SBM (Squeezebox Mobile)?

[Daryle Tilroe]

I was just contemplating this today (and feel free to point me to any previous discussion on something similar). There might be a niche market for what I might call the Squeezebox Mobile.

I envision a stripped down player, similar functionally to the the original Slimp3 (perhaps not even with wireless if that means you cannot operate it off battery for a reasonable amount of time). Basically what I want is an MP3 only device that would be designed to allow me to put it in my pocket and then jack in anywhere in the world and access my tunes. I could use a headphone or plug it into a friends stereo and play DJ. Anywhere there is a network connection I could access my entire music collection.

Now this would probably be a niche device because it requires the smarts to setup a server and router and dynamic dns access to it but I would drop some money on this so I would not have to have a full blown PC and Softsqueeze to do the same (what I do now). Markets would include business travellers, kids going to parties and wanting to share tunes, people at work, etc.

Thoughts?

[bpa]

This is about the closest you'll get http://www.torian.com.au/. Stream MP3 to it using as Nokia 770 as the GUI or perhaps wait for somebody to port SoftSqueeze to the Nokia 770.

[JJZolx]

PhatBox:

http://www.phatnoise.com/products/di...yers/index.php

[radish]

I'm sure you could get close with a pocket pc (browser & media player), but my main thought is how often are you somewhere with a network connection but no computer? Assuming there's a browser handy, go to your slimserver and fire up softsqueeze.

[Grahame]

I can confirm the included audio player on the Nokia 770 can handle streaming MP3's from slimserver over its built in 802.11g WiFi.

(Slimserver transcodes from stored flacs to mp3 in my case - slimserver allows you to set the bitrate the mp3's are streamed at;
320Kps sounds very acceptable )

It's built in browser - together with the handheld skin make it a very nice (albeit expensive) remote control.

Issues for the real world, are secure remote access to your slimserver, and latency / bandwidth issues for access.

The open nature / features of the slimserver "platform" make things like this possible.

The 770 at the moment doesn't have a Java VM - so no softsqueeze,
although given the open/documented protocol, it may be possible to write a native squeeze client for the 770 using the maemo SDK.

The question is, what would it give you, over the capabilities of audio playback, controlled by a web interface via the 770's small form factor - but high-ish (800x480) resolution touch screen?

I ought to upload a screen capture util so you can see for yourself.

[Grahame]

See the screenshots ... here

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d8...reenshot01.png

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d8...reenshot03.png

Remember the actual screen is only about 4.1 inches diagonally on the actual device..

( you can zoom the web browser to increase font size, or edit the .css file )

Note to self: avoid "that won't take long" ideas, just before bedtime

[shifty1725]

Why wouldn't you just use a large capacity mp3/hard drive player?

When I rip my cd's I put a copy on my linkstation for my squeezebox and another on my mp3 player for when I am out and about. I can then plug my mp3 player into any stereo etc. and have access to my full music library. Some new players are now incorporating digital out sockets as well.

[Daryle Tilroe]

but my main thought is how often are you somewhere with a network connection but no computer? Assuming there's a browser handy, go to your slimserver and fire up softsqueeze.

Well it can be fairly often, particularly not your own computer. Even if you have a PC you are either lugging around your own laptop or futzing with java, setup, and preferences on someone else's mess of a PC. I would like a simple appliance device that you just plug in and listen. It could also make security a bit easier in terms of only having particular devices able to authenticate.

[Daryle Tilroe]

I can confirm the included audio player on the Nokia 770 can handle streaming MP3's from slimserver over its built in 802.11g WiFi....

That looks something like what I was thinking of. Promising, but I now need a new phone :-).

[Daryle Tilroe]

Why wouldn't you just use a large capacity mp3/hard drive player?

When I rip my cd's I put a copy on my linkstation for my squeezebox and another on my mp3 player for when I am out and about. I can then plug my mp3 player into any stereo etc. and have access to my full music library. Some new players are now incorporating digital out sockets as well.

This goes completely against the concept of a single repository to manage. You now have three copies of your media to synchronize and take up storage space: Master flac/wav, MP3 on PC, MP3 on player. Never mind that it that only the larger of current portable players would fit all 600 of my current albums. The idea is always to have all your music in your pocket to listen to or share (in the sense of playing for people). However one factor that cuts both ways is quality/bandwidth. If you have poor bandwidth the copy on your player would be better than a streaming one, OTOH if the streaming bandwith is good you can always bump up the quality dynamically.

I suppose one idea is a companion high capacity MP3 player that always syncronizing whenever it can. Although it is not very "slim" anymore it would also be the answer for those who want something for their car that syncs up in the garage. IIRC someone already has done this with a full fledged PC mounted in the car. However, I don't think I'd trust a car HDD player in my climate where it would be expected to spin up after cold soaking to 20 or 30 below. :-)