avi

Perian is a free, open-source plug-in that can help QuickTime users play more formats, including most major codecs.

Billed as a "Swiss Army Knife for QuickTime," Perian installs a preference pane and automatically installs components for over two dozen formats--everything from AVI, FLV, and DivX to curios like DTS Coherent Acoustics audio, Xiph Vorbis (in Matroska), and various subtitle formats. The settings give you a few options, for the likes of alerts and audio output, but most of Perian's functionality happens invisibly during playback.

The one format that Perian won't help with is WMV (so you'… Read more

Image by Image seems simple enough. True to its name, the purpose of the program is to allow users to view AVI and WMV files image by image, or frame by frame. Such a program has the potential to be very useful, but unfortunately, Image by Image is more confusing than useful.

The program's interface is plain, a basic media viewer with four buttons at the top. The Open button is pretty straightforward, and we opened a video with the program easily enough. The next button lets users alternate between normal speed and "image by image," and … Read more

There are a lot of video file converters out there, and most of them are quite similar, allowing users to convert videos between different file formats. Unfortunately, the only thing that sets Leap Free All to AVI MPEG4 WMV MOV FLASH Converter apart from the competition is the fact that it doesn't work very well.

We had high hopes when we first opened the program. The interface is clean and intuitive, with large graphical buttons. We were excited to see that the program also includes a YouTube downloader, and we decided to try that first. We were disappointed to … Read more

Abdio AVI Video Converter converts a multitude of different media files to the AVI format. It handles most video formats, from FLV to JPEG and just about everything in between. However, it seems like this program has its priorities a bit backwards.

This application has an attractive interface that is simple and uncluttered, and there's an extensive and useful Help file. You import a file into Abdio, and the program converts it easily. Abdio is easy to use and highly functional, but we're not sure why anyone needs a program to convert files to AVIs. AVI is the … Read more

Joboshare AVI to DVD Converter is an easy-to-use program that lets you burn AVI and MPG files to DVDs. The program isn't fancy, but it's a great choice for quickly editing videos and burning them to DVDs.

The program's interface is quite sleek and intuitive, with all of its major features represented by attractive graphical buttons. A small preview window lets you view the videos you are working with, which is a very helpful feature, and you can also preview a variety of templates for the DVD's menu. To create a DVD, you simply add individual … Read more

An analyst at AVI Securities said Friday morning that the Apple tablet is "in full production" and a research note stated that Apple "NAND" flash chip requirements may be increasing because of the tablet.

The Apple tablet information comes from "a maker of components going into the Apple tablet," according to analyst Matt Thornton. "It's been in the supply chain for a while and entered full production this month. A couple of suppliers actually had weaker Decembers than they would have expected because production was pushed back a little bit," he … Read more

Apple's former software chief was pretty happy in retirement. But the opportunity to again influence the next generation of consumer technology lured Avie Tevanian back to work, this time on the money side.

Private equity firm Elevation Partners announced on Tuesday that Tevanian is joining its ranks. Shortly after the announcement, I had a chance to talk with Tevanian about a wide range of technology topics including his former employer, the biggest trends in technology, as well as whether he'll have to trade in his iPhone for a Palm Pre.

Here's an edited transcript of our conversation: … Read more

Former Apple software chief Avie Tevanian is becoming a venture capitalist, joining former Apple CFO Fred Anderson at Silicon Valley's Elevation Partners.

Tevanian, who helped lead Mac OS X's development at Apple, was also a board member at Tellme Networks when that company was acquired by Microsoft and currently serves as a director for Dolby Laboratories. At Elevation Partners, Tevanian will serve as a managing director aiming to spot new investment possibilities and help guide the firm's investment companies and strategy.

"Elevation Partners has put together an impressive investment team with the technological expertise and operational … Read more

Axara Audio Converter provides a very user-friendly way to convert audio files. By showcasing a simple set of commands and performing its task quickly, it's a great program for audio novices.

The program's interface is laid out in a very intuitive fashion, complete with large command icons that more or less walk you through the conversion process. The program functions much like dozens of other audio converters, but its simple and efficient layout sets it apart from the crowd. You can creating an MP3, MP4, WAV, WMA, AMR, OGG, AIFF, or AAC file by simply clicking its logo. … Read more