Songbird 1.0 media player released - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Bobblehead · 12-02-2008, 03:26 PM

It is Mozilla corporation's kick at an open source music player.

http://getsongbird.com/

Quote:

Today the official Songbird 1.0 is shipping, and it even supports DRM-protected iTunes Store files, so we took another look at the feature roadmap and how the final version shaped up.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post...tunes-wmp.html

So it will allow different themes and add-ons, just like Firefox, but takes its initial layout cues from iTunes.

Quote:

Songbird ships with six add-ons that a brief setup wizard helps users to get started with: iPod Device Support, QuickTime Playback, SHOUTcast Radio, Concerts, Last.fm, mashTape. This means that, out of the box, Songbird can synchronize with Apple's iPod (including the latest generation released in September) as well as a multitude of other devices and cell phones. Sorry, iPhone, iPod touch, and Zune owners: support for your devices is still on the way.

Other notable add-ons include Concerts, which uses Songkick to check for when library artists are giving concerns in major cities across a handful of countries. The Last.fm add-on allows users to "scrobble" a list of songs to the Last.fm community for music discovery and socializing, and mashTape collects artist bios, photos, and videos from around the web.

Sounds very interesting.

kermitology · 12-02-2008, 03:28 PM

I used to use it back in it's beta stages. Lack of last.fm support didn't help it. Now I'd use it again once they get iPhone support.

Bobblehead · 12-02-2008, 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kermitology

I used to use it back in it's beta stages. Lack of last.fm support didn't help it. Now I'd use it again once they get iPhone support.

Yeah, I heard about it in the early 0.1 stages, and couldn't really figure out where they were going with teh browser in a media player aspect.

But with the rich media content available now, and if they are pulling in concert listings, lyrics, and so on, then it becomes much more intriguing.

HotHotHeat · 12-02-2008, 04:28 PM

Would Apple ever allow them to get iPod/iPhone support?

FanIn80 · 12-02-2008, 09:52 PM

I don't get it. It looks exactly like iTunes.

What's the attraction to this?

Edit: That's an honest question btw. Not intending to be flippant or whatever.

kermitology · 12-02-2008, 10:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HotHotHeat

Would Apple ever allow them to get iPod/iPhone support?

That's why Apple is evil. Why the eff can't you let some other program (that's free) be used to manage an Apple device?

FanIn80 · 12-02-2008, 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kermitology

That's why Apple is evil. Why the eff can't you let some other program (that's free) be used to manage an Apple device?

I have a Logitech Harmony remote. I have to use Logitech's Harmony software to configure it.

I have an HP printer. I have to use HP's printer drivers to print with it.

I have a Microsoft Zune player. I have to use Microsoft's Zune software to manage it.

I have an iPod and an iPhone. I have to use Apple's iTunes software to manage them.

Back on topic... I've downloaded the Mac version of Songbird. I'll check it out on my MBP tomorrow. I'm interested to see what this is all about.

Edit: I don't actually have a Zune player, but I know you have to use the Zune software with it. Whether or not you can bypass it with just some kind of Zune plugin for Windows Media Player or not, I don't know. I do know you can't use a 3rd party solution, though.

kermitology · 12-02-2008, 10:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FanIn80

I have a Logitech Harmony remote. I have to use Logitech's Harmony software to configure it.

I have an HP printer. I have to use HP's printer drivers to print with it.

I have a Microsoft Zune player. I have to use Microsoft's Zune software to manage it.

I have an iPod and an iPhone. I have to use Apple's iTunes software to manage them.

Back on topic... I've downloaded the Mac version of Songbird. I'll check it out on my MBP tomorrow. I'm interested to see what this is all about.

Edit: I don't actually have a Zune player, but I know you have to use the Zune software with it. Whether or not you can bypass it with just some kind of Zune plugin for Windows Media Player or not, I don't know. I do know you can't use a 3rd party solution, though.

Logitech provides all the codes for your devices used in the harmony, besides it's not a HUGELY common item.

HP drivers? Duh.. That's not really at issue.

Who uses a Zune? But sounds like Microsoft doesn't have an issue with third party software used with the Zune, but no one has developed anything.

http://www.getsharepod.com/

Apple actively tries to block third party software for managing the iPod/iPhone. I realize you're an Apple guy, but they're still evil.

Bobblehead · 12-02-2008, 11:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FanIn80

I don't get it. It looks exactly like iTunes.

What's the attraction to this?

Edit: That's an honest question btw. Not intending to be flippant or whatever.

It looks like iTunes by default, but because it uses the same XUL language as Firefox, anyone can develop skins and make it look any way they want.

That's kind of the idea - provide the base functionality, then let the world decide how best to add features and looks to it.

It is different than my default, but I'll give it a try and see what add-on come along.

kermitology · 12-02-2008, 11:08 PM

If it can do everything that iTunes does and be light-weight it'll be awesome. Just get that support of iPhone/Touch

Bobblehead · 12-02-2008, 11:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kermitology

If it can do everything that iTunes does and be light-weight it'll be awesome. Just get that support of iPhone/Touch

As soon as you throw in add-on I'm sure it won't be as light weight as it could be, but as long as it doesn't eat memory like early Phoenix did, it should work.

I've got a few Foobar skins that kick ass, but they are complicated as hell to get set up. If this can do something as nice and be much easier to tweak then I'll use it. The potential add-ons will be gravy.

kermitology · 12-02-2008, 11:29 PM

Oh.. also simplify media would be awesome too

Iceman90 · 12-03-2008, 12:47 AM

Thanks for posting this. I used Songbird back in the early days, and contributed a few bug fixes, and then forgot about it. I want to try it out for sure. I am still trying to find a Media Player I like. Winamp is good, but doesn't have the library management functions I'd like.

photon · 12-03-2008, 06:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FanIn80

I don't get it. It looks exactly like iTunes.

What's the attraction to this?

Edit: That's an honest question btw. Not intending to be flippant or whatever.

One of the biggest reasons is this:

Quote:

Originally Posted by kermitology

If it can do everything that iTunes does and be light-weight it'll be awesome. Just get that support of iPhone/Touch

iTunes is a piece of crap software on Windows, slow, heavy, eats resources. If this can be something much better and use less resources, that'll be great!

Songbird already supports iPods, hopefully soon it'll support the touch and iPhone as well.

As to using proprietary software for a piece of hardware... I don't think companies should be compelled to make their hardware open or go out of their way to make it easy for 3rd party developers. But if 3rd party developers want to take on the task, I also don't think the company should go out of their way to make it difficult for them, or worse use DMCA type laws to restrict them.

If I purchase the hardware, it's mine. If I want to use it as a doorstop, it's mine to choose. If I want to write some software to make it do flips, it's mine to choose. If companies constantly do things to stop me from doing that, I don't own my hardware, they do.

Perfect example is if someone runs a different OS than Windows or OS X. A Linux developer should be allowed to make a Linux program that lets them program their Harmony, or lets them put music on their iPod.

Some companies embrace community driven software like that. Apple doesn't because they're no different than Microsoft in terms locking you in any way they possibly can. At Apple its about the user experience as long as that doesn't conflict with their ability to retain ownership of whatever you buy from them.

FanIn80 · 12-03-2008, 07:27 AM

Ahhh... Yes, I agree iTunes is a bloated pig on Windows machines. I use Winamp at the office, with iPod support and a plugin that allows me to play Apple encoded files.

This is pretty cool, though. If it can bring to the table what iTunes does and do it in a way that doesn't make my Windows machine at the office want to explode, then that would be awesome for sure.

I'll check this out at work when I get in.

GreenTeaFrapp · 12-03-2008, 07:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kermitology

Who uses a Zune? But sounds like Microsoft doesn't have an issue with third party software used with the Zune, but no one has developed anything.

I use a Zune, which is a vastly superior device to the iPod. The only thing is that the software for it is inferior to even iTunes and I'd like an alternative to it.