It still amazes me that we can watch video on our computers. When we launched Adobe Media Player earlier this year, it was the beginning of a new way to consume video. The ability to watch video from your desktop and leverage features within Adobe AIR—such as viewing offline and queuing content for watching later—is something that every consumer wants to take advantage of.

The feedback we received after conducting focus groups this fall centered all around convenience. Consumers told us they wanted to find content easily. Instead of clicking on multiple sites to view their videos, they thought it made more sense to go to a single place to watch their favorite shows.

The way consumers watch video is still evolving. For some, it means canceling their cable service because they find themselves watching video mostly on the web anyway. For others, the idea of watching shows on different devices is not that far from reality. As video consumption habits evolve, this latest release of Adobe Media Player 1.5 has also evolved to focus on both viewers and content owners.

Enhancements for viewers

We have made some enhancements around social features for viewers. We added a new log-in system allowing you to recommend and share your favorite shows with your friends. You can maintain an ongoing playlist of your favorite shows, and your friends can subscribe to see what you're recommending.

You can also now play SWF files from your hard drive within Adobe Media Player 1.5. Most Flash files today are published as a SWF (games, video, and so forth) and now you can play them directly in the player.

Enhancements for content owners

For content owners, we have made some significant enhancements around reporting and measurement. You can now gather invaluable information about your audience's viewing habits and leverage this data even more effectively with new reporting and analytics improvements. We added some new publishing tools to check if the RSS feeds are working appropriately and some advertising validations tools to make sure that your ads play at the right place and time within the video.

Adobe Media Player uses industry-standard file formats, helping you deliver your existing content and ads with minimal investment in new tools or processes. Because it supports Apple iTunes tags, you can repurpose your existing iTunes feeds for subscription within Adobe Media Player 1.5.

Another feature that we enhanced for our content partners is the custom branded Adobe Media Player badge. When visitors click the badge from another site, Adobe Media Player launches automatically and adds the show to their My Favorites area. If Adobe Media Player is not yet installed, viewers are prompted to install it before having the show added to their My Favorites. As an added feature for publishers, new installations prompted by a badge link can be installed with a branded start screen, preloaded favorites, and other custom configurations to extend your brand.

Where to go from here

If you haven't already experienced Adobe Media Player, download it today. Go to adobe.com/go/getmp and check out all the great content available—from small independent producers to large broadcast companies. The catalog grows every day and we hope you will find some of your favorite shows in Adobe Media Player.

For more information about Adobe Media Player 1.5, please check out the Adobe Media Player product page and also the Adobe Media Player Developer Center.

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