Palm OS 5 includes native support for advanced audio decoding, and thanks to the Palm development community users have a choice of audio player. Larry Garfield looks at one nice option, AeroPlayer.
The first 3rd party audio player for Palm OS 5 devices to be announced, AeroPlayer has gone on to make a name for itself as one of the many options for Palm users interested in music on the go. It's latest incarnation boasts a number of nice features, and a pleasantly small footprint.
The base program weighs in at only 114 KB, smaller than many programs. However, each input format requires its own plugin, and the only two existing ones come with the program. The MP3 module is 97 KB, while the plugin for the royalty-free Ogg Vorbis format is 102 KB.
 | | Ill: Aerodrome Software |
Audio files must be saved onto a flash card, and while the program can scan the entire card for audio files it is recommended to put all files into the /Audio directory, or a subdirectory of /Audio. The Palm HotSync Installer will place audio files into the proper directory automatically. Audio quality of both filetypes was excellent, provided the file itself was good.
AeroPlayer's is fully skinnable, and it's a good thing, too. The default skin, such as it is, is quite functional but also rather ugly. Fortunately, Aerodrome Software includes over a dozen 3rd party skins on its web site (including the ubiquitous Star Trek LCARS skin, available for almost every program in existance). Users can create their own skins, but the process does require some knowledge of Palm programming. Skins tend to be less than 100 KB in size.
AeroPlayer has all of the usual audio player features one would expect, with a few extras. For instance, it has an audio-boost function that can increase the volume of playback beyond what the file supports, with some loss of quality. (We found most songs more than adequate.) It also includes a five band graphic equalizer or bass boost, for audiophiles who like to futz with their music on the go.
AeroPlayer also integrates well into the rest of the system. The user can set the screen to deactivate after a few seconds while music is playing, to conserve battery power, and even take over the power button to mean "screen off" instead of "device off". It supports background playback while other programs are running, too. When audio is playing, it also adds an "AeroPod" feature to all Command-stroke bars. The command bar will include Pause/Play and Next buttons for quick access, as well as a trigger for a small AeroPod dialog that lets the user skip forward, pause, skip backward, or adjust volume. On Palm NavPad devices, Up and Down control the volume while Left and Right will skip to the next or previous song.
We were rather surprised at AeroPlayer's code efficiency. There is a slowdown while audio is playing, but the system is still quite usable. More surprisingly, we were able to leave AeroPlayer running and open up a movie with sound in Kinoma Player, and not only did both continue to work but the audio tracks merged seamlessly with only a very small amount of occasional popping. Whether that is due to good coding on Aerodrome's part or PalmSource's part, and why one would actually want to, we don't know, but it is extremely cool that it works.
Our only serious gripe with AeroPlayer is its playlists, or rather its reliance on them. There is no way to play just a single audio file. The user can define any number of playlists, each including any number of audio files on the card, but a playlist is the only way to access an audio file. While in most cases users will likely want only a single playlist with everything, we'd still prefer to have the option to just play individual files.
Conclusion
AeroPlayer offers all the features one would expect from a quality audio player. It offers a respectable set of features at a reasonable hit in terms of space, and with support for both MP3 and Ogg Vorbis audio should meet the needs of almost all mobile audio aficionados. The system integration is well-implemented and unobtrusive, just as it should be. Our only gripe is the over-reliance on playlists as the only way to play access audio files. Otherwise, AeroPlayer offers a compelling solution.
What’s positive: Ogg Vorbis support, good system integration
What’s negative: Over-reliance on playlists
Overall: 
Availability
AeroPlayer is available now. Registration including one year of free updates is $14.95 USD. Registration with lifetime updates is $29.95 USD. It works on any handheld that uses the PalmSource OS 5 Audio API (currently available only on Palm-branded devices).
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