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Dear Google, your next updates need to focus on media...

MarvinAndroid

MarvinAndroid

Well-Known Member
I think the next area Google needs to focus on for the future of Android is definitely Media. In my eyes this includes a few things:

--Android needs an updated and more slickified (made it up) Media Player built into the system

The default media players for music and video are functional but very bare-bones and simple. Now that Android finally has a device (the Droid) which has the hardware to compete, or at least stand toe-to-toe with the I-Phone, we need media players which are a bit more robust, with a prettier interface and are easy to use.

--Android needs some kind of Media Market place.

Again.. the Droid is an excellent device with a gorgeous screen. I don't think I'm the only person who sees this screen and can't wait to see some amazing video playing on it. People coming from the I-Phone are used to a storefront where they can download Podcasts, TV shows, Movies and Music directly to their device. Now I'm a fairly technical person and I can rip a DVD or download a DivX and convert it to a resolution and bitrate which can be played on the Droid (or I can at least try). But your average user is not going to do this (and frankly they shouldn't have to). I feel Google or somebody is literally throwing away money on this right now because I'm pretty sure there are people out there who would buy this content for their phone. Now I've heard that Google is working on something like this.. but I'm not exactly sure what it entails. Hopefully it's good.

--And I hate to say it... but Google might need to create "Google-tunes" or some kind of software to transfer media.

Not everybody loves I-Tunes but it does serve it's purpose. It is kind of cool to have a single app which stores all your stuff and easily transfers it to your device. I'm not exactly sure how they might do it... and Google doesn't seem to be into the business of making desktop applications... but there is definitely a need for something like this. Maybe they could partner with somebody to do this for them?

I'm a huge Android fan and I've been using it for over a year now (G1 owner from day 1) and I've seen it grow quite a bit during that time. As I'm playing with my new Droid... this is the one area where it seems painfully obvious that Android is lacking (and which happens to be one of Apple's strong points). We have a 16Gb card in this thing (and the option for 32) give me a clean, easy way to get some kick ass content on this thing. If they can bring that part up to speed... there really is NO reason for people like me to even DESIRE or CONSIDER buying an I-phone. (Unless something world-changing happens in this area I'm personally never going to own anything other than an Android based phone.. but not everybody is as devoted as myself.)
 
Google should definitely update the built in media player , A new UI possibly and for videos.... The Ability to watch AVI's would be nice :)
 
Carl C said:
Google should definitely update the built in media player , A new UI possibly and for videos.... The Ability to watch AVI's would be nice :)
Click to expand...

AVI (Xvid/Divx) is my biggest gripe about Droid (and Android for that matter) that I have right now. I don't have my Droid yet, (I will get one Thursday), but the ability to play AVI is a pretty bid deal to me (not a deal breaker though)...I would love to see this incorporated natively, but for now I could live with someone writing a media player/codec for Android...
 
I don't think they need a full media app, but if they made a working version of doubleTwist that could sync playlists from iTunes, Windows Media Player and other playlist formats (.pls, .m3u) it would be pretty good.

The app could be really minimal, just a tray icon that lets you choose where your playlists are, which ones to sync and lets you initiate the sync (either automatically or manually).
 
I do agree that a Google-Store would be great for the average user. Myself, I am very comfortable with converting my own DVDs (and working on Blu-rays) and loading them myself. Personally, it makes no sense to buy a mobile version of a movie, unless maybe I was on a trip and it was maybe $5, or less, some form of rental service. If I want a movie, I will buy it on a format I can use at home, and then convert it to a mobile version for myself.

As for music, that would also depend on the service. If it was an iTunes style where music was filled with DRM and so crippled as to be, realistically, useless......no. Currently my Droid came with Amazon mp3 storefront already installed, I have always used Amazon since they came out and promised DRM free music and no strings or BS. I have bought several songs through my Droid already, and easily copied them to my main PC storage for safety.

Now, the true problem is no matter WHAT Google does, unless they make a white one, with an apple logo, it can never truly compete with the iPhone. There are some that have switched over from the iPhone, most already have a laundry list of little complaints. It's a mentality thing. I have a buddy with an iPhone, on the day of launch when I got mine, he had never looked at a Droid, know nothing at all about it, and he was already telling me how it was a waste of money and inferior to his iPhone.

It's a unique situation where the brand loyalty goes so deep it's almost firmware embedded in their customers. So Google doesn't really have to compete with the iPhone, it just has to make it's product better, and listen to it's own customers on what we want.
 
Any reason they couldn't just enable third-part codecs and AV container formats? Personally would love to have Matroska+x264.
 
It needs a media player where you can run the audio portion of a video in the background AND with the screen off.
Sometimes when watching something you want to check your email or look something up without shutting the video off (like during a commercial)- GLARING oversight in my opinion
 
Just convert the video. Any avi file you download needs to be converted anyway. Your Droid doesnt support past 480X320.
 
jeffyo said:
Just convert the video. Any avi file you download needs to be converted anyway. Your Droid doesnt support past 480X320.
Click to expand...

Huh? you mean convert the video into audio? I mean sure I could do that but it sort of defeats the purpose.
 
The Droid doesn't scale down video?? I just got mine and have not experimented with much content yet, but seems it should be able to play sizes larger than that.

Also, I agree that DivX/XviD support is the most needed feature for the phone. I'd prefer to avoid converting files, although since my company sells software for video conversion that would do the trick, maybe I should be dismissing it. :D
 
falltime said:
It needs a media player where you can run the audio portion of a video in the background AND with the screen off.
Sometimes when watching something you want to check your email or look something up without shutting the video off (like during a commercial)- GLARING oversight in my opinion
Click to expand...

Are you watching live TV on yours? Didn't know that was available. Mine resumes video at last stop point even if I canceled playback completely. If you're watching recorded TV just fast forward through commercials and pause to use another app.
 
Android is lacking heavy in the media department. What Android needs is Google's own version of I-tunes. Double Twist plain out sucks and does not work the way I want it to. I want to be able to create playlist, put my music in a SPECIFIC order and add my OWN album art through the app. Also add my own movies, videos, pictures in any order I want them in the way I want them not the way the phone wants them or should I say not in alphabetical order. I don't want to and should not have to go and download a program to mess with the properties of every single MP3. Itunes is what makes the Iphone and Ipod great and Android needs something like it built for Android phones and Android phones only.
 
Is it just me or do they also need to work ont the shuffle feature? I always have it on shuffle but unlike the Ipod/Iphone, it <b>does</b> replay songs over and over. My two cents.
 
You can find ways to send ringtones well enough, you just need some apps to handle attaching and reading gmail attachments.

Also, MediaMonkey seems to work pretty well. You'll need to set it up initially, but I now have it doing pretty much what iTunes did for my Nano, with the exception of video and a Store. For sideloading and managing and playing music, it's pretty great. I have a slow, dying computer for the next couple weeks, and MediaMonkey allows quick, easy access to my library (which is something like 29,000 songs, and that large a library made other programs including iTunes bog down).

Meridian is the on-phone app I use for music. It's not completely wonderful, and buying the pro version is fairly convoluted to protect it from privacy, so I haven't made the jump. If any other decent app gets its Bluetooth headphone button game on with a widget, I'll probably switch. But, still. I agree, anything at all seems to be better than stock Music. Step your game up indeed, Google.
 
jeffyo said:
Just convert the video. Any avi file you download needs to be converted anyway. Your Droid doesnt support past 480X320.
Click to expand...

It would be nice for Android's media app to be able to downscale the video on its own without the user having to convert it himself before moving it to the device. My old Treo 650 could do this, via TCPMP.

I was in love from my Sprint Hero from day 1, but media support has been a big disappointment. Also a bit surprised there is no decent 3rd party app that will fill the gap.

Doubletwist will do in a pinch, but is not a good long term solution IMO.
 
Actually, Motorola's Medialink isn't bad for handling media syncing. It isn't iTunes, but it certainly isn't bad.

That said, even after installing it, I preferred to handle it myself. There just weren't enough options in terms of when, how, and what to sync for how I like to run things.

Handbrake is probably the best thing you can get for converting videos. Moreover, I'd recommend converting them anyways, as you'll be able to fit a lot more video on your SD card if you have the bitrate compression.
 
yea, i have had my Nexus for almost a week now and boy does it lack an i-Tunes type program. What is this? It takes me back to the 90s with what they offer me.
 
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