[nfogel]

I am developing a web-based service in which I would like to let surfers listen to short audio clips recorded in MP3 (like in Nokia music store).

Obviously, I do not want to develop and deploy a client application for that so I was trying several methods of streaming to the mobile device and playing on some available player but so far every attempt ended in the same way - the local player (I am testing with N95 and 6120C) always downloads the entire file before starting to play.

So far I made the following tests:
1. Placing a direct link to the media file on the web page.
2. Inserting a RealPlayer object to the page and providing the media file as SRC.
3. Same thing with a WMP object (WMP 11 is supported on N95).
4. Develop a simple Flash Lite MP3 player and placing the SWF on the page.

I tried serving the media files directly as HTTP links from IIS. I also installed Helix DNA streaming server and served the same MP3 (and RM) files over RTSP and HTTP streams but results were the same (full download before play).

Needless to say, on a PC my test page works just fine and all players (Real Player, Flash, QuickTime and WMP) play the audio after just a short buffering period.

Can anyone advise on how this behavior can be achieved in the mobile world (without developing a client)?