Top 10 social media centers and alternatives to iTunes
The media center of the future is the likes of Boxee. You can watch videos, pictures, play music from your PC. You can also share with your friends all the stuff you do with your own media center. They’re even designed to work with a remote control, you can hook it up to your TV and viola! – the Internet on your TV!
There are a few social media centers out that are very impressive and can change the way you watch videos, listen to music and share. Since iTunes is the most popular and widely used, there is no need to mention it again here. Likewise Windows Media Center is well known and very popular too. Here is a short list of some others that are pretty good.
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Boxee is a free, open-source software platform that integrates personal media with Internet media along with social networking. boxee’s social networking component allows users to share information about what they’re listening to or watching with other Boxee users or friends on social networks like twitter, facebook, etc.
Boxee is designed for your TV and use of a remote control. To get Boxee on your TV you’ll need to first connect your computer to the TV screen. You will most likely need an DVI/VGA to HDMI cable (but it depends on the specific input/output on your computer and TV). |
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Kaltura offers a full open-source video platform that supports basic and advanced online video capabilities. It lets everyone create their own video site and integrate it into their existing site. |
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Miro is an Open-source video player and podcast client. It can play almost any video file and offers over 6000 Internet TV shows and video podcasts. I installed it on my Mac and am very impressed. The interface is stunning, clear and beautiful. It is very easy to use and quite addicting. |
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XBMC is an award-winning free and open source (GPL) software media player and entertainment hub for digital media. XBMC is available for Linux, OSX, Windows, and the original Xbox. It’s easy to use and very well maintained by it’s large user community. |
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Plex bridges the gap between your Mac and your home theater, doing so with a visually appealing user interface that provides instant access to your media. Plex can play a wide range of video, audio and photo formats as well as online streaming audio and video. |
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Moovida is a project to create an open source cross platform media center solution, with a 10-foot user interface design for the living-room TV, to be used with a remote control. Primary development and deployment platform is Linux and Unix operating systems; they also currently support Microsoft Windows and also hope to support Mac OS X in the future. |
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K!TV is the best way to watch Tv on your computer. Download, install and watch your favorite TV shows! K!TV is free and is fully functional! It is based on free technologies to bring you a high quality software. |
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ZeeVee Delivers Internet and downloaded video in an easy to navigate graphical interface. Zinc is designed to be driven with a remote control and displayed on a TV so it is a pleasure to use from the couch. |
| MediaPortal |
MediaPortal is an Open Source application ideal for turning your PC in a very advanced Multi-Media Center / HTPC. MediaPortal allows you to listen to your favorite music & radio, watch your video’s and DVD’s, view, schedule and record live TV and much more. |
| Kantaris |
Kantaris is an all new media player based on code from Videolan client (VLC) and Bass audio library. Kantaris has a graphical user interface similar to that of Windows Media Player. In very simple terms, Kantaris modifies and upgrades the celebrated VLC player with a slick new user interface. |