Chapter 8. Listening to Audio and Watching Video

In this chapter, you learn how to listen to music and watch videos on your Palm Pre. We cover how to watch YouTube videos and ones you copy from your computer. We also cover purchasing music from the Amazon Store. Topics include the following:

→ Getting audio and video onto your Palm Pre

→ Playing audio

→ Watching videos

→ Using YouTube

Your Palm Pre is a very capable multimedia Smartphone. In addition to watching YouTube videos, you can purchase music from the Amazon Store right on your Palm Pre. Your Palm Pre can not only play music, but display the album art for each song. While listening to music, you can run other applications and the music keeps playing in the background. You can synchronize audio and video from your computer (Windows or Mac) via iTunes, or by simply copying them over to your phone. In addition to synchronizing your audio and video content with iTunes, you can use other solutions like The Missing Sync from Mark/Space or doubleTwist from doubleTwist Corporation.

Getting Music and Video onto Your Palm Pre

Before you can start enjoying your favorite tunes and watching your favorite videos or movies, you need to get them onto your Palm Pre. You can do this in several ways, which include using iTunes (knock on wood), or some other downloadable apps, such as Missing Sync for Palm Pre by Mark/Space or doubleTwist by doubleTwist Corporation.

Although Missing Sync for Palm Pre is a $40 fully featured synchronization solution for Mac and Windows that synchronizes calendar, contacts, and multimedia, doubleTwist is a free application that concentrates on multimedia only, leaving your Palm Pre to synchronize everything else over the air. As mentioned in detail later in this chapter, Apple can lock out iTunes synchronization and as the writing of this book has proceeded, it’s beginning to look more and more like the Pre will be locked out for good. Given this uncertainty, this chapter covers both synchronizing with iTunes (in the hopes that this remains an option) as well as using doubleTwist, which, as mentioned, is free.

Using iTunes

There is no synchronization software from Palm that enables you to synchronize your Palm Pre with a computer. The compromise is that Palm has configured each Palm Pre to pretend that it is an Apple iPod. This means that when you connect your Palm Pre to a computer that has Apple iTunes installed, iTunes starts and thinks that a real iPod is connected. You can synchronize all your media to the Palm Pre this way.

Step-by-Step: Synchronizing Music

The following steps assume that you already have Apple’s iTunes installed on your PC running Windows or a Mac. The steps are valid for the Windows and Mac version of iTunes.

1. After making sure that your Palm Pre connects to your PC or Mac using the supplied Micro-USB cable, tap Media Sync on your Palm Pre’s screen.

   

2. On your computer, iTunes loads (if it doesn’t, launch it manually) and shows your Palm Pre connected as an Apple iPod. Click the Music tab to configure which music synchronizes to your Palm Pre.

   

3. Check to synchronize music with your Palm Pre.
4. Select to synchronize your entire iTunes music library. If your iTunes music library is too large to fit on your Pre, you should instead leave this option disabled.
5. Select to synchronize only some of your music library. Then using either the Playlists, Genres, or Artists lists, select what music you want to synchronize to your Palm Pre.
6. Select to include music videos with your music.
7. Select to automatically fill any free space left over after your music synchronizes with random songs.
8. After you have selected all of the music you want to synchronize to your Palm Pre, click the Sync button.

   

Synchronizing Video

While we are in iTunes, let’s go over how to synchronize video.

1. Click the Movies tab to configure which movies are synchronized to your Palm Pre.
2. Select which movies you want to synchronize by checking the box next to the movie titles.

   

3. Tap the TV Shows tab to configure which TV Shows are synchronized to your Palm Pre.
4. Check the box marked Sync TV Shows. If you leave this option disabled then no TV shows can be synced to your Pre.
5. With Sync TV Shows enabled you can further customize how your TV Show library is synced to your Pre by choosing how many of a given show to include.
6. Select the TV shows you want on your Palm Pre by checking the boxes next to the show names or episodes.

   

7. Tap the Podcasts tab to select which podcasts you want on your Palm Pre. Podcasts can be video or audio.
8. Check the box marked Sync Podcasts. If you leave this option disabled then no podcasts can be synced to your Pre.
9. With Sync Podcasts enabled you can further customize how the podcasts to which you’re subscribed sync to your Pre by choosing how many of a given show to include.
10. Select the podcasts you want to download to your Pre.
11. After you have selected all of the video content you want to synchronize to your Palm Pre, click the Sync button.

    

Using doubleTwist

doubleTwist is a free application that allows you to synchronize music and video from iTunes on Windows or Mac to your Palm Pre. It also allows you to synchronize pictures from iPhoto on a Mac and your My Pictures directory in Windows to your Palm Pre. It is important that we cover doubleTwist here because of the on again, off again iTunes/Palm Pre relationship.

Step-by-Step: Installing doubleTwist on Windows

Before we begin, make sure you download the Windows version of doubleTwist from http://www.doubletwist.com. After you have the app downloaded, use these steps to get it installed.

1. Double-click on the doubleTwist install file that you downloaded. On the first screen, click Install. There is precious little to configure for a doubleTwist installation. Just follow the prompts.

   

2. Once the install is complete, make sure that the Launch doubleTwist box is checked.
3. Click Finish.

   

Installing doubleTwist on Mac OSX

Before we begin, make sure you download the Mac OSX version of doubleTwist from http://www.doubletwist.com. After you have the app downloaded, use these steps to get it installed.

1. Double-click on the doubleTwist disc on your Mac desktop.

   

2. Drag the doubleTwist icon to the Applications folder icon. From here the install process takes over and there’s nothing left to do. Easy!

   

Creating a doubleTwist Account

The first time you run doubleTwist, it asks you to login using your doubleTwist account. You probably don’t have one so let’s go through how to create a free doubleTwist account. The steps and screen are the same for Windows and Mac versions of doubleTwist.

1. Click Create Account.

   

2. Type your name, choose a password, and type your email address.
3. Make sure that the check box is checked for the End User License Agreement (EULA), assuming you agree to it. (If you don’t agree to it, you can’t sign up for an account.)
4. Click Sign Up.

   

5. The next screen tells you to check your mailbox for an activation email. Switch to your email application and follow the instructions in the email to activate your account. Once your account is activated, switch back to this screen and click Continue. This launches the actual doubleTwist app, which we’ll cover in more detail in the next section.

   

Using doubleTwist

Now that you have doubleTwist installed and set up, let’s start using it to synchronize audio and video to your Palm Pre. Before we start, run doubleTwist if it is not already running and then make sure that your Palm Pre is connected to your computer and that you have tapped the USB Drive button on your Pre once it is connected. Also, make sure that you can see your Palm Pre listed under the Devices section in doubleTwist.

Synchronizing Music Using doubleTwist

doubleTwist allows you to synchronize music from your iTunes library to your Palm Pre. It also allows you to drag music from folders on your computer to your Palm Pre.

1. To synchronize iTunes music to your Palm Pre you must first import the playlists from iTunes. Under the Playlists heading in doubleTwist, click on Playlist Setup and then wait for doubleTwist to import your iTunes playlists.
2. Click on Import iTunes Playlists.
3. After the playlists have imported, click on your Palm Pre.

   

4. Click the check box next to Sync Music.
5. To synchronize all of your music, click the radio button next to All Music. Be aware that you only have limited memory on your Palm Pre to store your music so if your music library is large, you will likely need to switch to synchronizing only playlists. To synchronize certain playlists of music, click the radio button next to Selected Playlists. Step 6 assumes you’ve selected this option. If you selected All Music, skip to Step 7.
6. Click next to each playlist you would like to synchronize to your Palm Pre.
7. After you have selected all of your playlists, click Sync.
8. The memory indicator shows you how much free memory you have and how much space your music is taking up.

   

Step-by-Step: Synchronizing Video Using doubleTwist

doubleTwist allows you to drag videos from your iTunes library and folders on your computer to your Palm Pre. Make sure your Palm Pre is plugged into your computer and is visible in doubleTwist and then follow these steps.

1. Browse through your Movies library and other folders that contain videos on your computer by clicking Movies under the Library heading.

   

2. Select one or more videos in your library.
3. Drag your selected videos to your Palm Pre. doubleTwist will convert them to a format that can be played on your Palm Pre. If the video you select has DRM embedded in it, doubleTwist will be unable to convert it. You will see no error message, but when you check the videos on your Palm Pre, you will not see it listed.

   

   Video Playlists in Windows

   If you are using doubleTwist on Windows you can create a manual playlist and put videos in it. To do that right-click on a video and choose Add to Playlist. When you click on your Palm Pre in doubleTwist, click the Videos tab and select the video playlists you want to synchronize. This makes it slightly quicker to synchronize videos to your Palm Pre.

Using the Amazon MP3 Store

Although you can use iTunes to synchronize your music, if you purchase music using iTunes, the songs can play fine on your computer and on an iPod or iPhone, but because your Palm Pre is a fake iPod, the music may not play. Music that has been ripped from a CD and imported into iTunes can play on your Palm Pre because it does not contain any DRM. One other way around this is to use the Amazon MP3 Store which is right on your Palm Pre. When you purchase music using this application, the music can play on your Palm Pre.

Purchasing Music Using the Amazon MP3 Store

Let’s go over using the Amazon MP3 Store application to find and purchase music right on the Palm Pre.

1. From the Launcher, tap the Amazon MP3 icon.

   

2. On the Main Amazon MP3 screen, you see a Genre button, a search bar, New & Notable, and Top 100 lists categorized by New Releases, Albums, Artists, and Songs. Use these categories and top 100 lists to find the songs, artists, and albums you want to purchase. For the sake of this example, we search by Genre. Tap the All Genres button.

   

3. Tap a genre of music, for example Dance & DJ.

   

4. Locate a song or album by searching for a specific album or selecting one from the New & Notable section or in one of the Top 100 lists. Once you find an album that interests you, tap it.
5. Tap the price next to an album or song to reveal the Buy button. Tap the Buy button to purchase the song or album.

   

6. Type the email address you used to sign up to Amazon.com and your Amazon.com password.
7. Tap the On/Off switch next to Enable 1-Click to enable the capability to purchase new music without having to re-login to Amazon each time.
8. Tap Sign In.

   

   Accepting Amazon’s Terms of Service

   The first time you sign in to Amazon, you need to accept the terms of service. If you are okay with the terms presented, just tap Accept. If you purchase anything else from Amazon while signed in, you won’t need to accept this agreement again.

9. A Download button appears at the bottom of the screen showing how many downloads are in progress. To see the active downloads, tap Download.

   

10. You can see your purchased songs downloading. When the download is complete, you have full access to the music you purchased through the Palm Music Player, which is covered later in this chapter in the section “Using the Palm Music Player.”

    

Getting Amazon MP3 Music into iTunes

After you purchase music from the Amazon store on your Palm Pre, you can immediately play it and enjoy it. But what if you want to copy that music into iTunes so that you can play it on your computer? You can download a piece of software called the Palm Music Assistant from the Palm website that helps you do this. Visit http://www.palm.com and browse through the support downloads to find and download the Palm Music Assistant. After you download the Palm Music Assistant, double-click it to install it. No questions are asked during the installation so it should be pretty easy.

1. After you download and install the Palm Music Assistant, launch it. Connect your Palm Pre to your computer, and tap Music Sync on the Palm Pre.
2. When the Palm Music Assistant application sees your Palm Pre in Music Sync mode, the Continue button lights up. Click Continue. Palm Music Assistant looks for new Amazon MP3 music on your Palm Pre, creates a new iTunes playlist called Amazon Music Purchases, and copies the music in to it.

   

3. Check the box next to Automatically Import Music. When you check this box you are telling the Palm Music Assistant to automatically copy all purchased music to your Palm Pre the next time you run this program.
4. Click Continue.

   

5. When Palm Music Assistant has completed moving your Amazon music to iTunes, click Done.

   

Using the Palm Music Player

No matter how you get music onto your Palm Pre, you need a way to play it. This is where the Music Player comes in. It enables you to find and play your music, even keep it playing while you use other applications.

Step-by-Step: Finding Music to Play

Let’s cover how to find music to play first.

1. From the Launcher, tap Music to launch the Music Player. The main Music Player screen categorizes your songs by Artist, Album, Song, Genre, and Playlist.

   

2. To play random selections of music from your entire selection, tap Shuffle All.
3. To find songs by artist, tap Artists.

   

4. On the Artists screen, tap the name of the artist to which you want to listen.

   

5. Tap Shuffle All to randomly play a selection of music from that artist.
6. Tap an album to show the songs in that album.

   

7. To play a random selection of songs on that album, tap Shuffle All. While a song is playing, if there is album art, it displays. You can then control the playback of the song as described in the next set of steps.
8. To play a specific song, tap it.

   

Controlling a Song While It’s Playing

After you find some music to play, you can fast forward, rewind, pause, and shuffle it.

1. Tap to enable and disable song shuffle.
2. Tap and hold to rewind the currently playing song. Tap to jump back one song.
3. Tap to play and pause.
4. Tap and hold to fast forward the currently playing song. Tap to jump forward one song.
5. Tap to repeat the currently playing song. Tap again to repeat the entire playlist. Tap again to disable song repeat.
6. Tap to see the playlist view.
7. Tap to see the album art.
8. If multiple songs are in the playlist, swipe left and right to move between songs.

   

Listen to Podcasts

Podcasts are radio shows that are automatically downloaded from the Internet by iTunes and other programs. If you synchronize Podcasts via iTunes, here is how you can find and listen to them.

1. To listen to podcasts, from the main Music Player screen tap Playlists. Podcasts are among the items listed in the Podcasts Playlist. Tap Podcasts.

   

2. If there are multiple podcasts, swipe left and right to scroll through them.
3. To play a podcast, use the play controls at the bottom of the screen. These controls work exactly as they do when playing music.

   

Searching YouTube for Related Material While Listening to Music

While you play a song, you might wonder what other related material is available. One thing that you can do is perform a YouTube search from the Music Player.

1. With the Music application running, tap the application menu on the top-left part of the screen.
2. Tap YouTube to expand the selection.
3. Tap one of the prepopulated search items. There items are automatically created based on the song you listen to. YouTube opens and the search results display.

   

4. Tap a video to start watching it. At this point, your song will stop playing.

   

Watching Videos

Your Palm Pre supports many different video formats and has a built-in video player that enables you to watch them. You can synchronize videos using iTunes and doubleTwist, or watch them on YouTube.

Step-by-Step: Synchronizing Videos using iTunes

Because your Palm Pre pretends to be an Apple iPod, you can use iTunes to synchronize videos to it. Bearing in mind that because your Palm Pre is not a real iPod, all movies that you purchase on iTunes cannot play on your Palm Pre. Only movies that you create outside of iTunes and import can play.

1. Connect your Palm Pre to your computer and tap Music Sync when prompted. On your computer, iTunes loads.
2. Click the Movies tab.
3. Check the box next to Sync Movies.
4. Check the box next to any movies you want to be copied to your Palm Pre.
5. Click Sync to save the changes and begin the transfer.

   

Playing Videos Transferred to Your Pre

Watching videos on your Palm Pre is not much different from listening to music. Here’s how you do it:

1. On your Palm Pre, tap Videos from the Launcher.

   

2. Tap a video to start playing. All videos play in landscape mode.

   

3. Tap to play and pause the video.
4. Slide to scan through the video.
5. Tap to show the video in its original aspect ratio (recommended) or force it to fill the entire screen. Forcing it to fill the screen distorts the video by stretching it.

   

6. If you attempt to play a video purchased using iTunes that contains DRM, you see an error. Tap Back to continue.

   

Playing YouTube Videos

Your Palm Pre comes with its own YouTube application. This enables you to search for and watch any YouTube video without having to go to the YouTube website.

1. From the Launcher, tap YouTube.

   

2. Tap Videos to change the main view to display popular or most viewed videos and a history of the videos you have watched in the past.

   

3. To search for a specific video, type a search term and press Enter to search the YouTube library.
4. When the results display, swipe up and down to scroll through the videos.
5. Tap a video to start playing it.

   

6. Tap the video description to see more about the video and show more actions.
7. Tap the More button to reveal more choices.
8. Tap More from This Author to display more YouTube videos created by the author of the current video.
9. Tap Related Videos to display more YouTube videos related to the current video.

   

10. Tap the Share button to reveal methods of sharing the video.
11. Tap Email to share a link to this video by email. A regular email is automatically composed with a link to this video in the body of the email. You can then choose the recipients and send it. Email is covered in more detail in Chapter 6.
12. Tap Text Message to share a link to this video via SMS or text message. A text message is automatically created for you with a link to the video in the body of the message. You can then choose the recipients and send it. You can read more about sending SMSs in Chapter 7.