The Core Player - a fresh look

Having recently reviewed the new Kinoma Player for Windows Mobile, I thought it only fair to take a fresh look at The Core Player. It has been available for some time now, and has had a chance to mature from its humble beginnings as the open source TCPMP.

The Core Player boasts:

• Built-In YouTube Support
• Bluetooth ready!* (A2DP and AVRCP)
• Podcast, Enhanced Podcast, CoreCaster Ready
• GPU support: Intel 2700g, ATI Imageon, QTv, Marvell Monahan Processors (more coming soon!)
• Operating System Support: Symbian (all), CE (3.x - 4.x), Windows Mobile/Smartphone (5.x - 6.x), Palm. (Linux for OEM only)
• CPU Support: ARM9, ARM11, MIPS
• CoreUI 'Universal skins' Widget. Allows you to create a unique custom user interface exactly how you want it!
• Best in Class audio and video codecs like CoreAVC our High Definition H.264 video decoder
• CoreTheque media library allows for easy management of your playlists and bookmarks

Since it was first on their list, I'll start with youtube support. (As always, there are screen shots to illustrate.) Clicking the youtube logo on the main Core Player screen takes you to a listings view so that you can choose to search videos by Most Discussed, Top Rated, Most Viewed, etc. From this screen you can also search any youtube video. I decided to search my own small collection of videos, and entered my youtube user name in the search bar. My listings came up immediately. Unfortunately, none of my videos would play! I got the little "wait, wait!" spiral that went round and round until I got tired of waiting for a video to start. Next I tried one of the popular categories, picking at random...with the same result. (I thought it might be my connection, so I tried the same things using Kinoma, and was instantly rewarded with youtube video.)

Next I attempted a podcast. Evidently their idea of podcast support differs from mine. By finding the exact url of the mp3 from a podcast, I was able to listen to two of three podcasts I attempted. Mobility Today and TCPJ worked great: msmobiles, not so great. I would not bother using The Core Player for podcasts - it's just too much work.

On a positive note, A2DP audio worked well - however, it worked just fine on the free TCPMP. I did not test AVRCP.

The Core Player stands out as a video player. There are so many options available for video, that there is no reason not to have an enjoyable video experience. While I had to tweak settings on a per video basis, I was able to view the videos on my Class 4 (read: slow speed) 8GB SDHC card with no problems. The video was clear, the audio (after some tweaking) in sync with he video, and quite acceptable.

I had been quite impressed with the way Kinoma handled photos, and was looking forward to seeing what The Core Player offered here. I was disappointed. The Core Player allows you to view your photos. Period. There is no option to zoom. There is no option to do anything but look at the photos, either full screen, or in the player window. You can, however, start a slide show of all the photos you have in a directory.

Finally, I listened to some audio files. There's not much to say here. Your only limitations are the hardware of your device. The Core Player handles audio smoothly, in a variety of formats.

The only major difference between the $29.95 Core Player, and its free sibling TCPMP is the ability to stream. From what I've seen, The Core Player doesn't stream well enough to warrant $29.95 - or even just $0.95! If Kinoma would offer .avi support and selective scans, they would have this market locked down.