xbmc
Latest
Kodi comes full circle with a return to the Xbox
Media streaming software Kodi used to be known as XBMC (Xbox Media Center), but ironically, one of the few devices it hasn't worked on is the Xbox One -- until now. Kodi has unveiled version "18.0-Alpha1" for the Xbox One, giving owners of the console a (rough) streaming option. While it looks just like the Windows 10 and other versions of the app, the current version may be unstable and can't access your Blu-ray drive or attached storage (via USB 3.0), unfortunately.
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 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.
This stackable media hub plays your old 16-bit game cartridges
The set-top box market is currently flooded with many cheap Android boxes, but they tend to offer limited remote access plus expansion capability, so it's about time that something more exciting popped up. One such candidate is the EzeeCube, which aims to be an idiot-proof media hub with three main selling points: Auto-sync content across multiple platforms (Android, iOS, Windows and OS X); simple initial setup for accessing hub content from anywhere; and cable-free expansion that lets you stack up to four modules. We're talking about slapping on an extra hard drive, a Blu-ray drive, a TV tuner and even a retro gaming module that will bring your dusty SNES and Sega Mega Drive / Genesis cartridges back to life. No messy cables here.
The hidden value of Amazon's Fire TV
After a week with the Fire TV, I was confident that it was just another streamer, and our review reflects that. Amazon put a few nice tweaks on the existing set-top formula with an easy setup and voice search, but my TV stand is crowded with game consoles, dongles and other boxes that bring their own strengths. A month later, I've found that my initial experience didn't tell the entire story -- unlike other platforms that are locked down tight, letting the Fire TV languish as a Netflix/Amazon/Hulu box isn't showing what it can really do.
XBMC looks to improve Android video playback with 'Gotham' beta
Version 13 of XBMC's media center software, codenamed Gotham, is now ready for your official beta-testing pleasure. The foundation -- which started the project for the Xbox and spawned apps like Plex and platforms like Boxee -- kicked off work on the update nearly a year ago. It said that many of the qualms from version 12 (Frodo) users have been addressed. Most notably, it now supports native hardware decoding on Android for x86 and ARM platforms, which should bring smoother playback for formats like Blu-ray. Other improvements include support for more 3D formats (with the notable exception of 3D Blu-ray), better touchscreen support, enhanced UPnP capability, "dramatic" audio engine improvements and easier setup. Though nightly versions have been available for a while, the company provided the usual caveats about beta software and the importance of backing up. If you're unperturbed by that, hit the source.
Lenovo's Beacon media hub can house up to 6TB of video and photos, streams to PCs and Android devices
Lenovo makes a lot of laptops. And tablets. And a few phones. But amid its exhaustive PC range, there's also the eye-catching Beacon. Priced at $199, although lacking any storage out of the box, it tries to strike a balance between personal cloud storage and media server. It comes preloaded with XBMC, while dual HDD bays will support up to a heady 6TB of storage. The Beacon, powered by a dual-core (unspecified) Atom processor can then stream whatever you put inside it to multiple devices at once -- we saw it in action, and it managed to output to both a PC and Android phone without a hiccup. You can use your hand-held smart device as a remote (replete with mouse cursor), which makes digging through piles of photos and videos at least a little bit easier. On the back, alongside HDMI, there's Ethernet and twin USB ports, meaning it'll be happy to link up to PCs and TVs for big-screen viewing. Once linked to the respective app, pics and videos captured on your phone can be automatically (or manually) uploaded. As you can see, it's also not the typically unassuming (read: dull) storage hub either and will launch in orange, blue, gray and black finishes this April. Richard Lai contributed to this report.
XBMC on Android adds AirPlay and other media features in latest alpha build
One of the key updates to XBMC promised back in March was to fix the open source software's Android capabilities. That's finally arrived in the June and July cycle of the Gotham build, where XBMC on Android now has Zeroconf support. That essentially lets any Android device act as an AirPlay receiver without any third-party workarounds. Further, media launched from an Android browser can now be played by default on XBMC, where it couldn't before. Other new features from the release include the immediate addition of ripped CDs to the music library, ripping support for AAC and WMA, new settings descriptions, locked profiles and general performance tweaks. Head on over to the source link for more on what the latest XBMC offers, and feel free to download test versions of the software if you like to live on the bleeding edge.
Raspberry Pi gets its own media center kit: £46 for easy XBMC and controller (hands-on)
Behold, a ready-made answer for those who own a Linux-powered fruit machine but who are still looking for new ways to use it. It's a simple media center starter kit, fresh out and shipping today, which makes it easy to hook your Raspberry Pi up to an HDMI display and use it to play video or music from the internet or your home network through the wonders of XBMC. Known simply as "XBMC Solution," it consists of the Raspbmc software on a bootable SD card (this is an all-in-one install that combines XBMC with a lightweight Linux distro), a rechargeable RF controller with a small keyboard and touchpad to aid navigation (it's generic, unbranded, and even has a "Win" key, but it works fine), plus Ethernet and HDMI cables in case you don't have any going spare. Read on for more.%Gallery-191240%
Raspbmc's June build brings a slew of tweaks: cloud backups and more coming in July
The Raspberry Pi-focused XBMC port Raspbmc's June changelog is a lengthy one. Among the changes are new settings, new skins, support for the Stealth Nighthawk F117A device and changes to make booting up faster, among many other things. Getting this month's update should only require rebooting one's Raspberry Pi, and a few new mirrors that have joined the network should make downloading the updated software even faster. That's not all however, because the July update is promising Linux kernel updates, Raspbmc "Cloud" features with automatic settings backup / restore across multiple devices and an unspecified "special announcement."
Raspbmc's March update brings XBMC 12.1, fixes to Raspberry Pi
Just because you have a Raspberry Pi, and the know-how to change the world, doesn't mean you want to do everything the hard way. For those who haven't already applied the 12.1 update to XBMC running on their Raspberry Pi, the Raspbmc team is now eager to handle the dirty work for you. Wondering how easy it is to upgrade? Just reboot your Pi and wait about 15 minutes. Seriously, that's all the elbow grease required to receive a litany of fixes and enhancements in the latest version of XBMC as well as a number of specific patches for Raspbmc. Specifically, there is a newer version of HDMI-CEC, improved support for internet streams and third-party modules, and finally, a few security fixes.
OpenELEC 3.0 Linux distro gets official, supports 'more hardware than ever'
The OpenELEC Linux distro came out of beta with its official 3.0.0 version this week, and according to its makers nearly every part has been upgraded since the 2.0 release last year. This release of the media center package is based on XBMC 12.1 and as such includes its assortment of updates, as well as specific improvements for the Raspberry Pi, MC001 devices, Apple TV and AMD hardware. If you're on 2.0 you'll need to manually update to the new version. Hit the source link for a full changelog and instructions on how to get it all working.
GameStick strikes up XBMC partnership, will add the full Media Center experience
Playjam, the team behind GameStick, has announced that a new deal with tech company Pivos will ensure that the previously-mentioned XBMC will arrive fully-formed on its Kickstarter console. All those Media Center features will sidle up alongside your games selection and while the company maintains that gaming is still the focus of its device, given the competition, we'd say this announcement makes a whole lot of sense.
XBMC 12.1 makes full use of iPhone 5, improves Raspberry Pi player and more
The XBMC crew hasn't been distracted by its early work on XBMC 13 Gotham -- it's more than willing to share the love with those who are still busy with Frodo's adventures. A just-launched XBMC 12.1 update improves the experience in several ways on Apple platforms, rolling up iOS 6 support for second-generation Apple TV boxes, making full use of the iPhone 5's expanded screen and bringing support in OS X for both the default audio device and playback acceleration from Intel GPUs. There's a number of upgrades elsewhere as well: XBMC no longer monopolizes audio in Linux, runs more reliably on the Raspberry Pi and supports more Xbox 360 controllers and HDMI-CEC devices. Android has received an audio control tweak of its own and the software is available in seven new languages We'd say 12.1 is a near-automatic download if XBMC is the cornerstone of your living room, hit the source to find out everything new that awaits, or check out the Github link.
XBMC team starts work on version 13 'Gotham', breaks down new UPnP, Android updates
Just because XBMC 12 Frodo has been officially released we wouldn't expect the team behind the media PC software to take too long of a break. In fact, in a blog post it's announced plans to return to a monthly development cycle, as well as a code name for version 13 of the software: Gotham. While we wait for the next official release to arrive, the February build features improvements to UPnP with a "Play Using..." push server feature that should be familiar if you've used Play To on Windows for example. also new are Android fixes that let it rotate in any direction, and control the device's native audio. there are other changes as well, which can be reviewed beyond the source link, along with test versions for your preferred platform.
XBMC now available for Apple TVs with software update 5.2
Jailbroken Apple TVs with software update 5.2 (iOS 6.1) snagged Bluetooth keyboard compatibility roughly a week ago, and now Cook and Co.'s hockey puck is in store for a heftier perk: support for XBMC. Memphiz, a developer on the entertainment hub project, has managed to tweak XBMC to run on Cupertino's TV box with its latest software release. Ready to load up your hardware with the alternative media suite? Hit the bordering source link for the download and instructions, or check out the "Manage Extras" section if you're running aTV Flash.
Raspbmc 1.0 brings stable media center duties to your Raspberry Pi
After a year of effort the Raspbmc team announced it has reached the 1.0 milestone. This means the team is confident they've delivered a stable distro to run the port of XBMC specifically designed to run on the Raspberry Pi, created by TeamXBMC, and the image is ready to be downloaded for free and copied to your ready and able SD card. If you were already enjoying the fruits of the early builds of Raspbmc, you'll need to do a complete re-install but that shouldn't be too much trouble since you probably store your content on a network drive or external USB. Raspbmc 1.0 is based on the recently finished XMBC 12 Final and supports DTS decoding in software. This is in addition to many other codecs supported in software and you can purchase licenses from the Raspberry Pi Store for MPEG-2 and VC-1 hardware decoding for just a few bucks. A good move, since hardware decoding of today's most popular video codecs is almost certainly a requirement for any proper XBMC setup. Now, if the Raspbmc team would release their own custom case for the RPi then everyone would know what's going on just by looking under your TV.
QNAP adds NAS lines with XBMC support, skips the home theater middleman
High-rolling (or just highly nerdy) home theater PC setups often have network-attached storage to hold the reams of video that invariably won't fit on the PC itself. QNAP wonders why we don't just cut to the chase -- both of its TS-x69L and TS-x69 Pro entries in the Turbo NAS range support XBMC's home theater software out of the gate, letting either NAS serve as the front-end as long as they're hooked up through HDMI. They won't be the most powerful when they're powered by dual-core, 2.13GHz Atom chips; that might be forgiven when there's space for as many as eight hard drives shareable across the entire home. The lineups start at $479 for empty two-bay editions and scale up to $1,099 for eight. Not cheap, we know, but they may be relative bargains for any movie-watchers looking to simplify the living room.