Xmbc
Latest
How-To: XBMC 11 the XBMCbuntu way
For all intents and purposes, the original Xbox, with its NVIDIA GPU, 8-10GB hard disk and custom Pentium III processor was a high-end PC for its time -- albeit, one that connected to a television. What Microsoft didn't realize back then, though, was that when you put that kind of hardware in the hands of hackers and enthusiasts, it's only a matter of time before people start doing more than just playing Halo. Fast forward to 2003, the year the Xbox Media Center was born. Nowadays, it's simply referred to as XBMC, since it runs on more than just your Xbox. In brief, XBMC is an open-source software solution that enables a plethora of media streaming capabilities on all sorts of devices. What once was limited to the original Xbox, can now be put to use on everything from a bare-bones Linux desktop to an Apple TV. In this how-to, we'll show you how to build a simple XBMC setup using XBMCbuntu. Catch us after the break for the full step-by-step.
Premium cable TV comes to XBMC, GoodPlayer and more via InfiniTV 4 tuner
In the olden days of CableCARD circa 2004, only a select few devices and software could leverage the card's power to watch premium cable TV, but not today. Today just about any adventurous dev can take advantage of the fact that an OCUR is a network tuner and access premium cable TV -- as long as the content is marked Copy Freely, that is. The latest to unleash that power is XBMC which also helps extend the functionality to iOS via GoodPlayer and Buzz Player as well as any UPnP client with the help of a Serviio media server. Essentially this custom code is acting as a middleman, but fulfilling the dream that any software could directly control and stream from a CableCARD tuner like the InfiniTV 4 is within reach. The only drawback left is that even with the current sale price of the InfiniTV 4 at $199, it still isn't as low as the cost of entry of something like a ClearQAM tuner.
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.
AirPlay running on XBMC Linux box
AirPlay. It's not just for Apple products anymore. The video you see on the next page shows an XBMC install on a Ubuntu Linux box running an AirPlay client service. As with the AirPlayer solution I wrote for the Mac, the XBMC application advertises on Bonjour and can be played to directly from the built-in iOS video menus. In addition, several people have contacted me to mention that they're working on Windows adaptations as well. The photo below is a preliminary peek at an in-progress project being built by @infectionfx. Thanks, davilla.
XBMC caught running on Compal's Jax10 MID
Mmm, do we like where this could go. Some engineering soul has managed to get the open-sourced XBMC onto a MID -- Compal's Atom-powered Jax10, to be precise. In theory, at least, this combination would make for a decidedly incredible portable media player if the price of these Mobile Internet Devices were to hit a reasonable level. Sure, many of the Cowon / iriver / Archos units support just about every file format out there, but you're still limited by whatever ecosystem comes loaded in. Have a look at the demonstration vid after the break, but don't blame us if you suddenly get the urge to buy a MID.[Via Slashdot]
XBMC Atlantis beta released: Linux / OS X users invited
Hooray! The chains of platform discrimination have been cast away in the latest iteration of XMBC. The dev crew has announced the very first cross-platform Beta version of XBMC media center for Linux, Mac OS X (Leopard and Tiger), Windows, and Xbox in preparation for the upcoming stable release of XBMC (which is code named Atlantis). A few notable additions to this version include XMBC Live -- a "bootable CD which gives users the opportunity to try XBMC on their computer, without touching their hard drive" -- and initial support for integrating iTunes and iPhoto media into XBMC... for Mac users, anyway. The final release is currently on track for an October launch, and if you'd like that to remain true, we'd recommend giving the beta a whirl and submitting any bugs to the gurus behind the scenes. So, what exactly are you waiting for again?Read - Atlantis Beta 1Read - iPhoto / iTunes integration
