Enjoying Video on Your Pocket or Handheld PC

So you heard you could play videos on a Pocket PC? It's true! There are a number of video players available for the Pocket PC. One of them, Pocket TV, also works on the Handheld PC. This article describes the available video players and some Web sites where you can obtain videos that are compatible with them. Remember, the file size of videos tends to be large. You may want to save them to a CompactFlash card or some other storage media.

Video players for the Pocket PC

Pocket PCs come with Windows Media Player built in, but that version only played music. Since the initial release of the Pocket PCs, Microsoft has released two new versions of Windows Media Player for the Pocket PC:

Windows Media Player 7.0 for Pocket PC -- lets you play downloaded digital audio (WMA and MP3 formats) as well as downloaded video (ASF and WMV formats). Windows Media Player 7.0 for Pocket PC includes playlist management, automatic synchronization of media files, support for Digital Rights Management and more. I am disappointed in the ability of Windows Media Player 7.0 to play videos. I tested both 64k and 128k videos, and in both cases it dropped many of the frames.

Windows Media Player for Pocket PC Technology Preview 2 (based on Windows Media Player 6.4) -- adds streaming audio and video playback capability for media files (WMA, MP3, ASF and WMV). This preview release enables wireless streaming solutions (compatible with modem, IrDA, serial, 802.3 Ethernet, and 802.11b wireless Ethernet). Surf your favorite music or video site with Internet Explorer for Pocket PC, then click to enjoy streamed music or videos with the Technology Preview 2 release. You can also play back audio and video files (from 16kbps to 256kbps) that have already been downloaded on your Pocket PC. Unlike the previous version, Windows Media Player for Pocket PC Technology Preview 2 can be used with all Pocket PCs.

Windows Media Player for Pocket PC Technology Preview 2 plays videos much better than Windows Media Player 7.0. I recommend that you install Windows Media Player for Pocket PC Technology Preview 2 instead of Windows Media Player 7.0 due to these issues.

The new versions of Windows Media Player for Pocket PC let you play ASF and WMV formatted videos on your Pocket PC.

Both versions of Media Player for Pocket PC are available for free on Microsoft's Mobile Devices Download Web page (www.microsoft.com/mobile/pocketpc/downloads/default.asp). Also, you can install both Windows Media Player 7.0 and Windows Media Player for Pocket PC Technology Preview 2 on the same Pocket PC without problems.

ActiveSky Media Player -- ­(www.activesky.com) plays movies and animations saved in its proprietary SKY format. Currently, the ActiveSky Media Player supports the Pocket PC, Palm-size PC and Palm OS devices. They plan to add support for Psion EPOC devices in the near future.

You can download the ActiveSky Media Player for free at the ActiveSky site (www.activesky.com/download.html) or at Handango (www.handango.com). ActiveSky's Content Download page (www.activesky.com/content_download.html) has links to a number of sites that provide content in SKY format.

ActiveSky lets you play movies and animations saved in its proprietary SKY format.