When I look at audio player software, I have a number of criteria: 
First it has to have a reasonably complete feature set and support a
number of different audio formats.  Second, even with the complete
feature set, those features better not get in the way of using the program. 
I want an easy-to-use Graphic User Interface.  Third, because I’ll
be playing music in the background while accomplishing other tasks,
I want the software to be rock-solid, resource lean, and easy to get
to when I want to change what I’m listening to or how I’m listening
to it.  PocketMusic scores pretty high with that criteria list. 
I’ll give you the details below:

WHAT’S
HOT

    First off, PocketMusic supports MP1, 2,
and 3, M3U, OGG, ASF and ASx, PLS, WSZ, WAL, and WMA files.  It’s
pretty hard to find an audio file that’s not available in one of those
three formats.  Second, PocketMusic has a very nice Today Screen
plug-in that allows you to control PocketMusic while it’s playing in
the background.  You don’t have to get to the full program to do
the basic operations.  Also, PocketMusic uses WinAMP 2.x "skins." 
WinAMP is a very popular audio player for desktop systems.  By
using WinAMP skins, PocketMusic users have access to
9500 skins are through the Internet.  Finally, it has a very useful
Alarm feature that allows you to wake up to your favorite music.

SETUP

    PocketMusic uses the standard install-via-ActiveSync
that the majority of Pocket PC programs use.  It will install into
main memory or onto a storage card or ROM file store with no degradation
of performance.  The Today Screen plug-in is initially turned off. 
That’s a good thing.  I like it when programs wait for my permission
to fire up all their nifty add-ons. 

To
activate the Today Screen plug-in, just navigate to the Today settings

 …check
the PocketMusic option and tap (OK).  You’ll see the following
applet on your Today Screen.

 Tapping
on the white bar at the top of the applet brings the full program to
the front.

 Tappling
the yellow menu button at the top left of the program screen drops the
main menu.

We’ll
look at the skin selection, key mapping, and player options here. 
The rest of the options, we’ll see under "Features."

   
The Select Skin option lets you select from a variety of backgrounds
that display the functionality of PocketMusic.  As mentioned earlier,
there are over 9500 skins available for PocketMusic due to it’s compatibility
with WinAMP skins.  The skin is just an aesthetic presentation
of the features.  The features themselves don’t change from skin-to-skin. 
However, the skin feature allows you to get the look you want for your
PocketMusic player.

   
The Hardware Key Mappings option ties specific operations of PocketMusic
to the hardware buttons and directionals.  You also have the option
to tie a mapping to a button while PocketMusic is in the background,
allowing you to manipulate the player without putting away the current
application.  There’s also an "Unmap" button to clear
all key mappings.

   
The Player Options lets you manipulate a wide variety of options that
affect how the player works.  We’ll take them one tab at a time:

General
tab:

• Language:
  Selects the display language for the player.  Possible languages
  usually include German, English, Spanish, French, and Italian.
• Disable
  device sleep while playing: Prevents the Pocket PC from going to standby
  mode while you’re listening to music.
• Enable
  File caching and cache size: Sets the amount, if any, of main memory
  used to load audio information from the music files to improve performance.
• Decoder
  thread priority: Sets how much system time is devoted to decoding
  music as it’s played.  Setting high priority improves music performance
  but will slow down other applications.  Setting low priority
  means better performance in other applications but may cause music
  to skip or stall.

Playlist
tab:

• Enqueue
  files from command line: takes some explaining in that we never really
  see the command line on a Pocket PC.  However, if you click on
  a file or set of files that’s associated with PocketMusic, you actually
  create a command line that calls up the program and lists each of
  those files.  With this option enabled, PocketMusic will start
  with those files in the playlist.
• The
  next three options are exclusive.  If tags are enabled, PocketMusic
  will display the Author’s name and track names as they play. 
  Otherwise it will show the filename or filename and folder name instead. 
  Show numbers will also display item numbers that show the order that
  the items appear in the playlist.
• Repeat
  Mode: determines which item(s) on the playlist will repeat as play
  continues.
• Move
  selected items… allows you to change the order of items in the playlist
  by using the directional keys.

Effects
tab:

• Use
  fast MP3 EQ: allows you to use a faster, dynamic equalizer. 
  This affects how much processing power is used during play, and so,
  has an effect on performance of other programs running in background.
• Extra
  bass: enhances the bass portion of the sound spectrum.  This
  is particularly good for small headphone use.

Power
tab:

• Automatically
  turn off display: will shut off the display after the specified time
  from 5 seconds to 3 minutes.
• Automatically
  lock hardware buttons: will prevent the hardware buttons from waking
  up the Pocket PC after the same time limit.
• Don’t
  lock display toggle button: will allow you to lock the other buttons,
  but leave whichever button is assigned to toggle the display off and
  on enabled.

   
One thing I found out while testing the program is highlighted by the
note at the bottom of this display.  When PocketMusic is the active
program and you’ve got the automatic lock set, the power button acts
as a pause.  This means that pressing the power button will pause
the player, but not shut the Pocket PC off.  This can be quite
disconcerting if you aren’t aware that PocketMusic does this.

Timers
tab:

• Sleep
  timer: automatically shuts off the device if you don’t use if before
  a specified time from 5 minutes to 2 hours.  This is useful if
  you like to fall asleep listening to music.
• Alarm
  clock: is the other side of that equation.  You can wake up to
  your favorite music at a specified time.  Since you can use a
  playlist, you can even have music that ramps up in an effort to get
  you out of bed.

Load
tab:

• Sort
  files on load: will either sort files in the playlist by name or by
  track number (if track tags are available).
• Continue
  from last position: will allow you to start right where you left off
  the last time you stopped PocketMusic.  This is one of the features
  that’s useful for listening to audio books and lectures.
• Load
  local content: loads audio files in main memory when PocketMusic is
  started.
• Load
  folder contents: loads audio files from a specific folder, which can
  be on a storage card.  The Browse button allows you to locate
  the folder in the Pocket PC’s file system.

File
Types tab:

   
The File Types tab sets which types of files you want to associate with
PocketMusic.  This affects both which files you can click on in
File Explorer which will automatically call up PocketMusic to run them
as well as which files show up in the add to playlist and other directory
functions.

PROGRAM
FEATURES

Display
modifiers:

   
There are a number of options for changing how PocketMusic displays
it’s controls (shown above on the main menu).  Toggle FullScreen
changes whether the Task Bar is displayed at the top of PocketMusic’s
GUI the two images below show the difference:

   
Minimize works the same as the close button.  Remember that close
on a Pocket PC really means send this program to run in background so
minimize is actually better named.  PocketMusic will continue to
play in minimized mode according to the settings we discussed earlier.

   
Landscape Mode (above) is most useful for operating PocketMusic quickly
with your fingers.  The display is turned on it’s side and the
most important functions are included, in nice, large, easily selected
buttons.  Tapping the Mode button will get you back the the more
robust, smaller display.

   
Show Equalizer and Show Playlist control whether the two bottom parts
(shown above) of the PocketMusic GUI are displayed.  You’ll also
note that the equalizer and playlist have a minimize and go-away button
on them as well.  The go-away button removes the display just like
un-checking Show Equalizer and Show Playlist options in the main menu.

   
The minimize buttons on the equalizer and playlist reduce these two
components to the mini-displays above.  The mini-equalizer has
controls for volume and right/left balance.  The mini-playlist
simply shows which item is playing.  The minimize buttons are replaced
by restore buttons that will restore the full-sized equalizer and playlist.

The
Equalizer:

   
The Equalizer operates just like a graphic equalizer component on your
audio-visual system.  There’s a master setting that allows you
to vary volume -20db to +20db.  There are spectrum adjustments
for 60, 170, 310, 610, 1K, 3K, 6K, 12K, 14K, and 16K Hz.  The [ON]
button enables and disables the equalizer.

   
The [PRESET] button allows you to manually choose a preset equalizer
setting.  The built-in list is shown above, but you can also save
your own presets.  The [AUTO] button will select a preset based
on the music type (genre) tag.

The
Playlist Selector:

    
The Playlist selector shows the current playlist and allows you to manipulate
it.  The [+] button allows you to add an item to the playlist. 
It brings up a set of buttons which allow you to add the item from a
specific directory on your Pocket PC or a specific file.  The URL
button, which would allow you to add an item from a network resource
or from the Internet, will be functional in a future version of PocketMusic.

   
The + DIR function (above) allows you to select any set of directories
(folders) on your Pocket PC for PocketMusic to load audio items from. 
You also have the option to list just those folders that contain audio
media files.  All music media files in the selected directories
will be added to the current playlist.

   
The + FILE function lets you select specific files (either music or
playlists) from any folder on your Pocket PC.  Both the + DIR and
+ FILE functions allow you full access to the file system of your Pocket
PC (not just to the My Documents folders).

   
The – button allows you to remove certain items from your playlist. 
It also pops up a set of buttons: The – MESC button will allow you to
remove either any files that no longer exist (if you removed a storage
card with some music files on it) or the currently selected file(s). 
The – ALL button clears the entire playlist.  The – CROP button
removes any files not currently selected in the playlist.

   
The SEL button pops up a set of buttons that allow you to select ALL
the items in the playlist, ZERO (none of the items), or to INVert the
current selection.

   
The MESC button pops up buttons that allow you to SORT the playlist
by title, filename, path, or tracknumber as well as randomize or reverse
the list; to get INFormation on the currently selected item; or to list
OPTions for the currently select item.

   
Finally, the LIST button allows you to create a NEW playlist, to SAVE
the current list, or to LOAD a previously saved playlist.

The Playlist Organizer:

   
One of the most powerful features of PocketMusic is its Playlist Organizer. 
Many other programs stop with the playlist controls you see on the main
screen.  PocketMusic, however, adds a number of powerful features
for organizing your playlists.  The PlayList Organizer is divided
into three tabs which we’ll explore below:

The
Playlist Catalog:

   
The Playlist Catalog lists any currently available playlists and allows
you to select which one(s) you’d like to add to the current playlist. 
The buttons on the control bar are: Rescan Media Info, which refreshes
the display with all currently available lists; Rename, which allows
you to change the name of the currently selected playlist; Delete Selected
Files, which allows you to remove the selected playlists from your PocketPC;
Check, which allows you to select all, none, or invert the selection
of playlists; and Add selected items, which adds the selected list(s)
items to the current playlist.

The
Media Catalog:

   
The Media Catalog shows you the content of the playlists you’ve selected
in the Playlist Catalog.  You can select particular types (styles)
of music, particular albums, or particular tracks from any album to
add to the current playlist.  The buttons on the control bar are
as follows: Rescan Media Info refreshes the display.  The Grouper
allows you to group items in a wide variety of ways.  Those include:

• Album
  Title
• Artist
  Name
• Directory/Filename
• Artist/Album
  or Album/Artist
• Genre/Artist/Album
  or Genre/Album/Artist

 
Edit Media Description

   
Check, like the one on the Playlist Catalog, allows you to select all,
none, or to invert the current selection of items.  Finally, Add
Checked items will add the selected items to the current playlist.

Current
Playlist:

   
The Current Playlist tab shows the items that are on the current playlist. 
The buttons on the control bar allow you to Play the checked items from
the current playlist in PocketMusic; Enqueue the current items which
adds them at the end of those items you are currently playing; Save
the playlist, Delete items from the playlist, Move items up or down
within the playlist, Check all, none, or invert the checkmarks; or Select
all, none, or invert the current selection.

Bookmarks:

   
Bookmarks are another powerful feature of PocketMusic, especially if
you use it to listen to audio books or lectures or if you use audio
files for dictation.  A bookmark marks the current location in
the current audio file and lets you return immediately to it. 
The bookmark menu (above) allows you to mark the current position or
to replace an existing bookmark with the current position, to quickly
go to existing bookmarks, and to open the Bookmark Organizer.

   
The Bookmark organizer allows you to play, edit, and delete bookmarks. 
The editing features allow you to change the path to the bookmarked
file, add or edit a description of the bookmark, and set the track and
time marks for the bookmark.  The buttons on the control bar open
the Edit window, Play the selected bookmark, Enqueue the selected audio
file, and Delete the selected bookmark.

HELP
SUPPORT

    PocketMusic doesn’t appear to have any built-in
help at all.  There also aren’t tutorials on the Pocketmind web
site.  There are extensive screen shots and feature lists on the
web site.  Pocketmind also has an e-mail address specifically for
product support for users that find themselves lost.  It’s a very
easy to use program, but even the easiest program should have help.

OPTIONS

    The Pocket PC program comes with a "Feature
Pack" but isn’t any way to only partially install some of
the feature pack, including the Today Screen applet.  Since the
program isn’t particularly a memory hog, that isn’t a real disadvantage. 
As noted elsewhere, you can add a wealth of additional skins to enhance
the look of PocketMusic or even design you own with any of a number
of WinAMP compatible skin designers.

SYSTEM
REQUIREMENTS

    PocketMusic runs on Pocket PCs running Pocket
PC 2002 or Windows Mobile 2003.  There is also a separate version
for Microsoft SmartPhones.  The Pocket PC program takes up just
under 2MB of storage, with more for additional skins.  The main
program takes 2.1MB of program memory and the Today Screen applet takes
just 10Kb of program memory to run.

BUGS
AND WISHES

    At first I thought I’d discovered a rather
serious bug:  When I first started using the program, my Toshiba
e800 wouldn’t shut off!  It turns out that I’d discovered the feature
where the power button works like a pause button when all the other
buttons are locked.  I think it would be helpful to make that situation
more clear to the casual user.  In all other respects, the program
ran as it should.

   
I was disappointed that PocketMusic wasn’t ready to work with network
and Internet sources yet.  The buttons and options to do this show
up on the menus and GUI though, so hopefully this functionality will
be available soon.

   
With it’s support for WinAMP skins, I thought it would be no trouble
at all using it in VGA mode on my Toshiba e800.  Unfortunately,
it won’t read skins that are larger than 320×240.  Hopefully, Pocketminds
will correct this before Microsoft brings out it’s VGA-capable operating
system later this year.  Once that’s done, PocketMusic will be
able to easily integrate any 640×480 WinAMP skin.

PURCHASING

    PocketMusic can be purchased
from the pocketnow store for $19.95.  There is also a trial
version available
at the same location.

PROS

• WinAMP
  compatible skins
• Landscape
  mode with bigger buttons
• Today
  screen plug-in
• Alarm
  mode and sleep timer
• Support
  for virtually every audio format
• Advanced
  playlist organizer
• 
  "Bookmarks" for audio books and lectures

CONS

• Power
  button as pause button can be confusing
• No
  built-in or on-line help
• Not
  ready for streaming audio (network or Internet) yet
• Not
  quite VGA-compatible

OVERALL
IMPRESSION

    PocketMusic is a powerful and complete audio
player with a number of features that make it useful for all types of
audio applications.  It has a large feature-set, but it’s kept
under control by a user-friendly interface.  PocketMusic puts the
user in control in other ways as well with features that allow you to
adjust how much system time it takes from other applications while playing
in background.  The features will allow you to use it to replace
an audio book reader, an MP3 player, and an alarm clock.  Considering
the possible applications, it’s well worth the $20 to purchase it. 
Considering the huge list of audio formats it supports, it may be the
only audio player you’ll ever need.