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How many devices do you lug around with you? For some, it might be one too many. Plenty of people carry around two cellphones/PDAs. Then there’s the digital camera and the iPod. Soon enough, we might be adding a device like the Amazon Kindle to the list. Thanks to convergence, though, many features of these devices can be found in one place: Our cellphones.
With a BlackBerry, you’ve got a phone, the Internet, email, PDA functions, and music player built right in. If you have a Pearl or a Curve — or, soon enough, a BlackBerry 9000 — you’ve got a camera. And an e-book reader is just a download away. Today we’re going to talk about using your Blackberry as an MP3 player.
I’ve mentioned the inherent problem in the adoption of mobile music before. It’s tough to get the specialization of a specific device from a converged one. That is, the iPod will always be more functional than the MP3 player on your BlackBerry because of the very nature of the devices. But some people don’t need that higher level of functionality. They just want music.
External memory
Unfortunately, your BlackBerry isn’t ready to play music out of the box. My 8830 has under 50 MB “file total” onboard memory. I have 10 applications installed, plus a custom theme, and my free memory is down to just under four megs. That will fit, if I’m lucky, one song. So no go.
The only way for me to get music on my BlackBerry is to nab an external memory card. These come in sizes from 1 GB to 8 GB, but you’ll have to check which cards are compatible with your BlackBerry.
From there, you’ll have to install your card into your device. This will be done by taking off the battery shield. In some cases, as with the Curve, you’ll have to actually pop out the battery. With the 8830, the card is inserted above the battery, as you can see illustrated below.
Media player
Next, you’ll need a media player. Thankfully, your BlackBerry comes with one preinstalled. It’s pretty basic, and allows you to browse by artist, album, or genre. You can switch between your handset speaker and speakerphone, which is nice if you’re in a crowded place and don’t have a pair of ear buds. Unfortunately, there is no fast forward or rewind options.
If you’re serious about using your BlackBerry as an MP3 player, though, you’re best off downloading a multimedia player. There are a number out there that provide fuller features than the default player. Some of them, like BerryTunes, also allow you to listen to Internet radio stations. FlipSide is another quality player, and one we’ve reviewed in the past.
Music
Finally, of course, you’ll need yourself a decent collection of music tracks. Here’s the problem: A lot of music you purchase on the Internet, including the bulk of the tracks at the iTunes store, are DRM-protected. This means that you can only copy the song on a certain number of computers, and pretty much prevents you from transferring the files to a non-iPod device.
Don’t fret. This just means an extra step is involved. The most common way to remove the DRM from your iTunes music is to burn the files to an audio CD. From there, you rip the music from the CD back to your computer, and voila! You can now transfer the songs to your BlackBerry. An alternative to this is to purchase software like NoteBurner, which simulates the burning of a CD. This is particularly helpful if you don’t have a CD burner on your computer.
Other outlets for digital music are Rhapsody, MP3.com, Amazon, and Napster, among many others. You can also check out Puretracks, which launched a digital music service for BlackBerry.
Transferring files
Oh yeah, there’s that whole issue of transferring your music from your computer to your BlackBerry. This can be done in a number of ways.
First is through the BlackBerry Desktop Software. If you have the latest version, it will have Roxio, which will allow you to move your music from your computer to your device. Thankfully, it’s a rather painless process.
If you’re a Windows user and have your microSD properly installed in your BlackBerry, it should be recognized as as mass storage device once it’s connected via a USB. You can then transfer music via Windows Explorer with ease. Once again, make sure the files you’re copying aren’t DRM-protected. Alternately, you can copy the files right to your microSD card if you have the proper hardware.
Finally, you can just email yourself the music files (or have someone email them to you). The only problem there — and this is an enormous issue for Canadian users — is that OTA downloads can end up costing you money. Most U.S. carriers do not charge for overages. But some, like Verizon, can penalize you in other ways if you go over a certain limit (it’s 5 GB with them). Plus, OTA downloads, even on EVDO, can be painfully slow.
Do you use your BB as an MP3 player?
Personally, I don’t mind carrying around my iPod, even though I’ve already got a bulky device in my BlackBerry (hey, I’ve got the OtterBox case). Do any of you use your BlackBerry to listen to tracks? If so, let us know how it is in the comments.
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14 Comments ↓
One of the first things I did when I got my BB was go out and buy the card so I could upload some This American Life for my upcoming flight. I haven’t yet listed to it full on (beyond the testing listens), but it’s still good to know I have it on there. My husband’s BB came with stereo buds (lucky guy), I was just planning on using an earplug and my regular ear bud.
Well I think it is a very convenient feature that the bb offers. I personally have a pearl and have been using it for a while now. The Mp3 player is one of the key functions outside of the email that I use on a daily basis. It’s easy to navigate and I would highly recommend to all the bb users out there that it is beneficial to function to utilize.
I have about 1.5GB of music on my 2GB card in my 8830. I listen occasionally (like on a flight). I don’t own any other music device.
I don’t think mass storage mode is enabled by default? It is enabled in the Options…MediaCard menu.
Note also if you have it enabled and get a Bluetooth sync with your PC (assuming you have the proper MS Bluetooth stack, Dell’s for example DOES NOT work), you can Bluetooth transfer to the SD card.
Mostly people believe that BlackBerry is a professional device and it has nothing to do with the music or multimedia stuff. Probably I am one those who has these gut feelings about the blackberry devices, but after reading this interesting article on Blackberry that can used as MP3 player i am impressed.
Crackberry is reporting that the new 9000 (that’s to be announced this Monday at WES) will have support for transferring music directly from your iTunes library. No mention if that means DRM’d iTunes songs or not though.
What about battery life.???
I am curious if anybody is having problems playing mp3 music files throught the new blackberry storm.I can hear them through the ear phones but not the storm.I have even switch to listen through the spk phone no success.
I’ve used my 8330 as an mp3 player for several months. My only complaint is that when listening from the headset jack there is a loud pop, or click, at the beggining and end of each song. During the click I can see the volume level icon jump. When playing through the speaker there is no popping sound. The noise is very annoying and detracts greatly from the listening experience.
I got my blackberry back in Feb 2009. I then discovered the music player and have been using it since. It’s got to the point where I’m using my iPod less and less… Now that says something! (ps. I work in an apple store :p).
NancyB: I have that same problem/ glitch thing you have when changing tracks.. That loud popping noise is my only complaint about the whole thing.
[...] to us on Twitter!The BlackBerry is now a multimedia machine. We’ve talked in the past about using your BlackBerry as an MP3 player, because music is a universal art. However, where there are MP3s there are audio books. We’ve [...]
I use my Blackberry religously with Slacker Radio and Pandora. I love both of the apps! I like listening to new music all the time and you can search for specific songs that you feel like hearing.
I recently picked up a 16gig card with the aim to use my new bb curve as an mp3 player. 2 things appealed to me.. 1: Consolidating mobile devices 2: Last.fm scrobble function on “FlipSide” player. So far, it seems to work fine. I’ve got about 8 gig of music.
My complaints are few…
-I haven’t discovered shortcuts to perform simple functions like “next”
-Songs stop when calls come in
-Volume cannot be adjusted outside of the app (Very Frustrating)
-You better enjoy coverflow navigation if you use FlipSide. There is no alternative
-Roxio is a pain in the ASS for transfering large quantities of music. Winamp isn’t much better. Make sure your music is tagged well. Flipside navigation only works by Album
In hindsight, I should have just stuck with my iPod, but I’m just hoping that better versions of media players will be released in the near future to make this worth it!
I bought the SDcard (and the rather pricy 3 channel 2.5mm headphones!)
Roxio Media Manager locks up my PC (a common problem apparently). But the SDcard allows drag&drop from Windows. (I like “simple”)
My 8800 is ok-ish for playback but the DAC is pretty poor so sound qual is not great. (Bass…what bass?)
RIM are going to lose the war if they do not take multimedia seriously.
But like you say, it’s one thing less to carry.
I have used my BB 8350 I as a mp3 for the last few months and i love it it works great at work. I brought a special blue tooth so i can listen to the music wireless (plantronics) and the battery life and fit on my ears is horrible but other than that …well…I am looking to up grade my SDHC to a 16gb if it will work
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