QVIVO Social Media Center Public Alpha
Ian Dixon over at The Digital Lifestyle pointed out a new media center program today called QVIVO. Like Ian, it was not a program I had heard of before, but it does show some definite promise. At its most basic level it is a fairly straighforward media front-end, but the folks behind QVIVO seem to have some big integration plans. There are public alpha builds available for the PC and Mac with plans underway for an iPad and iPhone version and app plugins for major streaming devices and televisions. Plans also seem to be underway for a complementary media marketplace called the QStore that will allow for music and video purchases online, through the QVIVO frontend, and through Facebook. That last point of sale, might seem a bit odd for most media center programs, but will make perfect sense for QVIVO as it includes extensive integration with Facebook.
I have to say looks really nice, you add watched folders and then it downloads the artwork and metadata. The principle behind QVIVO reminds me of Boxee but without the app model, once the iPad and iPhone apps become available I could see this being an interesting platform, I am not really into the social side of it but I know its going to be popular with some people.