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Streaming and the Mainstream

A series of remotes piled on top and alongside...
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Despite what some people say, or do, people want to watch television on their TV…or at the least, something that functions like a TV. That is why they make remote controls for computers, wireless mice, etc.

Engadget HD reports that Hulu is making its way to the SageTV HD Theater interface, which can be hooked into a TV to be used. The device was designed to stream video from a computer-based server to the screen. It is reported the Hulu feature will not require a server.

Vizio is now the second manufacturer, the first being LG, offering Netflix streaming directly to its televisions. Expect this feature to become more prevalent.Netflix is ahead of the curve on this, but don’t wait too long, because the other content providers will be jumping on board as soon as they can, we’re sure.

With our problems installing Boxee to try out its streaming content, we turned to the advice of a recent post about experimental Hulu plugins for the latest SVN of XBMC, which is the software Boxee is based on. The release version of XBMC does not support RTMP streaming, and thus will not support the plugin. Like many other solutions, this one is usable, but still has bugs and kinks to be worked out. But it does allow basic navigation of sources and playback, if not support for things like rewind and fast forward.

We look forward to watching more companies jump on the streaming bandwagon. We’ll be monitoring this very closely.

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Published on January 15, 2009
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Streaming TV to your Computer – Part 2

In a previous post, Streaming TV to your Computer, we pointed out our problem with streaming video sites such as Hulu…namely the presentation. When you stream, you have to navigate a website, and the flash player is available in a window, which you have to adjust to full screen.

Full screen itself can be an issue, as users demand better quality video, which sites are starting to provide. However, a TV-like interface is still lacking. Let’s explore a few options we discovered since last time. Reviews on some of these will be forthcoming.

My Media Player is a free interface for the clips and video at Hulu.com. It runs on Adobe Air, versions of which are available for Windows, Mac, and Linux OSes. Personally, we’d prefer an app that runs off of Mozilla Prism, which allows you to run web based applications, ie websites/flash players, minus the accoutrements of a normal web browser, ie bars, buttons, etc, and allows better desktop integration.

Next is Boxee, which is a fork of the popular XBMC project. It includes a closed-source flash player that integrates into the media center software to stream from sites like Hulu, CBS, Comedy Central, and more coming. This is certainly more in the direction we are thinking of. They created code to allow you to navigate the sites, and a flash player integrated into their software loads the video and allows you to control it. Unfortunately, Boxee is in private alpha release, by invitation only. We arranged an invitation, but packages are only available for 32-Bit Ubuntu Linux or Mac, neither of which we use, so we’ll be getting an Ubuntu LiveCD and reviewing this in a later post.

In the world of High Def, Engadget HD reports that popular site YouTube already has unofficial support to play back and host 720p clips, as well as surround sound. With many sites already at this point, hope you all have enough bandwidth.

There will be more to come on this issue, which has become something of a pet peeve of ours.

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Published on November 23, 2008
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