- BeyondPod has several options that (because they are used very rarely or are for
experimental use only) can't be configured via the user interface. However, these
options can be changed by manually modifying the Settings.xml
file located in BeyondPod's install directory on the device.
The easiest way to edit the Settings.xml file is to to close BeyondPod,
copy Settings.xml to your PC and use Notepad.exe to edit it. We recommend opening the file
in your default browser after editing it to verify that the file is still valid,
before copying it back to the device.
- Changing the UserAgent string - If your internet provider uses a proxy
that expects a specific User Agent string in the request headers, you can add the
following entry to the Settings.xml file:
<add key="UserAgent" value="Mozilla/4.0
(compatible; MSIE 6.0)" />
where the "value" contains the desired user agent. ("Mozilla/4.0
(compatible; MSIE 6.0)" is what BeyondPod uses by default).
- Text-To-Speech integration - Starting with ver 3.0, BeyondPod
can expose the content of its feeds to an external Text-To-Speech engine,
allowing you to listen to "text only" feeds. One of the popular
text-to-speech engines for Windows
Mobile devices is available from Cepstral. Cepstral is commercial software (each voice
is about $20). Cepstral offers many voices and supports several languages.
(You can download a demo voice from
http://www.cepstral.com/cgi-bin/downloads?type=1152217432 to try it out.)
Each voice comes with an application called swifttalker.exe that is used to read
the contents of any text file.
To configure BeyondPod to use a text-to-speech engine, adding the
following line to the Settings.xml file:
<add key="TTSHandler" value="\Storage Card\Program Files\Cepstral\David\swifttalker.exe
-f %1" />
where the "value" contains the path to the switfttalker.exe application installed
by the Cepstral install. (As the voice files are quite big - about 20 MB - you probably
will end up installing it on the Storage Card). Once BeyondPod detects this setting
on the next start, it will add a new "Speak Content" menu item in the Feed Content view.
Selecting the "Speak Content" will extract the text content of all items currently
displayed in the Feed Content view and give them to swifttalker to read.
You will also need to download and extract the BeyondPod Text-To-Speach
templates Zip file to the BeyondPod install folder on your device (so that the .htm
files in the zip should end up in ...Program Files\BeyondPod\TTSTemplates
folder).
The quality definitely requires some getting used to,
but if you want to be able to
"read" your text feed while driving, this is a viable (and cool) solution.
- Enabling GZIP compression - Many websites use compression to reduce the
amount of data sent to clients. BeyondPod can take advantage of this compression
to speed up some feed updates. If your device has v2 of the Compact Framework, you
can enable GZIP compression, by downloading the
SharpZipLib.dll file and placing
it in the BeyondPod installation directory
on your device. If your device has v3.5 of the compact framework, GZIP compression
is already enabled by default. You can find what versions of the Compact Framework
are installed on your device by running *cgacutil.exe* located in the \Windows directory
of the device.
- Using www.skweezer.net with BeyondPod
- Skweezer provides a free service that reformats web sites so they are easily viewable
on mobile devices. You can configure BeyondPod to use skweezer (or any other similar
service) when you click on the feed items in the Content View. Starting with
BeyondPod version 2.6.10,
both Skweezer and Google formatting engines can be selected using the Settings menu.
- Configuring what Player plays downloaded podcasts - By default, BeyondPod uses
Windows Media player as its internal player. Starting
with version 2.6.2.10, the Settings->Player menu lists the
file types (extensions) supported by the internal player. For all file types that are
not in that list, BeyondPod will launch whatever external player is configured
for that file type even if the Podcast Player is set to "Use Internal" in the Tools->Settings.
If the Podcast Player is set to "Use External," all podcasts will be played using
their respective default player and the internal player will not be used.
- Virtual Feeds - You can create "virtual" feeds from the content of any
folder on your mobile device. To do this, create and name a new feed,
but leave the feed. Then click on "More Settings >>" and select
one of the folders listed under "Podcast Download Folder." All audio/video files
in this folder will appear as "virtual podcasts"
and can be played using the built in player. You can use this for your music files,
or voice notes (if you point it to \My Documents\Notes). Note:
If you don’t want BeyondPod
to automatically delete the virtual podcasts when they finish playing, make sure
you set the "Allow Podcast Deletions" option to "No" in the Feed Properties.
- Playing Internet Radio stations - You can use "virtual feeds" to play
Internet radio stations. Just create a virtual feed for a folder that contains
Microsoft play list files (.ASX) that point to radio stations. The individual
play lists will appear as virtual podcasts, letting you stream stream
internet radio station just like you do normal feeds. For a list
of sample radio stations, download
BeyondPod_Internet_Radiostations.zip. Just unzip it, copy the entire folder
to your device and create a virtual feed for it.
BeyondScheduler
BeyondScheduler is a companion application that BeyondPod uses internally for scheduling
updates. BeyondScheduler allows you to schedule multiple tasks that can run at specific
times. It currently supports turning Flight Mode On/Off, turning Bluetooth On/Off, and
Running BeyondPod updates.
BeyondScheduler also offers experimental support for switching WiFi On/Off so that, for example,
WiFi is enabled only during feed updates. Given that various devices
use different WiFi implementations, this capability may not work correctly with all devices.
(It it known to support T-Mobile Dash, and should support other HTC devices). To use this
feature, you HAVE TO manually run BeyondScheduler.exe from BeyonhdPod's install
folder.
- The current implementation of the WiFi task has a caveat that if you turn OFF
WiFi using BeyondScheduler, you will not be able to turn it on using the built in
Comm Manager. In this case, just use BeyondScheduler to turn WiFi ON, and then use
Comm Manager to turn it OFF. As long as you turned off WiFi with the Comm Manager
it will work normally.
- Also it looks like some devices (T-Mobile DASH for example) the device needs to
be "application unlocked" in order for WiFi On/Off task to work. To unlock the
DASH I had to change only the first registry key as described in this
post [url:http://amitranjan.wordpress.com/2006/04/28/unlocking-imate-sp5/]
and then I ran the SDA_ApplicationUnlock from
[url:http://www.spv-developers.com/content/SDA_ApplicationUnlock.zip].
On some Pocket PC devices (for example on AT&T Tilt) scheduled tasks my not start
reliably (or not start at all). This has to do with a device registry setting that
specifies the time allowed to launch scheduled tasks while the device is in standby.
The key is under:
HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\Timeouts
If you set both: "BattResumingSuspendTimeout" and "ACResumingSuspendTimeout"
to 60, the tasks should start correctly.
NETCFv35.Messages.EN.wm.cab
Sometimes BeyondPod's Feed Update Log can contain a message that an error cannot
be displayed because the optional resource file NETCFv35.Messages.EN.wm.cab was
not installed. This file can normally be found on your PC
in
C:\Program Files\Microsoft.NET\SDK\CompactFramework\v3.5\WindowsCE\Diagnostics
directory. Or you can download it from
NETCFv35.Messages.EN.wm.cab. After you install this file on your mobile device,
the next time this error occurs, the log should contain the real error message.
Versions of the Compact Framework
There are multiple versions of the compact framework in use today. Some are pre-installed
in the ROM of the device, some are installed as a CAB file. BeyondPod requires version
2.0 SP1 or later to work. You can find the version of the framework installed on
your device by using File Explorer on the device, and navigating to My Device / Windows.
Run the program
cgacutil and a dialog will appear displaying one
or more build numbers. These numbers will tell you what version of the Compact Framework
is installed.
- CF1.0 RTM = 1.0.2268.0
- CF1.0 SP1 = 1.0.3111.0
- CF1.0 SP2 Recall = 1.0.3226.0
- CF1.0 SP2 Beta = 1.0.3227.0
- CF1.0 SP2 Final = 1.0.3316.0
- CF1.0 SP3 = 1.0.4292.00
- CF2.0 RTM = 2.??
- CF2.0 SP1 = 2.0.6129.0 - Installed by default on most WM5 devices
- CF2.0 SP2 = 2.0.7045.0 - Installed by default on most WM6 devices
- CF3.5 = 3.5.7283.0 - (latest known available)
It is recommended that you try to use the latest version if possible - currently
CF3.5. Be sure to install the Compact Framework in
Main Storage (not the SD card). Version 3.5 of the Compact Framework can be downloaded
from
Microsoft Web Site. Keep in mind that multiple versions of the Compact Framework
can be installed on the same device at the same time. (For example you can have
both CF2.0 SP2 and CF3.5 installed)
Where are all BeyondPod settings stored?
BeyondPod uses 4 files to store all its settings:
- Settings.xml - various global (not per-feed) settings, including the
global list of categories
- TrackState.xml - all feed subscriptions and related feed settings such
as spacesavers. (BeyondPod creates a backup copy of this file - named TrackState.xml.bak
- every time the file gets saved.)
- BeyondPodHistory.bin - the podcast download history for all feeds
- BeyondPodItemHistory.bin - the read/unread status of the items from all
feeds
BeyondScheduler has only 1 configuration file:
- ScheduledTasks.xml - stores the information for all scheduled tasks
If you back up the files llisted above, you will be able to restore BeyondPod after a hard
reset. Also, these settings files aren't automatically deleted by the BeyondPod uninstall.
This keeps users from having to start from scratch if they upgrade to a newer version
of BeyondPod. Thus, if you want to completely uninstall BeyondPod, you will
have to manually remove these configuration files.
Useful Links