We last took a look at the iTunes plug-in The Filter way back in 2006, so it's high time to see what this alternative to the Genius playlist is up to. Of course, when it first came out there was no Genius playlist, nor a Mac version--now that there's both, does it hold up?
Certainly the most obvious benefit is that although you do need to register to use the playlist, you don't need to hand over your credit card number to this Peter Gabriel-supported plug-in. These days many people probably don't care, but to me this is a strong vote in The Filter's favor.
Paranoia aside, The Filter seems to have made some serious, quality improvements. It still uses Bayesian mathematics algorithms and evidence models to make its suggestions, and it still takes what feels like forever and a day to scan large collections. That's not an improvement, of course, but it no longer lives on top of all other windows, either.
Instead, its icon lives on the Quick Launch bar. Right-clicking accesses a context menu, and from there users can jump to Preferences, thefilter.com, or change the default playlist generation from being based on the song to the genre. Double-click on the icon and it automatically generates a playlist, as long as a track is currently playing. Aside from scanning your collection I found The Filter to be reasonably responsive, if not zippy.
The Taste Profiler is a mandatory aspect of using The Filter. Before it can recommend playlists, and before you even finish installing it, The Filter requires that you rate at least three musicians and movies. In addition to music and movies, you can also rate TV shows and Web-only video.
The overall experience is slower than using Apple's Genius playlist, probably in no small part because it's a plug-in. However, The Filter now works with Windows Media Player and Winamp, although not MediaMonkey, on the PC, so non-iTunes lovers will probably be willing to suffer through the one- or two-second delay in getting their playlist kicked back to them. Rolling in all kinds of videos make this even more useful to today's mediascape.
The new chat function lets users talk to their friends about the music they're borrowing from them.
(Credit: Simplify Media)As the self-imposed deadline of June approaches, Simplify Media remains in beta for Windows, Mac, and mobile users. The iTunes and Winamp plug-in that lets you share your music with friends has, however, added three new features: chat, a "now playing" message that displays what your friends are listening to from your collection, and a built-in password reset for the forgetful among us.
The chat feature is the strongest, allowing you to directly communicate with friends, family, and even enemies with whom you've shared your music. It's a great way to give and get some direct feedback on what you're currently listening to, almost like a personalized mixtape with live commentary.
The "now playing" message pops up in your Media List, and is a reasonable (if somewhat navel-gazing) way to see what your friends like from your list. It'd be better if it kept statistics, but it still dovetails nicely with the chat feature. Nothing like interrupting a friend getting their groove on by asking them what they think about the music.
This post was updated at 9:00 AM on Tuesday to make it clear that Imeem's platform is technically "live."
Social media service Imeem has announced the Imeem Media Platform, a set of APIs (application programming interfaces) and tools so that outside developers and partners can contribute to the site. The APIs will give developers access to media on the site (music, video, and photos), the media player interface, the music recommendation engine, and playlist-creation tools, among other things.
While the platform itself is technically "live," it's in a very preliminary phase, Imeem founder Dalton Caldwell told CNET News.com. Right now, all that's out is the documentation and tools for developers to start experimenting. "This is like step one," Caldwell said. An application directory, as well as OpenSocial compatibility, will come later.
The Imeem Media Platform, Caldwell said, was inspired in part by Winamp, the media player software that gained popularity in the Web's early days in part because it was "hackable" and welcomed developer plug-ins and extensions. (Winamp parent company Nullsoft was acquired by AOL way back in 1999.)
"The reason I was a fan (of Winamp) was because it was extensible," Caldwell said. With Imeem's new developer tools, he hopes that Imeem enthusiasts with some tech expertise will be able to make the service better, and perhaps combat complaints that Imeem's interface isn't user-friendly. "We think it'd be really great if someone built, like, a smart playlist creator so you could type in your favorite artists...and (Imeem would) create an automatic playlist for you."
Caldwell also named a few other examples: a "name that tune" or music trivia game, for example, or a way for music blogs to customize the Imeem players embedded on their sites.
While it still pales in comparison to the MySpaces and Facebooks of the world, Imeem has come a long way since the identity crisis that re-branded it from an oddball instant-messaging client to a social network in 2006. The site now claims 24 million unique visitors per month, and has streaming music deals in place with all four major record labels.
Although it hasn't exactly exploded into the mainstream music-listening population at large, the music-sharing application Simplify Media (download it for Windows or Mac) is a fan favorite of several CNET editors and staffers.
Simplify Media has always allowed you to listen to your iTunes playlists on the road or share them with friends. Yesterday, it announced support for the popular digital-music jukebox app Winamp for Windows.
When you install Simplify Media, you must choose whether it will work with Winamp or iTunes playlists. Those of us who occasionally use both apps and thought we might be able to consolidate playlists are out of luck. You can, however, change your preferred playlist program after installation. ... Read more
AOL may have been one of the first mainstream services to really make its way onto most consumer telephones (with AIM), but the rest of its mobile services haven't exactly been keeping pace with Google and Yahoo's efforts. Today they're trying to change that with several mobile incarnations of AOL services that have been custom tailored for entry level handsets and smart phones running Windows Mobile.
For users with phones that aren't running a "smart" operating system there are two services that have been specially tailored for you. The first is a new WAP portal that serves up news, AOL and AIM Mail, Mapquest, weather, and various other sections of AOL's front page in byte-sized pieces. The other is a new SMS short code version of AIM that lets user sign on and message buddies using their SMS text messages--similar to what carriers offer with built-in AIM apps, sans the actual program. To try it out on your own phone, send a text message to 'AIMAIM' (246246).
AOL's new MyMobile app for Windows Mobile smart phones bundles together several services in one.
(Credit: AOL Inc.)Windows Mobile users are getting a slightly better end of the deal with a new application that's a lot like Yahoo's Go service. It's called MyMobile, and it's home to a handful of AOL's services like search, Moviefone, Mapquest, and mail. The app will remember your history, so you can speed up searches on the go with your zipcode or address. Users of other Palm and Symbian phones have had something similar for some time now in AOL's software store. AOL intends to release the app "by the end of the year" and make it free with integrated advertisements.
Also of note is a new widget for WHERE users for tracking where your AIM buddies are online. This requires a GPS-enabled phone, and works using Mapquest to let you post your location without having to look up or type out an address--a little bit like Sprint, Boost Mobile (with Loopt) and Helio have done.
AOL is also officially launching their Winamp Remote mobile service, which lets you access music and videos from your Winamp library while on the go. The service is powered by Orb, which is capable of doing similar things with their standalone app on most mobile handsets and modern-day gaming consoles.
The most exciting bit of all of these is the new Windows Mobile app, since it will take some of the work out of using these services outside the confines of your mobile browser. I'm also a fan of Winamp Remote since Orb is one of the more user friendly personal streaming services out there, yet it's highly customizable for advanced users. I look forward to seeing it integrated into other services.
- prev
- 1
- next
