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Plex's new Kodi plugin lets you enjoy the best of both worlds
If you've dabbled with building your own media center, it's likely that you will have encountered Plex or Kodi. Both started life as offshoots of the famed XBMC software, but over time their propositions have diverged, with Plex embracing subscriptions and Kodi remaining open-source. In the past, that meant you'd pick the project that would best organize your media collection or utilize a third-party service that combined the two, but Plex has decided to embrace its streaming counterpart by launching an official Kodi plugin.
Kodi jumps into hardware with a Raspberry Pi case
As the app formerly known as XBMC prepares to launch version 17, the folks at Kodi are diving into something completely new: hardware. It's not a smart TV box on its own however, instead the project has teamed up with Flirc on a custom case for the Raspberry Pi 3, 2 and B+. It has an aluminum core to help keep your Pi cool while running the media streaming software, and sports the official Kodi logo to let everyone know your box is legit. It's available for about $20 from Flirc in the US and The Pi Hut in the UK, so you can get it in time to load up the Krypton alpha when it's released July 1st.
Kodi takes the fight to sellers of pirate TV boxes
Pirate TV boxes have existed since about five minutes after TV boxes were first introduced. Whether it was rewired cable boxes or satellite TV setups with hacked cards, it's been a reality of the business for decades. The latest iteration on this idea involves a number of Android-powered boxes that are preconfigured to find and stream pirated content from the internet. I noticed right away that the Fire TV is a perfect vessel for Kodi (back then it was still called XBMC), and I wasn't the only one -- which is causing a ton of problems for the developers who actually make Kodi.
XBMC's Kodi media player officially hits the Play Store
Kodi's media player got a name change last year and now it has something even better -- official Android status. The app formerly known as XBMC is now available on the Google Play store for all takers. It actually arrived to the store last month in beta form, but prior to that could only be sideloaded on Android. Version 15 (codenamed Isengard) now supports Android 5-specific features like 4K and variable refresh rates on certain Android TV devices, like NVIDIA's Shield. Another new trick on all platforms is "adaptive seeking" that lets you search material faster by tapping a key several times.
XBMC renames its media app as it leaves its Xbox roots behind
XBMC's name (which stands for Xbox Media Center) isn't really relevant these days. The media center app only runs on the original Xbox through hacks, and it does a lot more than play your music and videos. Accordingly, it's getting a long, long overdue rebranding: meet Kodi Entertainment Center, the moniker you'll see from version 14 onward. The new naming scheme is both more universal and less prone to legal issues. The developers now have control over their trademark, and the move should prevent trouble with "other companies" -- no doubt including Microsoft -- that might send lawyers after fans or the XBMC team itself. The first Kodi release is a rough alpha, so don't expect to see the new name everywhere just yet. However, it shouldn't be long before the XBMC badging is consigned to the history books.
