Normsoft just announced the availability of Pocket Tunes(TM) 5.0 for Windows Mobile and Palm OS smartphones. This latest update to their award winning mobile audio player includes new features for subscribing to podcasts, scrobbling(TM) with Last.fm, synchronizing with iTunes, and listening to Internet radio using Windows Media Audio (WMA).

The retail price is $ $37.95 with a 15-day money-back guarantee. The upgrade is $19.95. If you have a free copy of Pocket Tunes that was bundled with your device (that's you Centro owners), you qualify for a free update to 4.X Bundle and qualify for a reduced-price upgrade to Pocket Tunes 5.X Deluxe.

What's cool in Pocket Tunes 5.0?

It's the ability to Sync with iTunes that got my attention. I will try it out as soon as the Macintosh Pocket Tunes Sync app becomes available. Right now, you can just get either the Windows or Non-Windows installer. Here are some other features of note:

• Sync with iTunes: You can now synchronize your playlists from iTunes on your PC or Macintosh with your smartphone or PDA. The Pocket Tunes Sync software will automatically synchronize selected playlists, including album art, with iTunes.
Note: Pocket Tunes Sync for Windows works with both Windows Mobile and Palm OS devices. Pocket Tunes Sync for Macintosh will work only with Palm OS devices.
• Automatically download your favorite podcasts: Plus, be able to browse/search a growing catalog of over 1,000 most popular podcasts. This catalog will continually be updated as podcasts come and go. You can also set an option to automatically delete your podcasts after you finish listening to them.
• More Internet Radio Stations: Pocket Tunes 5.0 adds support for the most popular Internet radio format, WMA. With this addition, the built-in catalog contains many more of your favorite stations, and makes it much easier to find a compatible station. Since many popular AM/FM radio stations broadcast in WMA format, this feature makes it easier for you to listen to local radio from anywhere around the world.
• Last.fm Support: With Pocket Tunes 5.0, every time a song is played it can be tracked to the listener's Last.fm music profile (this is called scrobbling). Based on this profile, Last.fm will create customized radio stations of music (think Pandora-like) you'll like.
• Improved Audio Quality: Major improvements have been made to the equalizer, to ensure that it maintains the best audio fidelity at all settings. Work has also been done to eliminate some skips, stutters, or static that could sometimes occur during playback.

You might want to give this new version a listen. I will have a First Look write-up soon and an extended look once the Mac sync software becomes available.

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