multimedia

Multimedia

GOM Media Player

Editors' review
GOM Media Player for Windows handles most of the more common video formats, including MP4, AVI, MKV, and more. It comes with a sleeker, more media center-focused design and packs plenty of codecs under the hood to play just about any media format you throw at it.

The initial installation is standard, like any other Windows product: accept a couple terms, set a destination folder, and choose to opt in or out of an offer from AVG. After installation completes, GOM will guide you through an optional setup process to optimize initial use based on sound and monitor setup.

You'll be introduced to a 4:3 ratio default window with an orange, black, and silver theme that will make you wonder if Halloween came early. Your token playback tools like Play, Stop, and Skip Forward and Back are located on the bottom left corner, and control panels for managing your media content are located on the opposite side. In the middle is a small, integrated upsell ticker that links users to any of GOM's other products or video content. Though this can easily be removed by switching to another skin, it's far less intrusive than other attempts at product promotions that we've seen in many other apps.

Right above is a timeline that's extremely narrow; this is fine for standard keyboard/mouse users but hardly ideal for touch. Right-clicking anywhere on the player will expose even more detailed options and audio/video-related tweaks like those found in other open-source players. You can add custom audio EQ effects, tweak subtitle lengths, and even take burst screenshots to capture particular moments from videos. However, some of the language was a bit confusing: GOM labels screen rotation as "flip input/output." Not a deal- breaker by any means, but not a labor-intensive fix either.

Power users are given the added option to set custom hot keys and even sync their remote iOS and Android devices like tablets and phones to control the media player over Wi-Fi. And though this feature works for the most part, buggy playback and less-than-stellar navigation do not make this prime time-ready.

But when it came to video playback, GOM was no slouch. Videos played and looked as they should, and it was easy enough to incrementally tweak your picture settings during live play.

Whether you choose this or VLC, both are solid media players, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. GOM tries to do a lot, and though some of those attempts could use some work, its core mode is rock solid: watching your favorite Global Starcraft II League (GSL) masters duke it out in this season of GSL.



GOM Media Player is an all-purpose video player that plays almost any video with ease. With its user-friendly interface, advanced functionality, and FREE price tag, it's the only media player you need.




Publisher's Description

From Gretech:



GOM Media PlayerEnjoy all your videos anywhere, any time, with GOM Media Player and GOM Video Converter


GOM Media Player

GOM is a freeware media player that supports many 
features for advanced users who desire to watch 
video files at the best quality.


GOM Audio Player

GOM Audio is a great audio player for listening to 
music on your PC. Free, full of options and ideal 
for those looking for a complete player.


GOM Video Converter

The main interface of GOM Encoder is slick and clearly designed. Justdrag and drop a file into the top field, and the source information will be displayed below, next to a box with output (conversion) info. Here you can select one of a ton of ready made profiles. From iPhone to PSP, Zuneto Flash - there's pretty much every device and format you might want. You can tweak the settings of any of these profiles, and set up your own custom conversion profiles too.

GOM Remote

This might be interesting for people who like to hook up their PC to their TV and watch GSL live on the sofa.
You can remote control GOM player with your Android phone very easily:
 GOM Remote is a completely free App that allows you to wirelessly connect your iPhone, iPod, or iPad to your PC and remotely control GOM Media Player, GOM Audio, and PowerPoint. Great for watching movies on your PC without leaving your couch, or controlling your music during a party without having to run to your desk.









iTunes Media Player



iTunes is an audio and video player that lets you manage your iOSdevices as well as download content from the iTunes store.
iTunes 11 has been completely redesigned from the ground up. Development of iTunes has been stagnant the last few years so Apple needs to get this one right. Has Apple nailed it or is the new iTunes a mess? Read on to find out. 

Features

The interface of iTunes has been completely re-imagined. Everything is simpler and space is better utilized. In the previous version of iTunes, there was a persistent bar on the left where you can access playlists, albums, devices, and more. While it provided quick access to those features, most users didn't use them most of the time. Apple has scrapped this and has made the default album view take up the entire window.
iCloud integration has also been tightened. Every track you've bought in iTunes will now show up in your music library, whether or not it has been downloaded. Click on it to download the album. User can now also stream directly from the cloud instead of having to download the track first. This also applies to all your TV and movies that were purchased in iTunes. There's also a dedicated tab for iTunes Match, Apple's music matching service to make all of your tracks available across devices, if they're available in the iTunes store.
The iTunes store has also gone through a redesign with featured content up top. Top lists are still there and are easier to browse. iTunes 11 will also allow you to access the iTunes store content from your music library, suggesting similar artists and tracks, without having to take you to the iTunes store. 

Usability

Browsing by album is a pleasure. Click on an album and the tracks will show up below. iTunes also analyzes the color of album artwork to create a colored background for each individual album. It works well for the most part but the effect blurs the album art around the edges.
New in iTunes 11 is the "Up Next" feature, which is basically a fancy name for your queue. Add songs to your queue from wherever you are in the interface. You don't need to manage a playlist to arrange and rearrange the tracks to your liking.

Creating playlists is much improved. Instead of having to jump in and out a playlist to add and arrange tracks, playlists now have a dedicated pane on the right where you can manipulate tracks without having to jump around the program.

The mini player has also been completely redesigned and is actually useful now. The mini player has gotten smaller but utilizes that small space much better than previous versions. Player controls will show up with you hover your mouse over the mini player. There's access to search and your Up Next queue can be manipulated from the mini player.

Devices now show up as a button at the top right. Clicking on it will take you to a detailed page where you can manage everything. Choose what you want synced, manage your apps, and even play music directly from your iOS device. Everything is easier to read and comprehend in the device tab.

Quality
The only thing missing from iTunes 11 is a music streaming service. iCloud gives users the ability to download tracks locally but not stream them. There is no subscription service in iTunes to compete with the likes of Spotify, Rdio, and Xbox Music. It's only matter of time before Apple releases its own music subscription service but it's disappointing that Apple didn't release it with iTunes 11. 



Conclusion

iTunes is still one of the best media players around. It has gotten easier to use, feels less bloated, but is still missing a music subscription service. 
Pros
  • Simplified interface
  • Useful mini player
  • Increased iCloud support
  • Redeem iTunes gift card with web cam
  • Improved playlist creation
Cons
  • Limited file formats supported
  • Enormous download
  • Still no streaming service











Windows System Requirements

  • PC with a 1GHz Intel or AMD processor and 512MB of RAM
  • Windows XP Service Pack 2 or later, 32-bit editions of Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8
  • 64-bit editions of Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8 require the iTunes 64-bit installer
  • 400MB of available disk space
  • Broadband Internet connection to use the iTunes Store
                                                                                   

click here to download






 RealPlayer


RealPlayer 16 maintains its redesign from version 15 but changes a couple things under the hood, most notably the original "Featured" video section.
Installation process remains the same: Real uses a stub installer with optional offers of various products that you can choose to add or ignore. The sleek, metallic-colored interface from last year remains intact; the core video player, media library manager, and built-in burning tools remain virtually unchanged. The most noticeable overhaul exists in RealPlayer's new Web Videos tab.
Last year's features like private mode and the ability to view Facebook videos from within the interface still exist, but now reside in a grander direction toward content discovery. RealPlayer has greatly improved the use flow for finding new videos on the Web by aggregating some of the most popular content, enabling users to view them all from within the Real Player interface. The left column organizes video channels, beginning with the most preferential focuses (like bookmarked and Facebook videos), followed by a list of general categories similar to those found on aggregated video portals.
You can download videos directly from within the interface, a common but always useful feature for video players. RealPlayer 16 also comes with updated device profiles for the latest gadgets, including iPad 4 and Samsung Tabs. This means that you can download and convert videos into the most compatible formats, which RealPlayer will remember for future videos as well. Your downloaded content automatically gets collected into a Downloads & Recordings folder for easy viewing and recollection.



The video burning feature remains, but felt a bit lacking; RealPlayer lets users burn audio and video discs like VCDs and DVDs, but direct burning to Blu-ray support is still missing, despite the technology having been out for over half a decade. If Real wants to stand as a major presence as a premium media station, then limiting users to just burn AVCHD on smaller mediums instead of full Blu-ray format just won't cut it. Note that AVCHD content can still be played on Blu-ray players.
There's still plenty to love in RealPlayer, especially with the improved support for Web content; it's come a long way since the simple browser additions and RealPlayer has been slowly fine-tuning its design for a better user experience with minimal bloat as a free product. As a free product update, we highly recommend it.
RealPlayer is the ultimate media player for users how love downloading and watching videos. The new RealPlayer is the best way to find all the hottest and most user-relevant video content on the web, and the ideal tool for the consumer who wants web video entertainment, but doesn't want to sift through thousands of videos to find it. You won't be discovering the latest video craze from a morning news show three days after it goes viral. You'll be the ones in the know, the ones sharing the video that's just about to go viral.
Users can browse videos based on channels like sports, entertainment and news, or just keep their eyes glued to the "New and Popular" section if they want to see the most popular trending videos and stay a step ahead of their friends. Best of all, once users find the videos they love, they can use the great tools and utilities already within RealPlayer to download, convert, bookmark for later or share them with friends

Quick Specs

  • Version:16.0.2.32
  • File size:755.17K
  • Date added:March 14, 2013
  • Price:Free
  • Operating system:
    Windows XP/Vista/7/8
  • Total downloads:70,074,662
  • Downloads last week:25,158
  • Product ranking:#8 in Video Players
  • Additional RequirementsAdobe Flash Player ActiveX 9.0, QuickTime 7.5
                                                              

click here to download


VLC media player


Description
Simple, fast and powerful media player. Plays everything: Files, Discs, Webcams, Devices and Streams. VLC media player is a free and open source media player and multimedia framework written by the VideoLAN project. VLC is a portable multimedia player, encoder, and streamer supporting many audio and video codecs and file formats as well as DVDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. It is able to stream over networks and to transcode multimedia files and save them into various formats. The default distribution of VLC includes a large number of free decoding and encoding libraries, avoiding the need for finding/calibrating proprietary plugins. VLC is a packet-based media player, and it can play the video content of some damaged, incomplete, or unfinished videos. For example, files still downloading via peer-to-peer (P2P) networks

Features
  • Simple, Powerful and Fast
  • Plays everything, Files, Discs (DVD, CD, VCD, Blu-Ray), Webcams and Streams
  • Plays most video formats with no codec packs needed: MPEG-2, H.264, DivX, MPEG-4, MKV, WebM, WMV
  • Works on most platforms: Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, Unix...
  • Completely Free, 0 Spyware, Ads or User Tracking
  • Media Converter and Streamer
  • Title: VLC Media Player 2.1.5 (32-bit)
    Filename: vlc-2.1.5-win32.exe
    File size: 23.60MB (24,743,106 bytes)
    Requirements: Windows XP / Vista / Windows7 / Windows8
    Languages: Multiple languages



FLV Player Free


FLV Player Free is an efficient FLV Player which can play any FLV video on your computer. You can view your FLV video in full screen or normal screen or in a screen size of your choice. You can also play/pause, seek, increase/decrease volume, and also drag and drop files to play them.

Features of FLV Player 3.1:

- Play FLV files (and other formats) on any Windows PC.
- Double-click files in File Explorer to play them automatically.
- Zoom to full screen.
- Drag-and-drop multiple files.
- Slow Motion option.
- No viruses or spyware.
- Totally FREE.

Important Note:

- FLV Player 3.1 installer is bundled with "Ask Toolbar". However, you may continue the installation process without installing it.

Changes in FLV Player 2.0.25:

- Added ‘video-only’ mode (press [tab] to hide all FLV Player interface elements, note that you can still drag the video around)
- Added volume control with [arrow-up] and [arrow-down] keys
- Added timer toggle (normal and milliseconds)
- Ability to skip forward with [arrow-right] key has been restored

Important Note :

- FLV Player 2.0.25 installer is bundled with "Yahoo! Toolbar". However, you may continue the installation process without installing it.

Quick Specs


  • Version:1.0
  • File size:1.11MB
  • Date added:November 26, 2009
  • Price:Free
  • Operating system:
    Windows 3.x/95/NT/98/Me/2000/XP/2003/Vista/Server 2008/7
  • Total downloads:113,325
  • Downloads last week:1,755
  • Product ranking:#33 in Video Players
  • Additional RequirementsNot available                                         

click here to download






Windows Media Player 12


Designed by media lovers, for media lovers. Windows Media Player 12—available in Windows 7 and Windows 8—plays more music and video than ever, including Flip Video and unprotected songs from your iTunes library! Organize your digital media collection, sync digital media files to a portable device, shop online for digital media content, and more—with Windows Media Player 12.



With Windows Media Player (WMP) 11 Microsoft aims to counter iTunes’ dominance. The interface has been beefed-up, usability has been enhanced and Microsoft has worked at turning its flagship media application into a full multimedia center, linked to online stores and compatible with mobile devices. 


Improved interface



The first thing that will strike you when you start up Windows Media Player 11, is the complete revamp of the interface. No more deep blue, the whole application is now dark and shiny and you can customize it by selecting a hue of your choice. Windows Media Player's left side is a drop down pane for your library, the center displays your lists and the right side is used to create playlists which you can rip, burn or sync with a mobile device.

Compared to Windows Media Player 10, we feel that Microsoft has actually made an effort to simplify the interface and give you more ways to browse through your media list, whether by using the drop down menu or the quick rollout line on the top left. The 'play' and 'previous' and 'next' buttons are now nested at the bottom of the interface and have a jazzy glow whenever you roll over them. Microsoft has finally succeeded in integrating a good search function into its Windows Media Player interface. As you type the name of an artist or title the application will bring up the results in the main window.








License:
Free
Language:
English
i
OS:
Windows 7
i
Latest version:
12
05/09/12i
Last month's downloads:
80,751
i
Size:
9.80 MB

                                        

click here to download




Media Player Classic


Media Player Classic Home Cinema is a free utility that provides video playback. Since there are a lot of video players on the market, this is a tough area for apps to really stand out from the competition. With a few performance issues and some operational quirks, Media Player Classic Home Cinema didn't come out at the top of the long list of similar programs.

The installation process is simple enough, although there's about a half dozen screens to step through. Once installed, Media Player Classic Home Cinema launches quickly, although there's no modification to the pop-up Explorer menu to launch a video clip

with this tool except through "Open With." A separate menu option would have been nice. The player's interface is a little awkward. To open a file you don't get a standard browser window, but a list of recently opened files in drop-down format along with a Browse button that then offers an Explorer window. By default the player always opens with the sound turned off, and an icon has to be clicked to activate audio. While it seems like a small issue, this isn't the default with most players, and the extra step was a drawback. Playback was fine on most video files, but on larger files we did have a crash a few times. Another weird behavior is the Stop button, which resets to the beginning of the video instead of holding the current location like most players do. We had to get used to using the Pause button instead. Navigation back and forth in a video file also seemed slower than some competing products.
While we had only a few minor quibbles with Media Player Classic Home Cinema, the inconsistent crashing on larger files and those little quibbles quickly led us to uninstall the product and revert to the standard Windows offering. We're not sure why you'd want to use Media Player Classic Home Cinema over other players on the market. There's just not enough there to make this software stand out.

Quick Specs

  • Version:1.6.8
  • File size:2.15MB
  • Date added:June 18, 2013
  • Price:Free
  • Operating system:
    Windows XP/Vista/7/8
  • Total downloads:959,550
  • Downloads last week:9,189
  • Product ranking:#12 in Video Players
  • Additional RequirementsNot available
                                                          

click here to download
  



JetAudio


Recent changes


  • Supports more file extensions (tak, w64, ...) for context menu, file associations, and tooltip
  • Some OGV format did not play properly
  • Fixed tooltip information for some MKV format
  • Fixed SPDIF output for some DTS sound
  • Support M3U8 file extension
  • Fixed other minor bugs

System requirements 
- Windows 2000 / XP / Vista / 7 

Pros
  • Nice customizable interface
  • Works with all popular formats
  • Includes interesting extra features
Cons
  • Doesn't have many skins or visual effects





Download jetAudio 8.0.17 Basic




BSPlayer



Publisher's Description















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