The Webplayer

Many people like watching online videos while working on the computer, but it might be difficult to keep a separate browser window opened to play the clip without getting annoyed by its size or position. The Webplayer is one of the applications that addresses this issue.

The Webplayer allows streaming from some of the most popular video hosting services, such as Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, Showtime, HBO, Starz, Cinemax and, of course, YouTube.

The application consists of two components: the player and the navigation panel. You start by choosing the service you want to use from the navigation panel and The Webplayer redirects you to the corresponding website, where you are asked to login with your account. Please note that some of the supported services might have location restrictions. Usually, this means that videos can only be accessed from within the United States.

As soon as you choose a video to watch, the application loads it into the player, leaving the navigation panel intact. That means you can keep browsing the video hosting website and look for other interesting clips you might want to watch. Please note that the navigation panel is not a standard web browser, as it can only access the supported content hosting services.

The advantage of the player is that its window can be easily resized and placed on top of all the other opened applications. As such, you can make it smaller and place it in one of the corners of your desktop, in a way that it won't interfere with your work.

The Webplayer has a good idea at its core, but the way it is implemented can be further improved. First of all, the range of supported streaming providers must be increased to match every user's needs. Secondly, proxy support can be added to somehow bypass the location restrictions of some video hosting websites. Last but not least, integrating an ad-blocker into the player might bring a smile to a user's face.