Rhapsody!
 

Reality finally caught up with PR (lol) and Rhapsody is now shown prominently on the Tableteer page.

Installation directly from Tableteer was flawless (I am still running 51-6 OS) using .install. Once launched, the app asked if I wanted to try the 30 trial or use an existing account-- I have no current account and naturally chose the former to see if I even like the service.

The interface is simple and effective. In seconds I was searching for and streaming songs. Streaming was smooth and hiccup-free unless I was using the Search feature while playing songs, and even those interruptions were brief. Sound is very clear, and the volume is adequate for my needs (I prefer not using headphones if I can).

I found tons of my favorites from artists like Poco, .38 Special and Dan Fogelberg. However, the pickings from Bob Seger were disappointedly lean, and there was nothing (!!!) at all in the Eagles folders. So content appears to be a mixed bag. Hopefully, Nokia's own music acquisitions will rectify this in the future-- perhaps cross-licensing with RealNetworks can be arranged.

Playback tools are hidden at first, and presented the only puzzle to me vis-a-vis the interface. However, an experimental click on the vertical "Now Playing" bar (ha! button) slid the screen over to reveal the usual player controls-- including a voting feature and song details similar to that found on iTunes (which I currently use on the PC).

I have to admit I'm excited by this advent, something I know a lot of others here were waiting for. The main drawback for many N800 owners is that this is US only-- however, I'm sure that other regions will eventually be represented.

One poster mentioned (in News forum here) the fact that cost was not mentioned in the PR. This is true, but I went into this assuming, based on ad hoc info and experience with iTunes, that there would be fees involved with a full account. I intend to look into this of course to see if it's worth it to me to continue this service after the 30-day trial expires.

All in all: nice work, Nokia and Real! 9 stars out of 10. :)

Re: Rhapsody!
 

I Dled and installed this a little while ago, the music catalogue is pretty full, the commercial stars are well represented. The interface is great (media streamer) and it works quite intuitively. The quality sounds good through headphones. I have always wanted to try one of these subscription based services so I will give this a 30 day trial and see if I really want to get into it. I have a feeling between this and getting CD's from friends my music bases will be covered. These are the kind of services that really make the N800 great, I hope they can get A2DP support going on this device.

I just updated to the new firmware, downloaded gmail notifier, minimo and Rhapsody this morning, with the combination of Canola and the improved video player I think the N800 has finally found a permanent place in my gadget bag. Now for a stable abiword doc viewer and I can leave my laptop at home 90% of the time.

Good Job Nokia!

Re: Rhapsody!
 

Dealing with Realnetworks gives me reservations. They are pretty much a copycat company with a product (Real Player) that is little more than bloatware, and have been whining about iTunes and that Apple should open up the iPod to their Rhapsody service. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Re: Rhapsody!
 

I'm still surprised by the dearth of Eagles songs. Mystifying.

Anyway, I see the 2 plans are $10 per month and $15 per month (USD). The $15 plan just adds the ability to transfer music between devices (PC to N800, eg). Since I just signed up for Verizon's fiber optic phone/internet/movie service (FiOS) and will save about $20 per month, I can justify the $15. :D

Re: Rhapsody!
 

If you have a Mac, purchase a copy of Audio Hijack Pro, download iTunes, and copy all the musical content you want via stream capture from Audio Hijack Pro. Personally, I rather purchase and own than rent.

By the way, is there a way to add non-Rhapsody streams to the media streamer via adding links?

Re: Rhapsody!
 

Exept from the demand to become US citizen ;-) This app worked perfekt ..and the IP-packets passed customs

30 days Killer App !

Re: Rhapsody!
 

Just trying the 30 day trial and I have to say it works really well - with a 3G unlimited mobile/cell phone tariff this could be a killer application.

Just a shame I won't be able to sign up to this when I get my unlimited data plan in a month or two, as I'm in the UK! :(

$10/month is quite reasonable, but if Real launch this in the UK I bet it will be more like £10/month (which is ~$20 at the current exchange rate).

Re: Rhapsody!
 

Happiness is being an American with a U.S. bank, living in Europe, working for the US Embassy (low cost postal and no taxes). :) With all this being said, I would be careful of Real(anything).

Re: Rhapsody!
 

First Rhapsody enhancement request! It would be really nice if the application could start buffering the next track *before* the end of the current track in order to avoid the several seconds delay which currently exists between tracks. Maybe in v1.2, eh Nokia? Please? :)

Re: Rhapsody!
 

Second request: the controls need to be more finger-friendly. IMO, I shouldn't be required to use the stylus for this sort of application.

Re: Rhapsody!
 

Ah, cool. I see how this works now.

Re: Rhapsody!
 

It really should be a Canola backend. The Nokia Media Streamer UI sucks compared to it...

Re: Rhapsody!
 

Oh I dunno, at least with the Media Streamer UI you can compose playlists which is not currently possible in Canola. I prefer the Media Streamer UI for Rhapsody, but it isn't so finger friendly.

I wonder if Nokia are attempting the Guinness world record for "The highest number of different and incompatible GUI front ends for the same function on a single device"?

Currently we have Media Streamer/Rhapsody, Canola, Media Player, FM Radio and Park WiFi all performing pretty much the same media access duties. Wouldn't a single unified GUI be preferable to all these overlapping projects?

Re: Rhapsody!
 

This is pretty cool. I used to subscribed to rhapsody for a couple months ,because the streaming worked in linux, and I found it pretty good.

Re: Rhapsody!
 

It says US only anyone get around that?

Re: Rhapsody!
 

The only way is to currently have a credit card issued by a US bank or credit institute. It was like when iTunes first rolled out. Only the States-side customers had a chance to purchase but things got better a few months down the road. Or you can find an American friend with a credit card. The good and the bad is, I had the credit card, and can order the service but I do not care for anything Real.

Good luck.

Re: Rhapsody!
 

I was referring to Rhapsody's UI; I haven't looked to see if the two are similar as was remarked.

Personally if they are I think "sucks" is a harsh assessment, but that's just me.

EDIT: and I agree with Milhouse. Unification! Unification!

Re: Rhapsody!
 

For what it's worth, I downloaded it and it seemed to work OK, but when I queue up a half dozen or so specific songs [based on search results], it hangs and/or re-boots after only a few songs. This has happened four times so far. I have yet to get it to play more than three or four songs. No pauses before the hang/reboot, and my internet and wifi connections are quite solid throughout. Of course, this could be a 'lmitation' of the trial offer, but it sure won't convince me to lay down any cash!

Anyone experience anything similar?

Re: Rhapsody!
 

No not at all, I have been playing with the rhapsody player all day long, creating playlists with searches and entire albums. I must say that this is the first app outside of Canola and the browser that I can say is a true killer app. I personally define that with the added caveat that I must feel like I am getting a great experience and not "compromising" by using it.

I agree with the calls for standardisation but lets be real here, how many win/linux/mac apps really have true UI compatibility unless they are by the same software company. This player is similar to the Media streamer app and it obviously has similar UI code base.

Re: Rhapsody!
 

I spent a few hours with Rhapsody, playing vintage Suicide and Verdi and Wagner and John Fahey. Quite a few clashes in musical style, but no crashes, or even hiccups.

Re: Rhapsody!
 

All the apps I mentioned - Media Player, Media Streamer/Rhapsody, Canola, FM Radio, Park WiFi - ARE developed by the same software company - Nokia - and there is zero consistency! :)

Re: Rhapsody!
 

Can locally stored media be added to the Rhapsody library?

Re: Rhapsody!
 

Duly noted for all but Canola which I believe was developed by a Brazilian software house.:D

Re: Rhapsody!
 

Canola is developed by INdT - Instituto Nokia de Tecnologia, aka Nokia Institute of Technology - in Brazil. :)

Re: Rhapsody!
 

lol :) I should do my research before posting truth be told I'm just happy to find applications I can use on a daily basis.

Re: Rhapsody!
 

So far my experience with Rhapsody on the N800 is excellent. I've been a subscriber for about 3 yrs now and enjoy their service. It's much better to have access to just about all music on a subscribtion..at first I thought it's better to "own" the music, but no longer..doesn't matter when anything you want to listen to is available for the most part.

Re: Rhapsody!
 

Just tested over Cingular GPRS-- bleah. Major dropouts. Player unresponsive. I'm not terribly surprised, though.

Re: Rhapsody!
 

Just found out about Park WiFi -- I recalled articles on Nokia's roll-out of free wi-fi in some parks, but did not know they have a client application for it. Alas, it does not install out-of-the-box on N800 -- does anyone know where to get the libxau0 that it needs? I don't necessarily want to add a full 770 repository.

Re: Rhapsody!
 

Try searching the forum for libxau0 - you aren't the first to be caught by that annoying dependency. :)

Re: Rhapsody!
 

No kidding. Make it part of the OS install! Sheesh.

Re: Rhapsody!
 

Last night I tested Rhapsody over T-Mobile (USA) EDGE. First I have to thank Nokia for the bluetooth fixes: I can get a stable modem connection to my MDA now. Rhapsody worked great; a couple of buffering stutters...nothing major.

Re: Rhapsody!
 

The N800 is not listed as supported?? >> http://parkwifi.nokia.com/1,21,,,204.html

???

If it is, you wold think Nokia would at least update the web page during the past 3 months. :rolleyes:

Re: Rhapsody!
 

That's funny. There was supposed to have been a big hoo-ha in New York celebrating WiFi in the park, involving N800s. I wonder it it actually went off as planned...

Re: Rhapsody!
 

See I told you.

http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=14601

Rhapsody is hardly competition for iTunes.

Re: Rhapsody!
 

Yeah; just had to enable Red Pill mode and install libxau0 by hand. That's the bizarre thing, though -- once I'm in Red Pill mode, trying to install parkcast by clicking on the link still fails, unless I install libxau0 by hand.

It's kind of annoying -- I like knowing that when I uninstall something, the dependency goes away as well.