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DRM VMA Player

rickbear

Lurker
Apr 25, 2010
8
1
Sorry, if this has been asked, but somehow the search-function seems to loop forever...

My public library offers DRM protected Audiobooks which you can listen to for 30 days. I usually do that from my PC at home. But sometimes when travelling I'd like to listen to them from my portal devices like my Android phone.

When I search Google Play (Market), there is nothing able to play them. Can it really be, that there are no capable DRM WMA players for Android?

As a software developer myself I definitlely see a gap in the market for a potential application, but I don't know much about DRM and wonder there must be a reason why there after "so many" years of android history is this gap and no applications to play DRM WMA?

What does it take to implent it?
 
Thanks for your reply and sorry for my late one. I haven't used this forum much and thought I would get an email when there was a reply.

The Google Play Music looks like it's a good player on the Google Play site. Unfortunately I can't download it. It says it requires Android 2.2. I have an HTC Legend with 2.2 and an eeePC 900 installed with 3.2 and none of them can install it. When I read the description I can see why. It says: "Available in the U.S. only." and I am from Denmark. When I go to the website I can't even see detailed description. It just says: "We're sorry. The Google Play music player is currently only available in the United States.".

It seems strange, but I guess it's because I can see in the description: "All your music is stored online". Maybe there are some digital rights which are not working for other places than U.S.?
 
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Thanks again.
I've now tried PowerAmp and WinAmp. PowerAmp says it's unable to play this kind of format. WinAmp claims that the Phone (does it mean itself or actualy the phone?) is not able to play this kind of format.
I've not tried AudioGalaxy. The description says it can play WMA files but only DRM-free formats. Beside of that it would mean I would have a server/computer turned on all time while I am gone and also risking that the sound is chunky when traveling by train and totally gone when travelling by plane. I would not even start to talk about country roaming prices ;o) Else a nice idea...
 
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Sorry, if this has been asked, but somehow the search-function seems to loop forever...

My public library offers DRM protected Audiobooks which you can listen to for 30 days. I usually do that from my PC at home. But sometimes when travelling I'd like to listen to them from my portal devices like my Android phone.

When I search Google Play (Market), there is nothing able to play them. Can it really be, that there are no capable DRM WMA players for Android?

TBH I think the only thing that supports DRM WindowsMediaAudio is Windows Media Player running on Windows. Can't even play play them on a Mac or iOS devices, not DRM'd WMA files.

Windows Mobile and Windows Phone devices should play them, as well as Microsoft "Plays For Sure" certified PMPs.
 
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TBH I think the only thing that supports DRM WindowsMediaAudio is Windows Media Player running on Windows.... ....Windows Mobile and Windows Phone devices should play them, as well as Microsoft "Plays For Sure" certified PMPs.
I start to get afraid that you are right. The library has a "how to" for transfering the DRM WMA to a mobile device. They don't write anything about a windows mobile device. They only write that the mobile device has to support DRM 10. Maybe that indirectly means windows?

I still wonder why it's not been implemented for other devices?
 
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I start to get afraid that you are right. The library has a "how to" for transfering the DRM WMA to a mobile device. They don't write anything about a windows mobile device. They only write that the mobile device has to support DRM 10. Maybe that indirectly means windows?

Yup that's pretty much what it means. Windows and any mobile device which is compatible with Windows Media DRM 10. Which is not Android or iOS devices. I'm sure many of the cheap MP3 players are compatible though, like the Creative Labs ones. I had a Creative Labs Zen V player and used to rent DRM'd WMA music from Napster a few years ago.


I still wonder why it's not been implemented for other devices?

Cost I guess. Windows Media DRM is readily available and easy to implement, as long as everyone is using Windows and DRM WMA compatible devices.

Audible does DRM'd audiobook rentals that work on many devices, including Android, iOS, Blackberry, Symbian, Windows, Mac, etc. But I'm sure they're using something that they've developed themselves, in-house.

I guess they've got to have DRM on audiobook rentals, keep the publishers happy.
 
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