As I said in my last post, I felt that MP3 legal download companies should not DRM encode their files so you can only do certain things with it - which sometimes means that you can only copy to a portable device 3 times, which is fine if you have a 20gb device, but for those on a a 256mb device that can be a problem if you like to change your muisc taste all the time!
Ideally if you use a legal download service you should be able to choose the format you download the file in eg MP3 or Windws Media File, if your MP3 player is compatible with those, or in Apple iPod or Sony Atrac3 format. The best way for these companies to achieve this, is by offering a conversion filter once you have downloaded the file in to the format you need, for syncing with your device.
If your device supports expansion cards, that adds another problem into the mix as when you transfer a legal file on to it, it may not play on your device, as the file thinks the device does not have the licence to play on it!
One day all formats will be supported on all devices, and when you purchase a track you will be able to listen to it on whatever device you want! without worrying about the license!
Sunday, February 06, 2005
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
Digital Rights Managment
Bought myself an MP3 player at the weekend, a Thomson Lyra 256MB player with SD/MMC expansion. I thought it would be easy to get working, and I would be able to join a legal MP3/WMA download service and transfer tracks to my new player. So on Sunday evening I joined Napster, after a 9 meg download (which took forever on Dial up) I installed Napster only to find out it didnt support my device, then I discovered that it works with any device that works with Windows Media Player - no problems there my player does. I then tried to install the Napster plugin for Windows Media Player, that didnt work, so thought I best upgrade to WMP 10 another 11 meg download (and a long wait for the download to finish). Still couldnt get the WMP plugin to work.
Come Monday morning I was not a happy bunny, as I had spent money on this MP3 player in order to listen to my MP3 collection, (which I could as they happily transferred to the device) and purchase legal downloads, and transfer them to my device. I go into Napster in WMP and it says that it can't detect it. I thought to myself why can you not detect it when it is installed on my PC. So I click the button to get Napster expecting to have to sit through another 9meg download. Turned out that this download was a WMP plugin for Napster. So I installed it and Napster worked in WMP. Great I thought, lets buy a track to put on my MP3 player, so I bought the track, and couldnt transfer it to my device due to a licence problem. Worked out the best way to get a file to my device was to burn to an Audio CD, then rip it back to the PC and transfer. That worked great, but didnt solve the problem.
Tuesday came, and I went to Thomson's site for my player, hoping to find a place to report this problem, I did not find a place, but while looking through the support pages I saw a firmware update for my player, and was overjoyed as it added support to my player for DRM encoded WMA files, from legal download providers. So I installed the firmware, a lengthy process, that involved formatting my device, and finally my Napster download worked on the device. I'm now going to purchase more MP3 files that way.
I wish that legal MP3/WMA download companies did not DRM enccode their files as we the consumer should be able to play our downloads on any device we like, without have to sort out licensing problems!!
Come Monday morning I was not a happy bunny, as I had spent money on this MP3 player in order to listen to my MP3 collection, (which I could as they happily transferred to the device) and purchase legal downloads, and transfer them to my device. I go into Napster in WMP and it says that it can't detect it. I thought to myself why can you not detect it when it is installed on my PC. So I click the button to get Napster expecting to have to sit through another 9meg download. Turned out that this download was a WMP plugin for Napster. So I installed it and Napster worked in WMP. Great I thought, lets buy a track to put on my MP3 player, so I bought the track, and couldnt transfer it to my device due to a licence problem. Worked out the best way to get a file to my device was to burn to an Audio CD, then rip it back to the PC and transfer. That worked great, but didnt solve the problem.
Tuesday came, and I went to Thomson's site for my player, hoping to find a place to report this problem, I did not find a place, but while looking through the support pages I saw a firmware update for my player, and was overjoyed as it added support to my player for DRM encoded WMA files, from legal download providers. So I installed the firmware, a lengthy process, that involved formatting my device, and finally my Napster download worked on the device. I'm now going to purchase more MP3 files that way.
I wish that legal MP3/WMA download companies did not DRM enccode their files as we the consumer should be able to play our downloads on any device we like, without have to sort out licensing problems!!
Monday, December 27, 2004
Talking with no wires
Got a great Christmas present, a Handsfree Bluetooth Headset from Sony Ericsson. It's a brilliant device as it means I can have my phone in my pocket and take calls on my mobile without getting the phone out of a pocket etc. Also is safer in a high crime area as my phone is out of site! Maybe one day they will use the same technology in an everyday landline phone - would be cool.
All I gotta do now is get the headset to automatically answer calls, which is a pain as it can't recognise my voice - it records it ok but then wont work when I try to answer the phone! I guess I have one of those hard to recognise voices. Still not having voice recognition is not a problem as I can just press a button on the ear piece to answer a call.
All I gotta do now is get the headset to automatically answer calls, which is a pain as it can't recognise my voice - it records it ok but then wont work when I try to answer the phone! I guess I have one of those hard to recognise voices. Still not having voice recognition is not a problem as I can just press a button on the ear piece to answer a call.
Friday, November 19, 2004
New Mobile
I got a new mobile last weekend and it is great! The best mobile phone I have ever owned, it is the SonyEricsson K700i complete with a colour screen, mp3 ringtones, and a camera (which I will probably hardly use). mp3 ringtones are cool as it is so much better to hear decent music when the phone rings, Polyphonic tones are great too, but mp3 is even better.
I changed mobile network as well, to O2, mainly because the phones O2 sell are not network customised, and messed up, and also because the tariff is cool - £35 a month gets me 250 cross network minutes, 50 texts, £2.99 worth of international traveller service and free voicemail. Previously my mobile network was T-Mobile, and while they were very good, I decided not to stay with them, as that would have meant signing up for a 18 month contract rather than a 12 month one, and would have got a network customised phone.
I believe networks should not be able to mess up a phone as it is unfair to the user, after all who wants their network logo plastered on the front, somtimes the side and back of the phone? I don't , mind you this is not as bad as messing up the software - on my new phone, if I had gone to Vodafone, and got a Vodafone customised K700i, I would not have been able to use mp3 ringtones, as they do not allow you to use them, unless you get them from their Vodafone Live service, I believe this is because they are covering their back copyright wise. I think if a feature is on a phone you should be able to use it unrestricted, and the network operator should not be able to restrict it. If a network operator wants to customise the phone, then they should onle be able to put an operator logo on the casing, and perhaps in the menu structure a link to their WAP and or other services they offer, and any extra software needed to activate line 2, but nothing else, and not restrict some of the features.
Another bug bear of mine, is locked mobile phones, as there is no need, if you are on contract, after all you have signed up for a 12/18 month contract with the operator, which you can't get out of without paying your way out. I feel it's fair to lock a pay as you go phone, that way it has to be used on the network you bought it on, until you unlock it.
I changed mobile network as well, to O2, mainly because the phones O2 sell are not network customised, and messed up, and also because the tariff is cool - £35 a month gets me 250 cross network minutes, 50 texts, £2.99 worth of international traveller service and free voicemail. Previously my mobile network was T-Mobile, and while they were very good, I decided not to stay with them, as that would have meant signing up for a 18 month contract rather than a 12 month one, and would have got a network customised phone.
I believe networks should not be able to mess up a phone as it is unfair to the user, after all who wants their network logo plastered on the front, somtimes the side and back of the phone? I don't , mind you this is not as bad as messing up the software - on my new phone, if I had gone to Vodafone, and got a Vodafone customised K700i, I would not have been able to use mp3 ringtones, as they do not allow you to use them, unless you get them from their Vodafone Live service, I believe this is because they are covering their back copyright wise. I think if a feature is on a phone you should be able to use it unrestricted, and the network operator should not be able to restrict it. If a network operator wants to customise the phone, then they should onle be able to put an operator logo on the casing, and perhaps in the menu structure a link to their WAP and or other services they offer, and any extra software needed to activate line 2, but nothing else, and not restrict some of the features.
Another bug bear of mine, is locked mobile phones, as there is no need, if you are on contract, after all you have signed up for a 12/18 month contract with the operator, which you can't get out of without paying your way out. I feel it's fair to lock a pay as you go phone, that way it has to be used on the network you bought it on, until you unlock it.
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