Miro launches version 2.0

The Participatory Culture Foundation is releasing version 2.0 of its Miro video player today . The new version features a streamlined UI that looks more professional than previous iterations as well as the option to integrate third party video platforms. Users can now easily access sites like Joost or Hulu from within the client. Part of the relaunch is also a completely redesigned homepage as well as a new channel guide Here's a video introducing the client and its new features:Readers of this blog might also be interested in the fact that Miro features a built-in Bittorrent client based on the libtorrent library.I've always thought that Miro was a great client in concept that was struggling with some technical issues. I played around with the official preview release to version 2.0 a couple of weeks ago and was positively surprised by the fact that it was actually runnng quite smoothly on older hardware, as I wrote back then for Newteevee.com. We will see whether that's enough to actually win over any new users, but there's definitely a need for an alternative to iTunes when it comes to video podcasts, and Miro 2.0 could be a step in the right direction. And come to think of it: Wouldn't it be quite ironic if a media reform project like Miro would finally become popular because of its integration of a mainstream TV platform like Hulu?