Reality finally caught up with PR (lol) and Rhapsody is now shown prominently on the Tableteer page.

Installation directly from Tableteer was flawless (I am still running 51-6 OS) using .install. Once launched, the app asked if I wanted to try the 30 trial or use an existing account-- I have no current account and naturally chose the former to see if I even like the service.

The interface is simple and effective. In seconds I was searching for and streaming songs. Streaming was smooth and hiccup-free unless I was using the Search feature while playing songs, and even those interruptions were brief. Sound is very clear, and the volume is adequate for my needs (I prefer not using headphones if I can).

I found tons of my favorites from artists like Poco, .38 Special and Dan Fogelberg. However, the pickings from Bob Seger were disappointedly lean, and there was nothing (!!!) at all in the Eagles folders. So content appears to be a mixed bag. Hopefully, Nokia's own music acquisitions will rectify this in the future-- perhaps cross-licensing with RealNetworks can be arranged.

Playback tools are hidden at first, and presented the only puzzle to me vis-a-vis the interface. However, an experimental click on the vertical "Now Playing" bar (ha! button) slid the screen over to reveal the usual player controls-- including a voting feature and song details similar to that found on iTunes (which I currently use on the PC).

I have to admit I'm excited by this advent, something I know a lot of others here were waiting for. The main drawback for many N800 owners is that this is US only-- however, I'm sure that other regions will eventually be represented.

One poster mentioned (in News forum here) the fact that cost was not mentioned in the PR. This is true, but I went into this assuming, based on ad hoc info and experience with iTunes, that there would be fees involved with a full account. I intend to look into this of course to see if it's worth it to me to continue this service after the 30-day trial expires.

All in all: nice work, Nokia and Real! 9 stars out of 10.

I Dled and installed this a little while ago, the music catalogue is pretty full, the commercial stars are well represented. The interface is great (media streamer) and it works quite intuitively. The quality sounds good through headphones. I have always wanted to try one of these subscription based services so I will give this a 30 day trial and see if I really want to get into it. I have a feeling between this and getting CD's from friends my music bases will be covered. These are the kind of services that really make the N800 great, I hope they can get A2DP support going on this device.

I just updated to the new firmware, downloaded gmail notifier, minimo and Rhapsody this morning, with the combination of Canola and the improved video player I think the N800 has finally found a permanent place in my gadget bag. Now for a stable abiword doc viewer and I can leave my laptop at home 90% of the time.

Good Job Nokia!

Dealing with Realnetworks gives me reservations. They are pretty much a copycat company with a product (Real Player) that is little more than bloatware, and have been whining about iTunes and that Apple should open up the iPod to their Rhapsody service. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

I'm still surprised by the dearth of Eagles songs. Mystifying.

Anyway, I see the 2 plans are $10 per month and $15 per month (USD). The $15 plan just adds the ability to transfer music between devices (PC to N800, eg). Since I just signed up for Verizon's fiber optic phone/internet/movie service (FiOS) and will save about $20 per month, I can justify the $15.

If you have a Mac, purchase a copy of Audio Hijack Pro, download iTunes, and copy all the musical content you want via stream capture from Audio Hijack Pro. Personally, I rather purchase and own than rent.

By the way, is there a way to add non-Rhapsody streams to the media streamer via adding links?

Exept from the demand to become US citizen ;-) This app worked perfekt ..and the IP-packets passed customs

30 days Killer App !

Just trying the 30 day trial and I have to say it works really well - with a 3G unlimited mobile/cell phone tariff this could be a killer application.

Just a shame I won't be able to sign up to this when I get my unlimited data plan in a month or two, as I'm in the UK!

$10/month is quite reasonable, but if Real launch this in the UK I bet it will be more like £10/month (which is ~$20 at the current exchange rate).

Happiness is being an American with a U.S. bank, living in Europe, working for the US Embassy (low cost postal and no taxes). With all this being said, I would be careful of Real(anything).

First Rhapsody enhancement request! It would be really nice if the application could start buffering the next track *before* the end of the current track in order to avoid the several seconds delay which currently exists between tracks. Maybe in v1.2, eh Nokia? Please?

Second request: the controls need to be more finger-friendly. IMO, I shouldn't be required to use the stylus for this sort of application.