Ketil Lund's dashboard

Ketil Lund replied on November 26, 2009 07:39 to the problem "Much hiss on Symbian version" in Spotify:

I'm afraid you're right.
I tried the internal music player (which I haven't used in a long time), and it was the same hissing there.
So then I guess I have to live with it. At least the hiss level is constant, regardless of how loud I play, so I just have to crank up the volume to mask it ;-)

Ketil Lund reported a problem in Spotify on November 25, 2009 08:33:

Much hiss on Symbian version

I've installed Spotify on my Nokia E71, and I'm quite happy so far :-)
However, there is a lot of background "hissing" on all songs, especially on the more quiet ones. The sound quality in itself is OK, though.
It's considerably more hissing than on the iPod touch-version of Spotify, and I find it quite annoying, really.
Is this a problem with the player, or is it the coding of songs, or could it be my phone?

Ketil Lund started following the idea "Cross-fading between tracks" in Spotify.

Ketil Lund replied on November 09, 2009 11:50 to the question "Spotify iPhone App In-Car Audio Compatibility ? Will it work ?" in Spotify:

So if it is like you say, then a simple solution for this could be that Spotify enabled cross-fading in their app (just like the iTunes application does). Then the sound chip would always be active, and the internal player would (hopefully) remain paused.

Ketil Lund replied on November 09, 2009 10:14 to the question "Spotify iPhone App In-Car Audio Compatibility ? Will it work ?" in Spotify:

Thanks for the explanation. What I still don't understand is that Spotify is allowed to play until the first song is over. This indicates that Spotify somehow signals something to the OS each time it's finished playing a song. If Spotify didn't do that, then the internal player would never leave pause mode and Spotify could keep on playing (in theory - I really know nothing about how these things work :-) ).

I know that a 3.5mm connection is a possibility, but that would mean removing the radio/navi-unit and I would prefer to avoid that.

Ketil Lund replied on November 09, 2009 09:19 to the question "Spotify iPhone App In-Car Audio Compatibility ? Will it work ?" in Spotify:

Unfortunately, no. I can do next and prev (both track and playlist), but no pause. Once I select the iPod as source it starts playing, and continues to play until I select another source. Only when I start the Spotify app on the iPod, the player pauses, but only until the Spotify-song ends, then it starts again.
I guess Toyota's iPod adapter is less advanced than yours.

Ketil Lund replied on November 09, 2009 08:53 to the question "Spotify iPhone App In-Car Audio Compatibility ? Will it work ?" in Spotify:

No, I can't. If I click on the "Music" icon on the iPod (to reach the music player) I just get a grey picture, saying that the iPod is controlled remotely.
All other apps work fine, though. It's only the music player that's "disabled".

Ketil Lund replied on November 09, 2009 08:39 to the question "Spotify iPhone App In-Car Audio Compatibility ? Will it work ?" in Spotify:

I can confirm myself that it doesn't work. Even if Spotify is allowed to run in the background, it stops playing as soon as the internal player starts

Ketil Lund replied on November 08, 2009 09:15 to the question "Spotify iPhone App In-Car Audio Compatibility ? Will it work ?" in Spotify:

If I jailbreak the iPod and install Backgrounder, and then add one mp3-file (containing just silence). In theory, Spotify should then continue to play, even if the iPod starts playing the mp3-file, and since the mp3-file contains only silence, only Spotify-audio comes through the stereo.
Can someone confirm that Spotify continues to play as a background app, even if the iPod/iPhone is playing mp3-files?

Ketil Lund replied on November 08, 2009 07:50 to the question "Spotify iPhone App In-Car Audio Compatibility ? Will it work ?" in Spotify:

Unfortunately, my car stereo doesn't have a 3.5mm socket.
So until Spotify (hopefully) updates the app, I'm stuck with iTunes-music

Ketil Lund replied on November 07, 2009 18:17 to the question "Spotify iPhone App In-Car Audio Compatibility ? Will it work ?" in Spotify:

I've tried to add only one mp3-file on the iPod, but it keeps playing that file. I'm allowed to play one Spotify-song, but at soon as that song is over, the iPod starts playing the one mp3-file, over and over again (even if the Spotify-app is still running). If I press "next" in Spotify twice, it will play one Spotify-song, before going back to the mp3-file.
So it seems that the Spotify-app somehow "releases control" each time a song is finished. Wouldn't it be possible to change the app, so that didn't happen?

I really really would like to be able to play Spotify in the car, so a solution to this problem would be fantastic :-)

Ketil Lund replied on November 06, 2009 22:19 to the question "Spotify iPhone App In-Car Audio Compatibility ? Will it work ?" in Spotify:

I now have an iPod touch completely without mp3 music, but with Spotify and offline playlist.
However, when the iPod contains no music it is not recognized by the car stereo! When there is mp3 on the iPod it is recognized as a CD changer, with each playlist corresponding to a CD, but when there is no music the car stereo seems to think that there are no CDs in the "CD changer".
I tried to create an empty playlist in iTunes and then sync, but it seems that empty playlists aren't synced

Ketil Lund started following the idea "Suggestions for in-car integration" in Spotify.

Ketil Lund replied on November 06, 2009 09:12 to the question "Spotify iPhone App In-Car Audio Compatibility ? Will it work ?" in Spotify:

If you have an iPhone or iPod touch with no mp3 or podcasts - can you then control Spotify at all from the car stereo (even simple things like start and stop)?

Does the playback continue when you start the car (as it does when playing back mp3s)?

I'm assuming the iPod/iPhone is connected using an iPod-connector, and not minijack.

Ketil Lund asked a question in Expono on September 05, 2009 16:45:

Questions about sharing and downloading

I recently shared an album with my father. He does not have an Expono-account, but his email address is listed in my contact list as "Family" (not surprising...). I then showed him how to access the pictures on his computer. This raised a couple of questions:

1. I followed the link in the email, and came to the album I had shared. I then clicked on the "Albums" tab, and then I had access to all my albums that where shared with family. I guess this is correct, since he is defined as family, and the URL in the email identifies him as such to Expono. But this also means that once he has such a URL that identifies him as family, I don't need to share other albums with him. As long as I open the album for access from "family" he can see it. Right?

2. In the privacy settings, I've set the download option to "Family and friends". However, using the URL I sent to my father, the pictures had no download option in the menu. Is this a bug, or does he have to create an Expono-account to be able to download?

Ketil Lund replied on August 31, 2009 16:20 to the question "How do I start a Cooliris slideshow?" in Expono:

Cooliris works fine when started from Expono (by clicking on the icon in the picture).

However, I'm not able to embed a Cooliris wall on a web page. I follow the description on developer.cooliris.com and use the address feed=http://www.expono.com/ketillund/album/<album>/rss (a public album)
When I open the page, the embedded Cooliris wall starts, and placeholders for all the pictures appear. Even the metadata (filenames, etc) appear. But no pictures, only black placeholders.
</album>

Ketil Lund replied on August 25, 2009 17:10 to the problem "Can't change download settings" in Expono:

Yes, I still have it. Both on an XP laptop with Google Chrome and on an iMac with Safari 4. For other privacy settings changes persist - it's only the download setting that doesn't work.
Also tried to log out and in again, but still no luck.

Ketil Lund replied on August 25, 2009 13:54 to the question "export to kml" in Expono:

BTW, this works both in Google maps and in Google earth.
In Google earth, select "Add | Network link", and paste the URL to the album into the "Link"-field.

Ketil Lund reported a problem in Expono on August 25, 2009 13:36:

Can't change download settings

"Who can download your pictures" is always reset to "Only you" when I store the settings.

Ketil Lund replied on August 25, 2009 10:44 to the question "export to kml" in Expono:

OK, I think I've got it now:
If you try to add *all* you pictures (http://www.expono.com/ketillund/kml?ak=<authentication>), then only the public pictures are shown. However, if you add an album (http://www.expono.com/ketillund/album/<album>/kml?ak=<authentication>), then all pictures in that album are shown, including the private ones.

If you copy the URL of the album from the web browser, remember to remove the 's' in 'albums'. </authentication></album></authentication>