[General Topics] Menneisyys:
1.5.13 Vinyl 1.0

This discontinued (the old homepage is no longer directly accessible (web.archive.org mirror available here)), free (it was made free in 2004) player may be a good choice for you if and only if you have a Windows Mobile device with an operating system prior to WM5. Unfortunately, it's not compliant with WM5 or WM6.

See THIS for a review.

1.5.14 SnowCrash 2.03

(a screenshot of running it in the desktop IE)

This free, Web-based title doesn't have much to write home about. I don't really recommend it.

Tips: Note that, in the docs, the "What Bugs Does Snowcrash Have?" section means the following:

"The roles.cfg file doesn't support * with access level of 1000": this means you MUST supply the full IP address of your client. When operated via BT / Wi-Fi P2P or ActiveSync, this will be the same all the time.

"Unable to display non-mp3 files" doesn't mean for example WMA files can't be played back with it (if they're already in a playlist) or shown by the player; it's just that, when you traverse the drives / directories of your desktop computer right from your client, you will only see MP3 files in a given directory, nothing else.

Also see this thread.

1.6 Not reviewed / disqualified MMRC apps

1.6.1 Tinytechnews' AirTunes! 2.0

(Note that this product should not to be mistaken for Apple's AirTunes. They are completely different products and have nothing to do with each other)

I've disqualified this product because

it's been abandoned back in 2002; it's only on Tucows that I could find it and there isn't absolutely any point in paying for it

it's plain buggy. For example,

if the server doesn't work on the desktop, the client will still stay in the "Loading list"

if you click Play when nothing selected (for example, before you download the title list), you get an index error (this is what I call sloppy programming!)

if you don't supply any media directory to the server running on the desktop, the client will still try to fetch stuff from there. Furthermore, you can only supply one directory to the server, unlike with almost all the other solutions, which require and / or allow for supplying media directories in the local file system.

it seems to have major compatibility issues. For example, it wouldn't work on my WM2003 iPAQ 2210 at all (execution refused with an eVB error). On my WM2003SE Pocket Loox 720, the situation was better; in there, it started but still wouldn't download anything off the server.

Otherwise, it has nothing to write home about either: for example, no TCP/IP multicast discovery, no native or serial BT support, no lyrics / album art / ID tag and, of course, no WMP support.

1.6.2 www.mcmajeres.com' Iremote

This project has been completely abandoned and the original title doesn't seem to be accessible anywhere.

1.6.3 Niveus Pocket Remote 2.0

This title is only compatible with Vista and Windows XP Media Center Edition; this is why I haven't tested it.

1.6.4 Total Input Elite Edition for Pocket PC Version 2.0.6

Doesn't support any MM players out of the box and there are no third-party scripts or plug-ins (unlike with, say, Girder or Xlobby). Furthermore, the project seems to be abandoned - the last update was released four years ago. Therefore, I've disqualified it too.

1.6.5 PuppetMaster

They have just started the development for Windows Mobile; maybe this is why this title simply didn't find my notebook computer from any of my test Pocket PC's.

2. Comparison / feature chart

As with most of my reviews, the bulk of the information, along with some 100 example screenshots of all apps, is in the comparison / feature chart (CLICK THE LINK!!). It's only using a tabular format that the existence (or lack) of a given feature can be quickly identified.

2.1 Explanation for the chart

Supported desktop-side MM players: what multimedia players (and, in cases, other apps like PowerPoint) it's capable of remote controlling.

VGA?: is it compatible with WM2003SE/WM5/WM6 VGA devices? Does it do (ugly) pixel doubling; if it does, can it be "hacked" to be more VGA-friendly?

Requirements?: additional libraries it requires (in most cases, Compact Framework on the Windows Mobile device and in several cases, .NET on the desktop).

Doc quality?: In here, I've elaborated on how useful the official documentation is. I've also linked them in if available online (and not only, say, part of the installation package or the installed application itself). Note that, in here, I haven't listed the quality of the online forum (otherwise, I would have given a much better mark to Xlobby.)