MeCanto (Android)

RATING:
5 out of 5

PRICE:
Free

TASTY:
Upload your music to the Web, and stream it to your phone. No more file transfers or separate MP3 player needed.

BUMMER:
Windows-only transfer client. Long music transfer times. Occasional 3G streaming issues in spotty 3G areas.

COOL:
The “cloud” can now hold your tunes and deliver them to you, when and where you want. Music lovers are no longer tied to their MP3 player/iPod, custom CD burns, or USB memory sticks.

REVIEW:
MeCanto is every mobile music lover’s dream. This free app makes it easy to upload your entire music library to the Web, and stream it to your DROID anywhere, anytime. No more transferring files, worrying about memory card storage limits, and all the rest.

Once your library is live, login to your collection using the MeCanto app on your phone. Easily browse by artist, album, genre, or folder, set up play lists, then listen to your tracks streamed over your network connection.

Still, MeCanto isn’t perfect.

First, just getting the app can be a headache. Head into your DROID Settings, click Applications, then check the box next to Unknown sources to allow you to install non-Market applications. (Otherwise the app won’t show up on your Market search.)

Now that you can snag the app, two big hurdles remain. The desktop transfer software is Windows-only, and transferring your library will take time. Lots of time, depending upon the size and scope of your collection. My suggestion? Start with a few albums; 24 tracks took 22 minutes to upload via my high-speed cable connection. If you have a large library, start a transfer either before you go to bed or when you head off to work.

Plus, once your tracks are live, you can’t search for specific tracks. Basically, if you’re hopelessly addicted to your iPod or current MP3 player with all its fancy menu options for finding tracks other than by folder, artist, genre, or album, you may find MeCanto a bit cumbersome at first.

That said, uploading my wife’s small MP3 collection for a recent weekend road trip was a smashing success. Once her tracks were live, she could skip from album to album and track to track with ease, and streaming was nearly flawless. At home, streaming the music over our wifi network was flawless.

When we drove between towns in backwoods Virginia, we had to click pause/play to force Verizon’s 3G network to get a grip a few times. Our lonely iPod Shuffle was left at home, and not missed.