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is it comeing to android ? i think i read somewhere is was like 2 weeks ago cant remember exactly where is this true?
and is there any tv sreaming apps for android?
Search Marketplace for "Beebplayer"
Works well over WiFi - No download and its not offical.
Has anyone got this working on 3G in the UK? Or anywhere for that matter?
I keep getting "Cannot play this video" which apparently means the carrier does not support iPlayer (?)
Does this mean that T-Mobile UK block the iplayer ports? Could we get this to work with an ssh tunnel or something?
It doesnt seem to be in the market anymore????
Anyone have the apk?
Cheers
estecman said:
It doesnt seem to be in the market anymore????
Anyone have the apk?
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is still in the market, just a bit hard to find. You need to search for 'beebplayer'
Attached the apk (zipped) anyway.
Cheers for the zip!!!
Thats totally weird I did of course carefully search for beebplayer and I never got a hit?!
Anyway I'll try the apk, thanks.
for any who can't get it to work, it needs 1.5 firmware.
This is an impressive implementation, and the only choice to hand, however as the owner of both an iPhone 3g and a white G1 i have to say the the comparison between the two shows up just how much better the iPhone h.264 streams are to the mobile streams used via the mobile iPlayer portals.
It's a shame these streams can't be utilised by the developer, but I imagine the G1 just doesn't have good enough graphics acceleration to cope with it
leoni1980 said:
This is an impressive implementation, and the only choice to hand, however as the owner of both an iPhone 3g and a white G1 i have to say the the comparison between the two shows up just how much better the iPhone h.264 streams are to the mobile streams used via the mobile iPlayer portals.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Getting the iPhone streams on there was my first choice - in fact all the code to resolve the streams is in beebPlayer but unused. The problem is that the G1 can't play the iPhone streams.
leoni1980 said:
It's a shame these streams can't be utilised by the developer, but I imagine the G1 just doesn't have good enough graphics acceleration to cope with it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, the G1 is more than powerful enough. The problem is that the iPhone streams are in a .MOV container that the G1 video player can't decode. It's annoying - it's SO close to being MP4 which would be perfect, but of course Apple had to ruin the party!
Does that mean if the streams weren't in a .mov container we'd be able to use the direct iPhone iplayer page using the Steel browser and the iPhone user agent spoof option?
That would be pretty cool.
Impressed as I am with this app the mobile streams are just too poor for me.
Hi DaveJ!
Is there any chance you could put server/port options in beebplayer (or release source code) so that I can play around with getting it to work through a proxy? I'd love to be able to use this app over 3G...
Thanks for making a great app! (and great maps )
leoni1980 said:
Does that mean if the streams weren't in a .mov container we'd be able to use the direct iPhone iplayer page using the Steel browser and the iPhone user agent spoof option?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nearly... the next issue there would be to deal with the media player spoofing, as iPlayer checks the HTTP request and expects it to be exactly the same request and behaviour as the QuickTime player on the iPhone, and is actually the trickiest bit to copy.
In Python, this was fairly easy to forge. On Android's Java however, it likes to make forging this very difficult and is what gave me most of my problems when I last tried it.
Billthe4th said:
Is there any chance you could put server/port options in beebplayer (or release source code) so that I can play around with getting it to work through a proxy? I'd love to be able to use this app over 3G...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is theoretically possible, but is actually pretty similar to the iPhone media player problem - it would need a custom video player app, rather than the one built-in to Android that beebPlayer currently uses (beebPlayer never touches the video streams itself.)
I'm already toying with the idea of a custom video player which would deal more pleasantly with errors (particularly "Video cannot be played" could use a better description!) but it's not my priority right now unfortunately.
Have you seen the Windows Mobile implementation of iPlayer done by a guy here at XDA-Devs? (It's called myPlayer)
That can use VLC on a desktop PC to re-encode the BBC streams to more suitable sizes for mobile devices, this also gives the option of viewing live tv channels (which the BBC now broadcast online) as the mobile app uses telnet to command VLC to open the BBC stream, convert it on the fly.. then streams it to the phone.
Would be great to have something like that on android, and may help with the quality issue of using mobile streams?
Any chance we can make use of get_iplayer?
i like this app. im only really able to run it over 3g when i use adrenalin
since running JACs hero roms beebplayer is working for me on 3g as well as wifi with t-mobile UK.
I don't know if this is a change in T-mobile's blocks on streaming or because of the hero rom. but shhhhhhh keep it quiet, I don't want TMob to switch it off again...
MyPlayer
Any chance you could get together with the developer of Myplayer for Windows Mobile? I really like Beebplayer, works a treat on my Hero ... but I'd really really like to be able to listen to Radio 5, which Myplayer lets you.
Cheers
what a great (not previously found) app.... thank you.
Been watching the wifi stream over 3G without a problem couldnt ask for anything more.
t-mobile UK
JF ADP1 1.5
great app,
this app is great!, couldnt find it with a search on the market place, if you have trouble, view all applications in the marketplace and keep scrolling till you see it, i couldnt find it with a search for some reason,
this app works like a charm over wifi, really fast and great quality,
i have a g1 and on the network "three". I have no problems with using beebplayer over 3g, the app also tells you the download size just in case your on a limited data plan.
this is a must have application, just wish thier was on for demand 5, and channel 4od.
I noticed that Hulu's Flash Player requirements are 9.0xxxx, whereas the Flash Player that is in JACHero is 9.1xxxx. Has anyone had any luck with any Hulu videos?
Whatever your feelings on Flash, the fact remains that having Hulu.com working on Android would be a significant attribute for many people - even if you personally think of it as silly.
For me, G1 + Hero ROM + Hulu = Bliss!
Hopefully, the Flash Player will be updated again with another leaked Hero firmware.
I haven't been able to play hulu either. I just loads and does nothing else. When the hero rom was leaked some one said they were watching family guy on hulu.
http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/27/ps3-owners-get-boxeed-hulu-this-video-is-not-available-on-yo/
In the comments people were saying it no longer worked with the winmo skyfire browser either, so perhaps this has something to do with it? Although i would expect you see the error message instead of just nothing...
It would seem Hulu is blocking everything but desktop computers... they've locked out Boxee, XBMC, PlayStation 3, Windows Mobile, and are adding blocks everyday. Vewy vewy sad
Hmmmm....I wonder is there a way to mod the browser to change the user agent data it sends out to sites to say it was firefox etc? There has got to be a way. Or is there a proxy that can do this?
And, is there a way to increase the amount of space for the cache on the sdcard.
Can the flash player play streaming radio stations?
Wasnt the flash on JAC rom replaced by fatal1ty's?
I wonder if that was the reason why hulu doesn't work anymore.
fadedmicrobe said:
Wasnt the flash on JAC rom replaced by fatal1ty's?
I wonder if that was the reason why hulu doesn't work anymore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hulu never worked on JAC's version, the guy who had it working posted in the fatal1ty thread. i'm pretty sure he did anyway.
Me personaly I have tried... it gave me one error where it said I didnt have the cache space I went and cleared the cash and then it just loads and loads and loads... It wants to work but Im thinking it needs a tad bit better flash player...
ps double tapping on anything flash will set it to full screen... I think its sick! Hope they do update it... peace!
Vision77 said:
Hmmmm....I wonder is there a way to mod the browser to change the user agent data it sends out to sites to say it was firefox etc? There has got to be a way. Or is there a proxy that can do this?
And, is there a way to increase the amount of space for the cache on the sdcard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, for the user agent,you can use steel,but flash won't work unless there is a version based off of the HTC browser. Is there a source code for steel?
Pinesal said:
Can the flash player play streaming radio stations?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I havent tried radio stations yet, however I frequent hiphopDX.com often for new single releases and they play great in the flash browser
I am thinking that there will probably be an upgrade to HTC Flash before Hero's release. Think of their embarassment in the face of an almost working Hulu. They need the sales, so let's hope they tweak the player a bit to work right. If YouTube works fine, I see no reason for Hulu not too.
kristoff123 said:
I am thinking that there will probably be an upgrade to HTC Flash before Hero's release. Think of their embarassment in the face of an almost working Hulu. They need the sales, so let's hope they tweak the player a bit to work right. If YouTube works fine, I see no reason for Hulu not too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The flash that comes with Hero is not the reason we can't watch Hulu on our phones. It is Hulu that is at fault. They do an HTTP headers check and see what operating system/platform/browser version we're visiting Hulu from and if it's not from a desktop pc then it won't play. They do this on purpose for legal reasons. Hulu has already blocked skyfire on windows mobile (the only flash capable windows mobile browser) and they've block anonymous proxies so using a proxy hack is out of the question.
in comment to fatal1ty/jac browser/flash they were the same ones, taken from the ruu/wwe hero rom release. there was nothing different.
shafty023 said:
The flash that comes with Hero is not the reason we can't watch Hulu on our phones. It is Hulu that is at fault. They do an HTTP headers check and see what operating system/platform/browser version we're visiting Hulu from and if it's not from a desktop pc then it won't play. They do this on purpose for legal reasons. Hulu has already blocked skyfire on windows mobile (the only flash capable windows mobile browser) and they've block anonymous proxies so using a proxy hack is out of the question.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well if that was the case then a simple About:debug in the browser then a change in the UA string from android to desktop would fix the problem......although this is not the case we need a better flash player UA string is a simple problem the fix.
When i go to hulu, it says error loading, check your browser and try again.. or something to that affect. Then when I refresh, it says loading FOREVER.
I think the site has put the brakes on us.
milesukaoma2010 said:
Well if that was the case then a simple About:debug in the browser then a change in the UA string from android to desktop would fix the problem......although this is not the case we need a better flash player UA string is a simple problem the fix.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was trying to make it as simplified as possible. In actuality a developer has countless information about what device is visiting their page thru FLASH. Please read up Flash and private information it sends and what is capable of being requested by a dev at Hulu's side.
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flashplayer/articles/privacy.html
They can find the pixel dimensions of our screen and determine we're on a mobile device. They can use the user agent string, DPI, screen resolution, and determine we're on a mobile device. There is absolutely nothing EASY we could do to trick Hulu into not knowing we're on a mobile device. So once again I will reiterate that our version of FLASH, or copy of FLASH is NOT the problem. Hulu is walking the line between legal video distribution and copyright infringement so they will do whatever it takes to keep whatever devices they want from not visiting their site. Our only hope interim would be a site that'd convert flv to perhaps html5 video tags which our browsers support.
Is the Hero flash player even capable of playing FLV? It may not support the entire Flash 9/10 specification.
shafty023 said:
I was trying to make it as simplified as possible. In actuality a developer has countless information about what device is visiting their page thru FLASH. Please read up Flash and private information it sends and what is capable of being requested by a dev at Hulu's side.
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flashplayer/articles/privacy.html
They can find the pixel dimensions of our screen and determine we're on a mobile device. They can use the user agent string, DPI, screen resolution, and determine we're on a mobile device. There is absolutely nothing EASY we could do to trick Hulu into not knowing we're on a mobile device. So once again I will reiterate that our version of FLASH, or copy of FLASH is NOT the problem. Hulu is walking the line between legal video distribution and copyright infringement so they will do whatever it takes to keep whatever devices they want from not visiting their site. Our only hope interim would be a site that'd convert flv to perhaps html5 video tags which our browsers support.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I still don't see why a browser couldn't send false answers to these requests. I visit iPhone-only sites using the Steel browser; it might be more involved to do the same for flash conent, but possible, no? Or else, download the flash file first and then open it in Htc Flash Player?
Bump:
I just did some research, and Hulu is entirely blocking the flash player from loading for WinMo users, whereas from Hero, it is loading, just not playing video. The rumor is that Hulu is releasing a WinMo app soon, hence their desire to stop their site from being accessed otherwise. Whereas, their is no such app purported to be in the works for Android - so I believe that your theory is incorrect.
Furthering my case is the fact that the HTC Flash Player is also not working on a few other video sites that only require Flash 9. I still believe that the player just needs a little more work.
I've been looking throughout the forums and Google and haven't found anything definitive about a browser that will enable me to watch streaming video to my HD7. I'm pretty sure adobe will eventually come with a update so IE can support it but is there currently an app browser out that supports flash? Skyfire pansied out from what I hear and doesn't support any WinMo and uZard is only for 6.x. Am I stuck with YouTube app for now?
I think no one yet. I've already searched and we should wait adobe give us flash support. i think i was better with my WinMo6.1 device and uZard Web
uZard was at most ok for now, but I would have alot of issues with it accessing sites like Facebook and being the servers from my understanding, are located in Korea. So me located in Maine, my data speed suffered greatly. I couldn't stand the bug when I would close uZard without switching back to regular mode from landscape mode. Right now I've been using YouTube App and just downloading the videos and just watching them on the player, but sometime I hate to wait. Someone needs to stick a firework in Adobe's ass. They would be making so much money with flash support for WP7!!
I don't think it's all necessarily Adobe's fault. IE on WP7 doesn't support plug-iins yet. So maybe when Mango drops, people's prayers will be answered
I do think flash will never come to windows phone, because it is a security risk! And closed OS must have a lot of security.
Regards,
SL55
This might sound crazy but what if we can eventually hack the Chromecast to cast the actual phone/tablet screen (such as you can currently with the desktop of a computer) and play Android games on an HDTV. Yes, we can just get the Ouya but this would be awesome. Now I have no idea if hacking something like this will make it possible, but this would be pretty cool down the road.
Edit: Something like this actually would be perfect. Had no idea this existed:
Miracast:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYx9YNoD014
tanw42 said:
This might sound crazy but what if we can eventually hack the Chromecast to cast the actual phone/tablet screen (such as you can currently with the desktop of a computer) and play Android games on an HDTV. Yes, we can just get the Ouya but this would be awesome. Now I have no idea if hacking something like this will make it possible, but this would be pretty cool down the road.
Edit: Something like this actually would be perfect. Had no idea this existed:
Miracast:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYx9YNoD014
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that the accessibility of this device and it's price are 2 things what will greatly help the community develop on this. Just like Samsung's All-Share Dongle, i do think it's only a matter of time before we can mirror our screen
I don't think you will be able to play local games from your table or phone in the near future for the simple reason that everything is being streamed from the cloud. Even Chromecasting the current tab or the full desktop, what happens is google sends your full desktop or tab to their cloud and then streams it back up. That adds the 1 second delay between what you see on your screen and what appears on your TV. Trying to play a real time game with a 1 sec delay will be nearly impossible. Maybe in the future when everyone will have a fiberoptic connections, if they can cut that delay down to 10ms, then I would say yes/maybe. But that much fast bandwidth is still out in the future.
The thing though about Chromecast is that Google has the right idea on where things are headed. This is by far the best innovation out there for your TV.
larryvand said:
I don't think you will be able to play local games from your table or phone in the near future for the simple reason that everything is being streamed from the cloud. Even Chromecasting the current tab or the full desktop, what happens is google sends your full desktop or tab to their cloud and then streams it back up. That adds the 1 second delay between what you see on your screen and what appears on your TV. Trying to play a real time game with a 1 sec delay will be nearly impossible. Maybe in the future when everyone will have a fiberoptic connections, if they can cut that delay down to 10ms, then I would say yes/maybe. But that much fast bandwidth is still out in the future.
The thing though about Chromecast is that Google has the right idea on where things are headed. This is by far the best innovation out there for your TV.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the most likely avenue for this would be to write an app that turns the phone (or laptop) into a "local cloud" that is streaming just like Netflix or Play Music. It would obviously take some development but I don't think it's too outlandish.
The problem with screen mirroring is lag. From what I have seen 250ms lag is the norm with Miracast. There is just no way around it with current tech. I think that is part of the reason for chromecast. It partially eliminates the need for screen mirroring. Chromecast gives the same ability of using your phone/tablet to browse and select content as does Miracast, but you get a full-screen experience with the best possible resolution depending on internet bandwidth. It is also not depending on your device to be the streamer as is the case with Miracast.
I expect to see another Google TV type device with the new Jellybean update and Chromecast that will be more geared towards gaming on the big screen. I predict we will see it in Q4 or Q1 of next year.
Lag might be there on some level, but it definitely doesnt have any impact the probability of chromecast and screen mirroring. Its not about how well it does it, it's about if i can. Its a 35$ gadget, lets not overthink this. If it's at all possible, 250ms lag would still be more than acceptable. Of course, thins would never be a gaming device where real time information in crucial
larryvand said:
I don't think you will be able to play local games from your table or phone in the near future for the simple reason that everything is being streamed from the cloud. Even Chromecasting the current tab or the full desktop, what happens is google sends your full desktop or tab to their cloud and then streams it back up. That adds the 1 second delay between what you see on your screen and what appears on your TV. Trying to play a real time game with a 1 sec delay will be nearly impossible. Maybe in the future when everyone will have a fiberoptic connections, if they can cut that delay down to 10ms, then I would say yes/maybe. But that much fast bandwidth is still out in the future.
The thing though about Chromecast is that Google has the right idea on where things are headed. This is by far the best innovation out there for your TV.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While I'm unsure of how it exactly works, I don't think everything is necessarily streamed through the cloud. Using your phone or tablet to play netflix or youtube videos from the cloud - yes...
...but I was able to stream a local mkv video in a chrome tab on my desktop to the chromecast. I doubt it makes the round trip through google since I know my upload speeds are pretty bad. My guess is that google just executes the handshake and the video streams through your intranet directly.
pjsnyc said:
While I'm unsure of how it exactly works, I don't think everything is necessarily streamed through the cloud. Using your phone or tablet to play netflix or youtube videos from the cloud - yes...
...but I was able to stream a local mkv video in a chrome tab on my desktop to the chromecast. I doubt it makes the round trip through google since I know my upload speeds are pretty bad. My guess is that google just executes the handshake and the video streams through your intranet directly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are correct about chrome tab mirroring. It goes straight over your local network, but the native codec support of the current Chromecast device is lacking which may be improved by savvy developers found right here. However, since tab mirroring only works from PCs, I think it is a step backwards.
007shark said:
You are correct about chrome tab mirroring. It goes straight over your local network, but the native codec support of the current Chromecast device is lacking which may be improved by savvy developers found right here. However, since tab mirroring only works from PCs, I think it is a step backwards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My understanding is that if you have the correct codecs installed on your desktop/laptop with chrome, you should theoretically be able to play any file type. I saw a video of it working with plex or simply navigating your local drives with chrome. Whether or not native codec support is lacking on the chromecast is moot imho. Tab mirroring on a phone or tablet should eventually come, I just think the devices need more horsepower so to speak.
polish_pat said:
Lag might be there on some level, but it definitely doesnt have any impact the probability of chromecast and screen mirroring. Its not about how well it does it, it's about if i can. Its a 35$ gadget, lets not overthink this. If it's at all possible, 250ms lag would still be more than acceptable. Of course, thins would never be a gaming device where real time information in crucial
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am with you. I think this little device will be one of the more popular developer projects on xda.
---------- Post added at 01:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:36 PM ----------
pjsnyc said:
My understanding is that if you have the correct codecs installed on your desktop/laptop with chrome, you should theoretically be able to play any file type. I saw a video of it working with plex or simply navigating your local drives with chrome. Whether or not native codec support is lacking on the chromecast is moot imho. Tab mirroring on a phone or tablet should eventually come, I just think the devices need more horsepower so to speak.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, so it is transcoding on the fly. I agree with you on not yet on the phones because of lack of processing power. Miracast is still the better option with portable devices even with the minor lag.
I guess I am dreaming for, because Google surprised me with this gadget and I was unable to get one before they were all sold out, an all encompassing gadget that has DLNA, Miracast, and Chromecast in the same form factor. I think the DLNA might be able to be added to this. I doubt Miracast would be able to, though.
007shark said:
...
I guess I am dreaming for, because Google surprised me with this gadget and I was unable to get one before they were all sold out, an all encompassing gadget that has DLNA, Miracast, and Chromecast in the same form factor. I think the DLNA might be able to be added to this. I doubt Miracast would be able to, though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I kinda like it the way it is. While DLNA has been around for a while, I honestly havent seen a simple implementation of it yet (unless you lock yourself into one brand/ecosystem). I am excited that the hacking community is already tearing this thing apart, but the simplicity of setting it up and just getting it to work for the masses is ridiculous at this price.
I lucked out in getting mine - my coworker was able to arrange a pickup at bestbuy and sold it to me at price when he realized he couldn't mirror a mobile chrome tab.
pjsnyc said:
I kinda like it the way it is. While DLNA has been around for a while, I honestly havent seen a simple implementation of it yet (unless you lock yourself into one brand/ecosystem). I am excited that the hacking community is already tearing this thing apart, but the simplicity of setting it up and just getting it to work for the masses is ridiculous at this price.
I lucked out in getting mine - my coworker was able to arrange a pickup at bestbuy and sold it to me at price when he realized he couldn't mirror a mobile chrome tab.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like the DLNA for getting photos, videos, and music from my device to the TV. Samsung's AllCast from their phones/tablets work great this way even with non-Samsung DLNA devices. If Google implemented DLNA with Chromecast then a phone/tablet's native gallery and video apps could seamlessly work as the Netflix and YouTube apps do without a normal consumer understanding how it works. And also without having to sync everything to the cloud.
007shark said:
I like the DLNA for getting photos, videos, and music from my device to the TV. Samsung's AllCast from their phones/tablets work great this way even with non-Samsung DLNA devices. If Google implemented DLNA with Chromecast then a phone/tablet's native gallery and video apps could seamlessly work as the Netflix and YouTube apps do without a normal consumer understanding how it works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess this is where you and I disagree. The 'understanding how it works' part. For example - once you get chromecast set up with your laptop on your couch, sharing photos and videos with other people in your livingroom from facebook is easy to understand for anyone. 'Native' for the masses is what is currently showing in the browser tab.
pjsnyc said:
I guess this is where you and I disagree. The 'understanding how it works' part. For example - once you get chromecast set up with your laptop on your couch, sharing photos and videos with other people in your livingroom from facebook is easy to understand for anyone. 'Native' for the masses is what is currently showing in the browser tab.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is exactly the difference. I don't use a laptop in my living room. I use my tablet and/or phone. I think that is also the growing trend at least from my circle of friends and family.
EDIT: I use to watch TV with a laptop in my lap, but haven't done that in a couple years since I got a tablet.
For games we could see some games go to cloud based solution. This could work by your phone/controller sending information to the server that in turn sends back appropriate results to the Chromecast. So games aren't played on the phone but on the server the phone just sends commands.
Yeah miracast is sick
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda premium
pjsnyc said:
I kinda like it the way it is. While DLNA has been around for a while, I honestly havent seen a simple implementation of it yet (unless you lock yourself into one brand/ecosystem). I am excited that the hacking community is already tearing this thing apart, but the simplicity of setting it up and just getting it to work for the masses is ridiculous at this price.
I lucked out in getting mine - my coworker was able to arrange a pickup at bestbuy and sold it to me at price when he realized he couldn't mirror a mobile chrome tab.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://elinux.org/DLNA_Open_Source_Projects ?
007shark said:
I am with you. I think this little device will be one of the more popular developer projects on xda.
---------- Post added at 01:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:36 PM ----------
Okay, so it is transcoding on the fly. I agree with you on not yet on the phones because of lack of processing power. Miracast is still the better option with portable devices even with the minor lag.
I guess I am dreaming for, because Google surprised me with this gadget and I was unable to get one before they were all sold out, an all encompassing gadget that has DLNA, Miracast, and Chromecast in the same form factor. I think the DLNA might be able to be added to this. I doubt Miracast would be able to, though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't see any hardware limitations for Mircacast at this moment, still digging through the tech specs and kernel though
Hello folks,
I got my Chromecast, it works, I like it.
But I find it unnerving that the system is so closed.
Some guy has, months ago, released something he called "PiCast" as an open alternative on the Raspberry Pi.
I wonder: Why aren't there more devs bringing an open, extensible alternative, installable on a Raspberry Pi or other small computer, to life? I really don't understand it, since. like I see it, it doesn't seem particularly complicated! The following features would at least have to be implemented:
***********************************************
- media player software which can play a broad palette of formats and stream from different sources (VLC, Mplayer etc. come to mind an can surely be used as a part of the project)
- web interface which accepts URLs (web or LAN) of files that are to be played and passes them to the media player; and which accepts control commands for the now playing file like pause, forward etc.
Most convenient would be if these URLs could not only be http ones, but also SMB, streaming protocols etc.
Don't we all want a device where we NOT are confined to certain formats?
- apps for computers and mobile devices which let the user choose files he wants to watch / listen to and pass the URL to the web interface and which pass control commands like pause, forward to the web interface
- a customized, lean OS with a Chromecast-like, very simple UI
*************************************************
Any thoughts?
Best wishes,
Hasenbein
The entire reason for the CCast (which essentially replaced the GoogleTV fiasco) was to keep the system closed enough to get Content providers to support it due to the ability to use DRM and control the players being used.
Why do you think other projects like XBMC still to this day do NOT (and will NEVER) have access to Netflix for any sustainable time because Netflix will change their encryption and break any player app they do not have complete control over.
GoogleTV was actually blacklisted by the network websites to prevent it from playing content. All because it was just a little too open for their liking.
What @Asphyx said, plus Android TV sticks have been around for quite some time and already do similar. The key difference is market share. History is littered with proposed "standards" that never won. In the end it's not what is better, sometimes not even what's cheaper, but what picks up.
Iomega's Zip drive was inferior to SyQuest EZ drive, but Iomega won by marketing and hence adoption. Developers had more incentive to support Zip drives (not that much was specifically required but still) because there was a wider audience and market for them.
Adobe's changing the design market the same way. I still have CS6, but more and more I'm getting files from people on CC. And it's annoying. Essentially I'm being forced into CC if I want to work with anybody outside of my four walls.
Even though it's only available in select retail channels, Google is pushing Chromecast with TV ads. The fact that they've sold (or at least shipped) millions is a strong testament to its adoption rate. Even at my local stores, I can say just by the serial numbers they've cycled through, at least 500 have left the shelf since August 2013.
The market share attracts content providers, and the closed nature gives their lawyers ease regarding theft. Sure, there will always be people supporting TV sticks with clever solutions that are free or near-free, though they sometimes require jumping through numerous hoops (even moreso than Chromecast of today), and if something doesn't work as required, it involved researching. It's not like you can put in a support ticket or call support. Granted, Chromecast support isn't outstanding... but many of my non-techy friends have adopted Chromecast, even without hearing from me, and these are not people who visit XDA, nor are they people who would ever have run across or even considered an Android TV stick, nor are they people who have any idea of what an Arduino or Raspberry Pi is.
The draw is the consumer, and the consumer needs content to consume. Which means longevity of the product/concept/standard depends on support from the content providers.
At the price point of Chromecast it seems to be designed to draw in not just first timers, but also customers who may already have a media to TV solution but it's lacking in simplicity or quality. E.g. maybe you have a powerful HTPC that suits all your needs but Netflix is in low-def for DRM reasons. And YouTube stutters on 1080p because Windows keeps trying to do other things in the background while you play it. OK then you put $35 down on a Chromecast and now your Netflix & YouTube videos look better.
And similarly, it's cheap enough that if Chromecast alone does not suit your needs, you can say, well hey, all I spent on the Chromecast was $35, so I don't see why that should stop me from also buying that other media box that does more things.
cmstlist said:
At the price point of Chromecast it seems to be designed to draw in not just first timers, but also customers who may already have a media to TV solution but it's lacking in simplicity or quality.
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Click to collapse
I'm definitely in this boat.
I have a semi-Smart TV that supports YouTube, Amazon, and a about 12 other "channels" - but its interface is slow and clunky. It also doesn't support DLNA video (sadly, one model year too early).
I have a HTPC that I use to play DVDs and Blu-rays from my media server, and even though I have a BT keyboard remote for it, navigating between Windows Media Center and browser-sourced video is fiddly.
Chromecast didn't replace my HTPC, it's just giving me a much easier way to view those browser-sourced videos.
However, if/when Chromecast gets DVD and BD playback, it very well might replace my HTPC...
http://blog.vudu.com/?p=10711
https://forum.vudu.com/showthread.php?112941-UltraViolet-FAQ-s
Vudu ultraviolet on Chromecast will displace the need for a disc player or home video server for a number of people. Not sure yet but I'll probably be one of them.
cmstlist said:
At the price point of Chromecast it seems to be designed to draw in not just first timers, but also customers who may already have a media to TV solution but it's lacking in simplicity or quality. E.g. maybe you have a powerful HTPC that suits all your needs but Netflix is in low-def for DRM reasons. And YouTube stutters on 1080p because Windows keeps trying to do other things in the background while you play it. OK then you put $35 down on a Chromecast and now your Netflix & YouTube videos look better.
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Click to collapse
Yup. I really care about picture quality, so Chromecast offers the cheapest way to get SuperHD Netflix on my TV. If I wasn't bothered about the quality, I'd just connect my tablet with a cable whenever I wanted to watch something.
EarlyMon said:
http://blog.vudu.com/?p=10711
https://forum.vudu.com/showthread.php?112941-UltraViolet-FAQ-s
Vudu ultraviolet on Chromecast will displace the need for a disc player or home video server for a number of people. Not sure yet but I'll probably be one of them.
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Click to collapse
Interesting service and a good idea....
Unfortunately $2 per SD conversion of DVD or $5 to HD is a bit too pricey considering how I have the equipment to rip my own DVD (I have more than 3000 titles in my collection), do the Upconvert and even rip the subtitles to put into an MKV.
But this service will do well because of the sheer number of people who do not have the capability to do that and the ease of use.
I wonder are they actually converting your DVDs or are they doing the much smarter thing and letting you insert the disk, check it for validity and then just giving you access to the already encoded content they have stored?
Asphyx said:
I wonder are they actually converting your DVDs or are they doing the much smarter thing and letting you insert the disk, check it for validity and then just giving you access to the already encoded content they have stored?
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The second one, so far as I know.
And if you just enter your digital copy information that works too.
My son-in-law does that but I haven't asked him about the details - he's very happy with the service though.
It's a great Idea....
I have a similar validation system I use....
If I own it already on disc then I feel I have the right to download it if I choose...I paid them their cut so no Guilt involved.
LOL
Similar but I don't pay the conversion fee!
I have a small collection.
I got tired years ago of format changes, player upkeep and having more plastic in the house, so I've been satisfied with rentals. I keep a few favorites on my shelves just in case.
And I had one of my media servers die of old age a few months ago. I'm tired of maintaining my own cloud. Been there, done that. Still do my music and just a few movies now.
I like the ultraviolet model, it sounds simple to me.
And to the OP -
LocalCast does direct entry of http and smb addresses.
EarlyMon said:
I have a small collection.
I got tired years ago of format changes, player upkeep and having more plastic in the house, so I've been satisfied with rentals. I keep a few favorites on my shelves just in case.
And I had one of my media servers die of old age a few months ago. I'm tired of maintaining my own cloud. Been there, done that. Still do my music and just a few movies now.
I like the ultraviolet model, it sounds simple to me.
And to the OP -
LocalCast does direct entry of http and smb addresses.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah unfortunately I live in a very rural area and Cable and Internet outages are common (all the damn trees!)
So when that happens I really have no other recourse than to use whatever is on my Media server to entertain myself...
I went out and invested in a good NAS with Raid that holds 16Tb worth of drives (don't get full16Tbs with Raid though...I may even need to double that soon as I'm running out of space).
My Media Server is my HTPC so I can simply replace that unit if it craps out and just re-install the server software and map the drives.
Been checking out that Chromecast store app...a Lot of stuff in there I didn't know about...