Getting Started with Videos on your BlackBerry Part 2

Applications Available For Encoding Files For BlackBerry

When it comes to encoding files to be compatible with BlackBerry devices their really are many choices out there, both free and paid applications, depending on your personal preferences of course.

We’ll start with the more commonly known application - BlackBerry Desktop Manager's Media Manager of course!

Hit The Jump For More Details.....



Now while the Media Manager in the BlackBerry desktop program does do a great job of converting files for optimal playback , some people also find it cumbersome and NOT really user friendly when converting files, often times creating incompatible files. The drag and drop interface seems nice, but is confusing to some.


Next you want to download an app that converts the video file to a .3gp or a Mpeg4 file. A free app that I Use is Media Cell Converter. There are other like SeaByrd Technologies BlackBerry Video Converter v1.1 that are free but with the SeaByrd, i wasn't able to get it to play on my BB Storm. The Media Cell Converter worked fine, but when i downloaded, it changes my whole browser homepage and added a ASK.COM Toolbar which i didn't want. So please be careful and download at your wn risk.

Now other apps that are NOT a free application but it is well worth the purchase cost of $29.00 from AOne Soft. Ultra Mobile 3gp Converter is tops in my book supporting just about any format you can throw at it and having a nice clean and simple user interface. It allows any user to quickly convert files for their BlackBerry. AOneSoft offers a limited free trial of UltraMobile 3gp Converter, which of course I'd recommend taking a look at before committing to the purchase price.

Using the 3gp profile under the mpeg4 codec creates optimal files for BlackBerry devices with little to no fuss. One thing you will notice here is that the application supports the 14.95FPS option - this is personally the option I choose all the time and have never had any problems with it. Out of the 3 mentioned so far, I’d have to lay my support here. Another option for getting movies onto your BlackBerry that appears to work great is the Neuros MPEG-4 Recorder.


Now I need to return back to the supported files mentioned just for a moment, so that there is no confusion. All of the listed programs will support output files compatible for BlackBerry devices, but a few things to take under consideration in the listing of files is that you will see some items have “profiles” listed next to them. There are a few things to consider:


H.263 (Profile 0 & Profile 3) - You will be hard pressed to find any encoding programs that specifically state they use these types of profiles, thus making it harder to determine wether or not the file will be compatible.


Windows Media Video (Simple Profile) - This is a codec based on Windows Media Player 9 (remember we are now into Windows Media Player 11) and while it was widely used in the past, applications have long since moved onto more advanced codecs like the H.263 and it may be hard to find applications that state specifically that they use it.

In the end the most compatible and reliable codec to use would be based on .3gp. This codec is pretty much standard for all phones and mobile devices developed in the last 10 years.

TO BE CONTINUED.....

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Videos on your BlackBerry Part 1
Videos on your BlackBerry Part 3
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