VLC for Android APK

Android: If you've been waiting for news on an Android version of VLC, wait no longer. The media player finally launched an Android beta today, and it brings VLC's trademark play-anything goodness, multi-track subtitle support, and even whole-library management tools to Android devices, but be warned: the developers make no bones about the fact that it's a beta, and there's a lot of work to be done on it.

The first thing worth noting is that the VLC for Android beta is a port of the iOS version, largely to get a framework in place where the VLC mobile team can work from. They point out that everything about the app will change as it gets updated, including the UI and major features, and hardware decoding only works on a few devices at the moment. Even so, it's still VLC, can play just about anything (including network streams), supports multi-tack audio and video with subtitles, has a home-screen widget for audio control without launching the app, and it supports headsets with in-line audio controls.

The developers point out that "It might kill your kitten, destroy your house and start the mayan apocalypse," and warn you to "Use at your own risk." They also point out that this version is for "power users and hackers," so while it worked great on the devices we tested, make sure your device is supported before trusting it with your media. It's definitely not as polished as our favorite media player for Android, MoboPlayer, but Android has no shortage of great media players, and hey—this is VLC! If you give it a try, let us know your experience with it in the comments below.

VLC for Android APK

Best Cheap Android Phones

Time was when buying a cheap phone meant having to make do with a really sluggish device, running an old version of Google's operating system that locked you out of the most exciting apps on the platform.

Happily, times have changed as more and more mobile makers have jumped aboard Google's Android bandwagon. Now established as by far the most popular phone platform in the UK, prices have been driven downhill.

Around £100

For the £100 mark, you can easily put a pay as you go Android smart phone in your pocket that you won't be embarrassed to show off in public.

Spend your pennies wisely and it's possible to bag a mobile with a 1GHz chip and a screen pushing 4 inches. Stretch your budget just a little further and you can grab a dual-core chip too.

If you can't afford £100, there are cheaper 'droids out there -- although it obviously follows that the less cash you spend, the less exciting an experience you should expect.

Around the £90 mark, there are some solid options with chips in the 600-800MHz range. It's really worth stressing that there can be a considerable difference in performance at the cheap end of the Android market, so spend your money wisely.

Cheap Android Phones