Ogg-Vorbis, the open source alternative to mp3's has taken another step towards the mainstream. TheKompany, a firm which produces various Linux desktop tools and developer applications, has confirmed the release of tkcPlayer.
tkcPlayer is a playback application for MP3 and Ogg files on the Sharp Zaurus handheld computer, making the Zaurus the worlds first portable Ogg player.
This is what theKompany have to say about a comparison between mp3 and ogg-vorbis format files MP3 files are great, and that is why we support them, but Ogg doesn't have any nasty license restrictions, compresses 10% smaller on average with 50% better quality, and our tests show it consumes less CPU on the Zaurus by a third, so this should also extend the battery life.
For those who do not know much about it, Ogg Vorbis is a completely open, patent-free, professional audio encoding format, with streaming technology with all the benefits of Open Source. The Ogg Vorbis format is intended for unrestricted private and public, non-profit and commercial use. There are no bitstream royalties and the reference software, including full source, is free forever. The encoders, decoders, plug-ins, and tools, are under the GPL (GNU Public License) and the libraries are under the business-friendly LGPL (Lesser/Library GNU Public License). Ogg Vorbis does not compromise quality for freedom. Its stunning quality is coupled with aggressive features like fast bitrate scaling, surround channels, and fast sample-granularity seek and decode. The development libraries offer full encoding, decoding, and streaming capability for Windows, Linux/*BSD, Solaris, MacOS, and BeOS.
Follow the link above marked Download for links to Ogg-Vorbis players, encoders etc.
