New Winamp Player Emerges

By Ian Bell September 27, 2006

Gone are the days of the lean and agile Winamp player, now that AOL has taken the helm. The new version of Winamp will offer users a media library, music and video playback, skins, SHOUT radio and TV and integrated online services (AOL content?) and more.

With more than 57 million monthly unique users, there is no doubt that Winamp is a force to be reckoned with, and a great tool for AOL to take advantage of. But when is a media player more than a media player? When it features the new Winamp Dashboard. Now users can pick and choose from a variety of widgets so they can add personalized news feeds, and track top tracks and albums, artist’s information, viral videos and news and events. And because AOL is now running this jalopy, you can also add feeds from Netflix, Rollingstone.com, Digg Nation, Slashdot, AOL Music Now, Game Daily and other AOL sites and partners.

Another new feature is Winamp Remote which allows users to turn their broadband-connected PC into their own personal media server allowing access to their music collection from any internet-connected computer. Of course AOL has added their own incentive to the mix by letting users share listening and viewing experiences with their friends (viral aspect here). Plans to add access to the Winamp library via a mobile phone is still currently in the works, the company reported.

Additionally, Winamp users will notice more portable media player support including iPods, direct-from-device playback for Plays-for-Sure devices, the ability to convert unsupported file types to a file type that the user’s device can play, more auto-sync options, increased speeds for CD ripping and more superior sound from encoding in AAC and aacPlus.

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