Case Studies

 

Sling
“EMCC Software has developed the client that provides the Audible®Air service on Symbian smartphones. We are very pleased to have chosen EMCC software, they are more than a supplier, always trying to go the extra mile”

Chia-Lin Simmons VP, Strategic Alliances, Audible

The challenge

Audible, Inc. is the leading provider of audio entertainment and information on the Internet. Audible subscribers can select and download a range of spoken books, newspapers, magazines and other audio content – over 8,000 titles are available. The audio files are held in a proprietary format, and are protected via
Digital Rights Management (DRM) to avoid content piracy.

Downloading content can be done at any time, but users would typically schedule these overnight, so for example, they could listen to the daily newspaper on the commute to work.

Audible’s traditional user base download content to their PCs or Macs and then transfer the content to their iPod, MP3 player or other device. When Audible wanted to extend their range of supported devices to include Symbian based smartphones, they turned to EMCC.

Our role & achievements

Initially EMCC developed a prototype to illustrate that the standard Audible player could be implemented on a mobile phone without affecting the phone’s normal operation and usability. Following this successful demonstration, the full functionality was developed for a range of S60 2nd edition phones, and a subsequent project developed the application for the new range of UIQ phones.

Performance of the device during playback was critical, requiring
engine code to be fully optimised to maximise efficiency. To achieve optimal playback performance, the engine code was separated into 2 core components. One of these, the playback component, focused on the reading, decoding and streaming of audio, whilst the other dealt with scanning for programs on the device, handling user input, and other non-time critical functionality. This enabled the application to prioritize the playback
component, ensuring that audio was streamed smoothly and without interruption even when the application was in the background and the processor was in heavy use.

The integrated content downloader provides a powerful mechanism forscheduling full downloads, partial downloads and refreshing of books. Users can select the titles that they wish to be automatically refreshed at a time that is suitable and no further user input is required. The application automatically connects to the Audible server to retrieve the unheard content and removes
listened to content thereby reducing storage requirements on the device.

Details of the latest subscription issues are also automatically retrieved from the Audible server, with new issues for the subscription the user is interested in downloaded as they become available without any further input requirement from the user.

Key features and benefits

  • Easy to use audio player for Audible content.
  • Displays cover art and description of content on device.
  • Enables user to browse online library of content.
  • Download direct to the phone.
  • Intelligent download allows scheduling, partial downloads and automatic content refreshing.
  • Subscriptions can be scheduled such that new issues are downloaded immediately they become available.
  • Seamlessly handles incoming calls, messages and audio interruptions by other applications.
  • Customisable appearance using skins.
  • Supports S60 2nd Edition and UIQ 3.0 handsets.

Key benefits

  • Application is to ship in the box with the new UIQ devices thereby increasing customer reach.

Technologies

  • Symbian OS
  • SOAP
  • XML, RSS
  • ACELP speech codec
  • S60 2nd Edition phones including Nokia 6260, 6630, 6670, 6680
  • UIQ 3.0 phones including Sony Ericsson W950i, M600i, P990i


If you would like any further information on any aspects of this case study please contact technology@emccsoft.com

 

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