A must-have program just got even better

Last Halloween, Kinoma released, and I wrote an unabashedly glowing review their new Kinoma Player 4 EX. If you haven't, please take the time to read it. I went into a lot of detail about the program, so I'm not going to repeat and re-hash the whole thing here.

But a mere three months later, they've released a FREE upgrade � Version 4.1. This article details the changes and new features of this upgrade. Normally, I wouldn't write such an extensive piece "just" to cover an upgraded program, but I think 4 EX deserves this kind of coverage, and I'll explain why, before I get into the meat of the matter.

Note: sprinkled throughout this article are screen shots of 4 EX V4.1.. Some of them are square, so they came from a Treo, while others are tall. Those tall shots came from a Palm T|X and are here simply because the T|X's taller screen lets you see more of a list in a single picture without scrolling. 4 EX runs the same and delivers the same content on any modern Palm � there are no model-specific versions of the program.

I've been pounding out tech reviews and articles for over 22 years, and covered PalmOS PDAs and Treos and accessories and software for them, for the last half dozen. When one is exposed to hundreds of products, one sees everything from trash to treasure. I like to write about cutting-edge, innovative, unusual, or stand-out products rather than the pedestrian stuff. Click my name at the top of this page to see the list of reviews I've written for TreoCentral in the past year and you'll see what I mean.

As for PalmOS software, there are programs I've reviewed in the past (including a couple hundred reviews for a magazine which went out of business).. and never used again, while others have stayed on my Palms and migrated from older models I've owned to my current stable of Treos. Naturally, some programs have been through many upgrades and sometimes a developer releases an upgrade just to fix bugs, (a lot of software is released too soon, even in its Beta-testing stage, because developers need to get some sales on their books to recoup the money spent on development).. while other upgrades introduce tons of new features and capabilities that owners of those programs have begged the developers to incorporate.

That being said, I've dealt with a LOT of developers, and as I write a review I ask them a lot of questions because I like to sweat the details rather than just gloss over the product and crank out what's commonly known in the industry as a "back of the box" review � that's where a writer barely touches the product, but takes the lazy way out and just copies a press release or, when most software used to come in physical boxes, literally just listed the features printed on the back of the box.

Although some of you have probably been around Palm wares long enough to have seen or owned boxed software, these days physical packaging (unless a program is so huge it's sold on an SD card) is rare. When a title tickles your fancy, you're likely to buy it (or download a free trial) from an online software vendor like TreoCentral's partner, MobiHand, or directly from the developers' own sites. Kinoma Player 4 EX V4.1 is availble in the MobiHand store here.

Very little software exists in a vacuum - that is, few programs are unique. As with just about any other kind of products from cars to carpeting to can openers, most software titles have competition with similar features, and you'd better believe that any savvy developer keeps an eye on what his competition is up to, and knows sales of his own product will suffer when another outfit one ups him.

So with all of that in mind, when one is exposed to a lot of software, has to learn its ins and outs, talks to its developers and has to become an instant expert in order to review it, one gets a pretty good grasp on which developers truly care about what they do, and care about their customers, and you can sense this not just by talking to them but by what they actually deliver.

Once in a while a program comes along that not only makes my personal "Top Ten" must-have list, but becomes my numero uno � this is the kind of software that, strange as it may sound, one can virtually fall in love with. You rely on it so much, you use it so much, that if the Palm Jihad came along and took it away from you, you'd feel a huge, empty hole in your gut. I like to call products like this "a thing of joy."

For me, Kinoma Player 4 EX is that kind of program. From the first day I installed it on my Treo 700p, it became my favorite PalmOS program of all time, and it still is.

Yeah sure, that's a pretty brash statement and I'd expect some of you reading this think "What is he talking about!?" while others might agree with me when I say that 4 EX delivers so much content in such an elegantly simple and logical way, at such a ridiculously low price that it stands head and shoulders above all its competition. Other programs might do a few things better (for instance, PocketTunes is probably a better MP3 player due to its ability to play in the background and its graphic equalizer), but I have yet to see another program that can do everything Kinoma 4 EX can do. NOTHING I've seen comes remotely close to touching its Media Guide. The program's not perfect, but it's so compelling that once you own it and spend some time with it, I think you'll agree what a monumental achievement and what a bargain it is. Don't try to read between the lines here and think I'm on Kinoma's payroll. I'm not. I just love this program.

I get asked this question a lot. Because it's a content delivery system and media player, and because of the number of forms of media it plays (MP3, Podcasts, PhotoCasts, Cubic Panoramas, YouTube and Google Flash video, MPEG-4 video, Windows Media 9, AAC audio, and many others).. and because the owners of some of the codecs it uses to play some media formats won't allow their proprietary code to be used in free trial software, rather than offer a trial version of 4 EX in a crippled format, there is no trial version of 4 EX.

But as I said in my earlier review, for what it does, and for its ridiculously low price, in this writer's opinion, Kinoma 4 EX is the PalmOS software bargain of the decade. I honestly don't think there's another PalmOS program out there that delivers so much with such ease, literally for the price of a lunch. For me, it's become as indispensable a tool as a Web browser. I've used it for thousands of hours and it never fails to amaze me, entertain and inform me.

On 31 January, 2007, Kinoma released 4 EX Version 4.1. If you already own the original 4.0 release, you are eligible for a free upgrade to version 4.1. If you don't already own it and buy it now, you'll automatically get V4.1. Read on to learn about the improvements.

New Key Features

A Bigger Kinoma Media Guide

100% More: The heart and soul of Kinoma 4 EX is its incredible Media Guide. It was HUGE before, and now it's more than doubled in size. There are literally THOUSANDS of links in the guide, pre-programmed and ready, at your fingertips to tap and enjoy without typing in a single URL as other programs force you to do. There is SO much in the Media guide that I don't think any single person could even count all the links in it, much less listen to or watch them all. It'd take years!