[Grimlin]

If you do a comparison from a desktop client to the blackberry, it appears that you lose about 10seconds for every hour of content. a 6 hour file will be missing about 1min from the end of it. As of 1.0.66, this still happens.

Updated known issues above.

[Grimlin]

I feel like I am alone now...
Is anyone else testing still?
Have all the people that requested the beta software been inducted?
Is anyone seeing anything that I missed?

[ValB626]

I really have my fingers crossed they'll accept me, Grimlin, and will keep you company here if they do.

With the 8130 VZW Pearl, I'm not optimistic about downloading OTA, but it would sure be great to have at least a workable player for my audiobooks. I actually submitted a suggestion about this a couple of weeks ago -- player only, until VZW or RIM or whomever agrees to support audible.com downloads for the 8130s.

I was so excited to read tonight that they are diligently working to expand their BB support. Really, I only bought my Pearl (without doing the research beforehand) so I could carry one less device around, as I'm an avid audible listener. I never minded copying my books onto my iPods from iTunes, so even just having a good player would meet my needs.

Go Grimlin! Thanks for all this.

[DallasFlier]

Grimlin - still testing here - although I confess I don't think I'm exhaustively testing as I think you are, rather testing as I listen to a book - haven't gotten to the end of my first book with the beta yet, so not sure about the issue about missing the end.

Thanks for the startup thoughts, I may try to uninstall-reinstall tonight. It seems quite slow to me in general though - for instance, hitting the '1' key to back up 30 seconds - seems to almost take 30 seconds of "buffering" before it starts playing again for me - is this what you observe also?

The "stuttering" isn't TOO bad, but I'm pretty sure its still there, a little bit? (Just noticed your comments on popping vs stuttering - guess I'm hearing what you call popping now.) I don't really mind the trackball lock/unlock issue, just have to wait for the screen to go dark while listening before holstering it.

[Grimlin]

Originally Posted by DallasFlier

Grimlin - still testing here - although I confess I don't think I'm exhaustively testing as I think you are, rather testing as I listen to a book -

It would surprise me if anyone actually did. I think I have an undiagnosed case of OCD.

Originally Posted by DallasFlier

haven't gotten to the end of my first book with the beta yet, so not sure about the issue about missing the end.

Be prepared to listen to about 1min of audio on your PC If they don't fix it before you get to the end. By my calculations, it is about 10sec for every hour.

Originally Posted by DallasFlier

Thanks for the startup thoughts, I may try to uninstall-reinstall tonight. It seems quite slow to me in general though - for instance, hitting the '1' key to back up 30 seconds - seems to almost take 30 seconds of "buffering" before it starts playing again for me - is this what you observe also?

When you bounce back and it has to rebuffer, you are rebuffering 4min of audio. It shouldn't do that. If they don't fix it with their new buffering scheme in the next version, we should definitely detail out the problem and suggest an alternative. Like jumping back to the beginning of the buffer instead of restarting the buffering.

Originally Posted by DallasFlier

The "stuttering" isn't TOO bad, but I'm pretty sure its still there, a little bit? (Just noticed your comments on popping vs stuttering - guess I'm hearing what you call popping now.)

Since they actually fixed the problem of losing parts of the stream and whole words would be stuttered to the point of misinterpretation, I felt I should close it out and call it something else.

Originally Posted by DallasFlier

I don't really mind the trackball lock/unlock issue, just have to wait for the screen to go dark while listening before holstering it.

This really...really...bothers me as well. They need to unbind the control functions from the trackball. At a bare minimum, the FF RW need to go and they need to enable the mute button on top of the device as a pause/play toggle. If this were done, at least you wouldn't wreak havok on your book position when holstering.

[ValB626]

Accepted as a beta tester and just now had a chance to download it. I made it through the download, the free content (yes, I'm an idiot, had an initial problem because I had my Pearl connected to my PC), and was able to log in to my audible account. YAY!!!

Really, it's exciting to get even this far!

Would be nice to have a "switch applications" option on the menu. Is there one and I've missed it?

So much to try!!

Hooray for audible and Grimlin.

[Grimlin]

Originally Posted by ValB626

Would be nice to have a "switch applications" option on the menu. Is there one and I've missed it?

Unless you just want one handed operation, I would use alt-back. It is universal.

[Grimlin]

Originally Posted by ValB626

So much to try!!

Since you are Verizon, I am really interested to see if you have download problems.

[ValB626]

Grimlin, it's downloading today's sampler just fine at 23 KB/sec. My NY Times digest showed up in the subscription list, so am downloading that now at about 44KB/sec, then on to downloading a new book.

btw, where's the alt key on an 8130?

[Grimlin]

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8800/4.2.1 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102)

Bottom left of the keyboard. Hold that down while pressing the back button. (Right of the trackball)

[DallasFlier]

Grimlin (& Audible),

Just got to the end of a file, so can definitely confirm the early cutoff, although that's obviously not news. I'd rank that as one of the highest priorities to fix though, very frustrating.

Possibly next in line for me, in terms of what I'd like to see fixed as priority, are the ridiculous delays for "buffering." I've now timed it, and hitting the '1' key for 30 second backup takes MORE than 30 seconds of buffering time. But the MOST frustrating is - after I've had to stop listening and then come back to the book, I like to back up a minute or so and start there for continuity and to remind me of what was going on in the book. No matter which order I do it in, that requires 3 things - two '1' clicks to go back 1 minute, and then pressing the trackball for "play." And no matter which order, that results in three SEPARATE "buffering" delays of over 30 seconds each! So to restart, it takes almost two full minutes before I'm listening again. That's just nuts! If I've just backed up 30 seconds or a minute, THEN press PLAY - it should NOT have to do the buffering AGAIN to rebuffer what it just finished buffering. They need some logic in the program to say "we just finished buffering that, no need to buffer it again."

[ValB626]

I should have mentioned that I haven't used audibleair (AA) before on any other devices, so I'm on a learning curve here. Apologies for the noob comments and questions.

I like it that I don't have to log-in to my audible account every time I open the app.

I downloaded the first piece of a book from My Library just fine, but only 5 minutes of it. I then discovered the download length and auto-refresh options. Nice.

I was having some trouble finding the new book I bought yesterday in the AA Books list, but finally found it, and it also has the blue check mark icon next to it, indicating that it's on the device. I had my list of books sorted by Purchase Date, so was expecting to see it at the top of the list. However, it showed up in the list on my BB by audio-publication date, which was 2005. It appears as my most recent purchase on My Library on audible.com. The other books on the downloaded Books list appear by the correct Purchase Date. I had downloaded the new one to my PC yesterday and manually transferred it to my Pearl via media manager. Maybe having done the manual transfer over-rode the AA sort-by function?

It's a relatively short book (5 hr 30 min) in 5 sections. No stutters or pops yet, so maybe doing the manual transfer is a way around the buffering issue when you have the time and access to your PC. Oops, just had a buffer hesitation at 12:37 into the book, but I'm downloading more content while playing, so am not sure of the reason.

My list of books in AA is set to All. How do I reset it to another option? Other display options are mentioned in the Help function, but I can't find the control in AA to change it.

Also wanted to note that the volume buttons on the side of the Pearl control the volume on the AA player. Also nice.

Thanks.

[Grimlin]

Originally Posted by DallasFlier

...But the MOST frustrating is - after I've had to stop listening and then come back to the book, I like to back up a minute or so and start there for continuity and to remind me of what was going on in the book...

I swear, a previous version of the client did this. I don't recall which. I think it was actually accidental, but I liked it. I think they were starting back at the last buffering. It effectively gave you about a 30sec to a min recap. You should definitely second that to them as I also screamed about wanting it back. I think it got lost in this last effort to get rid of the buffering stutters.

[Grimlin]

Originally Posted by ValB626

Also wanted to note that the volume buttons on the side of the Pearl control the volume on the AA player.

Can you confirm this?

Are you on 1.0.66?

I can not duplicate this on my 8800 or 8820 and I haven't been able to steal my daughters 8100 long enough to load the new version.

[Grimlin]

Originally Posted by ValB626

...Maybe having done the manual transfer over-rode the AA sort-by function?...

...My list of books in AA is set to All. How do I reset it to another option?...

The whole Library needs an overhaul, but I don't think that is their priority right now. I think they are spending a lot of time on the player piece. The filters are totally useless, but you can set it by pressing menu and then filter.

[ValB626]

Confirmed. The volume keys on the side call up the little black and white squares on the player display and raise and lower the volume as desired, including changing the white keys to black and vice versa.

The volume keys on the 8130 also work with other apps (e.g., the dollars 5 mediaplayer) where I've read they don't on other models.

Sorry, yes, 1.0.66.

Just transfered from Section 1 to Section 2 of the manually transferred book. Short blip noise, no buffering pause, went right on to Section 2. I am happy!

Also, now that I've stopped downloading in the background, have not gotten any more blips, pops, or hour glasses.

And thanks for the Alt location info. No problem getting to a couple of BB messages that came in while the book continued playing.

[Grimlin]

Originally Posted by ValB626

Confirmed. The volume keys on the side call up the little black and white squares on the player display and raise and lower the volume as desired

I wonder if it is a "pearl" thing or merely an OS Version/ new media API thing? I'll try it on our 8100 Pearl in a few minutes and post back. What OS version is on your 8130? 4.3?

Options/about.

[ValB626]

yes, 4.3.0.71.

[DallasFlier]

Originally Posted by Grimlin

Can you confirm this?

Are you on 1.0.66?

I can not duplicate this on my 8800 or 8820 and I haven't been able to steal my daughters 8100 long enough to load the new version.

The volume buttons don't work on my 8310 Curve either.

[Grimlin]

Originally Posted by DallasFlier

The volume buttons don't work on my 8310 Curve either.

Blackberry OS Version?