VLC For Windows 8 Metro App Hits $65,000 Kickstarter Goal

By Alexandra Burlacu email: a.burlacu@mobilenapps.com | Dec 24, 2012 11:03 AM EST

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VLC users are in for some good news, as VLC's Kickstarter campaign was a great success, meeting its funding goal with five days to spare.

This means that native VLC support on Windows 8, Windows RT or Windows Phone 8 devices may be available soon, though it remains unclear at this point exactly when the software will be released. According to VLC, the company will kick off development for the software in 2013.

"This project's goal is a fully featured port of VLC media player to the new Windows 8 User Experience. A second release will also add support for Microsoft's Surface tablets," reads the project description on Kickstarter.

While the VLC media player for Windows is currently installed on roughly 100 million devices worldwide, the existing version is available only for Intel-based PCs, and runs on Windows 8's desktop mode. The new port, meanwhile, will be natively integrated with the new User Experience, and a subsequent release will also add support for ARM-based tablets.

Just like the desktop version of VLC media player, the metro version for Windows 8 will allow users to play all of their files, discs and network streams in a native, easy-to-use interface.

Unlike the built-in media player, however, VLC for Windows 8 aims to add support for DVDs and VCDs out-of-the-box, as well as for unencrypted Blu-Rays. All other features from current releases will be retained, including a full-fledged equalizer, video filters, and superior support for subtitles.

The project description on Kickstarter further notes that the company will pursue a fully-compliant app for submission to the Windows Store, in a bid to reach more users and to deliver a consistent installation and update experience. VLC expects an initial release within three months after finishing the funding campaign. With the $65,000 funding goal already reached, the new software should become available sometime in March.

After reaching the initial funding goal, the developers issued an announcement to their backers, thanking them for their support and proposing additional goals to be tackled once the port to the Windows 8 UI is completed.

Once the initial release is out of the door, the team will be working full-time on the proposed additional features, which include:

Camera input support, which would allow users to record anything their connected cameras can capture and to stream it live
DLNA client and server integration, which would allow users to play media stored on DLNA-capable servers on their Windows RT or Windows Phone devices
Integration with locally attached devices for media playback and synchronization
Smartglass support

"Any further money coming in will greatly speed up the availability of our port of VLC to Windows Phone 8, since it will allow us to parallelize the workload of the ports to Windows 8 / RT and Phone," the developers said.