avi

If you'd like to be able to whip up short videos and post them online but don't quite know where to start, Blueberry's BB FlashBack Express might be the tool for you. It records your screen activity, with sound, and posts finished videos to YouTube and other sites. BB FlashBack Express lets you create instructional videos that record every onscreen step, or narrate a slideshow or series of clips to create your own documentaries and short films. It's designed to be as easy to use as possible without sacrificing the capabilities you're looking for. It'… Read more

Screen AVI CAM takes the humble screenshot to new levels by letting you capture an interactive, on-screen video. It's a little demanding and sometimes glitchy, but users who want to do a step-by-step tutorial will like it a lot.

This program comes with a 30-day trial while the full version costs $29 to unlock. When you're using the trial, it drops a screenshot on the final video. When testing, the program had to run at a reduced resolution and at Windows' basic color scheme. When it didn't, it caused the program to leave weird, white traces along … Read more

AUSTIN, Texas -- The future of 3D printing, a technology that's rapidly maturing and enabling a wide variety of people and companies to rapidly design and create physical products, is very bright.

That was the conclusion of a panel of experts who spoke at SXSW yesterday: while there are certainly limitations to the technology, the opportunities that 3D printing offers everyone from garage entrepreneurs to large corporations will be be plentiful, and often economically advantageous.

Today, the technology is already considered one of the hottest around, but during the talk -- which was moderated by CNET's Rich Brown … Read more

Xilisoft DVD Creator 7 is the latest iteration of this popular Mac OS DVD burning app. It is available from the App Store as well as numerous download sites. The full version of Xilisoft DVD Creator 7 costs $39.99 and installs easily.

Xilisoft DVD Creator 7 lets you create your own video DVDs complete with basic video editing, special effects, titles, and DVD menus. With support for most video formats (including AVI, MPEG, WMV, DivX and others), Xilisoft DVD Creator 7 can handle your video files from almost any video camera or operating system. Creating a DVD starts with … Read more

Avis Budget Group, best known for its car rental services has moved to acquire car-sharing company Zipcar for $500 million.

The companies announced the deal today, saying that Avis paid $12.25 per share for Zipcar, representing a 49 percent premium on its $8.24 closing price on December 31. Zipcar's board of directors unanimously approved the deal, and shareholders owning about 32 percent of Zipcar have already signed off.

Zipcar offers a unique service in the car business. Rather than rent out cars in the traditional way, like Avis, Zipcar offers a "sharing" service that places … Read more

Being able to rip your DVDs just like you would your CDs would be awesome, right? 123 DVD Converter will do it for you, but it all comes with a price tag. Even though this software produces high-quality video in tons of formats, it is a little overpriced for what it does and has a difficult barrier to entry.

Even though the interface is very easy to navigate, 123 DVD Converter expects you to know how to rip DVDs already. If you don't, you'll be confused trying to find and rip the clip you actually want. For the … Read more

Handling many popular file formats, DivX Plus for Mac is the latest DivX player for the Mac platform. With its editing and conversion options as well, we found it to be a great potential addition to any user's Mac toolbox.

As you would expect, DivX Plus for Mac handles DivX format video files, as well as MKV and AVI files. This latest version of the player also allows for conversion from MP4 format, so you can format existing video files for use on the iPhone and iPad. You can also use DivX Plus for Mac as a streaming platform … Read more

Simplicity, ease of use, and playing the widest variety of file extensions are what give any free, open-source media player the edge. While the AVI Player app is definitely not the only multiformat media player available, it is specifically designed to make AVI files directly accessible on your smartphone.

The AVI Player app offers a single menu through which to access available files. There is no welcome page and the interface does not have a front end. You just need to select any AVI file to play it. We used a slightly older Android 2.2 phone in our tests … Read more

Perian is a software app that makes viewing your media files easier. Basically, Perian enables QuickTime application support for a wide variety of media files. Perian is available from several sources, but not the App Store when we looked. It installs easily as long as you have no software already installed that can conflict with Perian.

Perian supports a variety of file types for both video and audio files. All the standard file formats are supported, but there's a ton of less-commonly found file formats supported by Perian, too. Perian works without you realizing it is there. When QuickTime … Read more