HandStream is a streaming audio player for Palm OS 5 handhelds. There are at least three other MP3 players for Palm OS, but none of them play Shoutcast streams. Unacceptable! I demand to listen to Internet radio in my car, and since no one else seems to be working on it, it's time to take matters into my own hands.
A Palm OS 5 handheld with a speaker or headphone jack. (Sorry, older Palm owners, your DragonBall CPU isn't fast enouhg to decode MP3s.)
An internet connection for your Palm. It should be at least 24 kbps: probably a WiFi connection or 2.5G-3G mobile phone. (The 9600 or 14.4 kbps connection on your 2G mobile phone probably won't cut it, because most streams are at least 16 kbps.)
You can also use a dialup modem for low bandwidth streams, or connect your Palm to your PC's internet connection with Softick PPP, but HandStream is most useful with a wireless connection. If you wanted to listen to internet radio at your desk, you'd just use your PC, right?
| Milestone | Reached? |
|---|---|
| Primary functionality | |
| Fetch and parse Shoutcast playlist | |
| Port MPEG audio library | |
| Fetch and decode stream data | |
| Play stream data | |
| Parse Shoutcast metadata | |
| Secondary functionality | |
| Background playing | |
| Interface | |
| Preset stations | |
| Beam presets to other handhelds | |
| Pretty / skinnable program UI | |
| Mini-UI for background playing | |
Right here. Join the elite group of HandStream beta testers!
If you have any bug reports, feature suggestions, or if you wish to submit a patch or help with development in any other way, please join the HandStream mailing list.
HandStream is written in Metrowerks CodeWarrior 9. The MPEG library is MAD.
Join the HandStream mailing list, or email me, Jesse McGrew (Mr2001).