new d2 firmware releasing soon 2.49?

[iAudio Bunny]

not to sure if this is the exact version number but it will support flash. So you can start placing any type of flash type games into the player I guess.

[stabbb]

nice :]. where did you find out? but i think it willl be macromedia flash lite so standard flash games won't work, i think. that;s my guess

[victorvd]

Yes can you tell us your source. We already knew it will contain flash. With soon what do you mean?

[MaxSt]

Yes can you tell us your source.

Why you need the names? It's useless information.

[keal]

iAudio Bunny is a great giver of inside information, so everyone please give thanks where it's due [yes]

Thanks, Bunny! [biggrin]

[jcgamer60]

Support flac 1.1.4 please.

[torrentseed]

Support flac 1.1.4 please.

Doesn't it already?

[jcgamer60]

Doesn't it already?

It supports 1.1.3.

[aussie_017]

not to sure if this is the exact version number but it will support flash. So you can start placing any type of flash type games into the player I guess.

Thats awesome[thumbsup]. How do you know it will definitely support flash? I thought that was just what people were dreaming of.

[StanRex]

Support flac 1.1.4 please.

Seconded

[henrycow]

and fix the shuffle

[brianl]

And add another boundary - "directory", which would shuffle through all the subfolders in the selected directory.

[slayerking]

Yeah..... Flash. What I've been waiting for.[thumbsup]

[Dominic]

Thanks a million for the info iaudio bunny, you're a legend!!! keep us in touch when you can. Cheers. :)

[hallix]

where can we get flash stuff from. after looking at the clix 1 stuff. I found that they are configured to support the d-click navigation. is there any place else to get flash games. any help would be appreciated. thanks

[Michalaq]

EDIT: Double Post (sort of). Browser crashed when making this post - I thought it hadn't gone through...

[Michalaq]

Yeah, I've been wondering that...
iRiver have a 3rd party developing games for their Clix.
I wonder if Cowon will be releasing flash games for the player (more development time taken away from crucial firmware fixes...).

I guess they might be counting on the community to make games and apps - I used to play about with actionscript back in school, and as far as these kinds of things go, it's a simple programming language. At the moment a "whack-a-mole" game is probably the best I could manage.
I wonder how flash lite will deal with the touchscreen. Will it act as a mouse, with a tap on the screen being recognised as a click and release? Wonder if it will integrate the physical controls as well.

Also, does anyone know the exact limitations of the flash-lite actionscript compared with the real thing?

[R-R]

https://blogs.forum.nokia.com/view_entry.html?id=239
Here is a can/can't do in flashlight different versions... Maybe we can have a .aac player running inside flash? :P

[Xhit]

Maybe you will be able to use the iRivers developed flash games and have virtual buttons on the screen where the Clix buttons would be? If so maybe it is time to stock up on the downloadable iRiver games before they are taken down because of D2:s flash support. :) If there are no virtual buttons i guess you can still play the games that are online that only requires the mouse, as long as the flash player can downsize the original size to the 320x240 format.

[Michalaq]

Ah, that's great! Means that it should be possible to code most anything in it (v2.0 that is). I'm not sure, but perhaps it would be possible to convert some simple flash games to lite, in cases where the .fla source is available.

AS for an .aac player, wouldn't that cause major memory frain. It's like running an emulated mp3 player inside an emulated flash shell on your actual mp3 player - a bit roundabout, isn't it?

[pigfreezer]

Hey, you guys are talking about games but what I'm excited about with this Flash support is the arrival of a whole bunch of programs. Just about anything can be done, provided it's not to complex (I doubt we'll ever see a version of Photoshop on our D2's).

That would most likely boost the community up to another level.

[R-R]

AS for an .aac player, wouldn't that cause major memory frain. It's like running an emulated mp3 player inside an emulated flash shell on your actual mp3 player - a bit roundabout, isn't it?


hehe of course i was joking, unless this beast is way more powerful than needed ;-)

[seifip]

It is possible to code an .aac player in AS3 but sadly not in AS2 for FlashLite :( If no we could do cool visualisations in AS3 - check out my 2 AS3 experiments =D http://lab.fs-studio.eu/equalizer/ - http://lab.fs-studio.eu/

[adr]

not to sure if this is the exact version number but it will support flash. So you can start placing any type of flash type games into the player I guess.
Oh goody. Months after buying my D2, I still have no guarantee that the song I select in the music browser will actually be the one that starts playing, but who cares about that when I can play flash games instead. Woohoo. [rolleyes]

[Dicky Dave]

Here here adr!!

Now I have another feature that will kinda sorta work if the planets are aligned correctly. Perhaps flash support will be as good as the playlist support or shuffle mode. And who cares if ID3 tags are not working in OGG. After all who would want to play an album in track order without having to traverse through levels of folders.

Superior audio quality and OGG support (my two reasons for buying the D2) only buys you so much leeway Cowon before your supporters will look elsewhere for their next purchase.

The addition of features at the expense of long standing issues is driving me nuts. Yes, it's great that Cowon are releasing very frequent firmware upgrades, probably far more frequent than any other in this industry. However, if they are not addressing the issues regularly raised by people on this forum and others with respect to basic operations one can rightly expect in a PMP or audio player, then what is the point.

Now where did that "chill pill" get to?

[seifip]

Now where did that "chill pill" get to?

Lol stop complaining... Cowon is doing everything to make the best player with the best firmware on the market and to improve even after release of the HW and then everyone complains jsut about that :/

[Michalaq]

Look, Cowon programmers just get bored coding the same old thing all the time.
It's like "mp3, ogg, playlists, working shuffle..." over and over again, in an endless cycle. Now they get an opportunity to code something elese for a change; what do you think they are going to do?

We'll have psychedelic visualisations and firmware-embeded dancing baby easter eggs before they sort out that shuffle. The possibilities are endless.

Also: purple pen

[Dicky Dave]

That is the problem. Based on my requirements and quite a few others on this forum, the firmware *isn't* improving after every release and because of that I feel I have a right to complain. Isn't that one of the reasons for this forum?

[sillyrabbit]

unfortunately, yes.

[james.miller]

Oh goody. Months after buying my D2, I still have no guarantee that the song I select in the music browser will actually be the one that starts playing, but who cares about that when I can play flash games instead. Woohoo. [rolleyes]

you could always browse by folder. its far easier anyway.

[Dominic]

Oh goody. Months after buying my D2, I still have no guarantee that the song I select in the music browser will actually be the one that starts playing, but who cares about that when I can play flash games instead. Woohoo. [rolleyes]

You're right, they never should have added that feature, bad cowon bad [toungue]

[iAudio Bunny]

Why you need the names? It's useless information.

indeed. but the firmware is definitely in the making. I have a beta of it on my test player with about 6 different flash type programs, looking good so far.

[Xhit]

indeed. but the firmware is definitely in the making. I have a beta of it on my test player with about 6 different flash type programs, looking good so far.

That sounds great iAudio Bunny and please keep us posted! Thanks!

[adr]

you could always browse by folder. its far easier anyway.
It gets a little clunky when you have a couple of thousand tracks. Even more so when they're split between an SDHC card and the internal memory. I think browsing by artist would be quite nice, assuming it actually worked. I'm not even sure folder browsing is entirely bug free at the moment anyway.

Look, Cowon programmers just get bored coding the same old thing all the time.
It's like "mp3, ogg, playlists, working shuffle..." over and over again, in an endless cycle. Now they get an opportunity to code something elese for a change; what do you think they are going to do?
Oh those poor darling progammers! [cry]
I get tired of selecting songs over and over again and having the D2 randomly decide to play me another one. If the Cowon programmers cannot fix such a trivial, obvious problem in 3 or 4 months, they all need to be fired ASAP. This is not a complicated task - I've done similar things myself, I'm not just guessing here. So, either they're totally incompetent, or (more likely) they're just enjoying themselves adding all these fancy new features instead of fixing well known, long standing bugs. Bugfixing might not be very attractive compared to adding new features, but when the bugs in question are so important to the main purpose of the device, I just do not understand why they won't fix them.

[victorvd]

with about 6 different flash type programs, looking good so far.

Could you tell us what kind of programs that are? Will Cowon release them too? And will the programs be visible in the utilitys screen?

[hallix]

I repeat my previous question for iaudio bunny and also does flash include the functions that are available for the clix 2: moving backgrounds, themes, fonts and flash utilities like a calculator and dictionary and finally is it macrodmedia flash lite 2.1 or is it earlier. thank you for your time

[Rouge8]

you could always browse by folder. its far easier anyway.

The wrong track often starts playing there as well. It's really annoying.

[AussiePie]

Thanks for the feedback about some up and coming additions iBunny [smile]

[calcheese]

yeah, thanks iaudio bunny!

im quite excited about this new feature. I've been using the dictionary and the notepad a lot and im sure i'll use some fo the programs too. Although there are still some issues to be sorted out (ie with shuffling, id tags etc), music still plays very well in the D2 and therefore im completely happy with the proposed new firmware! :D

[adr]

Is why they keep adding stuff like Flash support, to distract people from the longstanding bugs? Maybe Mr Floppy Ears could pass on my comments to the developers?

[harbottle]

Is why they keep adding stuff like Flash support, to distract people from the longstanding bugs? Maybe Mr Floppy Ears could pass on my comments to the developers?


In software it's called "Gold Plating." Adding features that look good but may introduce more problems and bugs and prevent the engineers working on stuff that needs fixing.

The D2 is a nifty little device - my work colleagues all swooned when they saw it playing a video - but the firmware needs some work on the basics. I've got a permanent "reset" device with me (A paperclip!) as freezing seems to be a common problem when playing FLAC files.

Battery life is incredible. I'm in awe of this aspect.

[adr]

Can't argue with the battery life, it was what finally convinced me to get the D2, I wanted a player that could go a couple of days without recharging. Pity the software team isn't keeping up with the hardware team.

[calcheese]

let's be realistic here...the D2 has so much potential to be enhanced by adding new features. These new and fun features are what will bring most of the customers in. At the moment Cowon seems to be reserved for audiophiles and those who do serious research for mp3 players. The general public will be drawn in by the notepad, dictionary, potential for programs and video and other additional features while taking music as a given.

Music playability isn't going to distinguish the D2 from an iPod in the mind of an average listener.

I'm glad Cowon is enabling new features on the device. It's not like they are completely disregarding the bugs. They've fixed some and others still need a bit more work. Maybe after they've finished developing new features, they will fully concentrate on fixing all the bugs.

[adr]

let's be realistic here...the D2 has so much potential to be enhanced by adding new features. These new and fun features are what will bring most of the customers in. At the moment Cowon seems to be reserved for audiophiles and those who do serious research for mp3 players. The general public will be drawn in by the notepad, dictionary, potential for programs and video and other additional features while taking music as a given.

Music playability isn't going to distinguish the D2 from an iPod in the mind of an average listener.

I'm glad Cowon is enabling new features on the device. It's not like they are completely disregarding the bugs. They've fixed some and others still need a bit more work. Maybe after they've finished developing new features, they will fully concentrate on fixing all the bugs.
How many times do I have to say this? There are major bugs in the fundamental functionality of the device. It's first and foremost a music/video player (ignoring the fact that everyone wants to turn it into a PDA for some weird reason), and yet you can't use it in that way without encountering these bugs. If Cowon want their players to be more popular, I think it'd be a damn good idea to make basic things like track selection actually work. Would you use a car that occasionally decided to slam on the brakes while you were driving, or a calculator that would randomly return the wrong answer?

[calcheese]

I know you're really annoyed with the bugs but I maintain my position that the D2 functions sufficiently as a DAP and I stand in faith that soon enough the developers at Cowon will iron the problems out . I admit there are bugs with the device but I have enough patience to not get so worked up about it. If you really want the developers to listen, it might pay to be a bit more polite and courteous instead of ranting and raving. You're beginning to sound like a broken record (forgive the cliche)

[adr]

I know you're really annoyed with the bugs but I maintain my position that the D2 functions sufficiently as a DAP and I stand in faith that soon enough the developers at Cowon will iron the problems out . I admit there are bugs with the device but I have enough patience to not get so worked up about it. If you really want the developers to listen, it might pay to be a bit more polite and courteous instead of ranting and raving. You're beginning to sound like a broken record (forgive the cliche)
Can you blame me? I've had my D2 since right after it was released in the UK, and I've seen several firmware "upgrades" introduce new features (fine, even if I'll never use them) and new, very serious bugs. I've been buying Cowon DAPs for years, and the D2 is the first one I've ever had such problems with. I've tried to have patience, but I've been putting up with these bugs for months now. Every time a new firmware has been released, I've been hoping the problems would be gone, and every time I've been disappointed. What really gets me annoyed is that they are such simple things to fix - it's a few hours work, nothing more.

I'm not going to stop complaining until the bugs are gone. And I hardly think I'm "ranting and raving" either - the way this forum seems to be moderated I'd be banned if I was. If any of the Cowon developers wants to actually respond to my complaints, I would be more than happy to have a polite conversation with them, explain the problems, and help them fix it. That seems rather unlikely though. I'm beginning to think I should just start hoping that a Rockbox port for the D2 becomes a reality, I would love to be able to customise my own firmware.

[Dicky Dave]

I maintain my position that the D2 functions sufficiently as a DAP

I couldn't disagree more. I bought the D2 to function in a "jukebox" mode, randomly selecting tracks from my music collection. While this is possible, the fact that a song can be repeated after only a couple of other tracks detracts from the listening experience. You bought a PMP that made no claim to support Flash or a notepad, either now or in future firmware releases. I bought a PMP that claimed to support ID3 tags, playlists and Shuffle mode, none of which I feel it does to a satisfactory level.

adr, myself and others have been politely raising these issues since around February. Cowon does not seem to be listening so we are starting to get a little annoyed. If you think that Flash and a notepad are going to swing the masses over to Cowon you are sadly mistake. Most, if not all of us, are Cowon devotees giving Cowon time to address these issues. "Joe Public" will not. Take a look at other PMP forums and Cowon is considered a joke since it cannot provide basic functionality.

I have been a Software Engineer for over 15 years and part of the job sadly is to fix bugs in boring shitty code. What I wouldn't give to be able to give my customers the bird in order to work on cool stuff all the time but unfortunately they are not willing to put up with such an attitude. Make the source code open source and I will fix it myself!

Sorry to rant and rave but I take exception to others telling me how I should feel about my D2. My comments are directed at Cowon and not those wanting Flash. Your comments are directed at me, adr and others.

[seifip]

I know you're really annoyed with the bugs but I maintain my position that the D2 functions sufficiently as a DAP and I stand in faith that soon enough the developers at Cowon will iron the problems out . I admit there are bugs with the device but I have enough patience to not get so worked up about it. If you really want the developers to listen, it might pay to be a bit more polite and courteous instead of ranting and raving. You're beginning to sound like a broken record (forgive the cliche)

Agreed.

[calcheese]

sorry to rant and rave but I take exception to others telling me how I should feel about my D2.

My comments largely state my viewpoint on this matter. None of them are intended to insult or offend any of you who have vocalised your problems. I merely have a problem with some of you repeatedly going on about the same issues in almost any thread related to firmware. I was excited to learn what iAudio Bunny had to say about the new firmware and to read the same complaints in this thread only spoils the fun. I don't have a problem with you guys complaining but don't you think you have enough threads about the firmware bugs and enough posts about your issues with the D2 developers?

So please don't get me wrong, I haven't told you how you should feel about your D2.

If you think that Flash and a notepad are going to swing the masses over to Cowon you are sadly mistake....Take a look at other PMP forums and Cowon is considered a joke since it cannot provide basic functionality.

I know that flash support and the notepad isnt going to swing the masses to Cowon. They are merely features that will separate the D2 from the rest of the offerings in an already saturated market. I've had plently superior DAPs to the ipod and yet the D2 is the only one that has had any serious attention from friends, family and onlookers. Why? I can 100% guarantee it's not because it sounds so good. "Joe Public" doesn't care much about that. It's the touch screen, the notepad and the potential it has for other uses. And you should know that forums are rarely a reliable reflection of the general public climate.

If you really want to direct your comments to Cowon, why not collate all the problems everyone's been experiencing into one simple document and send it to them directly. This thread is about the upcoming firmware and possible inclusion of Flash support.

We've digressed enough, lets get back on topic.

[MaxSt]

I admit there are bugs with the device but I have enough patience to not get so worked up about it.

Patience? You know about that bug where id3v2.4 UTF-8 tags are dispayed as chinese characters?

The bug hit all the Cowon players starting from October 2006:

A2: http://www.iaudiophile.net/forums/showthread.php?t=12161
i6: http://www.iaudiophile.net/forums/showthread.php?t=12522
U3: http://www.iaudiophile.net/forums/showthread.php?t=13433
D2: http://www.iaudiophile.net/forums/showthread.php?t=13130

It should take 10-15 minutes to fix it, not 7 months. Especially considering it worked fine before.



Frankly, I think it won't be fixed. Ever.

[tamanaco]

Why doesn't Cowon split the development in two branches that are merged when both branches are stable at future intervals. This way they serve both audiences.
1.) A branch with the core funtions and bug fixes (Fully supported)
2.) A branch with the core funtions, new features and bug fixes (Use at your own risk)

This approach is a little bit more complex and requires more resources, but in end they might end up with a more stable product. This also keeps the audiences that want stable core functions and those that want new features separated. They have already done something similar by separating the code targeted for different markets with 2.xx and 3.xx firmware releases. Just a thought.

[DukeZed]

Yep my music is sorted via folders into 2 types of folders - those named as albums or all of one artist, and those with a theme or genre (ie 'soundtrack', 'instrumental - piano', 'vocal - relax' etc) so I don't use the browser. My music has always been sorted this way even on my M6 and YP-U2. If I misunderstand the problem as being with the id3 database not linking to files correctly rather than within the folder navigation I apologise. It's understandable though where all these people are coming from. Hell even iriver didn't fix their non-random shuffle problem with the H300 series for a long time though many complained.

[james.miller]

The wrong track often starts playing there as well. It's really annoying.

that's weird, i've never had that problem

[Rouge8]

that's weird, i've never had that problem

Lucky (http://iaudiophile.net/forums/showthread.php?t=14936).