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Android media players coming now (Winamp) and soon (HuluPlus)

Mar 14, 2011 — by Eric Brown — from the LinuxDevices Archive — views

Winamp announced its Winamp for Android 1.0 app, offering a redesigned interface, wireless sync over Wi-Fi, iTunes import, and Shoutcast radio streaming. Meanwhile, Hulu tipped the upcoming availability of its media player on selected Android phones, starting with the Samsung Nexus S.

The final version of rgw newly released Winamp for Android 1.0 is now available for download, says Winamp. This mobile version of the popular, Linux-ready desktop media player enables wireless sync over Wi-Fi, import of iTunes content, and Internet radio streaming with Shoutcast support, says the company.

Compared to the beta version, Winamp for Android 1.0 features a redesigned home screen, a lock-screen player, and an improved "Now Playing" screen with biographies, discographies, and photos, says the company.

There is also said to be a new notifier feature that pop ups during track changes or when play/pause is selected, offering track-specific information. Additional features are said to include downloading free music, browsing songs by genre, and swiping album art to change tracks.

Winamp for Android 1.0, including revised "Now Playing" feature (right)
(Click on either to enlarge)

The app is also said to make use of Android's "listen to" voice action feature, and has added language support for Dutch, Italian, Spanish, and Turkish. Among other improvements, the Winamp for Android home screen now offers access to free music available for download, says Winamp.

Hulu coming to Android

Notably absent from the streaming media players available on Android devices has been the popular Hulu. Recently, however, an Engadget reader noticed a Hulu ad that suggests that the Android 2.3-ready Samsung Nexus S (pictured) will soon offer its HuluPlus app, according to the publication. The advertisement for HuluPlus says "select Android OS 2.2 phones" next to the image, followed by a "Coming Soon" tag.

The HuluPlus service offers a variety of TV shows, often a day after they broadcast on TV, as well as a selection of older movies. Hulu competes primarily with Netflix in the streaming media market.

Engadget notes, by the way, that "we suspect Hulu will only run on phones that have DRM baked into their hardware."


This article was originally published on LinuxDevices.com and has been donated to the open source community by QuinStreet Inc. Please visit LinuxToday.com for up-to-date news and articles about Linux and open source.



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