RockPlayer now out of beta, must-have media player for HTC EVO
Just a month after the beta version of what was then called RockPlayerBase was discovered, the newly christened RockPlayer media player is now available in Android Market and said to be 30% faster than the beta. The user interface is still very basic and plain, but if you want to be able to play XviD, DivX, MKV, RMVB, and other video formats not supported by the HTC EVO 4G out of the box, then this is the best way to do it.
The ad-supported RockPlayer is free, while the ad-free version is $9.99. There are no additional features in the paid version and the ads don't show in the free version when a video is playing (they only display with the on-screen control), but buying it is a great way to support and thank the China-based developer for making a stellar app.
When you launch RockPlayer, you'll see the contents of the EVO's microSD card. Just tap a video and it will start to play.
Tapping anywhere on the screen while a video is playing brings up the control panel, which lets you change the viewing mode (original resolution, full screen while maintaining original aspect ratio, stretch to full screen), access playback controls, and view file information. Whenever the control panel is displayed, the current time and battery status will appear in the top-right corner (this can be disabled in the settings).
Other features include automatic resume, SRT subtitle support, and two playback modes (normal mode uses RockPlayer's engine while system mode "invokes" Android's engine; this setting can be accessed by long pressing a video in the file list or in the settings).
There are three versions of RockPlayer in the Market designed for different processors. The ARMv7 version is the one for the EVO.
