VLC, revisted

Remember vlc? Well, a fairly big new version came out recently. Its got a new look:

Its got a new media menu:

The new open menu finally shows you the available files!

 

It supports video capture devices(webcams):

The preferences have been organized(yay!) and are easier to work with:

There is also even better codec support(if possible). It now auto-downloads music albums, and checks for updated. There is also an onscreen menu in fullscreen mode on the pc version(the mac version has had it for a while).

Its available(and as always, free) here.

Videora iPod Touch Converter

All of the videora video conversion products can convert many video formats to formats and resolutions compatible with any iPod, and the iPod Touch version is no different. The converter is about as fast as can be hoped, and conversion is easy.

Fortunately, there is a mode for normal users and a mode for power users, and each one is easy to use. During transcoding, there is an option to show advanced details, the bolded items are regular details, and the advanced details are in regular font.

The program even includes an option to import converted videos right into iTunes. If you've got the cpu time to spare, you can queue up conversions, and the best part is that this software is completely free.

There is one negative of this software, however. The home screen, which is what you see when the program opens up, is full of ads.

These go away when switching to the other screens(such as convert, settings, and help), but are still a nuisance. It is understandable that the dev's want to make some money while giving away this program, but the ads are really a bit excessive.

Overall, this is a great piece of software, essential to anyone with a large non-h.264 or mpeg4 video collection also in possession of an ipod with video(any latest gen ipod except for the shuffle) or an iphone.

Videora