Musicstation is not all bad

Dear INQ,

An interesting article ... Mobile Music service disappoints.

I had my doubts about the app after trying it at a trade fair. I think it only works on branded phones because it uses DRM [Digital Rights Management], and it is impossible to download tracks with DRM using Java, unless the JVM is modified.

That would explain the necessity to use Vodafone branded handsets as there are modified in the factory. Secondly, volume control does not function the same on all handsets.

On Sony Ericsson phones, the master volume is outside the control of Java, meaning you have to use the volume buttons and cannot use the Java app to do so. A design fault of the handset I think, and it leads to that silliness in the app.

On the subject of automatically recognising supported file formats, when a mobile uses the web browser to connect to a web page to download an application, it always gives the user agent in the header request.

This user agent string almost always includes the phone model - thus it is a trivial matter to know which version of the app to deploy and then what type of encoding to use for downloads.

Ronan

Tony Dennis replies ... You're right. It's poor Java and out of Omnifone control. Perhaps, the company should pick a better demo handset next time!