Adobe has officially launched its Adobe Media Player application which has been in public beta since last year. Adobe Media Player is a desktop application built on Adobe AIR that lets users watch streaming and downloaded web videos from content partners including CBS, PBS, MTV, Revision3, and Blip.tv.
The interface is slick, and it's clear that Adobe has put a lot of work into the media player since its beta days. Playback is no longer choppy and the content library is choc full of shows you might actually want to watch. Not as full as say, your cable box, but given the web video landscape, it's not bad.
Users can also add any online video to their player with an RSS feed. It took us a few minutes to find the "Add RSS" option, so we'll save you some trouble: It's in the "My Favorites" section.
Adobe has also launched Adobe TV, which is basically a web site filled with tutorials and other information about Adobe related products. You can either watch Adobe TV videos from the web or using Adobe Media Player.
Adobe has launched a new standalone media player that's a bit like a cross between Miro and Adobe Digital Editions. While Adobe's Flash player for web browsers has become the default media utility for viewing online video in a browser, it seems like there's a mad dash to create standalone media browsers.
The reasoning is sound: Web browsers are meant for viewing text and images. Multimedia was kind of an afterthought, so why not build a new media browser from the ground up. We're not sure people are rushing to download standalone applications like Joost, Babelgum, Miro, or VeohTV, but nobody wants to be left out in the cold if these things do take off.
Adobe's entry is built on Adobe AIR, so you'll need to install AIR before you can run Adobe Media Player. Fortunately, even though the application is still in beta, there's a handy web-based installer that does the heavy lifting for you. Click one button, check a few boxes, and you're all set.
We wish we could say we were as impressed with the media player as with the installer. The application was slow to load, video playback was choppy (although not quite as choppy as in the screencast above, which was recorded at 12 frames per second), and there's no way to browse for more videos without pausing the one you're currently viewing.
For a beta product Adobe Media Player's not bad. We like the overall menu system and the easy to read graphics. But we like our media players a bit more responsive. Some original content would be nice too.
