tech.nocr.at » media center

XBMC Launches On Apple TV 2 & iOS

Frank — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 02:26:26 +0000

The second generation Apple TV suddenly looks a lot better as a home theater PC. XBMC, the open-source media center software that is the driving force behind projects like Boxee and Plex has just launched for jailbroken second generation Apple TVs.

The Apple TV iOS port uses Apple’s “VideoToolBox” private acceleration API. This gives XBMC access to the built-in hardware video acceleration included in Apple’s A4 chip, allowing for non-Apple approved HD video playback. You heard me correct, full 1080p video playback on the tiny $99 box. Video playback isn’t the only thing you get, most of the core apps that are in the Desktop or Xbox versions are there as well.

Since the second generation Apple TV runs iOS, developers didn’t stop there. They added an iPhone and iPod touch port which can be installed on jailbroken devices via Cydia. Not a remote application, a full blown XBMC system on your iPhone or iPad. The iPad version tends to be less frustrating to use than the iPhone version, but I’m sure they will work on that.

I hope Apple can see the benefit of XBMC on their devices, it would be an instant hit if it ever hits the App store.

[Link to XBMC for iOS]

XBMC Launches On Apple TV 2 & iOS originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/21. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Open Source HTPC’s That Don’t Suck

Frank — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 21:30:11 +0000

In our next installment of Distros That Don’t Suck we will be looking at open source HTPC software. Sure you can load up VLC or even use Windows Media player, but having a dedicated solution with a UI that is made for a TV is a lot easier and pleasing. I’ve left the PVR-centric software like MythTV and Freevo off the list since their main purpose is to act as a PVR. I’ll be reviewing open source PVR software by itself at a later date.

XBMC – The Xbox Media Center Project started as homebrew software for the original Xbox gaming system and has since been ported to Linux, Windows, OSX, AppleTV and even as a standalone Linux based LiveCD/LiveUSB image. It offers a clean UI, intuitive interface and can play just about anything you throw at it. It offers a plugin system with a huge repository of community plugins to enhance the experience. It’s real easy to setup and it’s configuration is portable across operating systems. If you have an old Xbox laying around this makes a great HTPC that is powerful and best of all cheap.

MediaPortal – This is a Windows based HTPC software so technically it’s not 100% open source since it requires Windows and doesn’t offer a Linux port. If offers everything you would expect in HTPC software; Video streaming, DVD playback, Internet Radio, Picture Gallery and it’s own plugin system. You will need a compatible TV Tuner card to enjoy PVR features and to watch TV but it’s not needed to run the software. If you are a Windows fan and are looking for an alternate to Windows Media Center this is as close as you can get without the cost.

Element – Element is an open source HTPC system that comes pre-loaded with XBMC and the ability to play back just about any media locally or over the Internet. Element also has it’s own framework for offering add-on modules that allow you to play content from services like Hulu, Cooliris, Boxee, Clicker, Amazon on Demand and Youtube. They have adapted the UI’s of popular open source software like Firefox and Pidgin so that it fits the TV experience better than their native desktop versions. They also offer an Android app that allows you to use your Android phone as a remote control; definitely a neat idea for the times you can’t find the remote anywhere.

GeeXboX – A Gentoo based fully functional media center that can be run from LiveCD, LiveUSB, or be installed on a hard drive. GeeXbox is a very lean distro that doesn’t require a lot of processing power so it’s perfect for older hardware. It uses Enna as it’s primary media center application to play your music, videos or look at your pictures. This is the perfect distro for the no-frills experience when you just want to play your media and aren’t looking for any additional functionality.

Open Source HTPC’s That Don’t Suck originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/06. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Slimmed Down Xbox

Frank — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 04:11:46 +0000

Once Microsoft decided to roll out the 360, they had no plans to offer a lite or slim version. One modder has decided to defy the laws of console gaming and build his own slim version of the original Xbox. The slimmed down Xbox is reduced by almost 2 inches in length, width, and height. With a total reduction in volume of around 60%, you know this unit has undergone a serious diet. The weight of the unit is just as impressive, 4 pounds down from a hefty 8.5 pounds.

The mods were possible with some new components – a slimline DVD, 2.5 inch drive, Wi-Fi adapter, and a pair of Iceburg4 Pro Chip Cooling fans keep it all nice and cool.

He should produce a slim kit that people could buy, with original Xbox units selling now-a-days for peanuts they make great media center PC’s since that can run XBMC or ever a MythTV frontend.

[Link to Xbox Slim]

Slimmed Down Xbox originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/11. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Turn An Old TiVo Into A HTPC

Frank — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 03:05:23 +0000

One of the toughest things about building a home theater PC is finding the right case, one that doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb in your media center. This guy gutted out an old TiVo he had laying around and jammed in all the components required to get a PC up and running. He added a copy of Ubuntu running XBMC to finish off the project.

Doesn’t look like it’s that hard to accomplish and might just be the perfect weekend project for someone who is looking to either build a HTPC or remodel one they already have running.

Turn An Old TiVo Into A HTPC originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/10. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Is The Apple TV Being Replaced?

Frank — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 02:42:36 +0000

The Unofficial Apple Weblog is reporting on an email they received about the possibility of the Apple TV being replaced later this month. The email states that resellers should remove all Apple TV displays and destroy them (I hope it’s just the literature and not the Apple TV’s) by September 30th at 5 PM. The email also says that there will be a webcast kick off on the 30th.

Apple hasn’t been very happy with the performance of the Apple TV. I personally love the unit. My wife is watching the Sex and the City movie that she just bought from the iTunes store. Rock on Apple!

It will interesting to see what Apple might have up their sleeve. I hope it’s an Apple TV like device that also records TV and plays DVD’s. The perfect media center device. Only time will tell.

Is The Apple TV Being Replaced? originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/27. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

XBMC App For Your iPhone

Frank — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 16:41:12 +0000

One of the coolest apps that ever rolled out of the iTunes app store was the Apple Remote app that allowed you to control your iTunes or Apple TV via your iPhone or iPod Touch. This has come in quite handy when I can’t find the remote for my Appple TV.

Now you can have that same fun and functionality with your XBMC (Xbox Media Center). The remote application (iTunes Link) allows you to control your XBMC with your iPhone or iPod Touch. You will clearly need an instance of XBMC (They just release a new multi-platform beta) running somewhere. Features include:

Play, queue and shuffle the media on XBMC
View cover art for albums, TV Shows and movies
View artist and album reviews and information
‘Standard’ remote mode. Control XBMC with standard remote buttons

You can pickup XBMC from iTunes for $4.99.

XBMC App For Your iPhone originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/19. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

XBMC ‘Atlantis’ Beta 1 Released

Frank — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 12:01:27 +0000

The uber cool open source media center application Xbox Media Center (XBMC) has just release the first beta of XBMC Atlantis for all platforms (Windows, OS X, Linux, Xbox, and even on a live cd or thumb drive). Don’t let the beta status scare you, these guys are really close to brining this to production. Mac OS X users get a pretty benefit out of their release, integrated iTunes and iPhoto support. This could easily replace Front Row on every Mac, even replace your AppleTV if you have a Mac Mini laying around.

XBMC is free as in beer and works on all platforms. It’s still in beta so if you experience a bug here or there report it, but it’s been running real smooth on my machine.

[Link to XBMC]

XBMC ‘Atlantis’ Beta 1 Released originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/19. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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XBMC Goes Cross Platform

Frank — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:15:25 +0000

Just because I purchased a 360 doesn’t mean my original Xbox sits in the closet. No, no, no, the entire family uses it as a powerful media center thanks to the homebrew app XBMC (Xbox Media Center), and now the XBMC is going cross platform. You can go and grab early alpha releases right now off their website for Windows, Mac, and Linux. The funny thing is that they can’t put the Xbox version up on their site for legal reasons (go figure).

XBMC is a robust and powerful media player that is skinnable, supports plugins like TV guides, and access to nearly 1750 movie trailers via Apple’s movie trailer site. It will play pretty much anything you throw at it and also supports all know audio formats as well a picture viewer.

This is just another great reason why the homebrew community can create and deliver such robust and effective applications.

[XBMC]

XBMC Goes Cross Platform originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/15. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Xbox Media Center Coming For The Mac?

Frank — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 15:01:09 +0000

For those of you who never toyed in the original Xbox hombrew sense Xbox Media Center was the end-all be-all of homebrew applications. It was originally created in 2002 and required either a hardware modchip or a software exploit on the Xbox to run.

XBMC was the ultimate media center application on the Xbox and I still run it on 2 Xboxâ€™s in my house, it offer a rich video experience and can play virtually any media file either off the internal hard drive or by way of a network share. This is why I’m ecstatic to possibly seeing it arrive for the Mac OS.

The Mac version looks to be very promising. With a Linux version also under development we may just see a common UI for a rich media center application across any platform.

The Mac end of the project is being headed up by Elan Feingold, who was just interviewed by 9 to 5 Mac which can be read here.

Xbox Media Center Coming For The Mac? originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/02/08. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

MVIX MX-780HD – Medica Center With Torrent Client

Frank — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 18:00:08 +0000

Mvix’s new MX-780HD Media Center not only has all of the basic features you would expect for a dedicated media center like a multitude of supported video and audio formats, streaming capabilities from your computer via either Wi-Fi or ethernet, internet radio capabilities, and HiDef support in the form of 720p, 1080i and 1080p format, but it also has a built in torrent client so that all you pirates, errr I mean video podcast lovers can get your content without the need of a separate computer.

Although the MX-780HD isn’t listed on there site yet, here’s a look at what the MX-780HD will offer.

Supported Video Formats: DivX, XviD, DVD (ISO/VOB/IFO), MPEG, VCD(DAT), WMV(WMV-9), ASF(WMV-9), TP, TS, TRP
Supported Audio Formats: MP3, WMA, AAC, OGG, PMC, AC3, M4A, DTS decoding (down-mixing / Pass though)
Supported Image Formats: BMP, JPG, PNG
Subtitle Support: SMO, SRT, SUB
Video Out: HDMI, Composite, S-Video, Component Audio Out: RCA, Digital Coaxial
Optical TV System: NTSC, PAL, Auto
HD Support: 720p, 1080i, 1080p
Networking: 802.11b/g (WEP/WPA), 10/100 Ethernet, NDAS
Internal Disk: 3.5â€ IDE or SATA
USB: Slave (for connecting to computer) and Host (for additional storage)

If your crafty enough you can already hack an AppleTV and get a pretty decent torrent client on it. Only time will tell if the price is right when they announce a price and shipping date.

MVIX MX-780HD – Medica Center With Torrent Client originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/18. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Entertainer – New Linux Based Media Center

Frank — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 23:00:07 +0000

It looks like the Media Center space just got a bit more crowded. With already tons of Windows based Media Center software available and only a handful of decent Linux based ones floating around, Entertainer plans to change all of that.

Unlike software like MythTV or Freevo, Entertainer is strictly a Media Center based application that has no DVR or PVR like functionality, essentially you can not record or pause live TV. What Entertainer has going for it is it’s slick UI and what seems to be incredible ease of use.

Features so far:

Video Playback: You can easily play a multitude of video formats right from your harddrive. Entertainer also crawls the internet for metadata on your video.

Music: Standard music play back functionality with playlists, search be genre, artists, etc. It will also go out and get the cover art and lyrics for you (I smell some Karaoke fun!)

Pictures: Look at the 100′s of thousands of pictures in your library (Oh Joy)

RSS: Read your RSS feeds (like tech.nocr.at) right from the couch.

Over all it seems like a nice clean packaging of what most computers can do already. What they should start doing is adding some PVR features so that they can give Freevo and MythTV a run for their money.

Entertainer – New Linux Based Media Center originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/10. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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XBMC Coming To The Mac

Frank — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 22:20:01 +0000

Everyone’s favorite media center software for the Xbox, Xbox Media Center (or XBMC), is coming for Leopard. XBMC is designed to run on the original Microsoft Xbox console and it’s got one of the best media center interfaces around (I have 2 original Xbox’s at home to do just that, run XBMC).

The guys over at XBMC have been working to get the software ported over to Linux, and if it can work on Linux it should be able to work in Leopard. Elan over on the XBMC forums thought so, so he hacked together a close-to-working version on XBMC on Leopard. No final releases have ben built yet but I can smell me some XBMC on my mac any day now.

XBMC Coming To The Mac originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/04. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.