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Plex's latest funding will boost its own streaming catalog while supporting others
Plex has raised $50 million in new funding as part of its bid to become a one-stop shop for all things streaming.
Plex will stream free, ad-supported Warner Bros. movies and TV shows
While Plex mainly focuses on allowing users to set up a streaming server for their own media files, the company has also ventured into other features such as live TV, podcasts and integration with other streaming services. Their latest move will add an on-demand library of ad-supported Warner Bros. movies and TV series.
Plex rewrites its media streaming app for Windows 10
Plex users on Windows have been stuck with an old Windows 8 app for awhile now, but that changes today. The media streaming server's desktop app has been completely rebuilt for Windows 10 as a Universal Windows app -- giving users the same Plex experience across tablet, desktop and mobile platforms. Well, almost the same experience: Plex says it's still working on the mobile release of the UWP app, but promises it will be along soon.
Plex finally brings media relief to US Playstation 4 owners
The media streaming options for Sony's Playstation 4 have always been its weak point, especially compared to the formidable PS3 living room experience. Now, there's some good news for US users: Plex is finally available on both PS4 and PS3 in North and South America, after it rolled out in Europe and Asia last month. The popular media server lets you put all your media in one hub on your PS4, regardless of where you actually store it. You can then organize it by criteria like poster art, plot summary, album cover and share it to other devices and platforms. Sony said that it'll only stream video at first, with music and photo sharing arriving shortly. There is one drawback: you'll need a Plex Pass, a service that costs $4.99 -- more than half the price of Netflix.
Shawn Blanc offers a tasty recipe for cooking up a Mac media and file server
Sometimes you may have a Mac that works well enough to escape being recycled at Gazelle, but has just enough wrong with it that it can't be used in day-to-day work. That was the situation with blogger and podcaster Shawn Blanc's wife's MacBook Pro, which has a bad video card that caused the display to flicker and show lines. With a little bit of love and a dusting of hackery, Blanc turned the aging MacBook into a Mac file and media server. While the primary job of his media server is to host ripped video (via HandBrake) and audio files for viewing on a HDTV through an Apple TV, he also uses the server to host AirPrint for a non-AirPrint printer (using Printopia), runs Mail.app 24/7 to sort and file incoming emails, and runs Dropbox and Hazel so he can upload audio to an Amazon S3 server from his iPhone among other tasks. Blanc's article on his self-named website provides insight into how he set up the server and his video ripping workflow, but his discussion of how to upload and post audio files for the Shawn Today podcast was the most fascinating bit. He's now using DropVox to record podcasts and upload it to a Dropbox folder. Hazel watches for new audio files appearing in that folder, renames them and a Python script is used to upload the renamed file to S3, add its URL to a Simplenote document and then send Blanc notification that the file is ready. To publish the latest podcast episode, he only needs to copy the URL from Simplenote, open the Poster WordPress editing app and paste the URL into a post before publishing. It's a fun look at how an older Mac can be repurposed into something useful for both work and pleasure.
Plex launches new Web Client and PlexPass subscription, updates Media Server
Plex fans among us just got treated to a smorgasbord -- albeit one that isn't completely free. The media front-end developer hopes to boost its bottom line through PlexPass, a subscription service that amounts to a paid beta program. Shell out $4 per month and you'll get early access to in-development features, including a slate of premium-only extras during their incubation phase. One of the more ordinary (if important) features is going live today: a revamped Web Client not only rivals the native OS X app for speed but offers full media playback on top of the usual queue management. Whether you subscribe or not, you'll want to get an updated Media Server app that supports both PlexPass and the new client along with improving the server's behavior in several areas, such as lowering its memory use and supporting RTMP transcoding. We hope Plex keeps enough components on the free side of the fence as time goes on. For now, at least, we'll see the paid model as a way for loyalists to reward a company that has been powering their home theater PCs for years.
Windows Home Server takes its final bow, Windows Server 2012 Essentials passes the (pricey) casting call
Tucked away amongst Microsoft's Windows Server 2012 version plans is a bomb for media server PC fans: Windows Home Server is going away. Although the platform was already in something of a comatose state after HP dropped its MediaSmart servers and left the OS without a major vendor to champion the cause, an FAQ reveals the stand-alone build is going away as well. Windows Server 2012 Essentials is taking its place and will handle both media server as well as small business server duties in one package. That's all well and good, except that Essentials is currently priced at $425 -- almost 10 times the typical $50 street price of Windows Home Server. We've reached out to Microsoft to verify whether or not that's the price a media server vendor or enthusiastic media PC lover will pay. Hopefully, it isn't; we'll have until the end of 2013 to buy a stand-alone copy of Windows Home Server (and a far-flung 2025 for very conservative OEMs), but the switch of focus may lead some fans of networked media sharing to drift elsewhere.
Plex Media Server beta adds DLNA support, streams to PS3, Xbox 360, WP7 and more
Using Plex as your media server software is great, with its ability to organize and transcode media for playback on a variety of devices, but what about platforms that still lack a compatible client? The freshest beta version of Plex Media Server fixes that by supporting DLNA, making it compatible right out of the box with many of the HDTVs, Blu-ray players, game consoles and other connected devices released recently. There are some limitations when it's being used this way in terms of metadata and subtitle support, but we're pretty sure being able to access Plex at all from devices like the PS3 (as shown above), Xbox 360 and WDTV Live (the profiles it's been tested with so far) is worth it. Also featured in the beta is support for Silverlight Smooth Streaming, which comes in handy for the new Windows Phone 7 client app (Update: If you're not seeing it yet don't worry you're not alone, it's been approved by Microsoft and should be live soon, check the forum thread and blog post linked below for more information). Check out the blog post for all the details or just head to the download page to try it out yourself if you're on a Windows PC or Mac -- Linux builds are still being tested.
Roku players now have an official Plex channel with upgraded UI and new features
If you're a fan of Plex's media server software and Roku's do-everything hockey puck media streamers then today is your lucky day, as bringing the two together is now easier than ever. While Plex has supported streaming to Roku devices through an unofficial channel since last year, today it announced it's officially available in the Channel Store. That's not the only thing that has changed either, since a blog post indicates the new official channel brings a new upgraded UI and features like myPlex support, audio and picture support, and Direct Play of video without transcoding on compatible videos. Hit the Plex blog for a few more screenshots and details, or just turn on your Roku and add the app directly. Also, if a Google TV device is your preferred Plex client, that app has also just been updated with a few new bugfixes.
Plex Media Server upgraded, Google TV app gets a reboot
Real-time media streamer Plex has been refreshed on Google TV, following the smart TV's own recent firmware upgrade. The UI now looks easier to navigate with quicker access to recently added content. When it comes to the streaming media itself, you'll still need to have a Plex server setup on a separate PC or Mac but the app still supports your dedicated myPlex content and your friends' shared files. Plex's latest Media Server update also solves some iOS app problems alongside a handful of other stability and compatibility issues. The new Google TV version of the catch-all media platform isn't live just yet, but you can grab last month's version at the source and gird yourself for the incoming update.
Tranquil PC ships MMC-12: a 1.5-inch thick, fanless HTPC
We haven't heard from Britain's own Tranquil PC in a hot minute, but the company's storming into the new year with a machine that's easy to overlook. In a good way. The MMC-12 Media Center measures just 1.5-inches thick, enabling it to be slid into (or under) just about any A/V rack. £649 (right around $1,000) nets you a Core i3 processor, 4GB of DDR3 memory (plus another open RAM slot), an admittedly paltry 80GB mSATA hard drive, CD / DVD burner, Windows 7 Home Premium and an HDMI port. You'll also get a pair of USB 3.0 ports, two underwhelming (and bound to be unloved) USB 2.0 sockets, a gigabit Ethernet jack, DVI socket and an aluminum enclosure. The company recommends that you connect a couple of your favorite USB TV tuners for maximum enjoyment, and in case you're wondering, Blu-ray drives and international shipping is available.
Verizon FiOS TV's new media server scheduled for late 2012
The fine folks at Verizon's Innovation Labs in Waltham, Massachusetts have posted a couple of videos of their efforts that include their vision of how Verizon plans to deliver TV to all the devices in your home, over both wired and wireless networks in HD, served off of a centralized media server. In addition to tablets, game consoles and computers, the media server will also serve content to smaller, more energy efficient thin clients at the other HDTVs in your home. Besides the obvious benefits of more content in more places, a centralized approach like this also offers the promise of being more user friendly by making the experience consistent across every screen -- no more walking to another room to schedule recordings. We're told the media server is expected to roll out late next year, but sadly, FiOS TV isn't exactly known for delivering new technologies when promised.
VidaBox Media Servers add metadata support for XBMC, Popcorn Hour and others
We wouldn't expect for upper-crust aimed media server setups like the ones offered by VidaBox to play nicely with the common rabble, but apparently that's just what is going on. With the click of a check box, its "Drop-n-Rip" Blu-ray and DVD archiving now includes cover art and other metadata compatible with third party streamers including Popcorn Hour, HDI Dune, TViX, XBMC, Sage TV and others. This probably won't drop the cost of a custom installed setup by much, but if you have one and want to bring your own extender hardware (similar to its recent iPad support) into the mix, it should be a simple upgrade.
Plex app available on Kindle Fire, media servers and other clients get new updates too
For a media software package to survive these days, it has to be able to run pretty much anywhere and just recently Plex added the Kindle Fire to its list of supported platforms, uploading its Android client onto Amazon's Appstore. The team hasn't stopped there either, delivering updates across a slew of products starting with its Media Server v0.9.5.2 which added autoupdate and start on login features, while the Media Center package has reached 9.5.2, with support for refresh rate switching as well as a number of other tweaks and fixes. The various clients haven't been forgotten either, with a brand new alpha available for Linux users, individual apps for Android and Google TV, and a new v2.1 for iOS that supports myPlex cloud streaming without the need for users to run the Plex server software locally. Hit the source links for changelogs and more details or just check an app store near you where updated software is no doubt residing for your picture, music, and video streaming pleasure.
Plex hops on the Google TV train, finds it has plenty of room to stretch its legs
Well, the guys and gals over at Plex are on a roll right now. Less than a week ago they took the wraps off myPlex then, just a couple of days ago, new versions of the desktop and mobile clients hit the web alongside updated server software. Now the streaming media service is landing on the newly revamped Google TV. Even though this is the first release of the client for Mountain View's living room platform, all the most essential features are in place, including myPlex support and some keyboard-friendly UI tweaks. It seems like the only major limitation, and we're using that term loosely, is the limited support for HLS -- an essential ingredient in Plex's transcoding formula. Thankfully, bandwidth over your local network shouldn't be a major concern and Google TV has pretty robust codec support, so you might not even notice it's missing. You'll find a few more detail at the source and you can install the app right now from the market.
Plex releases new mobile and desktop clients, gets Flash and Silverlight support to go with a fancy new UI
You have many choices for your media streaming needs, and Plex is doing its damnedest to get you onboard its bandwagon. Plex is well known for its multi-platform flexibility, and the arrival of the myPlex media server platform makes sharing your content across devices easier than ever. To go with that cloud capability, Plex has released a new version of its desktop and mobile clients as well. The updated code brings a slick new UI and myPlex support, plus Flash and Silverlight video capability to Plex Media Server along with official Windows support -- including integration with Windows Media Center -- and a laundry list of bug fixes and stability tweaks. A full rundown of all the new goodies plus plenty of screenshots of that revamped UI can be found at the source below.
myPlex makes streaming your media simple, gives you one queue to rule them all
Plex is one of the more popular solutions to the problem of how to get all that (legally downloaded, of course) media sitting on your home PC to your various devices for consumption. But, like many of its competitors, getting the whole shebang set up isn't always the easiest task. The company's new myPlex platform aims to solve this conundrum, and adds a few welcome features along the way. Now, setting up a server or a client is as simple as logging in to your Plex account -- no matter how many of either part of the media-streaming equation you may have. As an added bonus, your account is also now home to a queue that is shared across all devices. Stopped watching a movie half way through on your commute home? You can pick up right where you left off on your Roku. You can even add web clips from sources like YouTube to the list. Check out the source link for a few more details.
Skifta leaves beta, streams media to and from your Android device wherever you may be
When we first saw Skifta back in February, it was a pretty neat app for beaming media on your phone to other DLNA capable devices in your home. Well, now it's left beta and added a new trick to it repertoire -- stream media from your other gear to your Android device, over 3G. To celebrate Skifta hitting the magical 1.0 mark, Qualcomm Atheros also unveiled a new media server plug in for Linux, OS X and Windows that lets you pull music and movies from your home PC to your phone or tablet, even while you're out and about. Skifta (in addition to its terrible name) also sports a Channel Library which allows you quickly queue up content from Facebook, TED, ShoutCast, Revision3 and more. You'll find full PR after the break but, more importantly, the download links at the source.
Toshiba Regza DBR-M190 stores 15 days of HDTV from six channels, we go hands-on (video)
There's no question that Japan gets all the cool gadgets -- many of which never make it stateside. Well, we have yet another tease for you, in the form of an eight-tuner Toshiba DVR with five terabytes of storage. The DBR-M190 reserves six of those tuners (and four TBs of storage) for its Time Shift recording, which as its name implies, transports you to an alternate dimension -- in realtime, mind you -- allowing you to watch past HD episodes of those favorite Japanese programs that you otherwise neglected to record. OK, fine, it can't actually shift physical time, but the home DVR does allow you to record 15 full days of HD content from six channels. Or 30 days from three channels, or 90 days from one -- you get the idea. It also offers 3D Blu-ray playback. Huzzah! There's some pretty heavy compression in place in order to squeeze all that HD content with the allotted storage, but Toshiba reps insisted that the content looks acceptable. Clever as they are, reps also neglected to have that heavily compressed HD video available for demo at CEATEC, but were happy to let us peek at a show recorded using a much more liberal amount of compression, which nets you just one-fifth of the advertised amount (think three days, not 15). Still, three days of 24 hour content from six channels ain't too shabby, but that 200,000 yen price tag (about $2,600) is a bit of a deal breaker, no? As is the fact that you can't plug this puppy into cable networks overseas (Time Shift is only compatible with basic cable channels in Japan). Jump past the break to see it in action, and expect to see it hit Japanese shores sometime in mid-December.%Gallery-135627%
Only in Japan: Toshiba's Regza DBR-M190 serves 5TB of home media
Sometimes gigabytes aren't enough. You have to start talking terabytes. That's the case with Toshiba's new Regza Server, more numerically known as the DBR-M190. The just-announced home media server boasts 5TB of storage, enough for 15 days of MPEG4AVC-compressed digital TV -- from six different channels. Of course, that "server" in the name means you'll be able to stream captured content as well. The sad news? "You" means only Japanese consumers. But if you're one of the chosen many, this media-slinging behemoth will cost you 200,000 yen, or around $2,600.
