A new media player called Streampad gives users access to their digital music library from any computer right from inside their browser.
The best part is that Streampad is a free service. All you need to do is sign up for an account, download a Java desktop application that stores metadata from all MP3 and AC3 files stored on your computer, and login from anywhere to listen to your music.
“The song is streamed from your own computer when you request it,” said Daniel Kantor, founder of Streampad. “When you run the Java program, it continues to run and act like a Web server so the request is going to your own system. It’s like how a peer-to-peer system would work. As you’re choosing the music, all that info is coming from Streampad, my server, but when you play that music, it comes from your computer.”
Unfortunately that means users must leave their computers on to access their home library. However, if you have an MP3 Tunes account, it is possible to log into that service through Streampad and play music uploaded to your “locker.”
Other features of Streampad include:
- Streaming concerts from the Internet Archive
- Listen to music from around the web
- Create playlists and share them on your website
- Send songs and messages to friends through your “Billboard”
If you are looking for a way to listen to your music remotely on devices outside of an MP3 player, Streampad looks like a decent solution with more options than the competition. However, I have not experimented with the service long enough to uncover any serious drawbacks.
