RANT! Why Can’t We Have A GOOD MP3 Player?

LoudspeakerNot long ago RIM relented and gave us a MP3 player, external media, and a standard headphone jack. Since then they have made some small improvements but the features and options are still pitiful! When OS 4.3 came out on the 8130 I was hoping for some nice additions but still nothing. So now we are hearing the rumors and features of OS 4.5 and still there are no major announcements in terms of the MP3 player other than an external SD card slot. What happened to the consumer focus? Is this really as good as it gets?

I have been trying to rectify the situation with multiple solutions. First I tried some third party MP3 players but the lack of volume control & mute keys outside of the application killed the experience. The only thing these 3rd party MP3 players show is how much better of a job RIM should be doing. FlipSide is nice and all but the BlackBerry OS does not let developers really address these concerns.

I will list my compiled complaints below. Let me know if you agree:

  • No dedicated next and previous track buttons outside of the MP3 player
  • Volume control is horrendous. Why are there only 10 options? I have to choose between a little too quiet and my ear drums bleeding. All of the 3rd party MP3 players have fixed this issue…
  • NO EQUALIZER!!! or audio normalization
  • I cannot set the MP3 player as a softkey. You can set the playlist but not the current song playing?
  • No BlackBerry profile for when MP3s are playing – This means that whatever profile you have set on your BlackBerry does not change if you are listening to music. So if you are on the Loud profile and have a loud ringtone expect to get an earfull when your phone rings.
  • ROXIO, ROXIO, ROXIO – Where do I start. This application could actually be considered a downgrade. It is clunky and provides no real function other than slowing down your computer.
  • PODCAST SUPPORT – Need I say more?
  • Can’t delete songs from the now playing screen – you need to go into the media browser and delete the song. Nor can you delete a song from a playlist!
  • Can’t create an on the fly/go playlist
  • Can’t rate music
  • No explanation of the “device memory limit” option of 12MB or 15MB
  • When you get a call while listening to music and answer the call you cannot use the headphones to hear and the mic on the phone to talk. You have to remove one headphone and talk through the phone.
  • On top of that after the phone call ends you then have to open the music player again and hit play to start the music up again.
  • Can’t edit the song title of a song – we have a full keyboard why not make use of it…
  • Gapless audio – Yes I know I am dreaming

And the list goes on. Hopefully RIM is listening… Would it really hurt them to round out the MP3 functions on their “consumer” devices? Or will the media player always feel like a tacked on feature?

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