Here are some of the best and free audio/video softwares.

Media Players

VLC media player

VLC media player is a highly portable multimedia player and multimedia framework capable of reading most audio and video formats (MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264, DivX, MPEG-1, mp3, ogg, aac …) as well as DVDs, Audio CDs VCDs, and various streaming protocols.

Link: http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

GOM player

GOM Player is a video/audio player with additional multimedia functions. This is a player of the new generation, which allows you to quickly and conveniently use the advantages of digital technologies. GOM uses low CPU utilization while giving you the best possible image and subtitle quality and plays incomplete files without buffering.

Link: http://www.gomlab.com/eng/

Video Converter:

Any Video Converter

It can convert almost all video formats including DivX, XviD, MOV, rm, rmvb, MPEG, VOB, DVD, WMV, AVI to MPEG-4 movie format for iPod/PSP or other portable video device, MP4 player or smart phone with Any Video Converter, which also supports user-defined video file formats as the output. Batch process multiple files that AVC saves to a pre-selected directory folder, leaving the original files untouched.

Link: http://www.any-video-converter.com/products/for_video_free/

Audio editing:

Audacity

Audacity is free, open source software for recording and editing sounds. It allows you to record live audio, converts tapes and records into digital recordings or CDs, edit Ogg Vorbis, MP3, WAV or AIFF sound files. You also can cut, copy, splice or mix sounds together with Audacity. Built-in effects are given to remove static, hiss, hum or other constant background noises.

Link: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Power Sound Editor:

Power Sound Editor is a free software to record your own music, voice, or other audio files, edit it, mix it with other audio or musical parts, add effects like Reverb, Chorus, and Echo, and burn it on a CD, post it on the World Wide Web or e-mail it.

Link: http://www.free-sound-editor.com/

[For more audio editing tools visit this page

http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/25-free-digital-audio-editors/ ]

In my next post I will be posting few more best free softwares which will be really an alternatives for expensive Softwares.

HDMI Licensing is the body responsible for licensing the High-Definition Multimedia Interface specification. The body on Wednesday announced specifications that will be introduced in the upcoming HDMI 1.4 specification. The latest HDMI specifications will offer networking capabilities with Ethernet connectivity and will also be adding an Audio Return Channel to enable upstream audio connections via the HDMI cable. The detailed HDMI specification 1.4 will be available for download on its website not later than June 30th. The networking capability is said to clock speeds of 100 Mbps. There is catch however. The new standard will require a new HDMI cable. The new devices that will be compatible with HDMI 1.4 will be available by the end of the year.

[Source - http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10249212-1.html ]