InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) is a protocol and peer-to-peer network for storing and sharing data in a distributed file system. IPFS uses content-addressing to uniquely identify each file in a global namespace connecting all computing devices.

IPFS allows users to host and receive content in a manner similar to BitTorrent. As opposed to a centrally located server, IPFS is built around a decentralized system^[5] of user-operators who hold a portion of the overall data, creating a resilient system of file storage and sharing. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InterPlanetary_File_System

The link is here:

https://ipfs.video/

IPFS video player

Welcome to the IPFS video player

At the top, you can use the form to put in your custom IPFS content id. If you have not found any good example to view yet, you can try Blender Half full, the demo video from https://ipfstube.erindachtler.me/, a talk by Alan Kay, the free movie Sita sings the blues,Big Buck Bunny,Caminandes 1,2,3or simply a monkey video downloaded from Pexels.

Finaly reddit IPFS_Hashes might have some IPFS video hashes as well.

Other works under the same project

A Kodi plugin under development that will complement this website, available at:https://github.com/bneijt/ipfs-video-kodi

A project to help you host your own IPFS pinning gateway easily:https://github.com/bneijt/ipfs-video-gateway

Videonow FX Player

I can't believe they are still shipping these with rotating media.

I have a product today that can do the same thing with Flash for a fraction of the cost even in low volume.
If anyone is interested please contact me. 

Videonow FX Player   uses a small proprietary CD format. 

Screen measuring 1-1/2 by 2 inches   ( this is a 2.5 inch diagonal screen)

http://www.amazon.com/Videonow-FX-Player-Fresh-Green/dp/product-description/B000FZZ8RA

Content 

http://www.amazon.com/Videonow-Personal-Music-Video-Disc/dp/B000BK9TWE   Run time is about 8 to 10 minutes 

See this link:

https://www.google.com/search?tbm=shop&q=Hasbro+VIDEONOW&oq=Hasbro+VIDEONOW&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_l=products-cc.12...0.0.0.34580.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0...0.0. 

From August 2004

http://www.videotechnology.com/old0804.html

http://www.videotechnology.com/videonow/ 

Hasbro VideoNow PVD now in Color

Hasbro's VIDEONOW Player has sold more than 1.2 million VIDEONOW personal video players and more than 4 million VIDEONOW personal video discs.Hasbro just released their new Color player, it retails for around $75 with disks selling from $8 to $16 each. They now even have special little CD jewel boxes for there disks. These disks are just standardaudio CD's, and at least their older b/w version just recorded in the RED-BOOK Audio format where one of the stereo channels contained uncompressed grey scale video. I couldn't believe it worked as well as it did, it was cheap, simple and KISS (Keep it Simple and Stupid), I just can't help admired that design philosophy.

According to the Hasbro web site FAQ Each 4.25 inch VIDEONOW COLOR Personal Video Disc contains over 25 uninterrupted minutes of content/programming. 4.25 inch is a odd size indeed, since most CD's are 4.75 inches or 3 inches for the mini CD's. If someone can confirm this please drop me a note in the chat room.
The player is 4.75 X 5.75 inches and only 1.25 inches thick.

The Color player has a 1.85" x 1.45" backlit color LCD screen with a resolution of 216-by-160 pixels, a built-in speaker and a headphone jack.
This is up from the older VideoNow black and white that had a 1.7" x 1.3" LCD screen with 16 levels of greyscale and 80 x 80 screen resol ution

Yet no one is following this and few have ever even heard of it, because Hasbro is a kids toy maker and their player doesn't use sophisticated compression or special disks. In my option they are doing it right and gaining market share while enhancing their product based when they can take advantage of predictable sales volume. Compared to companies with Portable Media Players (past article) like Archos, RCA Lyra, Creative Labs NOMAD, Sony MSV-A1, GoVideo, ZVUE ,AVIAS or Gizmondo, the Hasbro product has a real shot at setting the standards in the next few years.

See my past article on the older Black and White version: Hasbro VideoNow PVD - Personal Video Disk Player 

Photo taken from a Walmart Shelf
Hasbro's VIDEONOW Player, Ranked #1 in the Toy Industry, Announces Next Major Innovation - VIDEONOW COLOR! Link here

For more photos and info goto the VideoNow player page

Nightingale Media Player Preview Released

From Slashdot:

Nightingale Media Player Preview Released

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday December 15, @07:31PM
from the free-video dept.

First time accepted submitter ilikenwf writes"You may or may not remember the Mozilla-based Songbird media player, which dropped official Linux support in April, 2010. Since then, the Nightingale community fork has waxed and waned in terms of membership and progress, but thanks to having a completely new dev team has today produced a preview build based on Songbird 1.8.1. The team promises a release of a Songbird trunk based build later this year, with fixes and an upgrade to Gecko 6. Plans to support Linux, Windows, and Mac are in the works, with the preview builds being available only for Linux and Windows at the moment. Aside from trying to pull in refugees from the Songbird community, Nightingale wants more developers to aid in fixing dropped and broken features from Songbird — and to add new ones."

Q: Why would I use this instead of VLC, splayer or media player classic?
A: Their playlist interface and lyric plugin was great.


Others Linux Media players: Rhythmbox, or Amarok, or Banshee, or Exaile, or Guayadeque


Q: What I want to know is why a media player needs a web browser engine (Gecko 6) in it.
A: XUL interface app with web streaming and music store sources displayed in the rightmost viewport.

Beware VLC Media Player is getting rebundled by Malware vendors.

From Slashdot: Open Source Software Hijacked To Push Malware

"VLC Media Player is a popular, useful, and free-as-in-beer piece of software. Unfortunately, its open source nature makes it easier for people with bad intentions to repackage it in nefarious ways. Not only do some of these folks claim that they're the originator of the software (a violation of trademark law and the license), but they often bundle it up with crapware and malware, which is a real dilemma for open source developers who play by the rules."

It's a good article.

Reverse engineering off-brand media players

From Hack-a-day:
Reverse engineering off-brand media players

[Marcan] picked up this device on the cheap and is working to reverse engineer the controller. This media player is an off-brand Chinese model that can be had for the low-low price of $33.97 with free shipping. That’s worth it just to scavenge the parts for other projects, but the challenge here is to hack the controller because a datasheet was never produced for it. Warm up your logic analyzer, check out the wiki, and you can be pounding away at this ARM926EJ-S based system in no time.

The call to arms comes from [Marcan's] blog. You may remember him as the guy who is working to solidify iPhone sync in Linux or… what else did he do?  Oh yeah, he had this little project called the Wii Homebrew Channel a while ago. Get involved and you can learn from some folks who really know what they’re doing.

LCD display manufacturer used in Archos video players

LCD display manufacturer used in Archos video players

It's amazingly thin and has a very sharp image.

Data Image Corporation.
http://www.dataimage.com.tw/eng/
Taiwanese web site seems to be down today.

They have a USA one.
http://www.dataimagelcd.com/

Bye Bye Zune.

Microsoft To Exit the Zune Business?

According to Microsoft's quarterly filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Zune platform experienced a revenue drop of 54 percent, or $100 million. This compares to relatively healthy sales of the iPod, which were up 3 percent in the same period (though revenue did drop by 16 percent). Obviously, with the recent job cuts at Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division, pundits are wondering how soon until the Zune also gets the chop. As one pundit wrote: 'Microsoft, by now, should be realizing that it's never going to be as "cool" as Apple, so why waste its time with the Zune where it has no competitive advantage?'"