gHacks technology news » video browser http://www.ghacks.net A technology blog covering software, mobile phones, gadgets, security, the Internet and other relevant areas. Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:33:24 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 en hourly 1 Web Video Downloader And Converter http://www.ghacks.net/2008/10/01/web-video-downloader-and-converter/ http://www.ghacks.net/2008/10/01/web-video-downloader-and-converter/#comments Wed, 01 Oct 2008 11:25:42 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/?p=7330 Web video is so popular that Internet Providers throughout the world are feeling the network bandwidth increase and trying to find ways to lower the bandwidth consumption. The popularity of web video caused a strong increase in web video downloaders and converters that download videos from video portals to the local computer.

TubeMaster (via Download online video using TubeMaster Plus) is one of those applications. The portable application supports more than 100 video portals including the ever popular Youtube and Dailymotion but also some unsuspected ones like Hulu, IGN or ESPN. Not all web video portals could be tested because some will only show the videos to users of specific countries. A test of downloading web video from Hulu would be greatly appreciated.

The application uses its own browser that can be used to display the video portal websites. Videos will be automatically downloaded when they are played on the portal. This is unfortunately the only way to download videos from the various websites.

web video

It is still a comfortable way to download web video. Besides the option to load the websites directly users can also use the search engine included to search for various on single or all web video websites.

A maximum of 500 search results can be displayed. The videos cannot be downloaded directly from the search. A click displays additional information about the selected web video and an option to load the video on the video portal’s website from where it will be automatically downloaded when it starts playing.

Another option is the mp3 search which leaves the user in the dark from where the files are coming. Quicktime is needed to play and download the mp3.

Videos can be automatically decoded which is the default option in TubeMaster. The user can choose between various video codecs and stop the conversion.

Tubemaster supports adult web video sites as well but that option is locked for users who subscribe to the service. Downloading from the “normal” web video portals is completely free though.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2008/10/01/web-video-downloader-and-converter/feed/ 6 Flickr Video Browser http://www.ghacks.net/2008/08/19/flickr-video-browser/ http://www.ghacks.net/2008/08/19/flickr-video-browser/#comments Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:07:20 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/?p=6290 Flickr is best known for being a photo uploading and publishing portal with a vast community of contributors. Lesser known is the video portion of the website. Uploading videos is limited to Flickr pro members currently but everyone – even guests – are allowed to watch them on the Flickr website providing the owner of the video configured them that way.

Flickr Video Browser is an external tool that provides access to public Flickr Videos in an easy to use interface. It displays thumbnails of 100 Flickr videos on each page which get updated regularly from public Flickr video listings.

A click on a thumbnails opens the video on the exact same page in an overlay providing options to view the video or explore the tags of it. A click on a tag loads all videos tagged the same way on the Flickr Video Browser homepage.

flickr video browser

Overall the controls currently offered are pretty basic. There is no search option and no way to browser tags which are two of the features that should be implemented as soon as possible to make the process user friendly.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2008/08/19/flickr-video-browser/feed/ 2 Piclens adds Youtube support http://www.ghacks.net/2008/05/07/piclens-adds-youtube-support/ http://www.ghacks.net/2008/05/07/piclens-adds-youtube-support/#comments Wed, 07 May 2008 10:54:39 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/?p=4035 I got an email yesterday from the Cooliris Team who have published a new version of Piclens, a browser extension that is available for Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari. The new version added several interesting new features, among them support for Firefox 3 and Youtube 3D browsing support. The Youtube addition is probably the biggest new function in this release.

I had some troubles locating it first but once you know where to look and what to do it turns out to be extremely well done. The easiest way to access this new feature is by opening Piclens by clicking on the Launch Piclens button in the browser toolbar. This opens up Piclens in full screen mode with an option to search seven of the supported websites including Youtube.

Once you have entered a first search term and picked Youtube from the list you will be presented with a 3D image wall of Youtube videos. The usual Piclens controls apply, you can move around with the mouse and a click loads the video in an instant.

The videos usually take a second or two to start playing but this is probably the coolest and best way to enjoy Youtube. It’s definitely easier than browsing on the Youtube website. If you can live without comments and ratings then Piclens is the right choice for Youtube addicts.

One side effect that I noticed though is that Piclens seemed to have removed the urls from the location bar. Not only from one tab but from all tabs and that it is not possible to load URLs by copying and pasting them in the location bar. Could be that another Firefox extension is interfering but I only have a few installed right now. The most likely candidate would be Tiny Menu.

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