VLC has been hugely popular amongst Windows, Mac and Linux users as a minimalist solution that’s capable of playing almost every thinkable file format. The open-source project took its first baby steps into the mobile space with the release of an iOS version for Apple’s iPad in September.
The VLC team has been working on an Android version for months now, but progress was initially hamstrung by the fact that Android’s multimedia output libraries are in Java . However, Google released an updated version of its Android NDK earlier this month, which makes it easier to use native code for Android apps. The team behind the open source video player may release an Android app early in 2011, possibly within weeks of the new year, though no specific dates are known.
