Doppler 3.0 Beta 2 has been released. Check it out here:

http://www.dopplerradio.net/doppler-30-beta-2

There are numerous fixes. An overview of the new features and main fixes:

• Conversion to bookmarkable AAC (M4B) files is back
• You can now cancel multiple downloads (control click or shift click the current downloads and right click to show the menu to cancel them)
• Double clicking an ongoing download will cancel that download
• After you cancel a download you will be asked what to do with it, cancel and retrieve later, or cancel and never download again
• You can now control the history from the posts view. Right click a post and select the appropriate menu option.
• You can use a new ‘remote storage’ feature, which allows you to upload you feed subscriptions and download history to either an FTP site or a windows share or directory (for instance to an USB stick). Using that you can run multiple instances of Doppler (say, at home or at work) and still make sure those instances stay in sync so you don’t download the same podcast twice.
• We’ve added an Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) column in the downloads pane, which tells you how many minutes to wait.
• When adding a playlist to iTunes, those playlists will end up in the Doppler category/folder. This will be configurable in an upcoming release.
• You can opt now to not show the ’site icons’ (favicons) in the list of feeds.
• You can opt now to never show the embedded media player (that option is in the ‘view’ menu)
• Scheduling downloads has been fixed
• Double clicking a feed which reports an error will open the log.
• You can active a spacesaver that will remove podcasts you’ve listened to. The spacesaver will monitor the playcount of the podcast in either iTunes or Windows Media Player.
• We’ve split up the ‘Add to Windows Media Player/M3U’ option in two separate options.

Well, it’s almost finished. It’s happily running on my local PC, all day long, retrieving podcasts every hour. Fixed a lot, and implemented some new things (which where already on the list to be implemented, and there are still things on the list which will probably pop up in Beta 3).

What can you expect (in random order)

• Space savers now work both in iTunes and WMP.
• Conversion to M4B (e.g. Bookmarkable AAC) is back due to many requests.
• Podcasts added to iTunes will now be marked as excluded from shuffle (will be configurable in beta 3).
• There is now an option to upload your feed subscriptions and your download history to a remote location (FTP and fileshare support, which also allows you to take your subscriptions and download history on a USB stick for instance).
• Added the option to start a retrieve right after startup of Doppler.
• During setup you can now choose where to install shortcuts (startup folder, desktop, quicklaunch bar).
• Default feed settings now transfer correctly to newly added feeds.
• There is a new space saver: remove podcasts you have been listening to. It check for the playcount in both iTunes and Windows Media Player.
• You can now add and remove podcasts to and from the history from the posts pane. Right click to see the context menu.
• Double click on a post will open that post in a webbrowser.
• Double click on a file in the file pane will open that file in the default application registered for that file.
• When an error occurs while checking a feed, double clicking the error message in the feed will open the logfile.
• If you never use the embedded media player (it slows a bit down when clicking through the posts) you can hide it.
• Changed the add feed dialog to be simpler. Advanced properties are still availabe if required.
• Right click on the system tray icon will give you several more menu options.
• Fixed a bug in the downloader causing feeds from FeedBurner (among others) not to download correctly.
• Double clicking a downloading podcast in the download pane will cancel that download. Right click context menu is also still available.

And numerous other bugfixes…

So when will it be out? Well, as said, it’s sort of finished. However, as I will be offline the coming week I will not release it. Releasing software and going offline for a week is not considered a ‘good thing’ So you will have to wait for at least one more week. I’m back online at the 18th.

In order to prevent double bug reports, we’ve created a list of currently known issues regarding Doppler 3.0 Beta 1.

You can find the list here

If you encounter an issue with Doppler 3.0 Beta 1 currently not in this list, please contact us.

After a long wait for many of you… finally it’s here: Doppler 3.0 beta 1.

Notice the word ‘beta’. It is. Very much actually.

It’s looks rather different from the 2.0.0.3 version, still, you will be able to find your way around if you’ve been using version 2.0.0.3.

Important:

If you are already running Doppler, start Doppler now, do a retrieve, get all the latest podcasts in, and export your feed subscriptions to an OPML file. Currently Doppler 3 will not migrate your Doppler 2.0.0.3 settings and subscriptions.

Then uninstall Doppler 2.0.0.3.

You need the .NET 2.0 framework installed on your machine. If you do not have this, you will be offered to go a site hosted by Microsoft to download the framework. I do realize that the page you end up with might be confusing. You need to download and install the

.NET Framework Version 2.0 Redistributable Package

After that has been installed, run the Doppler setup again and Doppler should install without a problem. When you start Doppler, you will be asked for the location of your download folder. Point it to the same location as you used with Doppler 2.0.0.3.
Now import your exported feed subscriptions into Doppler 3.0 beta 1. After you’ve imported your subscriptions run catch-up all from the (make sure you’ve marked the feeds, optionally by selecting ‘mark all’) and your download history should be the same as it was.

One final step: go to tools, options, media player and pick the media player of your choice (iTunes or Windows Media Player. If you use a media player that supports M3U playlists, pick Windows Media Player).

Please be aware: this is beta. Things can go wrong. That’s why we call it a beta. We would love to hear your feedback, what you like, what you hate, and what you really miss from 2.0.0.3 (yes, we removed some features that weren’t used a lot)

We are working on a getting started guide, however we will wait with that after all the things have been smoothened out. Also we will introduce some new features in the upcoming betas so Doppler 3 beta 1 is not feature complete yet.

Right now Doppler 3.0 beta 1 supports 3 languages, English, Dutch and Swedish. Other languages will be introduced in upcoming releases.

So again: this is a beta. Things can (and probably will) go wrong. Don’t say I didn’t tell you

Ready? Download! (620 Kb)

I’ll be speaking at the upcoming Developer & IT Pro Days conference to be held on the 7th and 8th of March in Ghent, Belgium. An abstract:

Windows Mobile 5.0: Features & Functionality!
Learn all about the Windows Mobile 5.0 release, product futures, and get a peak at upcoming devices from our OEMs. Windows Mobile 5.0 is just a starting point for the breakthrough mobile software platform we are building. This session will provide a look at the exciting world of Windows Mobile 5.0 and you will learn how to reuse your existing Microsoft Visual Studio and Microsoft .NET Framework skills to develop a line-of-business (LOB) application for a Windows Mobile-based device. We will begin with the basics of building, deploying, and debugging a Windows Mobile application by using Visual Studio 2005. By using the .NET Compact Framework and Windows Mobile SDK, we will then walk through the steps of developing the application to effectively address LOB business needs on a mobile device. By the end of the session we will complete the application by using SQL Mobile to provide persistent storage and query capabilities. Attend this session to familiarize yourself with the tools and technologies used in developing Windows Mobile applications.

I’ll be walking around during the event so if you have any questions and want to speak to me in person about Doppler and/or DopplerMobile, drop me an email if you’re coming, so we can arrange a meet-up.

To all our readers, users, testers, and all the rest of you out there: have a GREAT 2006!

For us a lot of exciting things are going to happen in 2006: The release of DopplerMobile, and, probably the most anticipated event for all Doppler users: the release of Doppler 3.0! Yes, it’s going to happen, and soon!

This month (I assume you are reading this in January) we are going to release the first public beta of Doppler 3.0. Whereas until now Doppler was always tested in a closed beta setup, we are changing things to a public beta. And for those of you who wonder, why we came up with a mobile version while you where all expecting Doppler 3.0: DopplerMobile actually contains a lot of code straight from Doppler 3.0! So basically it means when we’re working on DopplerMobile we’re working on Doppler 3.0 too.

Just a (very brief) overview of the things upcoming in Doppler 3.0:

• a completely new RSS parser
• embedded media player for both audio -and- video, supporting streaming of podcasts and playback of local files
• categorized feeds
• a more up to date look and feel, things have been brushed up.
• based on .NET 2.0
• NewsGator synchronization of your feeds
• A new threading model (it means that Doppler uses less resources)

Click on the image below to see a screenshot of the current build.

Tonight I spend some hours debugging and testing DopplerMobile on a HTC Universal owned by Robert Oosterhuis. It was an enlightening experience. Especially the user interface part was good to see on a real device. Robert was in The Netherlands, I was in Belgium. Using his webcam I could see what he was doing and it turned out that DopplerMobile could really use some UI enhancements for PocketPC devices.

DopplerMobile is primarily developed on a Smartphone after which I port the different versions to the other platforms. That shows in the user interface. However, as the PocketPC interface is much richer than a Smartphone interface and the way users interact with a PocketPC also differs greatly from Smartphone users, it became quite clear that enhancements where needed.

Whereas selecting a post on a Smartphone is done by a single click on the joystick, the PocketPC users have to double-click/tap. As I’m developing on an emulator running on my PC, double clicking with my mouse is not a problem at all, however, double tapping with a pen is rather different. Besides that, opening an item on a PocketPC is normally done using a single tap.
Another issue is that a PocketPC user is used to close a dialogbox using the close or ‘ok’ button at the top right. That’s different from a Smartphone user, who closes a dialogbox with a ‘done’ button at the bottom left. If you run the current released beta of DopplerMobile on a PocketPC you are actually required to close forms/dialogboxes etc by selecting the ‘done’ menu item at the bottom left. I also did not take into consideration that for field input an on screen keyboard pops up every now and then, resulting in some fields not being visible on the screen. Again, not an issue on a Smartphone. The VGA resolution of his device also showed issues with screen scaling.

So it turned out that the UI that I implemented for the PocketPC was not as intuitive as I wanted it to be. Running DopplerMobile on a real device showed me the areas which needed improvement quite clearly. A lot of the things that popped up during my session with Robert you will see implemented in Beta 4 of DopplerMobile.

I came to the conclusion that it could be really handy to have a Windows Mobile 5.0 PocketPC device around. Any sponsors out there?

Find all about it on the DopplerMobile beta download page.

A list if changes besides the numerous bugfixes:

• The smartphone version is a bit bigger in download and install, due to change of the HTML viewer. The current version supports viewing posts with images in it without the annoying scroll ‘bug’.
• When running DopplerMobile for Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC devices in VGA mode, the scrollbar is now wider
• Import OPML and NewsGator Synchronization has been moved one level down in the menu structure. Find it under ‘Sync and Import’ on the main menu.
• You can now sort the list of feeds by the number of unread posts. This means that feeds with unread posts show up on top of the list.
• You can specify the location where you want to download your podcasts
• Podcast download speed has improved considerably
• NewsGator synchronization speed has improved considerably and we fixed a lot of bugs too with NewsGator synchronization
• NewsGator user credential and location selection has been changed to a ‘wizard’ like interface. We thinks it’s better this way.

We are very interested in your feedback, especially if you are running DopplerMobile on a Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC. We only have a Pocket PC 2003 and a Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone as a physical device so we can only test DopplerMobile for WM5.0 PPC’s in the emulator.

DopplerMobile Beta has been released as a beta only two weeks ago. We are happy to hear you like are new product. We think we’re great too , but what has been published about DopplerMobile Beta?

We are new in the mobile scene and were quite surprised with the number of incoming links we received from Mobile Tech Roundup. Some other sites you can check: msmobiles.com, the unwired and Pocket PC Thoughts. Out most famous beta-tester can be found here.

Some other reviews in other languages: Italian (PocketPCItalia), French (Mobigeeks), Russian (hpc.ru), Japanese (podcastingwatch.jp), Netherlands Dutch (podcastinfo.nl and fredscapes) and Belgium Dutch (podcasting.be).

Please don’t hesitate to send us your feedback. You can help us making DopplerMobile the best mobile aggregator out there.

For all of you who experience problems synchronizing your DopplerMobile feeds with NewsGator: there seems to be a problem with the NewsGator API at newsgator.com, which we think causes the problems. We can reproduce the problem on our end and we’ve contacted NewsGator support.

We’ll update you.

Update: Other products using the NewsGator API are also reporting problems which confirms our initial post.

Second update: Just got a mail from NewsGator that things are working again. I can confirm this, works again on our end.