Description: BBox Audio Player (BBoxV2) is a free lightweight audio player/manager that offers a good range of features including CD ripping, audio file tagging management, internet radio, automatic volume normalization, audio library management functions, and others.

This program pulls a very interesting trick: it takes up less than 2 megs in memory for the program itself (apart from libraries/music data loaded into it; more info in the comments section) — yet nonetheless provides enough functionality for most people to use as their primary audio player/manager. Compare this to, say, a program such as iTunes, which consumes 51 megs in memory, Mediamonkey or JRiver Media Jukebox (both of which consume approx. 30 megs).

You might wonder whether it is appropriate to compare BBoxV2 with these programs, and in many ways it is oranges and apples since the scope of these latter programs is so much broader; however, BBoxV2 does provide an impressive array of functions in a nice little package, and in truth if you preferred a slim and compact audio player/manager that is simple yet powerful BBoxV2 delivers (and delivers very well). Here are more notes on this program:

• CD Player and Ripper: rips tracks and pulls tag info from an online database. MP3 format only with a wide range of quality options (CBR/VBR).
• Tagger: the tagging function is surprisingly powerful, and includes the ability to do auto tagging based on an online search, including album artwork. (Allows you to change the search string used, which is very useful).
• Music library functions: includes quick filters (artist/album) as well as (a very useful) keyword search.
• Internet Radio: with 68 pre-defined stations. Although I was not able to determine how to add my own stations to the list, I was able to add shoutcast (.pls) shortcuts to the music library and add/play shoutcast stations that way. (Update: see comments section for how to add stations).
• Smart volume: i.e. normalizes volume for different audio tracks playing in succession, eliminating any sudden variations in volume.
• Supported audio formats (playback): MP3, WMA, Wave, MP1, MP2, MP4, AIFF, OGG, M4A, M4V, M4P, AAC, AC3, APE, TTA, OFR, SPX, FLAC & CDA.
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Description: Adobe Media Player is a free video streaming application that runs on the Adobe Air platform. What it is is a desktop content delivery vehicle for “Adobe TV”, which comprises a number of licensed networks and channels offers content creators the opportunity publish their videos. Content is managed within the app so that it is saved and be accessed offline, and a range of video resolutions (480i, 720p, and 1080p) are supported.

This is Adobe’s foray into the content streaming market, competing with the likes of Miro, Joost, and a few dozen others that have mushroomed over the past few months (see this posting).

With all these streaming video services popping up its hard to see why a user would favor any particular one over the others. I think I am a typical user in that I personally would seek out YouTube first and foremost whenever I am seeking video content, but Adobe Media Player is distinct from YouTube in a number of ways, although it is not really differentiated from the many other desktop content management/delivery platforms. Here are more notes on this program:

• The content: the video content offered is licensed from a number of networks such as CBS, MTV, PBS and others, such that you are able to watch older episodes of CSI for example.
• Finding what you seek: although the videos are sorted into subject categories as well as networks, I got a feeling that the complete unpredictability of the kind of programming that is offered will make it unlikely that I or a user like me would be turning to Adobe Media Player to watch video content. Unless the user has the time and inclination to simply browse what’s on offer, in which case he/she might find some gems. The search box, unfortunately, offers search within episodes but not across networks.
• The user experience: the program feels like a very sleek iTunes or Podcasting client for videos. It actually looks and feels good, very responsive and intuitive, making navigating through the program quite a pleasant experience. The option to bookmark favorite channels is quite convenient.
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Rating: 5

Version tested: 1.0

Description: CD Art Display is a small, memory resident program that displays the cover art and lyrics on the desktop for whatever song is being played on your media player. It will look for the song artwork locally on your hard drive and, if not found, will download it from various sources on the internet. It also provides a comprehensive range of media player controls from the desktop.

This program reminds me of moreTunes, but there are differences between the two (see below). Here are some notes on CD Art Display:

• Displays album art: will look for artwork files locally and, if not found, attempts to retrieve it online. Allows you to set rules/priorities for where to find artwork. For example the program defaults are : read ID3v3 tag cover first, the look for folder.jpg in the song folder, then in the same place look for front.jpg, then look in a specific folder under %artist% - %album%.jpg. If not found it will then do a search on Amazon.com (or any of the other country Amazons). Rules are customizable and priorities easily changed.
• Lyrics: can download and display song Lyrics, and will save these locally for future access. Will show Lyrics in a nice floating window above the artwork thumbnail (as opposed to the browser, which is how most programs do it). Can be set to display lyrics on all songs played by default.
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Rating: 5

Version tested: 1.0

Description: JLC’s Internet TV is a freeware program which lists and displays over 1,300 TV channels that are available for streaming over the internet.

I’ve seen a number of “free internet TV” programs that promise hundreds of channels, but I usually shy away from featuring them on Freewaregenius. There are a number of reasons for this: the programs are usually poorly designed with a gaudy look and a small screen that is virtually drowning in a sea of ads. Moreover, the notion of “free internet TV” itself is a bit of a misnomer, given that the featured programming is typically a streaming, pre-recorded short segment that repeats over and over.

This is why JLC’s Internet TV was such a breath of fresh air. It has a simple yet functional (ad-free) design that works very well, and a nice-size screen that you can resize freely. Here’s what you need to know about this program:

• JLC imports its list of channels from WWITV.com and the program includes a channels updater that will ensure that it features the latest list of channels. (This does not occur automatically; he help file suggests you update the channels list once a week).
• The UI is very economical and works well. You can filter the list of channels by country of origin and can sort the different fields of information within the channels list by clicking on the column header. A handy search function is also provided to help you find exactly what you’re looking for (note that it will search the filtered list; to search all entries make sure to set to “All countries” first).
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Rating: 5

Version tested: 1.0.3.1 beta

Description: LiberTV is a local client software that can download or stream films, videos, and podcasts from online sources. It promises quality “high definition” videos updated daily that you can browse through by category using a well designed user interface.

I am going to use a question/answer format for this review:

Q: What is this program about? Is it another one of those ’streaming TV’ programs that promise access to hundreds of TV stations from all around the world?
A: This program seems to be a sort of video uploading/downloading service similar to YouTube, but one that uses a local client. LiberTV can stream content from online TV stations if you provide the URLs (which you can easily do with your browser). Its main function is giving access to its own library of videos and films. It is similar to the Democracy Player, but is also different in many ways.

Q: Why would I use this instead of YouTube?
A: There are 2 reasons that I can think of: The first is that, unlike your standard YouTube video, the quality of the videos on LiberTV is quite high. The second reason is the nature of content that is on offer; I got the sense that there was some careful selection involved in the repertoire of videos available. Click here, here and here for examples of some of the films that are on offer, just to get an idea of the kinds of films you can find.

Q: Where does the content come from? Is it legal?
A: My guess is that it is not legal. LiberTV apparently allows users to create an account and upload content. To quote their website “LiberTV Player aggregates it’s content from various online sources, user uploads and podcasts”. When you do upload you also have to provide substantial information on the video you are uploading. The main question I wonder about is how they guarantee the promised high video quality if everyone is uploading random content. Do they have some sort of screening process, perhaps? I’m not sure what the process may be but I will say that the content submission feels like its deliberate and centralized.
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Rating: 5

Description: MP3Tunes.com is a web service that allows you to store your music collection online and offers unlimited storage space for this, even for free accounts. It makes your music available for you to listen to or download from anywhere through the MP3Tunes.com web interface.

How it works: first, you create an account (called a ’locker’) with MP3Tunes.com. Initially this will likely have a 1-Gig maximum ceiling, but eventually will be upgraded to unlimited storage. There are a number of ways to upload/download your music into your locker, foremost of which is Oboe, a little program for Windows, Mac, or Linux which is installed locally and can sync your audio files between your hard drive and your online locker (or you could just do one way uploads or downloads if you prefer).

If you are downloading music from the internet you could use ’webload’, a feature within the MP3Tunes.com site, that will transfer the files (if you have the URL to download from), straight into your locker, without the need to download on the hard drive first. MP3Tunes.com also provides plugins for IE and Firefox that can identify tracks that you might encounter on websites and ’sideload’ these straight into your locker.

What would you do with unlimited online storage for your MP3s? Here are some of the possibilities:

• Make your music collection available anywhere there is an internet connection. Tired of lugging that external hard drive with all your MP3’s to work and back? Good, because once you upload all of your audio files to MP3Tunes you wouldn’t need to do that any more; you can have your music streamed into your work computer through the MP3Tunes.com website.
• Safely back-up all of your music: just imagine; you have your entire 80 Gigabytes of music in an external drive which you accidentally drop. Not a pretty image. With MP3Tunes you can have all that music backed up safely on the MP3Tunes.com servers.
• Store your entire music library in a single location. my music collection, for example, is 80 Gigs and growing. I have a 60 Gig Ipod and can only afford to store 25 Gigs or so worth of music on my laptop. The only way I can everything in one place is to buy an external hard drive. MP3Tunes.com is an option that I can resort to instead, although it is an open question whether it would be more convenient than simply buying a hard drive (see below).
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Rating: 5 pick

Version tested: 2.5.4.978

Description: MediaMonkey is an advanced music manager comprising a music player, cd ripper, audio converter, ID3 Tag editor, and playlist generator. It also supports external MP3 players, including the Ipod.

If you’ve been looking for a free program that can be a kind of one-stop-shop of audio, doing everything that you might possibly want to do with your library of audio files (and doing it well) - MediaMonkey just might be that program.

Here are some of the reasons why this program is so cool:

• Audio format conversions. Supported formats are MP3, WMA, OGG, WAV, and FLAC.
• Rips and burns music CD’s.
• Powerful Tag editing functionality: as good as it gets, with support for importing ID3 tags and album art from external resources like Amazon and Freedb. Auto tagging tracks and saving album art from Amazon is just beautiful!
• Organization: allows you to automatically change your music library’s folder structure based on your audio files’ tag information. Read more »

Rating: 5

Version tested: 2,0,9,360

GOM Player is a freeware player for DVDs and Video Files.

• It offers advanced features and a really slick look-and-feel
• Comes with its own resident codecs, meaning that you WILL be able to play pretty much every format without needing to find, download, and install different codecs for different formats.
• Also purports to have patented technology that allows you to play partially downloaded files! I haven’t tried this, but it sounds good to me.

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