Windows Media Player 10 / Ozone Update AKU2 for Smartphone

[Guest Paul [MVP]]

Following on from the advertisment of the new Audiovox Smartphone (as seen in this thread), it has also become apparent (again from Audiovox) that Windows Media Player 10 is coming to Smartphone, together with 'Ozone Update AKU2', a mid term OS update for the platform.

Stay tuned for more information as we get it...

P

[Guest shadamehr]

It's due out on the 5th November, it comes with a Route Planning Application like mini AutoRoute built in, and it's pre-programmed to direct everyone to 52 Degrees North on the 6th.

Additionally, it runs Symbian apps better than Symbian devices, makes tea and coffee for you in the morning, and BEST OF ALL, the Camera app has been totally re-designed and improved, with special smart filters built in, so that when you take a photo of your girlfriend, it automatically enhances the picture so that when you Capture the shot, it saves a picture of Liv Tyler instead.

;-)

Sorry for the windup everyone - I'm just soooo excited.

Is it just me, or letting this sink in properly, doesn't this amount to MAJOR news folks?

Paul, you do imply this is likely to be an update for ALL current devices in time, don't you...?

[Guest Paul [MVP]]

It could be an update to any WM2003SE based device I guess, but that, as ever, is up to the carriers ^_^

P

[Guest rvacha]

I wonder if by chance there is more to the AKU2 update than WMP10? Like maybe a GAPI fix? If so, perhaps this is the update O has been stalling for?

[Guest Paul [MVP]]

No, the GAPI fix is independent of AKU2, and will be released before AKU2.

AKU2 probably will contain more than just a WMP update... it'll likely have other MS fixes.

P

[Guest rvacha]

A busy day on the gadget front! Check out this new MS initiative called Playsforsure which features the SMT5600

http://www.playsforsure.com/ItemDetail.aspx?id=23

[Guest Toyota-F1.com]

So I can install this thing on my Orange SPV E200? And it updates something on it?

[Guest Confucious]

OK Me ignorant. What is AKU2? and why should I be excited?

[Guest nickcornaglia]

I was just duped into going to the AT&T store today being told by a rep that they had 2 in stock.

It turned out to be a dummy and the demo.

Anyway....the Microsoft rep was there and let me play with her phone for a bit. I took some pics with my e200 but they all came out blurry.

I can tell you that WMP can now fast forward and reverse thru songs. The phone is great! It's tiny as can be...in a good way. (I never held a C500 yet). The screen is brilliant. There are no proprietary apps on the phone beyond what is offered on the C500 as far as I could tell in 1 minute....No new plugins either as far as I know.

That's it for my quick review ^_^

IMAGE_00097.jpg

IMAGE_00092.jpg

[Guest shadamehr]

encece, if you get the chance to go back, see if you can take some pics of a Windows Media Player 10 screenshot, because as much as you ain't seen a C500 yet (and they are NICE, your correct), most of the rest of us have - its the new WMP 10 bit that intrigues us *lol*

Thanks for sharing with us by the way too!

[Guest midnight]

as you can see, supports album art aswell ^_^

[Guest nickcornaglia]

I had tried to take screenshots of the about screen, WMP etc, but they were all too blurry to even make anything out.

EDIT: Midnight has it.

[Guest AvWijk]

Is there a Graphical equaliser option?

[Guest shadamehr]

as you can see, supports album art aswell ^_^

Is it just me Midnight, or is that ALSO a totally different default Font it now uses for the menu buttons...?

It sure looks like it.

Do you know if that's a global thing used right across the system now..?

Looks kind of clearer to me, at least the screen grab does anyhow...

[Guest Brody]

Just looks like cleartype if you ask me! That's been around since the e200 :)Just looks like cleartype if you ask me! That's been around since the e200 ^_^

[Guest shadamehr]

C'mon brody, you should know better...

That's a totally different font face...

Well it looks it to me anyhow so Humph!

[Guest Brody]

There are minor differences i'll agree but i'd guess that Nina has just had a slight facelift ^_^

wmpComparison.gif

[Guest pierre]

Wow, I'll never be bored of SPVs..!

[Guest shadamehr]

Brody - quality mate - thanks for the screenshots.

Yup, it's different alright, and me personally, I think the new look font is very clear and easy on the eye - a lot better.

A good comparison would be to look to the lower case letter 'n' in the "Windows Media" text of the titlebar. You can then see a clear increase in the gap between the two stalks of the letter 'n' between the new font (wider) and the old.

Cheers mate!

[Guest Brody]

Agreed, the e in Media seems more curvy too, the horizontal bar in the e isn't horizontal in the new verison, its curvy! ^_^

[Guest nickcornaglia]

In case there are any differences from the old version....formats supported on WMP10 on the smartphone are...

VIDEO

wmv

mp4

asf

3gp

.avi (H.263)

AUDIO

wma

mp3

mid midi rmi

amr

awb

m4a

[Guest midnight]

err, regarding the font thing, that may be because the screenshot was taken from an emulator version (most likely cos the battery symbol has an x on it)?or perhaps internal dev at MS (who knows, they may be experimenting with different fonts)? or perhaps its only a mockup? who knows, but the media player itself cannot change the text on the buttons as thats part of the main OS, which means, maybe they changed the font in AKU 2 (unlikely I would have thought)

[Guest Confucious]

OK Me ignorant. What is AKU2? and why should I be excited?

Still no-one has answered my questions so I'll guess:

Automatic Killer Update?

American Krusty Utopia?

All Kind of Umbrellas?

[Guest nickcornaglia]

Here is a screenshot from my phone using SmartSS+. It doesnt seem different on the phone though the screenshot does make it look bolder. If anything...maybe it's just a better implementation of Cleartype. I dont know how to get the album art to show up. Cant find anything in the settings.

Where it says playing under the title of the song flips thru:

Playing/Paused, Artist, Album, Genre, Kbps

ScreenShot001.JPG

[Guest shadamehr]

Hi encece.

If you again compare the gap between the stalks of the lowercase letter 'n' from old to new, you'll see a WORLD of difference.

That's a MUCH clearer font...