The iRiver Portable Media Center(excerpt from my upcoming article in PPC magazine)
by Diane Dumas
The iRiver PMC-100 series (www.iRiver.com) is the third device to hit the streets loaded with Microsoft’s new Portable Media Center software, which we described in detail on pages 34-35 of the Dec/Jan 05 issue (www.pocketpcmag.com/_archives/jan05/PortableMediaCenter.aspx).
The PMC-100 is both attractive and comfortable to hold. The stylistic rounded edges and concaved case gives it a “game controller” feel—you just don’t want to set it down.
The first model in the series, the PMC-120, features a 20 GB internal hard drive. Later, the PMC-140 will be introduced with a 40 GB drive—double the storage capacity of any other PMC on the market. The 20 GB version will hold up to 5000 songs or 80 hours of video. The 40 GB device will hold twice that.
The PMC-100 not only incorporates the easy-to-use Windows XP Media Center Edition user interface, it also allows the PMC-100 to interface with Windows Media Player 10 on your desktop PC, or with your Windows Media Center PC. In addition, the Portable Media Center software supports the latest Digital Rights Management software (DRM10), making it one of Microsoft’s “PlaysForSure” devices. This is a system designed to make sure the media content you purchase (or rent) will “ForSure” play on your device. For more on PlaysForSure, see: (www.playsforsure.com/WhatIsPlaysForSure.aspx).
A portable 20 GB hard drive?
Most PMC devices sync in only one direction—from the PC to the PMC. However, the PMC-100 has an extra USB (1.1) port on the left edge of the device, which allows you to sync in both directions. Connect the PMC-100 to your desktop PC with a standard mini-USB cable, and the 20 GB hard drive will appear as “ir1000” in Windows Media Player 10 or in the My Computer folder on your desktop PC. You can then use WMP10 or your desktop’s File Explorer to transfer non-protected content to and from the iRiver’s hard drive.
This connection is slower than the USB 2.0 connector on the bottom of the device, and isn’t PlaysForSure compatible. That means that you cannot use this connection to transfer rented video and music, and other protected content (at least if you want to be able to play them). However, you can use the device to transfer content such as program files, documents, spreadsheets, maps, images, etc. This is an undocumented feature that iRiver does not support. However, it worked well for me, allowing me to use the PMC-100 as a portable hard drive to carry documents and other non-media files with me.
NewsBreak
Here's an easy-to-use but powerful RSS feed reader for the Pocket PC and Smartphone. There's a whole Internet full of feeds out there that you can subscribe to! Receive the latest headlines, weather, sports, business, and entertainment news via the Internet (either wirelessly or through an ActiveSync connection). You can even read Pocket PC magazine's RSS feed using this program. Subscribe using this link: http://ppcmag.com/rss.asp to read the Tip of the Week, Jim Karpen's Web Guide, Featured Review, News Update, and even my Hot Download of the Week. It also works with Microsoft’s new “beta” blogger called MSN Spaces. NewsBreak even supports the photo album feature of Spaces via RSS.
Price: $14.95
www.iliumsoft.com
Use With: Pocket PC 2002, Windows Mobile 2003 and Smartphone 2002/2003
MSN Video Downloads
This is a new service from Microsoft that provides downloads of many hours of video content for Pocket PCs, Smartphones, and Portable Media Center mobile devices. The videos comprise a variety of news, sports and entertainment, which are encoded in a high quality Windows Media Video format: 320x240 @ 500kbps. Each day additional videos are being made available, and are automatically downloaded and stored in your "My Video" folder on your desktop PC. Later, you can use Windows Media Player 10 to transfer them over to your mobile devices for viewing.
Price: Basic Membership: FREE; Premium Membership $19.95/year
Use With: Broadband Internet connection and Windows Mobile 2003
Download Free (basic) and Fee-based (premium)
www.msnvideodownloads.com/
Spb Weather
This is a very customizable weather forecast Today screen plug-in that works stand-alone, or with Spb Pocket Plus. You can customize weather views, skins and even the weather forecast data source. Spb Pocket Plus users can save space on their Today screen by running Spb Weather as a tab.
Price: $14.95
www.spbsoftwarehouse.com
Use With: Pocket PC 2002, and Windows Mobile 2003
View Commander - IP Camera Viewer
View IP Cameras directly on your Pocket PC with this software! This is much better than a Web Cam viewer, which only produces a still image every few seconds! This software lets you view "live" video from your device. You can also configure it for multiple cameras and control the Pan Tilt & Zoom (PTZ) with the on-screen controls. A still shot of the video image can be saved directly to your device as a photo for later viewing.
Price: Price: $49.95
www.ivimg.com
Use With: Pocket PC 2002, and Windows Mobile 2003
Purchase this software for $29.95 this week only: special price for Pocket PC magazine Hot Downloaders; use the code: "ppcm1".
Bluetooth Stereo Headphones for iPAQs
Cut the cord with these terrific-sounding Bluetooth headphones! They are lightweight, and contain all the controls on the right headphone for volume, next/previous song, and on/off. They require Broadcom’s new High-Quality Stereo Bluetooth profile, which is available on the CD that comes with the headphones. Add this profile, which only works on select iPAQ models, in order to connect and play. The carrying bag and AC adapter (with many foreign outlet plugs) is included. Each headphone charge provides up to 8 hours of listening.
Price: $99.99
http://www.hp.com
Patch to make work with Dell, HP, Look devices. This patch also has BT keyboard driver in addition to High-Quality BT stereo profile.
http://mobile.pdagold.com/forums/view_topic.asp?t=5012
Diane Dumas
New Products Editor,
Pocket PC magazine
Microsoft MVP-Digital Media