Desperately need audio book solution

[atomicwedgie]

I listen to a lot of audio books from Audible.com

I convert them to MP3s so something that is compatible with their protection is not necessary but I need something that keeps track of where I was when I stopped listening.

In the first day I've grown tired of trying to remember where I was and fast-forwarding to that spot only to realize I can't remember for sure.

Sure I could carry around my iPod touch for this but... I'd rather :greendroid:

 

[Stigy]

Check this program out:
Absent Mobile

Never used it but it came up in a Google search I did a while ago.

 

[biggrizzly]

I'm in the same situation as you. I been listening to Audible for several years now, however at least your one step ahead of me. How are you converting the .aa files? I'd at least love to do that too, but would like a real app. I emailed Audible and they said that they had no date or plans at this time.

 

[atomicwedgie]

A program called Sound Taxi works as long as your audible account is active. It costs $30 but it was worth it for me.

 

[biggrizzly]

A program called Sound Taxi works as long as your audible account is active. It costs $30 but it was worth it for me.

How long does it take to convert and average audio book?

 

[atomicwedgie]

It takes a while. I have a pretty fast computer and an 8hr book still took like 2hrs. What I think it is doing is playing the aa files at high speed and redigitizing. It can do mulitple books at once though.

 

[atomicwedgie]

Check this program out:
Absent Mobile

Never used it but it came up in a Google search I did a while ago.

Thanks I just contacted the developer asking more information

 

[atomicwedgie]

I got a reply from the author...

Hi Rich!

> Do you know if this program works on the new Droid?

This is not tested, but we are getting the Droid as our new test phone.
There is no reason why it shouldn't work. And if it doesn't work, we are
releasing fixes always within a day or so.

Thank you for your interest,
--- Santtu Syrjälä
Development Manager
Absent Oy
www.absent.fi

 

[atomicwedgie]

I just bought the app... I will post my findings when I get it and test it.

 

[borge12]

Keep us updated! I'm also looking for something like that.

 

[Stigy]

Glad I could be of help.

It's so awesome to see developers answering emails quickly and personally and getting new devices to continue to develop their applications.

 

[atomicwedgie]

After 10 minutes of using BookDroid here are my impressions...

Interface takes some getting used to. You add a book to the library manually entering the name, then browse for the files that are part of that book. The advantage to this is that it keeps all of those files associated with that book.

It does keep track of where you left off of in each book and you can create bookmarks where-ever you like and add a description to that bookmark.

Likes:
It shows how much you've listened to each book in your library.
Bookmarking feature
Has scroll bar to scan ahead/back using touch
Has a downloader built in (See dislikes)

Dislikes:
The interface only works in landscape mode and will not go to portrait.
Using the normal undo key kicks you out of the program
You can only specify one skipping speed
Only lists two book repositories (Librivox & Gutenberg) and I don't see how to add others.

Again, this requires you to convert your books to a format the Droid understands using a program such as Sound Taxi.

 

[borge12]

Any other thoughts after using this app more?

 

[Gunghoray]

I'm in your Audible.com boat with you. I own more than 300 audible books and use a Touch to listen. I had a BB Storm and Audible.com created (outsourced) an app to play .aa books. It was HORRIBLE. I don't know a single Audible Storm user who uses it. Just about everyone went to some form of iPod.

This community will surely come up with something. I'll be watching and griping to Audible every few weeks. Surely we can migrate to ONE platform for phone, data, and listening pleasure.

Prof. Ray
Recovering Storm Abuser

 

[atomicwedgie]

I too had tried the Audible solution for my Storm and agree it was pretty bad. That's why I ended up using Sound Taxi to convert my .aa books to mp3s and using PodTrapper. If VersatileMonkey would release an Android version of that it would make my life complete.

Anyway, after playing around with BookDroid some more I can say that if you need something to play audio books, it's worth the $4 investment. It needs some polish but I haven't had it crash on me.