Hello everyone,
I have pieced together a tutorial to get hi-quality Video Streaming to your Android phone over Wi-Fi or 3G. For those of you using Orb Mycast for years, like I have, have noticed that the quality is unbearable and down right atrocious until I rediscovered Tversity again.
Here are some items you will need:
1: Tversity installed on PC where media is stored
2: nswPlayer installed on Android phone from market
Its the only player for Android that picks up on .mp4 files without having to download the file all the way
3: Handbrake encoder from handbrake.org for converting your movies to a lower resolution and optimizing for progessive playback
Optional: Setup your PC for Static IP and Port Fowarding if you want to stream via 3G if away from home. Go to www.portforward.com for detailed tutorials on how to set this up.
Encoding Movies for Progressive Streaming Playback
Before you begin encoding your video for playback, here are some things to look at to keep the video quality hi while making the smallest video size available. You want to look at the resolution/bitrate of the movie you are encoding and if you are like me and get your movies off of uTorrent or such, you want to keep the same quality. You want to keep the bitrate match to the resolution size by converting it such so that if you have a movie file that runs at 729kbps at a resolution width of 672, when you downsize the file to a resolution width of 320 then the bitrate should be 346kbps to match.
In Handbrake, go ahead and select iPhone legacy as the profile for encoding.
Next, check off the Web Optimized button so that the file can played progressively, if not, you will get an error message saying "illegal file".
After loading your source and destination, make sure the destination file is saved as yourmoviefile.mp4 instead of yourmoviefile.m4v because you will also get a "illegal file" error.
Under Picture, change anamorphic encoding to none and make sure "Keep Aspect Ratio" is check marked. Next, changed the width down to 320 and the height will automatically change with it.
Under Video, change to Avg Bitrate to match your width resolution like I explained above and then you are ready to encode when hit the start button. Bear in mind that this might take a little while depending on your PC's Hardware specs. If you have any issues using Handbrake, visit their forums for any fixes that you need.
Setting Up Tversity For Streaming
I will not go into detail about setting Tversity on your PC such as configuring the libraries and such but I will go over settings that need to be in place for this to work.
Under Settings in the Transcoder section, make sure under "When To Transcode" make sure its set to never. The reason behind this is I havent figured a way for Android to pickup on the stream without waiting for it to fully transcode.
Next under General Settings, under Home Network, make sure you plug in your PC's IP address so that way your phone has access to your video files.
For this part, you would have had to setup your PC for a static IP instead of being a random IP that is given when your PC gets turned on each time. If you got to www.portforward.com for detail tutorials on setting up a static IP.
Optional:Under General Settings in the Home Network Section, there is an option for "the media server should accept requests......" which will let you access your media over 3G on your phone. To set this up, after you check mark that you want access, go ahead and setup a username and password to let you login from outside your network.
As before, you need your PC setup as a static IP but also you have setup your home router to Port Forward requests from Port 41952 to your PC's Static IP. Go to www.portforward.com for instructions on how to setup port forwarding.
Install A Android Media Player That Will Pickup On Progressive MP4
So far the only media player that works for this so far is the "nswPlayer" that you can download for free off the market.
If anybody has found a better player that works for this solution, please let me know so I can test it out.
Last But Not Least, Lets Stream A Video To Our Phone!!
For Home Wi-Fi Streaming Only
Open your web browser in your Android Phone, input your PC's Static IP such as "192.168.1.XXX:41952/lib"(Replaced the XXX's with Your IP address that you previously setup), from here, you will be navigated to Tversity's mobile WAP GUI. Navigate from here where you setup your video files in your library to appear. After that, select your video file and if all is setup correctly, then either you will get a popup saying with default player would you like to use or it will go straight to nswPlayer and start playing the movie.
For Streaming Over 3G or Another High-Speed Wi-Fi Connection
The only difference here that we are going to do is navigate our Android Browser to your home's IP Address which can be found easily if you go to www.whatsmyip.org from your home PC. For example it will look like this, 98.246.64.55:41952/lib to access Tversity away from home.
WARNING: Streaming from outside your network will take a long time for your movies to buffer to nswPlayer. It has taken well over 2 minutes for the movie to play sometimes over 3G. Thats why we try to get the movie as small as possible to stream faster over 3G.
All and all, thats about it. This should get you up and running on streaming to Hi-Quality video files to your Android phone wherever you are at. I will update this tutorial with any helpful updates I get from the community on what works better or my own discoveries as time goes on.
Thanks for the wonderful tutorial. I'm using the Samsung Vibrant with nswPlayer and I keep getting "Illegal File" what am I doing wrong? Do I have to use handbrake to encode my files? I downloaded them as .avi and they run fine off my SD card.
Yes you have to encode each video to be the correct format as well as enabling it be stream byte by byte. If you want to stream while on the same network as the pc with your video files, you could use Allshare to stream via DLNA if you have Windows media player setup to manage your media library.
I am going to play with this setup to see if I can avoid pre-converting the video file because the Galaxy S has some codecs that other Android handsets dont have. Maybe I can figure out if it can stream avi containers.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
Thanks for the tut. arcMedia Player will play the avi streaming formats.
the Android Movies app lets you watch Movies in HD you will need wifi or 4G though.
check it out for yourself:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.androidmovies&feature=search_result
Does anyone know why this app have been removed? I purchased this app and it did worked but lately it hasn't been working. Has anyone have this problem?
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA Premium App
Seems like a lot of work, but it must pay off.
As far as Android Movies is concerned i was able to watch one movie in excellent quality. I knew they would probablyl get shut down at some point. Now there is just a msg in the app saying that they will be back and to be patient. Eh, it was like renting a movie for $2 knowing the caveat would be that it may be a one time deal. I was very impressed by the quality and i wasn't even on 4g.
Hey OP, any idea about orb for Android. Months ago i heard a talk about it and a lot of people were complaining about the quality. Any experience on your end?
e-zzy1 said:
the Android Movies app lets you watch Movies in HD you will need wifi or 4G though.
check it out for yourself:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.androidmovies&feature=search_result
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought the Android Movies app and now its gone. Can't find it and can't get a response from the developers.
I need the apk to redownload but I guess im out of luck.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA Premium App
I would tell you to purchase "Amatsu" from the Market, but the developers are thieves and crooks.
They sold "free android movies", which was vaporware. It never functioned... Only had a date on it staying when it would be working again. It then disappeared & Amatsu took it's place. Now Amatsu doesn't work!
Update
Hey guys,
Sorry that I have been absent for some time but I have movesd on to better ways of taking your collection on the go. Right now I am part of the Alpha team over at WWW.plexapp.com which is a better way of organizing your media collection with their free server software along with a small payment for their client on Android. Go check it out, you guys won't be disappointed.
nice work!
Related
Hi,
The Dreambox is a series of Linux-powered DVB satellite, terrestrial and cable digital television receivers (set-top box), produced by German multimedia vendor Dream Multimedia.
I'm getting tired to see all these Iphone apps capable of managing the Dreambox and nothing in our WIMo environment
I'm sure one of our contrubutor should be able to build one app such as this one for exemple : Idream Remote fot Iphone
Interesting - I wasn't aware of the existence of these kind of applications for the Dreambox.
Well, when I find some sparetime, in a week or two, I might have a look at it. I don't know how the iPhone communicates with the dreambox (I don't think it uses infrared or similar) but my guess would be that it uses the WebIf of the Dreambox to change channel, volume-control and so on.
In order to use WebIf (or telnet), please be aware that your Dreambox must be connected to your network which at the same time is accessabile by your phone.
I don't have a Dreambox (I had one but it broke) but I do have an IpBox which is also running Enigma 1 so if it works on my IpBox, it should also work on your Dreambox running Enigma 1. I don't know about Enigma 2 but I think the WebIf is the same so it should work as well.
If you're still interested, please let me know.
You're exactly right, it uses the WebInf and has nothing to do with infrared type connectivity.
I can reach the WebInf from the Internet with my HD2 but I guess there's probably an issue between Opera and the way they have coded their interface.
You're help will be much appreciated ...$$
Which dreambox (enigma) do you have?
I made a windows mobile remote for my dreambox but I suck bigtime at GUI I don't remember how far I got on the .dll that controls the box but I did manage to send most of the keys you find on the normal remote control and zap between channels by browsing your bouquets and channels in a listview on the phone.
As I've switched to the iPhone I stopped the development but If you guys need help remote controlling the box by posting http queries to webif please let me know and I'll help you!
Øystein
I own a DreamBox 8000 HD running enigma 2.
It is a truly fantastic piece of technology!
Hej!!
I am currently having a look at the source-code of Enigma http://cvs.tuxbox.org/tuxbox/tuxbox/apps/tuxbox/enigma/src/ to see if I can trace the syntax of common http-queries needed, at least for the most basic operations such as zapping and so on. What regards Enigma2, I found a nice wiki for the Enigma2-webinterface.
I am also trying to figure out if I can do common operations also by telnet.
I very much appreciate your offer for help and if I get stuck, I will definetely get back to you (screaming for help)
Tack ska du ha. Nu ska jag sova
t0flus said:
I made a windows mobile remote for my dreambox but I suck bigtime at GUI I don't remember how far I got on the .dll that controls the box but I did manage to send most of the keys you find on the normal remote control and zap between channels by browsing your bouquets and channels in a listview on the phone.
As I've switched to the iPhone I stopped the development but If you guys need help remote controlling the box by posting http queries to webif please let me know and I'll help you!
Øystein
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Send me a DM 8000 and I'll send you a remote control
As far as I know my application only works for Enigma 1.....
Øystein
Well you see I personally think, watching TV on such a small screen is probably not priority one but rather being able to set recording timer, EPG ..etc all these options which are available on webinf would be much welcome.
This would be great app. I have DM7000 (Enigma1) and DM800 (Enigma2) and HTC HD2 ready to test out. My dream application would be possibility to change bouquets and channels using mobile device and also be able receive streaming video to the mobile device. This is all possible and I use a PC with VLC to reduce the size of video stream , but I need to do all of this manually today. Log on to Webif ofdreambox, change channel, then log on to the 24/7 PC that runs VLC (via remote of course) stop the stream, open new stream from dreambox. Then catch that stream with coreplayer on mobile phone. As you can see it is very difficult. But result is great, I am really satisfied with video quality.
What kind of parameters do you start vlc with to transcode the signal to a format that the Window Phone can handle? And which player do you use on the phone?
Øystein
Will respond when at home on the vlc parameters.
I watch video with CorePlayer. Here is the preview:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ts4QCfFzYPA
Video is taken while watching through WiFi. DM stream is reduced to 2Mbs, works great, video quality is really good. Didn't try through 3G or similar. But just imagine once 4G kicks in ( I see you might be from Norway, I am in Norway too), you can basically watch good quality video wherever you are (if it does not cost to much to use network )
I'm from Norway. When it comes to streaming to the internet my ADSL upload bandwidth is the biggest problem. I've ordered fiber and hope to have it installed this summer
So you start VLC manually each time you need to stream? And if you switch channel you need to restart VLC with different paramters since the stream from the dreambox has changed? Am I right? Which OS is your VLC transcoder running on?
Øystein
I am running VLC on Windows Server 2003. Same can be done on XP.
Yes, I need to stop VLC manually. I do that by logging in remotely into my server and clicking stop button. If I want to switch channel, I need to log to DM Webif and change channel there, then on Server stoP VLC and open new stream from DM. Basically, due to this complexity, I rarely watch tv on mobile. In fact I set up Discovery channel (since I watch it most) and when I want to watch it on mobile, I log on to DM Webif , change channel to Discovery and then just open stream on Coreplayer on mobile.
All of these steps in theory can be on mobile device. Ideally, there would be functionality to read channel list (only when needed) from Dreambox into WM device memory. Then there are command lines that can be executed to change channel on DM. At least I have at some point did it from my Win XP PC. Then there are command lines to stop VLC and reopen new stream with all parameters. And then there should be a way to stop and restart coreplayer stream...
Same setup as me....
I already developed a remote to my WM device that can zap channels based on the bouquets. You get a list of your bouqets and you switch to whatever channel you want. This is done by connecting directly to WebIf by HTTP queries. It's not ready to be released but it works...most of the time
About watching video I'm thinking of a solution where the mobile client contacts an Asp.Net server by either webservice og regular http to start the stream. The server will close any instances of VLC that's already running, fetch the current stream from the dreambox and start VLC again with the proper transcode parameters.
Fetching the stream from the dreambox is easy and already implemented.
Stopping and starting VLC works is OK.
The only thing missing on the server is the transcoding part....
On the mobile client:
Expanding the GUI with a "Watch" button.
Store additinal settings for server ip/host and credentials....
Starting Coreplayer with the server path once a confirmation has been received from the server.
/Ø
Anything I can do to help? testing? donation? I am not a programmer, so can't add much help with improving the program...
Not sure what transcoding difficulties you have met. Doing it manually is quite straightforward. There is a command line description of commands here:
http://www.videolan.org/doc/play-howto/en/ch04.html
There are some projects that kind of works, but just on PC platform. Can some ideas be taken from them? I have in mind m4rtin solution, or some other.
By the way, I see that success of this project also depends on having right Enigma version, DM image, VLC version, unless somebody can make a flexible app allowing to select all these parameters.
I have DM7000 (Enigma 1) and DM800 (Enigma 2), both running Gemini image (do not remember version number now). VLC version is 0,86. Changing VLC version is absolutely not a problem, of course.
By the way, if you plan to invest your time into this project, it would be great to have profiles to select, that would contain different streaming settings. Let say when you are home, IP address to the server might be 192.168.1.1 for exemple and you can aford 2Mbs stream size (although I am not sure it makes sense to have more than 800 X 480 around 400kbs). Once you are outside home, you but have good Wifi connection, you can select another profile, where IP of server is *****.dyndns.org and stream is set to 3-400 kbs (depending on up speed of your line). When you have week signal, you might want to lower bitrate further.
So profiles would be great!
I'm running a DM7020 Gemini 4.6 (Enigma 1). When the remote is working on it I can flash it with a Enigma 2 firmware. Which of your boxes one are you streaming from?
I know VLC changed alot on their streaming GUI recently.. don't know if the command line has changed.....
Øystein
if you could help me with VLC that would be fine When you start the stream in VLC it should display the arguments when configuring the stream.....If I remember correctly (the 0.8.6 version) the command line arguments can be found at the bottom of the screen in the last step when configuring the stream inside VLC. It should look something like:
":sout=#transcode{vcodec=mp1v,vb=1024,acodec=mpga,ab=192}:standard{mux=ps,dst=,access=http}:sout-transcode-soverlay=0"
As you can see both codecs and bitrate can be altered directly in this stream so it should be possible to make high/medium/low streams for different networks.
I haven´t got a license on Coreplayer. Is it possible to use TCMP or do I have to buy one?
Øystein
Sorry if there is already a thread for this.
I'm looking for an app which play the sound of my mobile on my computer (and them my Hifi)
Then I can listen to toutube or spotify easily on my Hifi, simply using my Android phone.
Thanks a lot
Android to Audio Stream
Is there a solution yet since I am also looking out for something like this.
I don't know guys if you are interested into, but there is an application that allows you to stream video and audio and see your picture via Wireless on your computer using your web browser...
Websharing file 1.6.1 apk
Nextapp is the company who create it, I use regularly everyday and is a good one!!
AFAIK, there's currently no way to do a raw audio stream from Android over the network; and I can almost guarantee you it won't be possible at all without root. Closest you could get would be getting a Bluetooth audio sink (like this or the official Nexus home dock) and hooking that to your hifi. There are apps to stream local content via DLNA, but there isn't anything to stream arbitrary audio in Android.
EDIT: Some PC Bluetooth stacks may also be able to receive A2DP audio as well, but it's not a universal feature.
Check out mecanto, it's an app that syncs your music to the cloud and then you can stream it from the cloud and play on your phone.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
I'm amazed that there's no interest in this. I'm sure I haven't searched enough and so probably should pick on a more current thread. But it seems a no-brainer to me to want to go this direction. Everyone discusses streaming from PC to phone. Why would I do that instead of just listening to the PC? Now if I could stream from phone to PC... I have many phone apps that let me listen to unlimited tunes and radios from all over the world, which of course I use outside the house. But using it in this way in the house, my phone would not only be the source, but the "remote" -- the controller. Walk around the house w/ just the phone. Beats my carrying my Squeezebox "portable" radio, as I do. Or maybe I need to pay $150 for the Squeezebox solution, their remote controller... Just don' get it.
yes. i also think this is a great idea. there a heaps of pc to android threads.
usage scenario i am thinking.
walking around with device. the device contains song files and player. if that player had a button like stream to ie desktop, home theatre speakers, etc etc. that would be great. sorta like wmp 12 stream to button if anyone is familiar with that. bluetooth has the restriction of range so ideally wifi would be the better solution. curious to know if anyone has come across any updates to this.
I use 2 apps because im undecided which is best firt one is called 2play dnla
and the other is upnp. search in the market for both :-D
THAKS DREA!!!! wow I have been wish exactly the 2play app do... I like to play music on my Android tha I can listen from my large PC speakers!!! COOL!!
Streaming from Android To SERVER STREAMING
Is there any application also in beta test to let the android phone act as Media encoder to stream to a Server what's coming on your phone?
On Iphone platform there an interesting app LIVU (stevemcfarlin.com/livu/features.html).
Would be nice to have one similar on Android phone
Fabio
Theres an app called Twonky which acts as media server on your Android. It lets you stream upnp to whatever device you have capable such as Apple TV, Playstation etc. I have an AC Ryan Playon HD player which is hooked to my local network and I am able to recieve and play media through this to my HD TV from my Desire over wifi.
Any suggestions on the following then:
I would love to find a program that can both send audio and video without transcoding that can manage both IOS and Android
Im currently using PS3 media server for the PS3 and StreamToMe for sending to my iphones/ipads. They both work excellent. Was also amazed with the lack of streaming programs.
A simple solution that worked for me from a windows pc to android was was using ES File Explorer (free), choose LAN from dropdown (top left), add new server, scan - it should then pick up your shared network.
Then navigate to your chosen movie, play with moboplayer. Voila.
If it doesn't play straight away make sure moboplayer is set to soft decoder.
Sometimes you may have to press and hold your movie icon, open as video, choose moboplayer.
---------- Post added at 06:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:08 PM ----------
Sorry my bad, thought you meant streaming from pc to Android device.
You may try skifta, it was recently showcased on market home site.
www.skifta.com
i'm looking for a way to stream notifications to my pc, especially the phone ringer. i'd like to be able to hear my phone ring, through my pc speakers, while i'm away from my computer and have music playing
ghostrill said:
i'm looking for a way to stream notifications to my pc, especially the phone ringer. i'd like to be able to hear my phone ring, through my pc speakers, while i'm away from my computer and have music playing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think MyPhoneExplorer can do that (not sure)
For youtube videos: the youtube app can link with your pc through Youtube leanback
There is an app called "Remote Droid Player"(play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.app.newandroid). Though it needs a small application needs to be installed on PC.
hmmm... I saw the program ArkMC in google play , when I have the similar problem , you can try...good luck!
vlc direct pro free
Sent from my GT-I9001 using xda app-developers app
Still no way to stream every sound that your android device plays to your PC? Is it not technically possible to create and android server that sends a raw stream of sound to the PC over wifi?
All the solutions linked in this thread requires you to actively choose what mp3 to listen to. I want to stream notifications/spotify/radio/everything that is played.
Hi I just wanted to contribute an edited tutorial to those who are interested in video streaming to their phone from a home server. I didn't see a proper one listed on any of the droid development forums so as an epic user I just wanted to help.
I have pieced together a tutorial to get hi-quality Video Streaming to your Android phone over Wi-Fi or 3G. For those of you using Orb Mycast for years, like I have, have noticed that the quality is unbearable and down right atrocious until I rediscovered Tversity again.
Here are some items you will need:
1: Tversity installed on PC where media is stored
2: rockplayer app installed on Android phone from market
Its the only player for Android that picks up on most video files without having to download the file all the way.
Optional: Setup your PC for Static IP and Port Fowarding if you want to stream via 3G if away from home. Go to PortForward.com - Port Forwarding Guides Listed by Manufacturer and Model for detailed tutorials on how to set this up.
Setting Up Tversity For Streaming
I will not go into detail about setting Tversity on your PC such as configuring the libraries and such but I will go over settings that need to be in place for this to work.
Under Settings in the Transcoder section, make sure under "When To Transcode" make sure its set to never. The reason behind this is I havent figured a way for Android to pickup on the stream without waiting for it to fully transcode.
Next under General Settings, under Home Network, make sure you plug in your PC's IP address so that way your phone has access to your video files.
For this part, you would have had to setup your PC for a static IP instead of being a random IP that is given when your PC gets turned on each time. If you got to PortForward.com - Port Forwarding Guides Listed by Manufacturer and Model for detail tutorials on setting up a static IP.
Optional:Under General Settings in the Home Network Section, there is an option for "the media server should accept requests......" which will let you access your media over 3G on your phone. To set this up, after you check mark that you want access, go ahead and setup a username and password to let you login from outside your network.
As before, you need your PC setup as a static IP but also you have setup your home router to Port Forward requests from Port 41952 to your PC's Static IP. Go to PortForward.com - Port Forwarding Guides Listed by Manufacturer and Model for instructions on how to setup port forwarding.
Install A Android Media Player That Will Pickup On Progressive MP4
So far the only media player that works for this so far is the "rockPlayer" that you can download for free off the market.
If anybody has found a better player that works for this solution, please let me know so I can test it out.
Last But Not Least, Lets Stream A Video To Our Phone!!
For Home Wi-Fi Streaming Only
Open your web browser in your Android Phone, input your PC's Static IP such as "192.168.1.XXX:41952/lib"(Replaced the XXX's with Your IP address that you previously setup), from here, you will be navigated to Tversity's mobile WAP GUI. Navigate from here where you setup your video files in your library to appear. After that, select your video file and if all is setup correctly, then either you will get a popup saying with default player would you like to use or it will go straight to rockPlayer and start playing the movie.
For Streaming Over 3G or Another High-Speed Wi-Fi Connection
The only difference here that we are going to do is navigate our Android Browser to your home's IP Address which can be found easily if you go to What's My IP Address? Networking Tools & More from your home PC. For example it will look like this, 98.246.64.55:41952/lib to access Tversity away from home.
WARNING: Streaming from outside your network will take a long time for your movies to buffer to RockPlayer. It has taken well over 2 minutes for the movie to play sometimes over 3G. Thats why we try to get the movie as small as possible to stream faster over 3G.
All and all, thats about it. This should get you up and running on streaming to Hi-Quality video files to your Android phone wherever you are at. I will update this tutorial with any helpful updates I get from the community on what works better or my own discoveries as time goes on.
You can also use something like http://www.dyndns.com/ to associate your home IP with something like myawesomecomp.dyndns.org
It's handy for VNC, and other things as well, and can update when your IP changes.
Ah thank you that seems like a very considerable option especially since it helps with your Private IP changing which can be a bit of a hassle at times lol.
Thanks I love to hear from others and help with giving the users more options in this particular video streaming solution.
I use the CIFS module posted on here by someone along with CIFSManager to just mount windows shares on my phone when I am at home, and I can stream 720p mkv files flawlessly using the stock media player or any media player I want. Works with any video or audio or anything else you want to mess around with.
muyoso said:
I use the CIFS module posted on here by someone along with CIFSManager to just mount windows shares on my phone when I am at home, and I can stream 720p mkv files flawlessly using the stock media player or any media player I want. Works with any video or audio or anything else you want to mess around with.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is the CIFS module accessible from a network away from home such as your 3g/4g network?
treyxazn said:
Is the CIFS module accessible from a network away from home such as your 3g/4g network?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+onee
cd's or tapes?
Thank you
Well for cds or tapes tversity allows you to access whatever folders you set in your directoy in the program.
For audio though I highly reccomend audiogalaxy, its easy to set up and I have access to all 50gb of my music at all times.
Let's put our data plans to the maximum use right?
Thanks for the post. I hope transcoding is supported at some point by one of the players so I can stream mkv files to devices that don't support it like my Xoom.
Hmmmm! Nice....
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Yeah unfortunately tversity does not support transcoding .mkv files yet, I would also like this feature as a lot of anime I have is in this format.
I do however know of a lot of users who use "GOTsent" to convert to mp4 format, I use other software though however and its not as timely as it would seem.
A good solution until such transcoding is supported.
With tversity you can go into settings to allow access from internet not just the lan. Which I don't think requires the need to find ip address and enter it into the browser. You set up a password and or the devices mac address. I have used tversity for years it is high quality and very easy to use.
Hi everyone,
I've been toying with the idea of purchasing a Xoom since it was announced, but before launching myself into a 500$+ purchase, I would like to make sure the device does what I expect it to.
Here is a short list of what I am looking for in a tablet. If possible, could you guys tell me if the Xoom fits my needs.
Microsoft Exchange support
If yes, can I add multiple Exchange accounts? Support for calendars as well?
Video Playback
I watch a lot of 350MB (xvid) and 1.09Gb (mkv) tv shows. Is there a good player that supports playback? Is playback choppy/laggy or loses audio sync? I've seen and read a lot of bad press on this.
Video playback is potentially a deal maker/breaker. Video has to be smooth, and I'd like to avoid having to re-encode video if I dont have to. If a made in china device like the superpad can read MKV files, why not a dual core beast?
Tethering
I have an iPhone 3G and a tethering plan. I can tether to my laptop. Will I be able to tether to the XOOM?
SAMBA/SMB Share navigation
Can I browse network shares stored on my computer? Can I provide logon credentials to browse shares for a domain network? (Ex : DOMAIN\userassword or user(at)domain.localassword). Can I stream video over Wifi and network shares?
VPN
Is there support for L2TP over IPSEC? Certificate or PSK?
I'm quite computer savvy, it just seems difficult to get facts straight on tablets these days.
Thank you all in advance for reading this and taking the time to reply.
ipigi said:
Hi everyone,
I've been toying with the idea of purchasing a Xoom since it was announced, but before launching myself into a 500$+ purchase, I would like to make sure the device does what I expect it to.
Here is a short list of what I am looking for in a tablet. If possible, could you guys tell me if the Xoom fits my needs.
Microsoft Exchange support
If yes, can I add multiple Exchange accounts? Support for calendars as well?
Video Playback
I watch a lot of 350MB (xvid) and 1.09Gb (mkv) tv shows. Is there a good player that supports playback? Is playback choppy/laggy or loses audio sync? I've seen and read a lot of bad press on this.
Video playback is potentially a deal maker/breaker. Video has to be smooth, and I'd like to avoid having to re-encode video if I dont have to. If a made in china device like the superpad can read MKV files, why not a dual core beast?
Tethering
I have an iPhone 3G and a tethering plan. I can tether to my laptop. Will I be able to tether to the XOOM?
SAMBA/SMB Share navigation
Can I browse network shares stored on my computer? Can I provide logon credentials to browse shares for a domain network? (Ex : DOMAIN\userassword or user(at)domain.localassword). Can I stream video over Wifi and network shares?
I'm quite computer savvy, it just seems difficult to get facts straight on tablets these days.
Thank you all in advance for reading this and taking the time to reply.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A quick set of answers for you:
Exchange support - Yes
Calendars - Yes
Video Playback - unfortunately I can't answer that but I'm sure it won't be a problem with all the available apps and answers from other users regarding HD playback/re-encoding/compression
Tethering - Yes, works a treat...I'm doing it from my HTC Desire and Laptop.
SAMBA/SMB - Yes, 'Cifs Manager' from th Android Marketplace is a doddle to use. Streaming video/audio via wifi and network shares is easy.
VPN - not sure
Hope that helps.
Video playback - Yes, moboplayer
VPN - Yes openvpn just look around the fourms
Be aware that not everything (like openvpn) - will work out of the box. You will need to do some work, and possibly void the devices warranty (Unlock/root)
Costco has 90 days .... to return if you have one... Or can Order on line
(As I did)
Thats the way I went thanks and good luck
pyrator said:
Video playback - Yes, moboplayer
VPN - Yes openvpn just look around the fourms
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How good of a playback are we talking about. I've been reading a lot of people (on these forums and other places as well) who are having problems playing back some video files. Stuttering, laggy, things like that.
I'm going to be using this device for personal use first and work second, so smooth video playback is important and is probably the biggest reason for the purchase of a xoom.
For VPN, I've been digging around and found a thread on the xoomforums dot com website (I cant post a link yet, I'm too green). Note that I plan to use L2TP over IPSEC, and not pure IPSEC to connect to a VPN. Apparently there is native support for that without the need for OpenVPN.
Also, does anyone know if there is a Remote Desktop app so I can connect and control windows 7/vista PCs from the tablet?
Thanks to everyone for the replies!
ipigi said:
How good of a playback are we talking about. I've been reading a lot of people (on these forums and other places as well) who are having problems playing back some video files. Stuttering, laggy, things like that.
I'm going to be using this device for personal use first and work second, so smooth video playback is important and is probably the biggest reason for the purchase of a xoom.
For VPN, I've been digging around and found a thread on the xoomforums dot com website (I cant post a link yet, I'm too green). Note that I plan to use L2TP over IPSEC, and not pure IPSEC to connect to a VPN. Apparently there is native support for that without the need for OpenVPN.
Also, does anyone know if there is a Remote Desktop app so I can connect and control windows 7/vista PCs from the tablet?
Thanks to everyone for the replies!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
350MB (xvid) ---> play beautifully using moboplayer
1.09Gb (mkv) ---> choppy as **** on any player or if the video plays smoothly, the audio is non existant.
Im assuming these are "borrowed" videos downloaded from the internet.
I just use Handbrake to convert files to my Android devices. I just run into too many problems otherwise.
And if you are trying to play MKV files with subtitles. I've found no solution for that. Rockplayer kinda works if it's 480p or less. Though sometimes the audio gets out of sync.
If the subs are in text (srt) format, HB should move them over. If they're bitmaps (vobsub/pgs) or have styles (ass/ssa/smi), they can't be converted w/o an intervening translation/OCR step, since MP4 container only accepts plain text subs.
MKV->MP4 conversion is OK if you don't watch foreign films and don't care about subs. It's a PITA otherwise.
Do a search for 'Remote Desktop' on the market place...there are a handful which all work great. I can verify blistering speeds connecting to Windows 7 (32 and 64-bit)
robbiev80 said:
1.09Gb (mkv) ---> choppy as **** on any player or if the video plays smoothly, the audio is non existant.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Xoom can't decompress the audio at all? I'm not a huge fan of re-encoding video and I perfer to just drag and drop to play videos, my Desire can just about keep 20-25 fps playing 350Mb HD video, 20 minute anime series, the audio is fine as well. Why can't the Xoom play a 1Gb file with it's dual core CPU?
*edit* That's my Desire playing MKV's, not AVI etc.
For what its worth I just tested an 840mb mkv file on moboplayer and it was flawless, no issues with audio at all. I haven't tried anything over 1gb though.
Hey what do you guys like for video streaming? What about Jetflix? I am thinking about trying it but Im not sure
Not sure peoples obsession with netflix lately, hell im watching netlfix right now!, i did use it on my htc incredible which was fully supported, untill they get it running on the charge i will continue to use Plex for video streaming i Love my PLEX available from market, used with a plex media server available plexapp.com on my windows 7 server with decent specs. I stream ANY of my 4 terabytes of video content stored on local hard drives. to my droid charge, if you have decent home internet along with a decent video collection i highly recommend it
Hey dabomb...ive been trying.to set up plex as well ..but for claritys sake, youre streaming your videos to your phone outside of your home network to your phone via 3g/4g? Or just within your home network?
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA Premium App
I really like Emit Free but it only works locally right now. (WiFi only)
I've tried PlayOn, VLC, Gmote, SAMBA, etc, and never found a really acceptable solution for this until now.
Plex is in one word awesome. It works great inside and outside your home network. If you are having trouble accessing plex outside your local network go into advanced settings on your plex app flush the cache. This is a known issue and they are working on a fix for the next release.
I am assuming you have already forward your ports from your router.
Murd0ck