Kinoma Play
There are many applications for Windows Mobile that claim to be an all-in-one media app, but most of them leave a lot to be desired. Some have multiple functions, but lack graphical allure. Others have beautiful GUIs, but are missing basic functionality. There is one app, however, that developers and designers should follow by example. Kinoma Play is mistakenly known to some as just another capable media player, but it’s actually quite a powerful all-in-one app. In fact, some wouldn’t hesitate to call it the best all-in-one media application for Windows Mobile. I would have to concur and here’s why.
Read it from BestWindowsMobileApps.com
Kinoma Play’s interface is stunning. Throughout the app, you will find smooth animations and nice looking menus to go along with many great features. All the screens and apps within Kinoma Play have kinetic scrolling or a bounce back response, much like the iPhone. Powered by your device’s accelerometer, the screen even rotates when you turn it. The home screen has big, finger friendly icons and a cool sliding panel scheme that’s customizable. By tapping and holding on an icon, you’re able to move it anywhere you want on that screen. In addition, you can change the background of the home screen. Speaking of customizing, Kinoma allows you to download and add different apps, or widgets, to the home screen; so you’re not restricted to what comes preloaded on Kinoma Play.
To enjoy the full Kinoma experience, you will want to install the advanced settings app first. This will let you set the X button to close, choose file associations, pick which folders you want scanned for content and more. Other apps available for download include: an app store, audible, box.net, FaceBook, Twitter, Flickr, Picasa, Flights, Google Reader, News (RSS reader), iDisk, Kinoma Guide, last.fm, Live365, Orb, SHOUTcast, Start, Yelp, and Youtube. To get a quick preview of what you’re able to do with Kinoma, I recommend getting started with the search function and Kinoma Guide. The search and Kinoma guide are easy ways to search for content and they supply quick links to several of Kinoma’s features. Yes, all this in one application and that’s not even including the core features.
Kinoma Apps
Video Player
The traditional media features of Kinoma Play are first rate. The music player, video player and picture viewer alone are superb enough to make this app complete. The picture album has sliding transitions with one touch zooming, picture rotations, panning and the capability to do slideshows. The video player can play your stored TV shows, movies, personal clips and streaming videos. The music player can play just about anything and manages your songs by title, artists, albums and genres. It has all the features expected out of an advanced music player like shuffle, repeat and album art. You can slide up/down to adjust volume and flick left/right to change songs, making this player very finger friendly. The ability to continue playing songs while using other apps is a nice touch too. That’s not all; Kinoma has extended photo, audio and video features as well.
Flickr
Picture viewing doesn’t stop at the built in photo album. You can access your Flickr and Picasa accounts, as well as search Bing, Yahoo and Google images. For YouTube fanatics, you can login to your YouTube account to view your subscriptions, favorites, friends, messages and more. Search for clips by most viewed, top rated or by genres just like the real web client. One of the best aspects of Kinoma is the access it gives you to streaming music and radio. You can listen to songs or talk radio through SHOUTcast, TUNED and Live365. You can also stream thousands of on-demand podcasts. If you like audio books, Kinoma can give you access to a premium service in Audible, which brings downloadable audio books right to your device.
The days of having to use separate dedicated apps for your favorite social networking sites are over. Kinoma brings Twitter and Facebook right to the palm of your hand. 
With the fantastic Twitter app, you can update your status, get direct messages, search public timelines, select who to follow and see who’s following you. It really feels like you’re tweeting right from your computer. The Facebook app lets you update your status and view your friends’ statuses. You can also share pics, browse your friends’ pics and view their details. By using the YouTube client in conjunction with the Facebook app, you can let friends know what you’re watching.
Another excellent feature is the extensive menu pod system. No matter what screen you’re on or what app you’re in, you can open a menu that gives you several useful options. At some moments, you can send/share information by using Kinoma’s menu pod. Sharing is caring, so why not use Kinoma to share what you’re viewing or listening to with your friends? While viewing pics, listening to songs or watching video, you can share the activity with friends by text, email, Flickr and YouTube. Even update your Twitter Status and Facebook feed with info on what song you’re currently listening to.
If you’re running out of storage, try expanding your device’s storage by signing up with Orb, iDisk and Box.net. Then get a hold of your documents, images and music by connecting to your computer or online accounts via Kinoma Play. Orb is free and Box.net offers 1GB of free cloud storage, so these can go a long way in enhancing the Kinoma Play experience.
Do you like to keep up with current events? Search and add your favorite RSS feeds or access your Google Reader account. There’s no excuse not to keep up with the latest news with these apps. Another overlooked feature that’s simple, but very useful, is the flights app. It allows you to check for delays and statuses of flights quickly and easily. If you don’t see an app in Kinoma that you want, check out Kinoma’s built-in appstore. You can check out Windows Mobile freeware, buy apps, view screenshots or YouTube video demos before you buy and even download free trials.
Shortcuts
Kinoma’s layout can be customized by adding and moving icons to the home screen. You can choose from all the great apps Kinoma provides or you can also integrate it with shortcuts of other apps you have installed on your phone. By using the Start app, you can add quick links to your favorite apps onto your home screen. It’s almost as if you never have to leave Kinoma Play’s interface. This would clearly be a great options for adding much needed programs like GoogleMaps and Bing. Although, Kinoma has its own business search app. With Yelp, you can use your device’s built-in GPS to search for nearby business.
Let’s recap what Kinoma has to offer. Kinoma Play integrates with your existing accounts from Audible, Box, Facebook, Flickr, Last.fm, Live365, MobileMe, iDisk, Orb, Picasa, Twitter and YouTube. It gives you quick access to news and other media content without having to use a web browser. Finally, it provides the best experience for listening to music, watching videos and viewing pictures.
As expected with any full featured program, there are slight bumps in the road every now and then, but nothing to write home about. The big question remains, is this app worth its price tag? Because the Kinoma team decided to expand on the app’s core functions and make it a true all-in-one app, you will find yourself using some of your other apps less and less. Kinoma Play can reduce time spent navigating on slow web browsers, replace your Facebook & Twitter apps and give you access to multiple online services you never thought possible. All of these features in one application is what makes Kinoma Play a must have app for Windows Mobile; so yes, it’s definitely worth it.
Still not convinced? Have a look at a video walkthrough of Kinoma Play running on the Toshiba TG01…
Note: You can download a free version with limited features from Kinoma’s website. Also check out the TrialPay section for a great deal.
Pros:
- Great interface (customizable, nice animations/transitions)
- Finger friendly
- Excellent music & video player
- Fantastic photo viewer
- Huge assortment of extra apps
- Replaces many stand alone apps like YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, etc
- Fairly easy to use
- Share info with others
- Integration with other apps and web clients
Cons:
- Price tag
- Can be a little slow when exiting certain apps
With iPhone there is an app for this and an another app for that, with Windows Mobile and Kinoma Play there is one app for all of that…
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Well, after this raving review I thought I'd download the app and give it a try. Obviously the reviewer had a commercial copy of this program. I never pay a cent for anything without having tried it first, so I downloaded the free version onto my HTC Advantage x7501 (624mhz xscale, ATI video, VGA).
First off, the program requires you to verify an email address when you first launch the program. It then opens your internet connection and phones home, presumably to tell the server to send a verification link to your email. Once you open the link and verify, you can relaunch the program and it will once again connect to the internet to verify that you have verified… argh….
One of the first things the program will do is indexed all of the media on the phone. It does it pretty quickly and it seemed pretty thorough. Unfortunately, arranging the media by artist/genre didn't help me too much because most of my music is garage band stuff that never seems to be labeled consistently. So for me, the old school 'Winamp' selection process still seems the best.
The Photo viewer was strange. It showed me a bunch of thumbnails of my pictures, but when I clicked on one it would immediately take me to a file explorer where I had to navigate to them manually. To make things weirder, there were 2 of every one of my pictures and offten when I would select one, it would pull up a completely different picture. GIFs also don't play. The only bit of credit I can give this is that the gestures worked pretty well and the pictures loaded fairly fast. The zoom function was nice too.
Video viewing was disappointing. Most of my files would not open, it would simply tell me I had to purchase the module to view this file. Doesn't that defeat the purpose of a 'trial'? So, I loaded up a youtube clip I had. It ran really slow. Probably between 5-10fps. I then loaded TCPMP and ran the same clip. It ran about 4x faster.
Another source of irritation is that there are advertisements on just about every screen. This gave me the impression that the commercial version too would be AOL bloatware.
At this point, I lost interest in exploring the other features of Kinoma Play. Maybe the retail version is a lot better? I don't know. What I do know is that the whole purpose of a trail version is to earn people's business. Well, this trail did the exact opposite for me. Stay away.
Hi,
I agree, the free version leaves a lot to be desired. That’s why I mentioned it’s limited. In fact, I found myself frustrated with the free version because you couldn’t close the app easily(option to close on x in full version). I think that’s the point though. They don’t want you to be too satisfied with the free version, otherwise why would you buy the full? That’s what people do with the free version of CORE player. Also, from my experiences with the free version months ago, I noticed that they don’t regularly update it with the full version – so that could explain some differences in experience. I too would love for them to make the full version available on a trial basis. They’re completely different, at least to me and others I know. Did you see their trialpay section? You can get the app cheaper there.
The full version supports wmv, asf, mov, mp4, and flv video extensions. Photo viewing isn’t strange in the version i reviewed. When you click on a pic from the thumbnails displayed, it immediately loads that picture. I love how quickly it zooms in and out. Being able to slowly zoom and in depth by long press is a huge plus for me. I’m not sure why you had two copies of every pic, but the full version will allow you to select which directory to search and it never displayed doubles for me. The photo viewer, in my opinion, is one of the best out there. However, you are correct about one thing, or at least it seems, it won’t play animated gifs.
Again, I had a different experience with YouTube. I always test the same video files when I try a YouTube app and my experience was on par or better compared to similar apps.
Kinoma found all my underground music and perfectly arranged them under their proper categories.
You will not find advertisements in the full version.
I recommend emailing Kinoma or contacting them on Twitter with any questions. That’s another thing I find great about Kinoma, they have great customer service. I noticed Charles, from Kinoma, is frequently on the dedicated Kinoma thread at ppcgeeks helping people by answering questions.
While I, along with many, find this app very useful because of all the features available, it might not be for everybody. I think my review and rating reflect how I feel about it. The free version is definitely not an indication of the experience one will have with the full version. By the way, did you watch the video of Kinoma on the tg01 (above)? I am assuming you didn’t because you would’ve answered your concerns over bloatware in the full version (which it does not have). The video should give you a preview of what the full version is like. You can also clearly see how the picture viewer works on that video. So it should at least alleviate your concerns over the strange situation you encountered.
Well I respect your opinion, I do have to say that I’ve found that the majority of people I’ve talked to about Kinoma Play (not free) are extremely happy. Perhaps it was the extremely limited free version (which is almost like a completely different app) or maybe it just didn’t work for you, but I wouldn’t recommend for anyone to stay away. Instead, if anyone else has concerns, I urge you to contact Kinoma on Twitter or through their site. Kinoma has a Kinoma Play forum, so concerns can be addressed there too. It’s also a good idea to ask several people who have used the full version thoroughly. This app is very popular for a reason, so if anyone is interested in it, they should investigate the full version.
Hi Ravicai,
I understand how it can be difficult to judge Kinoma Play from Kinoma Free; but as many Kinoma Play users will tell you, they’re very different. It’s very understandable why you felt like you had such a different experience than the result I put into the review. I too found myself frustrated with Kinoma Free because of things like ads and the x button not closing the app. In Kinoma Play you will not find ads, you can set the x button to close, associate file types with the app, and you will have access to tons of features you won’t find in Kinoma Free. Think of Kinoma Free as a newborn infant and Kinoma Play as a wise grandparent.
Here is my experience with Kinoma Play regarding the situations you encountered or were concerned about….
- YouTube clips play flawlessly. I always test the same clips when I try out a new YT player and they play as well or better compared with similar apps that access YouTube.
- All my songs, even my underground music, were categorized in their proper slots.
- The Photo album is one of my favorite features. When I click on a pic in the thumbnail album, it opens that pic immediately. No file explorer you speak of, no double pics, no problems at all. I don’t recall ever having this issue on Kinoma Free either, so I’m not sure what’s going on for you there. I have to note how well Kinoma Play zooms in and out of pics. The long press to zoom slowly is excellent too. I think you’re right about it not playing animated gif files, but perhaps Kinoma is working on it. They constantly come out with updates for Kinoma Play (I don’t think they update Kinoma Free very often) and add many features.
- It’s a shame you weren’t able to load video on Kinoma Free. Kinoma Play plays the popular file types like mp4, mov, asf, flv, wmv, etc
- Again, the commercial version is ad free.
I am curious, did you happen to watch the video of Kinoma Play on the Toshiba TG01 above? I am assuming you didn’t because it would have addressed your concerns over advertisements and the picture viewer.
While I respect your opinion, I disagree with your recommendation to “stay away.” Your recommendation is based on the free version with very limited features. Instead, I would recommend for people with questions or concerns to ask others who use the full version regularly, contact Kinoma on Twitter or email Kinoma through their support page. Even better, as Charles mentioned, Kinoma offers a full 30 day money back guarantee… so maybe this would work for you. Also, TrialPa is a good idea.
Kinoma Play is extremely popular for a reason… it’s a great app with more functional features than you would find in any other app. Because of this, I’ve been able to replace multiple apps with kinoma Play. Their customer service is excellent to boot. You will even find their representatives assisting others in user forums like PPCgeeks.
Regards,
kinnikun
Ravicai doesn't know what he's talking about. KINOMA FREE has issues, but KINOMA PLAY is awesome. No spam, perfect photo viewer, songs organized nice, vids play, utube works great. I have been using Kinoma for months and love it!
@ viewtiful joe: Answer me this; what is the purpose of the free version? Isn't it so you can try before you buy? Well, this free version sucks. Did Kinoma Play come with your phone or did you take a leap of faith for fork out $30 for this program?
Hi Ravicai,
I understand how it can be difficult to judge Kinoma Play from
Kinoma Free; but as many Kinoma Play users will tell you, they're
very different. It's very understandable why you felt like you had
such a different experience than the result I put into the review.
I too found myself frustrated with Kinoma Free because of things
like ads and the x button not closing the app. In Kinoma Play you
will not find ads, you can set the x button to close, associate
file types with the app, and you will have access to tons of
features you won't find in Kinoma Free. Think of Kinoma Free as a
newborn infant and Kinoma Play as a wise grandparent.
Here is my experience with Kinoma Play regarding the situations
you encountered or were concerned about….
- YouTube clips play flawlessly. I always test the same clips when
I try out a new YT player and they play as well or better compared
with similar apps that access YouTube.
- All my songs, even my underground music, were categorized in
their proper slots.
- The Photo album is one of my favorite features. When I click on
a pic in the thumbnail album, it opens that pic immediately. No
file explorer you speak of, no double pics, no problems at all. I
don't recall ever having this issue on Kinoma Free either, so I'm
not sure what's going on for you there. I have to note how well
Kinoma Play zooms in and out of pics. The long press to zoom
slowly is excellent too. I think you're right about it not playing
animated gif files, but perhaps Kinoma is working on it. They
constantly come out with updates for Kinoma Play (I don't think
they update Kinoma Free very often) and add many features.
- It's a shame you weren't able to load video on Kinoma Free.
Kinoma Play plays the popular file types like mp4, mov, asf, flv,
wmv, etc
- Again, the commercial version is ad free.
I am curious, did you happen to watch the video of Kinoma Play on
the Toshiba TG01 above? I am assuming you didn't because it would
have addressed your concerns over advertisements and the picture
viewer.
While I respect your opinion, I disagree with your recommendation
to “stay away.” Your recommendation is based on the free version
with very limited features. Instead, I would recommend for people
with questions or concerns to ask others who use the full version
regularly, contact Kinoma on Twitter or email Kinoma through their
support page. Even better, as Charles mentioned, Kinoma offers a
full 30 day money back guarantee… so maybe this would work for
you. Also, TrialPa is a good idea.
Kinoma Play is extremely popular for a reason… it's a great app
with more functional features than you would find in any other
app. Because of this, I've been able to replace multiple apps with
kinoma Play. Their customer service is excellent to boot. You
will even find their representatives assisting others in user
forums like PPCgeeks.
Regards,
kinnikun
I recently downloaded Kinoma Play to my T-Mobile Ameo phone by downloading the cab file to my pc, then transferring file to device through active sync. It has transformed my what was once a boring phone to a iphone look alike with so many apps to choose from. I have so much fun using my phone now and loose track of the time. I just dont want to put my phone down. Kinoma has woken up my phone and now it is an absolute joy to take around.