14 DAY TRIAL // Kodi 14.0, the successor of the current XBMC media player, has just got its first Beta release and the developers are moving closer to the complete replacement of the original software.
The current XBMC project is preparing to make way for Kodi, its successor. In many ways, it will be the same application, but only with a different name. On the other hand, Kodi is also a new version and a true evolution of the famous media player. There is a lot of pressure on the developers to make this new version just as good as the previous ones.
The original name of the project, XBMC, stands for Xbox Media Center, but the media player has not been performing this particular function for years. For some reason, the name was kept and the community got used to it. It's been integrated in numerous distros and there are even a couple of operating systems that rely exclusively on it. It's easy to understand why changing the name is actually a big deal.
Kodi 14.0 Beta 1 gets the latest FFMpeg package and more
Just like most of the updates that have been pushed for Kodi until now, the latest is a massive one. It comes with too many changes and fixes to count, and the new FFmpeg package is just one of them. Despite the fact that it's still a Beta, the new version is shaping up to be one of the most interesting releases made so far.
"This release brings many updates and changes, not the least of which being the name of the software. For those of you curious, we've now taken the top 10 or so vote getters in the logo vote and submitted them to doghousemedia to see how they might pull the best qualities out of all of them and combine those qualities into the best possible logo for the organization. As we continue down this path, we'll do our best to keep you updated."
"Kodi has been updated to use FFmpeg 2.2.4. For users, this means Kodi will now be capable of playing back h.265 (also known as HEVC) and VP9 video codecs. This could result in dramatically smaller video files sizes with exactly the same level of quality. A 40 GB file could be compressed to 20 GB," write the devs in the official announcement.
The developers also say that the library should register a huge performance boost, users will be able to determine if an add-on updates or not, the support for Android devices has been improved, and the support for ATSC sub-channels has been added.
Users can download Kodi 14.0 Beta 1 from Softpedia and give it a go. This is just the first Beta in the series and it should be considered unstable.