KD Player:MP3 Player for Mobile

Jul 6, 2010 by Shivendu Madhava

One MP3 player to rule them all

It was the Walkman that started it all. The ability to listen to one’s own music while on the move was unheard of before Sony popularized a compact device which let you play your audio tapes — any place, any time.

Then, Apple came along with the iPod and changed the game. Cassettes were out, MP3s were in. The device got smaller, sleeker, friendlier. The next frontier was obviously the mobile phone.

Before the iPhone became a reality, Sony Ericsson and Nokia had already come out with a fair share of mobile phones dedicated to playing back MP3 songs. And the increasing sales of the XpressMusic and Walkman phone series only bolsters the popularity of this medium.

But enjoying a musical experience is as much about the software as it is about the hardware. Sure, with horrible headphones or a output abilities, you won’t ever enjoy your tunes. However, you need a good software that is easy to use, decodes your songs well and lets you relax while doing all the work intuitively. And it has to do all of that while being light and efficient. It’s why WinAmp has so many more followers than a Windows Media Player or iTunes.

On the mobile phone side of things, KD Player has been the king of this sector. The program is meant primarily for regular Java-based phones, although it will work on most Windows Mobile and other high-end smartphones. If you are using a handset with a screen resolution no bigger than 240×320 pixels, this is the player to use.

KD Player does nothing that can be considered out of the ordinary. You install the small file (less than 150KB) and start it up to see a simple interface that users of Sony Ericsson phones will especially find quite homely.

Hit the Menu button and browse to where you have all your songs stored. KD Player will scan the folder and put your tracks in its library for easy access.

The support for ID3 tags is a boon, as you do not have to spend any time renaming your files. And if you have added album artwork to the ID3 of the music file, KD Player can read and display that too. Alternately, artwork from the album’s folder can also be shown on screen.

Once you start the song, KD Player has a simple interface that shows the artist’s name; the album; the track title; its duration along with a progression bar; and the bit rate at which it is playing. The ‘4’, ‘5’ and ‘6’ keys on your keypad can be used for previous track rewind; play/pause; and next track/forward respectively.

You can also create playlists with KD Player, and save them for future use.

The best part, though, is that it can run safely in the background without taking up too much RAM. We recommend you assign a hotkey for the player if your phone allows for it. This way, you can fire it up when necessary, make the necessary changes, and minimise it to continue with your work. KD Player can also access the dedicated music keys on most phones.

The player is extremely popular online, so you can find a lot of help, tips and tricks regarding it. A little bit of searching will also throw up various skins and skin packs to jazz up the looks.

So pop in those earphones, sit back and enjoy!

Platforms: Java

Price: Free

Download: kdplayer.webs.com