Windows Phone Thoughts: Kinoma Play: The Best Media Player Ever for Windows Mobile?

"Kinoma Play ($29.99) is the new media player we've been hinting at in our series of media player reviews this past week. It's essentially a super-charged media player that aims to make media you find on the internet as easy to find, play, and interact with as the media stored locally on your memory card. Those of you familiar with Kinoma Player EX on the Palm OS are going to be pleased to hear that all the functionality of the PalmOS's player is here and then some."

I've seen a lot of software come and go on the Windows Mobile platform, but watching this video and reading about Kinoma leaves me with the impression that this is one of the most impressive media players I've ever seen. The functionality, and the blending of local and online content, is extremely impressive. From an audio playback standpoint, it's a shame so many device makers use miniUSB or 2.5mm headphone jacks - I hate having to use adaptors. Check out Kinoma's Web site for a trial download.

One thing that Kinoma doesn't seem to have a good grasp on though is getting the software onto the devices. Kinoma Play isn't available in any of our software stores at MobiHand or Handango, and when I downloaded the software directly from their Web site it was only a CAB file - normally I wouldn't mind a CAB file, but when I tried to install it I received an error on my Blackjack II: "Installation was unsuccessful. The program or setting cannot be installed because it does not have sufficient system permissions." I've installed two other programs via CAB files today, so I'm not sure why Kinoma Play won't install. Hopefully you'll have better luck than I did!