MoboPlayer is a new video player for Google Android, and it may just be the most impressive multimedia app I’ve seen for the platform. The app supports most video formats including MP4, MOV, and MKV, and also supports subtitles and multiple audio streams. You can create playlists for continues playback, and the app can also stream internet media using http and rtsp protocols.

I tested playback with a standard definition DiVX file, and the video looked great. The player is also very responsive when pausing or skipping forward or back in a video.

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VPlayer is fast becoming my favorite video player for Google Android. The app supports a wide range of video formats including DiVX, Xvid, WMV, M4v, FLV, AVI, MKV, MOV, and MP4. But while the app can handle almost any video I throw at it, when I first installed VPlayer alpha a few months ago the user interface was a bit spartan.

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Now the developer has released a Beta version of VPlayer, with a couple of major changes.

First up, there’s support for gestures. You can adjust the size of a video by using two fingers to pinch and zoom. If you scroll your finger up and down on the right side of the display you can adjust the volume, while swiping up and down the left side will adjust the screen brightness. You can also seek by swiping from left to right along the bottom of the display.

Second, there’s now a preferences menu where you can adjust things like the video aspect ratio, video quality, toggle gesture support, or change the root folder to make finding your video files easier.

There are three video quality settings: High speed, Medium, and High Quality. If you select High speed, the app should attempt to play any videos at all, even if they have high bit rates or HD resolutions. This may mean that you’ll see some distortion, but the frame rate shouldn’t drop. You can improve overall video quality by selecting the High quality setting, but some videos may not play smoothly.

That said, I still wasn’t able to play 720p HD DiVX files on my Google Nexus One without some severe audio/video sync issues. You may have better luck with different video formats.

VPlayer Beta is available as a free download from the Android Market. The app supports Android 2.1 and up.

You can find more screenshots after the break.

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Update: Check out our list of 13 of the best video players for Android

There was a time… just a few short months ago, when it was incredibly difficult to find a media player for Google Android which could handle video formats such as DivX, Xvid, MKV, WMV, FLV and RMVB. Basically the default Android video player could handle H.264 and MP4 files, as well as any other formats natively supported by your phone, and that was it.

Now there are a number of third party apps that support a wide range of video formats, including Rockplayer, arcMedia, and now a new app called VPlayer, which uses FFmpeg to decode videos.

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VPlayer is still technically in alpha testing, but it works great on my Google Nexus One. The app is about as simple as can be. Upon launch you’re presented with a file browser. Find the video file you want to play and click it to start playback. If your phone runs Android 2.1 and up, and has a fast enough CPU, it can probably handle most formats.

In the video window you can tap the screen to bring up a timeline and play/pause button. When you drag your finger along the timeline, the actual time will show up in large characters in the middle of the screen, making it very easy to jump to a specific point in a video.

When you hit the Home button to leave the app, playback will pause — and the video will resume as soon as you return to the app.

The only thing I’d really like to see added to VPlayer is a more robust file browser allowing you to access videos stored on a home network drive. The developer also plans to add support for subtitles. But overall I’m already very impressed with VPlayer.

VPlayer is available as a free download from the Android Market.

After taking CineXPlayer for a disappointing test drive this morning I decided to see if I could find another app that would let me watch Xvid and DivX movies on my iPod touch. I was pleasantly surprised to discover OPlayer, an app which not only handles those formats, but also MKV, WMV, and other video formats.

Even better, unlike CineXPlayer, OPlayer offers a free, ad-supported version of its app so you can try it out without spending any money before deciding whether to plunk down $2.99 for the full version. (The iPad version of OPlayer costs $4.99).

The video quality was pretty good with a few Xvid and WMV files I tried… but you’ll have best results with standard definition video. I tried a few HD DivX files and playback was a little choppy. That makes sense, since the iPhone and iPod touch feature hardware acceleration for H.264 video playback, but not for the other formats OPlayer can handle.

If video playback is choppy, you can enable a Skip Frame feature which may improve performance. You can also adjust the screen aspect ratio in the settings, although there’s no simple way to adjust the aspect ratio while a video is playing, which means you might have to spend a little time going back and forth until you get things right.

Still, for now OPlayer is hands down the best third party video player for the iPhone and iPod touch available today, at least when it comes to support for a wide range of video codecs.

The app also supports MKV, RMVB, MOV, and 3GP video files and lets you transfer files to your device either using iTunes or using the OPlayer tools including a feature that lets you download videos from the web or an FTP server. You can also transfer files to your mobile device over a WiFi connection.

You can check out a few more screenshots after the break.

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CineXPlayer was one of the first apps to bring support for DivX and Xvid video playback to the Apple iPad. Now the app is also available for the iPhone and iPod touch. Unfortunately, just like the iPad version, the latest version of CineXPlayer is a bit inconsistent when attempting to play anything other than Xvid files.

While I was able to load one Xvid files which played smoothly, CineXPlayer video looked a bit jerky at times while buffering. There also aren’t a heck of a lot of options for adjusting the aspect ratio or zoom level for videos that don’t look good on an iPhone or iPod touch display.

On the other hand, another Xvid file simply wouldn’t play at all — even though it was a DVD rip I created using the same DVD backup software as I had used to create the other file.

While I was able to copy a few DivX files to my iPod touch and open them in CineXPlayer, I ran into one major problem: There was no sound. At all. If you’re watching subtitled programming this might not be a problem, but if you want to actually listen to your videos, it looks like you’ll need to stick with Xvid. It’s possible that audio from some DivX files may play properly, but none of the files I tried were fully supported.

WMV and other video formats simply aren’t supported at all.

Of course, you could always convert your DivX files to Xvid… but at that rate you might as well just convert them to H.264 files and use the default iOS video player to watch them.

Copying videos to the CineXPlayer library is also a bit of a chore. You have to plug in your phone, open iTunes, select your device from the Devices tab, choose Apps, go to the File Sharing area, and then manually add any files you want to copy to your mobile device.

You can’t delete files from iTunes, but instead have to open the CineXPlayer app, and swipe from left to right over a file name to bring up a delete button.

If you’re willing to take your chances, CineXPlayer is available from the App Store for $2. At least it’s half the price of the iPad version.

But you might be better off waiting for the developer of the VLC iPad app to port that software to the iPhone and iPod touch. It supports more media formats and generally works a lot better. It’s also free.

You can check out a few more screenshots after the break.

via Engadget

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VLC on iPad: Video selection menu

I got word that VLC officially hit the iPad and I was psyched. I had previously tested out the Xvid-playing app CineXPlayer to lousy results and recommended that you stick to Apple-approved formats for your iPad. Then an app calling itself “VLC” appeared.

If you watch video on your computer, you probably know about VLC — it is the Swiss-army knife of video players. Dang near every file format plays well on VLC, plus it is free.

The free iPad app, on the other hand, is not quite as powerful as its desktop sibling. Being the nerd that I am, I read the included instructions, and loaded the app up with videos through iTunes. I threw a ton of file formats at it: AVI (both Xvid and DivX varieties), M4V, MKV, even VOB. Read the rest of this entry »

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Update: Make sure to read our list of 13 great video players for Android phones and tablets.

When it rains it pours. For the first two years of Google Android’s life there weren’t really any all purpose video players for the platform. The built in video player is bundled with Android’s picture viewer and only supports a handful of video formats. But recently RockPlayer launched an excellent video player with support for a wide range of formats including MKV, Xvid, WMV, and DiVX.

RockPlayer comes in free and paid versions, with the free version including some advertisements.

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Today I ran across another Swiss army knife video player called arcMedia. It’s completely free — at least while in beta. It  uses open source FFmpeg libraries and can handle a similar range of video formats including DiVX, Xvid, MOV, Mp4, WMV, and RMVB. The arcMedia video player supports all versions of Google Android.

The new video player has an attractive file browser and a nice big pause/play button on the video playback screen. There’s also a button you can press to adjust the video size to fit your display, and a timeline allowing you to skip ahead and back in a video. There’s no fast forward, rewind, or skip button. The overall UI is pretty basic. But video playback is smooth and I haven’t noticed any audio video synchronization problems on my Google Nexus One.

The arcMedia video player is available as a free download from the Android Market.