Version 1.0: Bugs fixed

I just released version 1.0, which fixes a few bugs. Most of the bugs have to do with "tap and hold" menus. There was also a bug with deleting feeds. If Pocket Podcasts has been unstable for you, give it a try.

Wanted: Pocket PC stand for video watching

I watched some video podcasts recently, to kill time during a flight. The whole time I had to hold the Pocket PC at an angle. Is there a better solution out there? In the picture, you can see my failed attempt to balance it against a cup full of plane trash.

Beta 2 released: Mobile RSS, Video

I just released a new beta with some crucial features:

- RSS viewing and podcast downloading over WiFi, EVDO, etc.
- Video support, when combined with TCPMP

Now you can turn a Pocket PC into a wireless-enabled "Video iPod" with excellent podcast support. As proof of concept, I've been regularly watching DL.TV, Cranky Geeks, and other video podcasts on my Pocket PC. There is one caveat: video playback can be sluggish with the wrong format. As long as I get the Divx or Mpeg4 versions, though, playback is smooth and crisp, even in "big screen" landscape mode.

Overall, the experience has been great. Despite owning an iPod, I rarely use it anymore. I originally had doubts when I bought my Pocket PC. Now that I think of it as a WiFi iPod that can do Skype, web, games, etc., it's quickly turned out to be a worthwhile purchase.

Enjoy the beta.
-Wes

New beta posted

I posted a new beta earlier tonight, which includes the storage card support that I blogged about earlier. Those snail-paced ActiveSync transfers are a thing of the past.

I've been using this beta to transfer podcasts to my Pocket PC (technically, to my storage card) before work in the morning. It works surpringly well. My biggest problem is that I download podcasts at the last minute before I leave. What ends up happening sometimes is that I have to leave for work before the downloads finish.

Solving this problem is definitely a next step. I'd like those podcasts to be ready when I wake up. Maybe I can squeeze that into the next beta.

In the meantime, enjoy this release.

ActiveSync support: removed

After giving it a good deal of thought, I've decided to take out ActiveSync support. Actually, to be correct: I'm taking out the OpenNETCF library. Maybe ActiveSync support will come back in some other form in the future.

From a functional standpoint, podcast transfers over ActiveSync (using the OpenNETCF library) were way too slow. So slow that, given no alternative (such as connecting storage cards to your PC), you'd be better off using some other type of mobile device. Luckily, the storage card alternative exists - and is much, much faster, actually, it's awesome.

From a copyright standpoint, the OpenNETCF library was also a thorn in the side of the GPL. The only way to ship with the library would be to create an exception to the license, which isn't really desireable. One other alternative might be to adopt a complete Microsoft "shared source" type of license over the whole project. Again, not really desireable.

Goodbye, ActiveSync support!

MP3 player support, storage card support

Last night I committed support for transferring podcasts to removable drives. This means that if you have a Creative, Sandisk, or other type of MP3 player, you should be able to transfer to it.

This also means that if you use a Windows Mobile device and you want faster transfers, you can connect your storage card directly to your computer and transfer it that way.

This also paved the path for iPod support, which I am looking forward to.

New Site at SourceForge

I spent all day putting up a new site at SourceForge. I also moved the SVN repository there, which can now be accessed through this link. I added a build for smartphones, and did some improvements:

• Mobile devices without a storage card should work OK now (hopefully).
• I took 'Odeo Top 40' out of the desktop sidebar. The sidebar seemed too cluttered.
• Renamed 'Home' button to 'Web.' Seems more intuitive.

-Wes