Using MyStrands Social Player™ 2.6 Beta

Logging into MyStrands

Application prompts for your MyStrands Account. If yes, you must fill settings form with required information such as:

1. Email: The email account used during MyStrands registration.
2. Password
3. Access Point: The access point to use when an Internet connection is required.
4. Internet Usage Level: There are four different options.
   1. Connected: to be online at all times
   2. Disconnected: offline at all times
   3. Prompted: prompted every time the applications needs to be connected
   4. Startup: prompted at startup only
5. Request size: Number of items retrieved in Internet requests. Low values will mean less expense and time, high values more expense and time but also more data. For example, setting this field to 2, and issuing a "Get Recommendations" request, we'll retrieve only two recommended tracks. This value applies to all requests in the application, except for MyFriends request.
6. Visible/Invisible.

If you don't have a MyStrands account, you can create a new account directly from the application; a web browser will be opened. Without a completed registration, Social Player can perform as a simple music player but won't have advanced functionality, such as community or recommendations.

User Validation

If you are a new user, or have changed your settings, the application will validate your user information with the MyStrands server. At this time, you will be asked: "This action requires an Internet connection. Do you accept any charges related to this communication?".

Library Synchronization

After your user information is validated, the application prompts you for library synchronization. This process is very important for the application as it allows our system to give better recommendations and information based on your music library.

Please note that your music should be in one of these directories:

• C:\
• C:\Data\
• C:\Data\Others\
• C:\Data\Sounds\
• C:\Data\Sounds\Digital\
• C:\Data\Sounds\Simple\
• C:\Data\Videos\
• E:\
• E:\Data\
• E:\Data\Others\
• E:\Data\Sounds\
• E:\Data\Sounds\Digital\
• E:\Data\Sounds\Simple\
• E:\Data\Videos\
• E:\Sounds\
• E:\Sounds\Digital\
• E:\Sounds\Simple\
• E:\MyMusic\
• E:\Others\

If synchronization fails for some reason, it can be tried again from the MyMusic view options panel (Main Menu -> My Music).

Main Menu

The main menu consists of these options:

1. My Music
2. Now Playing
3. Hot Recs
4. Who's Listening
5. My Friends

My Music

All of your music can be found under this option and will appear ordered by tracks, artists, albums or playlists. Choose the one you prefer for displaying your music. Selectable lists will be presented to the users. From these views, users can select items to play, and create their playlists. Once items have been selected, users can proceed to Options -> Play, for playing. This will move the application to the Now Playing View.

Now Playing

This is the info that is shown from the top to the bottom:

1. Album art (top left), if available. A default one otherwise.
2. Currently playing track (top center-right)
3. Current time over control panel
4. Control Panel. Buttons for previous track, playing, pause, stop and going to the next track in the playlist.
5. Volume control.
6. Next scheduled track.

The volume and control panel are accessible from the joystick. Right/Left switches between buttons in the control panel. Up/down moves increase or decrease the volume.

Note: With our tabbed view schema, right and left are also used to switch between views. For instance, from now playing view, a right click will shift the focus to the Stop button and a subsequent right move to the Next button, but a third click to the right will switch the application to the Recommendations view. On the top of the screen, the application shows small icons indicating the previous and next views.

Hot Recommendations

Both from the Now Playing view and Options views, you can get recommendations for the currently playing track. The recommendations view will be activated once the request has been completed. The result will be a list of recommended tracks, or "None available". If the returned list is not empty, you can play clips returned using the option menu: Options -> Play. The Now Playing view will be activated again for playing clips (30 - 40 seconds in total). If any any problem arises while streaming, an error message will be shown. Clips are currently working in Europe, but not in the US.

Who's Listening?

A list of users who that last played the currently playing track. You can view their name, image and when they played the track. You can then view a user history. Also, you can add that user as a friend.

My Friends

This view shows a user's list of contacts. You can send one an SMS.

Mobile Web Site

You can go to the MyStrands mobile web site, m.mystrands.com, and find out more information on track, artist, album or user.

Preferences

From any view you may choose "Settings" to update your preferences.

Release Notes for version 2.6.0

Application have been tested with the following devices: Nokia N91, Nokia E60, Nokia N80, and Nokia E50. Application should work smoothly with any device with Symbian OS v9, and screen resolution of 176 x 208, 352 x 416 or 240 x 320.

Social Player has taken the concept of a mobile music player and has enhanced it greatly. Users can not only play their favorite MP3 files but can also discover and play new music of their liking, meet new people with similar tastes, find out how much their music is played and by whom. Much more coming soon!