Microsoft today launched the full version of its TV-on-demand service, MSN Video Player. The online app allows UK users to watch full episodes of popular TV programs for free within their browser.

Viewers can tune into a catalog of entire series of classic British shows including Doctor Who, Footballers' Wives, League of Gentlemen, Peep Show, and Sahara. MSN has managed to muster up content from BBC Worldwide, as well as studios such as Endemol, RDF Media and the Digital Rights Group. MSN Video Player looks great and includes an attractive, easy-to-use interface, along with a Bing-powered video search. Videos can be enjoyed in full screen, and there's a cool dim lights setting that darkens the page surrounding the video.

Despite the quality of the product, I have serious doubts about the chances of success for MSN Video Player. Had it been launched three years ago it would've been hailed as a revolution in the way we consume television. In reality though, British TV viewers are now spoiled for choice when it comes to on-demand programming. The BBC, of course, has its awesome iPlayer, and now ITV, Channel 4 and Sky all boast online catch-up services of their own. MSN Video Player is not even the first to assimilate programs from a range of channels - SeeSaw, FilmOn, and, on a wider scale, YouTube, all already do this.

I can't quite understand what niche MSN Video Player is trying to fill, here. It does play home to some very good shows but as far as I can see none of them are exclusively available on the service. The amount of content on there isn't huge, and users will be disappointed to find out that the movies section features only trailers of upcoming films rather than a Voddler-style films on-demand service.

No doubt, swathes of MSN's UK users will be paying the Video Player a visit over the next few days. But I can almost guarantee that just a mere fraction of these first-time visitors will still be tuning in in a month's time. If you've tried the service yourself I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.

After having to temporarily suspend the desktop client last month, yesterday Voddler's web client went live bringing free movies to a much wider audience and moved it a little closer to what Hulu offers in the USA. However, to watch the films, I think you still need a desktop client to stream them and an invite.

At the moment, even those that are lucky enough to have beta invites to the desktop client still have to wait. When you click on a movie to watch and try to login, you receive the following message:

So hopefully, at some stage later this week I'll be able to test the web client properly to see how it performs although after waiting so long for a beta invite, it's clear that Voddler aren't in a hurry when it comes to these sorts of things.

It is still possible to navigate around the site and browse the Voddler movie catalog though. First impressions are the same as before - more recent films will have to be added for Voddler to become really popular but these are early days so hopefully that will improve. The web client doesn't differ massively from the desktop client but the huge bonus of course is that it works within your browser and with your mouse unlike the awkward keyboard based desktop version. They've also added TV shows although being a Swedish based project, these are all in Swedish.

Voddler Homepage:

Most Popular Movies:

My friend has a problem. He's a Tottenham fan (a mediocre London-based soccer team, for those outside the UK) and although many might consider that a problem in itself, that's not what I'm talking about here. His problem is that he has a paid subscription to watch Tottenham play live on the internet but he can't watch it on his Mac.

When he tries to watch highlights and live matches on his spanking new Macbook he gets the error: "Flip4Mac WMV is unable to play DRM protected content". Flip4Mac is a plugin that allows users to watch content designed for Microsoft Windows Media Player on Macs. However, it doesn't work when content is protected with Digital Rights Management (DRM).

It's extremely frustrating - and grossly unfair - that Mac users who have paid to watch something online should encounter this problem. Even worse, there's no simple way round it such as installing a codec or using another browser.

The harsh reality is my friend and other users like him are innocent and unwitting victims of the multimedia war between Microsoft and Apple. Microsoft's Windows Media Digital Rights Management is a protected and encoded format which won't work on any other platform than Windows. It's Microsoft's little way of ensuring that ditching Windows isn't quite as easy as it should be and in my opinion, is an issue that should be contested in court along with Microsoft's sneaky bundling of Internet Explorer with new PCs.

I looked into the problem on my friend's football website and the club say the reason they have had to protect subscription based match footage is because people have been taking it and posting it for free across the net. However, they blame Microsoft for "forcing" them into using Windows Media Player DRM:

If you're planning a house party this weekend then here's an idea to inject some fun into the proceedings - YouTube karaoke. As you already know, YouTube is a haven for music videos, and these days you can find just about any song you're looking for on there. Now, you can sing along to your favorite tracks on YouTube thanks to a lyrics box that appears next to the music video.

It's done using a Greasemonkey script called YouTube Lyrics, which, as you've probably guessed from the name, delivers lyrics to YouTube pages. First install the Greasemonkey extension in Firefox. Then visit the YouTube Lyrics site and click the Install button.

Now load up a music video in YouTube (if you can find an instrumental version, all the better). You'll notice that a lyrics search tool now appears in the sidebar.

Click the Lyrics button and a search will automatically be performed for the words to the song you have loaded.

When you hear the words "video editing" you probably think of extremely complicated software and long sessions sitting in front of the computer. However, video editing is actually not that difficult. In fact, if you choose the right app, it can be fun!

A good starting point for first time video editors is VideoPad Video Editor. It's easy to use and light on resources, and will also help you get used to the basic elements in video editing so that you can later on jump onto more complicated apps.

The interface in VideoPad Video Editor is divided into several areas. The Media List is where you add all the files you're going to use in your project (video and sound), The dual screen player lets you preview the clip you've selected at a given moment, and the sequence of the project you've completed so far. Finally, at the bottom of the window, you'll find the timelines – one for video and one for sound – with their correspondent controls.

The first step in editing a video is obviously adding the files to your Media Lists, by clicking the Add Media button. When you click on any of the elements in that list, it'll be previewed on the left screen. You can then use the controls under the screen to set the in and out points, that is, the beginning and the end of the video fragment you want to use. When you're happy with the selection, click the green  arrow button to send it to the timeline.

Video Interview: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

It might be the depths of winter in Sweden but things at Stockholm based Voddler are really hotting-up. Despite being only available in Sweden, the video on demand service being labeled as “Spotify for films” already has almost 500,000 users and recorded one million streams being accessed across its peer-to-peer network in January. However, such rapid progress hasn't been without its problems. As I reported yesterday, Voddler has temporarily been suspended until March 8th after a security breach of the desktop client and now all their energies are focused on the release of an exciting YouTube style web client due for launch on March 8th.

With a Europe wide roll-out expected by the end of the year (although no North American date set as yet), Voddler is quietly poised to emerge out of the Swedish tundra and take the video entertainment industry by storm. Despite beta teething problems, I was thoroughly impressed with the app when I tried it on both Windows and Mac a few weeks ago. A few weeks ago, I finally got the chance to go behind the scenes at Voddler to find out more about what could be one of the most successful entertainment applications of the year.

I was introduced to Mathias Tönnesson, the enthusiastic Vice President of Business Development at Voddler who joined the team after being convinced that its pioneering technical infrastructure and "freemium" business model was onto a winner. A quick guided tour around the work in progress at Voddler’s new offices indicate how rapidly the company is growing. Having recently moved from Stockholm’s old town, the company now occupies a spacious new media complex on the outskirts of the city. After giving me a detailed overview of the basics behind Voddler, I sat down with Tönnesson for OnSoftware to find out more about this exciting project. The interview is transcribed in full below or you can watch the entire half hour video here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

Note that this interview took place on February 9th so it was before the recent decision to suspend the service temporarily until March 9th.

On the eve of our exclusive interview with Voddler, things couldn't be worse for the "Spotify for movies" streaming service. Although only rolled-out in Sweden less than six months ago, the service was suspended yesterday until March 8th due to hackers using VLC Player to download films streamed on it. Voddler are therefore pinning all their hopes on the new Adobe Air Flash based web client to be launched next month.

However, I think there's a little more to it than that.

There has been much criticism from users over the usability of the desktop client and in retrospect, it may have been wiser for them to have launched the YouTube style web client first. In fact, I asked Vice President of Business Development at Voddler Mathias Tönnesson about this issue during the interview.

Do you think in hindsight, because some people have “complained” about the functionality of the desktop client because its designed more for using with a TV and keyboard at ten meters away, it would have been better to have launched the web client first and then gone onto the desktop client?

Tönnesson: I think the history we are actually bringing with us is to give the end user a fantastic customer experience. It comes with the viewpoint that you sit in your sofa with a big TV screen and you have a fantastic one and a half hours watching a movie, I think that legacy actually makes it easier for us to take the step out onto the web. I think if we had started on the web, I think we would have forgotten about the ultimate aim is to provide a fantastic environment for watching movies with great picture quality etc and I think that’s really important. So I’m really happy that we’re starting with the 10 meters away idea and then in phase two, making the content even more available to a wider audience.

However, I'm not sure users are quite so upbeat about this logic behind the move. I've noticed a hell of a lot of people on Twitter complaining about the functionality of the desktop client - and I presume Voddler must have been following such criticism too - and maybe the security breach was seen as a good opportunity to clean-up problems with the client - or even ditch it completely for now - before a PR disaster developed.

Of the new web client, Voddler say:

The new Voddler will feature web-based movie-player, search tool and mouse control. With a completely web-based movie service Voddler is confident to be able to meet the ever-growing demand for a great selection of free and rentable movies in an accessible environment. The sparkling new Voddler service will not only satisfy the Swedish movie-viewers but the time has come to invite Norway, Denmark and Finland.

In some ways this raises more questions than it answers about the future of Voddler however:

• If security has been so easily breached on Voddler, doesn't it raise questions about how secure the P2P sharing network is that you're using? After all, there's a reason that Voddler requires 13GB of hard drive space - to share the film you're streaming with other users.
• Is it really going to be possible to deliver the same quality of streaming, video and sound over what is essentially an Adobe Air based Flash platform?
• Will the Voddler client be available again after March 8th?
• Will those that have beta invites for the client be able to access the web client or will they require new invites?
• If it's the downloading of films from Voddler that's such a concern, surely its going to be even easier on an a Flash based client which hackers are far more familiar with?

Judging by some of the comments left on the Voddler blog, the decision to move to Flash isn't popular with everyone either. Personally, I think as long as its executed more smoothly than the desktop release and the film selection is much wider and more up to date, it could be the launchpad that Voddler have been looking for. If not however, the success of Voddler could look very dubious indeed.

Don't miss the half-hour video interview tomorrow for a closer look at Voddler.

Next week we'll be publishing an exclusive in-depth video interview with Mathias Tönnesson, Vice President of Business Development at the "Spotify for movies" service Voddler. The half-hour interview covers everything from a look at Voddler's basic business model and what has driven its success in Sweden to questions about content, quality and availability of the service that I'm sure many readers have.

It's a fascinating insight behind the scenes of one of the hottest dotcoms around as well a tantalizing taster of the exciting things to come for those eager to try the service. For now though, here is sneak preview of what's to look forward to in the interview:

For most internet startups such as Voddler, it can be very hard to attract investment. You’ve just announced another new 2.5 million Euro investment deal with Eqvitec. How have you been to attract such investment so far?

Tönnesson: I think it’s the quality of the product we are offering. I obviously can’t go into too much detail about the various partnerships we have but I think it’s the technique, that’s the important thing that attracts investment. The Voddler net streaming technology is a world unique product secured by over 30 patents of how you stablise video, how you put movies out over a P2P network, how the network takes slices of data from other users and puts it all together in DVD quality etc. Everything is secured by the 30 patents and that’s what brings attention to the final product because investors see it as a fantastic technical platform.

Do you think you will ever get to the stage where you are able to publish films on Voddler at the same time as they are released at the cinema?

Tönnesson: We hope. Of course, we need to work very very closely with our content owners. But for example, Avatar is the most downloaded film ever on Pirate Bay. And I think if you would allow a window of opportunity for viewers to watch it on Voddler at the same time as the American cinema release, I think you’d find thousands and thousands of Swedes watching it legally, and paying for it. And I think you would find a lot of people willing to pay to watch it – not just a few Euros but even as much as thirteen Euros for the opportunity to watch it in DVD quality, in a comfortable environment with Swedish subtitles. I think a lot of people would be willing to pay that. In that way, the distributors will be earning money that would other be lost to illegal downloading.

So you've visited the Winter Olympics in Google Earth, got your iPhone setup to follow the results but what about the most important thing of all - watching the events live! Well, if you don't have a TV in the office or can't get time off work to watch your favorite events, fortunately there are several ways to watch the 2010 Winter Olympics online.

Firstly, check out when your favorite events are scheduled. I like the BBC Winter Olympics Schedule for this.

You can of course also use the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics website for this too.

Now for viewing options. Most terrestrial broadcasters in your country are streaming much of the Winter Olympics online so all you need to do is visit the websites of the main terrestrial channels in your country. For example, the BBC is showing live coverage in the UK.

Windows: If you have dozens of movies on DVD and want to make sure they stay as shiny and crisp as the first day you played them, why not backing them up? With DVD Shrink you can easily backup video DVDs to your hard drive and then burn those files to a blank DVD with your favorite burning software. A backup in time will let you enjoy them forever!

iPhone: If you’re fed up with asking people where the nearest supermarket is, where to find a taxi rank, or whether there are any decent bars or restaurants in the vicinity, then check out AroundMe. The iPhone software automatically detects your current location and provides one-click access to lists of the nearest banks, bars, cafes, gas stations, and more.

Mac: Nowadays, there really is no need to pay for Microsoft Office if all you need to do is basic editing of documents, spreadsheets and presentations. Whenever people ask me what I can recommend as a free alternative to Microsoft Office, I'll frequently recommend OpenOffice.org (now updated to version 3.2). OpenOffice.org is a multi-platform and multilingual office suite that is compatible with all major office suites.

I already knew a couple of online tools, such as TubeRadio.fm and TurnTubelist, that use YouTube's impressive video database to create and enjoy custom mixes and playlists. But this is the first time I see YouTube taking the first step towards a music discovery and mixing service: the all new YouTube Disco.

YouTube Disco is not the first tool of its kind, but it's probably the easiest one to use. Simply enter a song title or artist name and you'll get two sets of results, organized in a double-column interface.

The column on the left contains a list of related songs and similar artists, whereas the column on the right includes a list of songs composed specifically by the artist you just searched for. YouTube Disco will start playing the left-side list right away on an embedded player, while you can freely rearrange the songs, jump to the next one or even add new songs from the right-side list.

YouTube Disco also displays information about the selected artists, includes a handful of related artists you may also like, and lets you save the playlists you create for later use – provided you have a YouTube account.

Yesterday I got a rare chance to travel to Stockholm and meet the team behind the new film streaming app Voddler which is currently only available in Sweden. Next week, we'll be publishing an exclusive interview with Voddler's Mathias Tönnesson so watch this space for a fascinating look behind the scenes and for some answers to all of your questions about one of the most exciting applications of the year.

After the interview though, it struck me that Voddler are banking a hell of a lot of their hopes on people being willing to stream content rather than download it whether legally or illegally.

In Voddler's case, the content is films and documentaries (and eventually TV shows) and the success of the project largely depends on users being happy to stream, rather than own content.

Fortunately for Voddler, the law is on their side in Sweden. It was pure coincidence for Voddler that it was launched last year just as the Pirate Bay trial deemed the P2P file sharing site illegal. Suddenly, Swedes were faced with either breaking the law to download films or turn to more legal methods and Voddler came along at just the right time to take advantage of this.

Technology is also on their side. Internet connections are getting faster and more widely available. Tönnensson explained to me how he'd already been given a preview of Sweden's next generation 4G mobile network and it streamed Voddler films onto a laptop perfectly with no fixed internet connection. In theory, within a few years there will be little need to physically own films or video content available on Voddler because you will be able to watch them anywhere, anytime absolutely free.

However, old habits may be harder for Voddler change. We're used to owning data, especially music and films on our iPods, hard drives and even simply for aesthetic reasons around the home. There's something very satisfying about physically browsing through a DVD or CD collection.

I for one am happy to stream, though. For example, I've come to depend on Spotify for most of my music needs and if I had an Android device or iPhone, I'd be willing to pay the subscription fee to use it on the move. But this is only because Spotify offers me almost all of the music I want. As happy as I am to watch streamed movies and videos, it will be very much dependent on Voddler providing the same exhaustive and comprehensive choice of films.

I see no reason to clog-up my hard drive or bookshelves with films and music I'll probably never watch again. I'm proud to say I'm a swanky streamer and not a downloading dinosaur. What are you?

Windows: Tired of your old media player? Looking for something else? Then you should give JetAudio Basic a try. This awesome app has recently been updated to version 8.0.4 and features everything you could expect from a media player. Plus you'll also find a series of extra tools to rip audio CD, burn your own disks and convert files from one format to another, among others.

iPhone:  Doodle Jump has been one of the most popular games in the app store for some time - and it's easy to see why. It has what I like to call the 'just one more game' factor, in the sense that it's very difficult to put down. Doodle Jump casts you as a little green man in a cartoon sketchpad world. The object of the game is to get as high as you can up the scrolling screen by bouncing on platforms. Just don't fall down!

Mac:Mass Effect 2 could be the game of the decade, and it's only just begun! This is a selection of 24 official wallpapers for your desktop. Set in 2183, just after the end of the first Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2 is a huge game, which sends players all over the universe involved in a real space-opera of a story that is just as dramatic as it is action packed.

It's taken us just over six months but we've finally got our hands on one of the hottest download tickets in town - an invite to test Voddler. In July we had an exclusive interview with Voddler co-founder Mathias Hjelmstedt and couldn't wait to give it a go. Now, we've finally had the chance to try it for ourselves and can safely say, Voddler looks like a genuine contender for the future of movie distribution in the same way as Spotify is for music. From a huge selection of films and documentaries to an easy to use interface and stunning video/audio, Voddler is all I expected and more.

Unfortunately for most, at the moment its still only available in Sweden but we've been able to give it a proper test run for you.

If you're lucky enough to receive an invite, you can install the beta client for Voddler on Windows or the Alpha client on Mac. I installed the Mac client but it works exactly the same on both platforms.

When you install Voddler, it takes you through a quick setup wizard which checks the suitability of your connection. The test takes a few minutes but if you've got a 2.5Mbit connection or more, you're good to go.

When Voddler launches for the first time, it goes straight into full-screen mode. I would prefer to have been prompted whether I wanted to open in windowed or full-screen mode but you can revert back to windowed mode (so that you can access the rest of your Mac normally) by pressing Command+F.

The first thing to note is that you can't use your mouse when Voddler has started. Everything is controlled via the keyboard - mainly the Cursor, Enter and Esc keys - which is a bit disorientating and awkward at first. Alternatively, you can use an Apple remote instead which is a bit easier.

The reason for this is that in future, Voddler plan to launch a box that connects to your TV without a computer (known as a Voddler box) and presumably you'll be able to use a virtual keyboard. However, I think it would still have made more sense at this stage to have allowed users on a computer to use a mouse.

Once you setup a profile and log-in:

You are presented with three options in front of a scrolling background displaying iconic movie stills. The options are Settings, Movies and Quit. Use the left and right arrow keys to scroll through them:

Windows: Some years ago ICQ used to be the world's most famous IM client... until MSN Messenger arrived. Today ICQ is still a popular app that keeps on launching new releases. The latest version, ICQ 7, features a redesigned interface with tabs, works faster, is lighter on system resources and supports integration with social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

iPhone: Touch DJ is the first serious mixing app for the iPhone. It makes excellent use of the touchscreen to create a DJ-ing tool unlike any other. As there is only one stereo output on the iPhone, Touch DJ uses a novel way of beat-matching called visual mixing. This means the wave display flashes in time to the bass drum when you're playing a track, and using this you can alter the pitch so two tracks have the same pitch.

Mac: While most video recording tools are limited to the major video sites such as YouTube or DailyMotion, iTube Grabber promises to capture almost any audio and/or video stream. iTube Grabber also instantly converts from standard FLV formats used by sites such as YouTube to several formats of your choosing such as iPod, iPhone, MP4, MPEG and even Matroska.