CyberLink Launches PowerDVD 12

Greg Tarr -- TWICE, 1/31/2012

Santa Clara, Calif. - CyberLink launched Tuesday the latest version of its popular Blu-ray/multimedia software player, PowerDVD 12 Ultra.

The player comes complete with new companion iOS and Android apps for PowerDVD Mobile v.4 and PowerDVD Remote v.2.

CyberLink called the latest PowerDVD iteration "the ideal single solution for the multiplatform home, as the world's only universal multimedia player to provide a unified solution for the Windows, iOS and Android platforms."

Among a long list of enhancements, the new PowerDVD 12 Ultra offers tools for organizing and managing all media types, enabling any PC to be used as a content server. Multimedia content, such as video, music and photos, can be easily streamed, stored and shared across multiple devices --including iPhones, iPads and Android tablets and smartphones, the company said.

The PowerDVD Mobile v.4 app for Ultra is available free to Ultra purchasers to stream content from the PC to handheld devices.

PowerDVD 12 Ultra is now available for a $100 suggested retail. Scaled down versions -- PowerDVD 12 Pro ($80) and PowerDVD 12 Standard ($50) -- are also available. Current PowerDVD users can also upgrade from previous versions for prices starting at $45.

The new Windows software also has an enhanced version of TrueTheater technology that processes and up-scales any content to HD and 3D quality, including DVDs, low-resolution videos and online content from popular social media and other sites, CyberLink said.

PowerDVD 12 features more than 30 new features and additional media format support, as well as the ability to intelligently sync media gallery content with Android devices, convert Blu-ray movies from 2D to 3D, and deliver 7.1 channel surround sound audio from DTS and Dolby, together with new lossless audio format support for OGG and FLAC files, the company said.

Free apps (with PowerDVD 12 Ultra) for mobile devices enable playing, sharing and wirelessly streaming videos, music and photos from PCs to portable devices, while PowerDVD Remote lets users remotely control Blu-ray Discs, DVDs and high-definition videos as well as the music and photo playback features in PowerDVD.

Other key features in PowerDVD 12 Ultra:

• Blu-ray, 3D, DVD and any HD media can now be up-scaled and played with optimized CPU/GPU hardware acceleration, while a new ultra-fast Instant Seek feature enables searching for movie scenes in Blu-ray or DVD movies.

• TrueTheater up-scales any media into HD and 3D.

• Smart Media Library, Instant Seek, Instant zoom, Instant View and Instant Scale features all offer new enhanced functionality.

• Smart Sync allows setting rules to automatically sync PowerDVD media gallery content to portable Android devices and will choose the best fit video format for the mobile devices.

• Videos and photos from YouTube, Facebook, Flickr and other social-media sites can be viewed from PowerDVD while running TrueTheater enhancements for a "better-than-browser" viewing experience.