting "Connection Closed!" message when I tried to listen to a radio. I am on BIS Cingular.

Thanks for your interest with our product.

Does this happen to all stations or to a particular station, if you have no issues, please do share it with us, we can test it for you.

Also make sure you have your BIS Cingular configurations proper, please do refer this thread for more details: http://www.blackberryforums.com/blac...ip-no-bes.html

Pretty much all stations. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not. I always see the buffering progress to more than 90%, then got that message. My BIS config is correct per that thread...

Thanks a lot for your prompt reply and help.

I have the exact same issues. I am on a BES, though.

@ Pengurus and JC:
So the issue is that it processes, successfully connected and while buffering - the connection goes off? Rite?

This is a issue of broken connection while buffering, try the following, reduce you buffer size (mediaPalyer -> Menu -> settings -> Radio buffer size = 20000 or 40000 bytes)

It would also be kind of you to let me know of how the bandwidth reported during buffering process:
- is it continuously the same value?
- the value varies widely?
- not changing at all (the bandwidth is same and the buffer % does not change for a long time)?

My best guess is that you are either case 2 or 3 where it is an indication that the GPRS service is not very stable for streaming operation. Do let me know, I will forward this issue to developers to get more feedback on this.

Honestly, I don't really like using the radio because when I do try and get a radio station going it takes forever to stop it (whether it actually plays or not.) The app can be closed but there is still constant data going back and forth for several minutes afterwards.

I think the poor performance issue was with v1.4 beta (you should have received it as a beta participant) but that issue was fixed with v1.5 final release - did you upgrade and try it? If you still face problems do let us know - I will forward to the developers.

Btw: regarding the data sent after close - that would happen for a few seconds as the server keeps responding to our past requests - that shouldn't cause any performance degradation.