Wirelessly sync iTunes playlists to your Blackberry with ParkVu’s i2b.
Friday, April 3, 2009 11:24If you’re jumping up and down in excitement take a minute to read the article fully. I’m sure there are many Blackberry users out there who use iTunes as their online music store of choice. Thankfully, albeit slowly, RIM is making progress on better iTunes/Blackberry making the coporate workhorse and consumer oriented music store play respectably well together and with the latest itterations even allowing iTunes syncing to your Blackberry. ParkVu however is on the offensive and moving at a quicker clip than RIM and is already pushing the wireless syncing of iTunes music to your Blackberry. Want more info!? Just take a quick step inside.
*Update* I just got an email from Jeff from i2b and he let me know that they did away with the 100 track/1GB sync limit in favor of a straight 200 song sync limit. Also…an unlimited plan is in the works for all of you music afficienados. That should make things a little easier. Happy?
ParkVu is bringing a much requested and warranted feature to Blackberry and iTunes enthusiasts by way of i2b: wireless music syncing. Besides the normal “first time” bulk sync, you can also set i2b to sync any new music, podcast, playlist changes that are made on your computer. The features of i2b are as follows (via Berry Review via i2b):
- Favorite Playlists: Up to 25 “top played tracks”, “most recent additions”, as well as any other selected playlists can be set to automatically sync to your Blackberry allowing you live life and not worry about manually syncing every time you get new content.
- Limitless Access: Access and download your uploaded music anywhere on any cellular or WiFi network.
- “Always Available”: Access your files even if your home computer is turned off since everything is synced to the i2b cloud. Transfer up to 100 files totaling no more than 1GB from your iTunes i2b user library to your Blackberry device. When your home computer is turned on and connected to the internet, you have access to all of your iTunes playlists.
- Custom Tailored Syncing: Easily and quickly set i2b to hold off on the sync maddness while your in roaming areas as to avoid insane overage charges.
How does i2b it all work? *I can see you scratching your head*. Well, that’s where the bad news starts. In order to get the wireless sync, you have to pay a $2.99 per month fee in order to first sync your music from your computer to i2b’s online servers. Only then do the music files download to your Blackberry. Another cavaet comes in the form of a few limits. Now I already stated above that you have to pay a $2.99 monthly fee. However the exact wording their site gives is:
$2.99/month for 100 songs synched with a max of 1GB.
What happens if you go over the set ammount? I couldn’t tell you as their isn’t anything in their FAQ’s nor product page that outlines the exact overage rules. Interested users should take note that i2b only works on Windows XP and Windows Vista machines. Obviously for everythign to run smoothly, your Berry and computer need to be connected to the internet. Also, certain file types won’t work with i2b — specifically DRM laced tracks, so no pre-iTunes plus tracks kiddies (not to mention all other types of poison DRM. Your computer also must meet the following:
- 32-bit editions of Windows XP Service Pack 2
- iTunes version 7.0 or higher
- 64 and 32-bit editions of Windows Vista require iTunes version 7.2 or higher
- Not compatible Windows 2000 or Mac OS.
After spending a little time reading up on the application, to give you an idea, to me it is sort of like Simplify media’s sharing app, specifically the iPhone app that allows you to connect to your iTunes library where ever you are. The only different being Simply runs solely on your computer and you stream music from your home computer — not a cloud based server meaning if your computer is off, streaming won’t work.
Source: Berry Review Product Page
Jeff Fedor of ParkVu says:
April 3rd, 2009 at 4:22 pm
Thanks for the profile of i2b and also for pointing out the confusion and issue with the 1GB/100 Tracks max.
We’ve done away with the 1GB max and bumped the ceiling to simply 200 Tracks. Basically the 1GB max was there to add some ceilings on our infrastructure costs however upon consideration it wasn’t the right thing to do for our users.
We will also be offering an unlimited plan in the very near future, pricing to be determined.
Existing subscribers will be updated to the new 200 Track program.
thanks again.
Jeff Fedor
ParkVu
When The Lights Burn Out (Original) | Cheap-Performance-Parts.co.uk says:
April 4th, 2009 at 3:03 am
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