A few months back I did a round up of some of my favorite flash podcast players that are out there, but then I got people asking about the video podcasters out there.  What type of tools could they use other than going with a YouTube, Revver or another Online service?  Thanks to these downloads, you can get your own flash video player going for a relatively cheap price.

Flowplayer might be my favorite of the free flash video players out there.  It has multiple color schemes and skins you can use, as well as being lightweight and not overly obnoxious with the basic design.  If you want to upgrade you could also pick up the commercial license which would allow you to remove the Flowplayer logo when maximized, bug fixes and one month of support via e-mail. 

JW FLV Media Player is another one you should check out if your looking for your own emendable flash video player.   It supports flv, mp3, h264, swf and more.  Also included is streaming support, RSS, play lists and accessibility features too.  Released under Creative Commons, it too is totally free to use too.

Wimpy Wasp is not a free download to try, but it is worth checking out.  This product too allows you to play flash video on your site by plugging and playing with the flash video player.  Makes the process of putting your own flash player out there a lot easier.  While you are on their site, you might also check out the Wimpy AV Player too.

Willing to pay for your player?  You can also get a lot of other flash video player projects over at FlashDen.  You may have to pay a little but they have a slew of downloads to browse through to see if they will fit into your current project or web site.  Have another favorite, let me know and leave a comment.

I came to the realization that I was just going to have to live in a world where I need to download this program to watch this, download that program to watch that. Sure there were solutions like VLC player – but those solutions are not exactly known to be too “user friendly” and just seem to be lacking something.

That was the case till I ran across SMPlayer. This is the first video program that has gotten me excited in a long time. SMPlayer is a new multimedia player. It handles both audio and video superbly. Using the award-winning MPlayer as engine it is able to play just about every video and audio format without the need of external codecs.

The software that came with it wasn’t that bad either as a matter of fact.

Usually when software comes a device it is lackluster at best and at worst, well it just sucks. Go ahead and tell me the last software package that came with your device that you actually use. You can’t because none of us do it. The Creative Media Lite program that I was asked to download after buying my Creative Zen Stone Plus is awesome.

Why does it rock? (pun was intended there buddy)

• It Tells Me if the Battery is Charged
• It allows me to Drag and Drop Media From and To the Device
• It Doesn’t Slow Me Down With a Bunch of Other Features I Don’t Need

I was expecting to see something with a music store, big flashing lights and an interface that looked like it was stolen from a Scifi Channel movie of the week. Instead I got a useful application.

Two thumbs up to you Creative, you deserve it!

It’s almost smaller than my thumb, so size is no concern. With it’s shape and size though I’m a little afraid I might mistake it for a breath mint one of these days and swallow it down. If I do, I’ll be sure to turn on the built in microphone so that I can create one heck of a good podcast out of all that.

The radio feature isn’t the best in the world, but will probably never be used. The same could be said for the count down clock and timer. All in all though after just paying around $70 for it I can’t say I feel like I was duped at all.

Now I’m off to find a shovel and go bury my Dell Pocket DJ in the backyard. At least now I’ll be able to listen to myself while doing it.

Here are the five best, in no specific order at all.

1 Pixel Out Audio Player I have been using this one for a while on my podcast. Nice for individual pages and podcasts, gives a clean simple player to use per show.

Odeo Flash Podcast Player One of the best free podcast players out there today. Customizable interface is nice, I just wish they did a smaller version.

Podcast Pickle Player Ad free pickle themed player! How could you say no to the pickles? You know you can’t do it. Both the small and large players are nice.

PupuPlayer I just started using this one on WebHostingShow.com as the “big” media player. The pro version is ad free and both the free and paid versions look pretty slick indeed.

Wimpy This is the one I started with. The bigger player might be a ‘bit complex, but the small simple button was nice when I started. Not free – but I think it is worth what you pay for it.

More Flash Podcast Players? Need more? Check out an even bigger list over at OkaytoPlay.com. On the “maybe it should have been there on the list” category, I know a few people will want me to mention the XSPF Music Player.

I thought it was nice, and some folks have done nice things with it – but for a novice to all this I wouldn’t suggest it. Takes some tinkering with to get it to do what you want.

Update: Looking for a great stand alone (and free) flash audio player?  EMFF is yet another great solution.

There are a select group of folks that I think deserve a little extra credit for making 2006 a wonderful year for Web hosting. Here is my list of impact players for the past year.

1. Amy Armitage – Amy is the best marketing mind that the Web hosting world has. No matter where I turn it seems like I always hear or see Amy’s name coming up in the conversation. Lunarpages has been all over the map in the past year, and it is mostly thanks to Amy’s marketing skill. Heck, she even brought me in to the Lunarpages fold in the past year – so I know she at least has good taste!

2. Keith Duncan – Keith gets in for creating great paperback content for the Web hosting industry. Much like Amy, when it comes to opinions that I trust and admire, I turn to Keith first. He knows the Web hosting world from the inside out. Ping! Zine is also the leader in my opinion when it comes to the Web hosting magazines out there as well.

3. Isabel Wang – Heart and Soul of the WHIR Blogs, and another informative personality. I have never talked with Isabel one on one, like I have with the other award winners – but hers is a name I see pop up more often than not as I browse through the latest happenings in the hosting industry. Hopefully in 2007 we can get to know each other better because I think we are both folks who have passions for the business we are in.

4. Rob Moore – Came out of left field and gave DemoDemo some competition in the flash tutorial market. I remember the first time I saw DemoWolf. I reviewed them on the Web Hosting Show and thought to myself it would be nice if these guys survived. The more competition you have, the better and cheaper the products become. Rob went from being an unknown to running one of the most successful startups of the past year.

5. George Roberts – Leader and creator of the Web hosting industry’s biggest party. HostingCon has become the “must attend” event for the hosting world. Much like Mac World is for Apple fans, and E3 was for video game fans, HostingCon is the event that hosting geeks can call their own.

Have somebody that I might have missed? Leave a comment and give their name as well. I don’t want to leave anybody out of the mix, so if there are enough comments I might just have to give them the award as well.

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