V-CAST Music
Reading the details of V-Cast Music, it appears the service is only available to those who subscribe to the $15/month V-Cast Pack. V-Cast Music would be a compelling service that would drive customer retention and additions if it were a stand-alone service.
I would like to hear the opinion of current and former V-Cast subscribers regarding the value of the service. It seems to me that you have to pay for each individual download of music, 3D games and most videos. The only thing that the subscription fee gets you are downloads to a few non-fee based news/sports/weather videos.
I think the service would generate greater revenue and drive customer retention/addition if anyone who purchased a V-Cast capable phone was automatically given a...
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I would like to hear the opinion of current and former V-Cast subscribers regarding the value of the service. It seems to me that you have to pay for each individual download of music, 3D games and most videos. The only thing that the subscription fee gets you are downloads to a few non-fee based news/sports/weather videos.
I think the service would generate greater revenue and drive customer retention/addition if anyone who purchased a V-Cast capable phone was automatically given a...
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thats not entirely true, anyone who has one of the vcast music capable phones, can purchase the songs from their computer and with the purchase of the "essentials" kit which will have a usb cable in it, will be able to transfer those songs from their computer to the phone. in fact its cheaper to do it from the computer, and you don't have to have the vpak on the account. hope this helps.
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You are right about direct to computer downloads. However I can already download WMA files from numerous sites, sometimes cheaper than using Verizon. Downloading a WMA from Walmart is only 88¢.
The compelling feature of V-Cast music is the ability to download directly to the phone over the wireless network. However I will not pay a $15/month fee for the privledge of buying their product.
The compelling feature of V-Cast music is the ability to download directly to the phone over the wireless network. However I will not pay a $15/month fee for the privledge of buying their product.
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Want_New_Phone said:
You are right about direct to computer downloads. However I can already download WMA files from numerous sites, sometimes cheaper than using Verizon. Downloading a WMA from Walmart is only 88¢.
The compelling feature of V-Cast music is the ability to download directly to the phone over the wireless network. However I will not pay a $15/month fee for the privledge of buying their product.
actually, you only need the $15 VCAST feature on your account long enough to download the software to both phone/computer. once everything is done, you can have the feature removed, but still use the music download feature and pay the per application fee (.99 from phone, 1.99 for phone and compu...
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Are you sure about Walmart WMA's. FAQ page for V-Cast Music says WMAs from other sites can be transferred onto phone.
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with all the information I have, the bit rate for songs on the phone is a maximum of 60kbps. The vcast music store provides this for the .99/track. If paying the 1.99/track from your computer, you get 2 versions - 60kbps for your phone and 160kbps for the computer. I believe (I'm trying to find other information) that if you use music from another provider, the quality won;t be as good. I could be wrong about it, I'm trying to get more info right now...
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js3901 said:
with all the information I have, the bit rate for songs on the phone is a maximum of 60kbps. The vcast music store provides this for the .99/track. If paying the 1.99/track from your computer, you get 2 versions - 60kbps for your phone and 160kbps for the computer. I believe (I'm trying to find other information) that if you use music from another provider, the quality won;t be as good. I could be wrong about it, I'm trying to get more info right now...
60kpbs for VCast Music?(its probably 64). That's not very good quality.
Probably 'adequate' for the average joe listening through cheap headphones, but still.. not very good. ☹️
Would suck even more if the phone automatically down-sampl...
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That person is wrong. When you transfer them from the computer to the phone they will retain the higher quality. We were told this in training. If you download directly from the phone you'll get the lower quality to the phone.
I was thinking the same thing as you the other day. I'd say Wal-Mart or any other WMA's would work fine. They've already said you could transfer MP3's in to WMA and to the phone from within the Media Player, I'm sure it'll transfer any other WMA as well.
I was thinking the same thing as you the other day. I'd say Wal-Mart or any other WMA's would work fine. They've already said you could transfer MP3's in to WMA and to the phone from within the Media Player, I'm sure it'll transfer any other WMA as well.
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Ok, if it doesn't down-sample the songs transferred from PC to phone, that's a very good thing. Guess the remaining bummer is the quality of the over-the-air downloads... 64 kbps, could be better.
With the newer codecs like WMA and AAC, even 96 kbps is actually pretty decent, and regarded as being equivalent in quality to a 128 kbps mp3 (which is 'near-CD quality'). But they couldn't even do that? C'mon Verizon, yeesh.
With the newer codecs like WMA and AAC, even 96 kbps is actually pretty decent, and regarded as being equivalent in quality to a 128 kbps mp3 (which is 'near-CD quality'). But they couldn't even do that? C'mon Verizon, yeesh.
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It uses WMA-Pro not regular WMA. I don't think cell phones could handle a 5 MB ota song download quite yet.
Even with EVDO the lower quality song download still takes a minute or two. Double that for a higher quality version and nobody would like it. If you listen to an OTA downloaded song, it sounds fine. Remember what you're going to be listening to it with....
Even with EVDO the lower quality song download still takes a minute or two. Double that for a higher quality version and nobody would like it. If you listen to an OTA downloaded song, it sounds fine. Remember what you're going to be listening to it with....
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Vatothe0 said:
It uses WMA-Pro not regular WMA. I don't think cell phones could handle a 5 MB ota song download quite yet.
Well, a 96 kbps song would average more like 3 MB, a 128kbps would average 4 MB. EVDO supposedly runs at 400-700kbps. Even assuming the low end of that range, a 3 MB file should be dowloadable in 60 seconds, a 4MB in 90 seconds. That's not a huge block of time. And EVDO is only gonna get faster.
If you listen to an OTA downloaded song, it sounds fine. Remember what you're going to be listening to it with....
I agree that the peeps listening through crappy $7 Walmart headphones probably won't notice much of a difference. But what about the folks with the goo...
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Please link me to a good pair of headphones with a plug that fits into a cell phone.
Also a cell phone doesn't have the power to drive high impedence (usually better quality) headphones.
Also a cell phone doesn't have the power to drive high impedence (usually better quality) headphones.
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There are these things called 3.5mm to 2.5mm adapters, y'know.
And certainly not all quality headphones are high impedance. You may be thinking of a specific ultra-high quality dual driver 'phone or very large phones that look like earmuffs, but one does not have to drop $500 or look like a North Dakota native to get good phones.
There are definitely high-quality phones in the 15-20 ohm territory, which is a pretty typical impedance. Cheap little $19 Sony earbuds are 16 ohms, so its not really a high-quality thing.
And certainly not all quality headphones are high impedance. You may be thinking of a specific ultra-high quality dual driver 'phone or very large phones that look like earmuffs, but one does not have to drop $500 or look like a North Dakota native to get good phones.
There are definitely high-quality phones in the 15-20 ohm territory, which is a pretty typical impedance. Cheap little $19 Sony earbuds are 16 ohms, so its not really a high-quality thing.
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SystemShock said:
Cheap little $19 Sony earbuds are 16 ohmstotal garbage, so its not really a high-quality thing.
If you're going to get earbuds, get something like Shure E3C's or Etymotic 6i's. Otherwise, 64 kbps will sound fine for a mobile download.
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Vatothe0 said:SystemShock said:
Cheap little $19 Sony earbuds are 16 ohmstotal garbage, so its not really a high-quality thing.
If you're going to get earbuds, get something like Shure E3C's or Etymotic 6i's. Otherwise, 64 kbps will sound fine for a mobile download.
Not sure what you're tryin' to say here, or why you re-wrote my post.
If what you're tryin' to say is that high-end phones are automatically high impedance, you would be wrong. Have you actually checked the impedance on the headphones you mention?:
Shure E3C: 26 ohms, which is still far from high
http://www.shurestore.com/earphones/eseries_e3c.html ... »
Etymotic 6i: 16 ohms, quite low
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Want_New_Phone said:...
Reading the details of V-Cast Music, it appears the service is only available to those who subscribe to the $15/month V-Cast Pack. V-Cast Music would be a compelling service that would drive customer retention and additions if it were a stand-alone service.
I would like to hear the opinion of current and former V-Cast subscribers regarding the value of the service. It seems to me that you have to pay for each individual download of music, 3D games and most videos. The only thing that the subscription fee gets you are downloads to a few non-fee based news/sports/weather videos.
I think the service would generate greater revenue and drive customer retention/addition if anyone who purchased a V-Cas
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I am a big time VZW supporter...but I also agree that VCast isn't a good value. VZW is one of the few carriers that charges airtime for mobile web anyway. I am a firm believer that if pix messaging and mobile web were airtime free...and if AIM didn't charge txt ON TOP of the application, you would see more data sold.
But that is my opinion...
But that is my opinion...
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crazyeaglefan236 said:
I am a big time VZW supporter...but I also agree that VCast isn't a good value. VZW is one of the few carriers that charges airtime for mobile web anyway. I am a firm believer that if pix messaging and mobile web were airtime free...and if AIM didn't charge txt ON TOP of the application, you would see more data sold.
But that is my opinion...
See, I think that because the VCast gives you unlimited mobile web, it IS a good value. And Cingular charges you for texts for all of your IM messages sent and received, so VZW isn't the only one that does that.
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Don't forget the games... I like NFSMW alot. And VCast it pretty useful for Multiplayer games, like GR or ARacing.
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1st. You can purchase songs for 99 cents via the VCast store through Windows Media 10. You can get this software from vzw.com or in the essentials pack. When you download the song, it will come in WMA format and be 160 kpbs. Good high quality. When you transfer the file to your cell phone...through a usb cable also included in the essentials pack...it does not convert it to 60 kbps...it leaves it in the 160 kbps. You can do whatever you want with the song...you own it. You can also rip any .cda or .mp3 or .wav or any of that with Windows Media Player 10 into WMA format. You can also take any mp3 and transfer it to your cell phone's memory card or internal memory using the sync of the Media Player. This automatically converts the file...
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Your option 3 is the only part that is wrong. You cannot use I-Tunes files. They aren't capable of being converted in to WMA format.
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Oh, but they are capable of being converted into mp3...and then mp3 to WMA...
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I went to my local VZW store today and the sales dude who they stuck on me even though I told them I was just looking told me that "All V-Cast phones are V-Music capable, they just need an upgrade". He then pointed to the VX9800 & the A970. I asked him about the a930 and he said he has no idea when its coming out and that "you would be able to use the high speed portion as a modem".
Like I would buy shi* from the idiots. No one really even knows what the hell they are talking about. It really amazes me on how little product knowledge and people skills these kids have...
Like I would buy shi* from the idiots. No one really even knows what the hell they are talking about. It really amazes me on how little product knowledge and people skills these kids have...
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bigmoneymike said:
I went to my local VZW store today and the sales dude who they stuck on me even though I told them I was just looking told me that "All V-Cast phones are V-Music capable, they just need an upgrade".
They'll just anything to make a sale, won't they? The E815 is not now, nor will it ever be VCast Music capable. The Audiovox version of a Vcast phone (I've never seen anyone with one, so I can't remember it's model#) is not, nor will it ever be; and the LG8000 is not now, nor will it ever be VCmusic capable. I would say any FUTURE Vcast phone release will be.
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