I spent some time over the weekend trying out various ways to stream movies, specifically ripped BluRays, to my Android phone (EVO) and tablet (Galaxy Tab 7") when I'm outside my home. I thought folks looking to do something similar might appreciate a list of what's available, as in all my searching I didn't come across one.
So here are my thoughts on each with Windows based desktop server software in blue, and Android client in green when from a different source:
VLC server to VLC Direct and VLC Stream and Convert - $4-5
Best quality, seek!, streamed subtitles!, VLC & clients buggy, no security (should be used with VPN), complex setup.
Splashtop Remote Desktop- $5
A remote desktop app promoted as a way to stream video. I set my laptop to 1024*768 and tried various videos, including Netflix and Hulu, and video quality was tolerable. (MUCH better than LogMeIn Ignition, or the VNC/RDP apps I use.) A little cumbersome to use if you just want to watch video, but it's as flexible as the desktop computer you are controlling. I'd be interested in hearing how CrazyRemote compares, as that includes "joystick" controls. - For the $1 sale price, I'll be running this off my laptop for NetFlix and Hulu.
Plex - $5
Soso video quality, easy to set up, included posters with movie data and such, by far the nicest interface. If video quality improves, they'll be the one to beat.
PlayOn - $5 / month for "Premium Services" like Netflix and Hulu, $0 To stream local videos
Similar to Plex without the movie posters and such, but includes Hulu and NetFlix. Unfortunately video and sound wouldn't stay synched.
RemotePotato to Remote Media Center - $0
Set up was tolerable, video quality is acceptable, seek!, big wins on having a very nice desktop silverlight web player and some integration with Windows Media Center. If the (separately developed) Android client continues to improve, and/or they stream from my WMC TV tuners, Netflix, etc, I'd be in love. - This is the one I'm sticking with for now because I like the option of streaming to desktop OR Android, depending where I am at the moment.
Subsonic - $Donation of an amount you choose for video streaming. Audio only is free.
Similar to RemotePotato, but more complex to set up, better security, but browser based FLV playback had soso video quality. RemotePotato was just easier. - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=968774
TVersity - $0
Seemed complicated and I didn't want to re-encode anything, so after installing I just yanked it without testing. Other folks have had good luck with it though! - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=6085651
PS3Mediaserver - $0
Another one that I didn't test because it seemed complicated. Again worth mentioning because other folks have had good luck with it though! - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=898796
Other Android server/app solutions seemingly based off of VLC - $Varies
AndroStream - Server wouldn't install (on two Win7x64 systems)
MyTVStation - Server installed as Admin, but couldn't connect to it. (Dev replied via email that he's working on it.)
Video Source - I tested using a 40GB MKV file ripped directly from BluRay without recompression, including English subtitles and both HD and stereo sound tracks. - As I am NOT willing to spend hours/days/weeks transcoding my BluRay collection to the native resolution(s) of my mobile devices (or to re-transcode them when the devices are replaced) I specifically wanted to include in my testing on the fly transcoding capabilities. (Avatar in this case)
Connection Speed - I tested using WiFi at home, WiFi at another location across town (but with the same ISP) and WiMax at a location which tested as 6Mb down. (My home upstream is 5Mb, and the remote WiFi and WiMax results were comparable, because the streams were all set to around 1-2.5Mb.)
DLNA is interesting stuff, and bears investigating, especially for playback FROM Android to a TV without wires. Normally it will not stream outside of your local network, but I'm thinking of trying it via VPN, as my Galaxy Tab includes a native player.
I realize the reviews are brief and very subjective, and my requirements and testing won't match many peoples. That said, I still thought folks might appreciate just having a nice big list to refer to, with hopefully some good comments on other people's experiences, to save them some time digging around.
After a long weekend of fiddling, I'm using Splashtop for Netflix (not available on my Tab yet) and Hulu, and RemotePotato w/ the Remote Media Center app for my movies and recorded TV.
There also looks to be some development happening with Media Portal plug-ins for Android that could be quite promising for 2.3+ devices in a few months. If things pan out...you'll load your media one time into the server, and be able to watch it on any device, be it iOS, Windows, or Android.
Hello Guys!
I am planning to get one of the Transformers (probably 32G+dock) and sell my notebook (will still have a desktop computer).
Now, I'm on a performance notebook (with piss-poor battery life), but I do not use it - only for web surfing, chat, watching movies, sending stuff & downloading - and maybe some games (1x a month LOL)
So my question is - what are the features you like or MISS in the Transformer compared to a notebook.
Thank you!
1) Proper browser with adblock.
2) Proper audio player (like Amarok/Clementine/Exaile etc.).
3) USB port for attaching keyboard (I don't have the dock).
Better task swapping(alt+tab) or windowed view.
Text selection. Android NEEDS a better text selection desperately.
Other than that it makes a pretty good laptop replacement for simple things. Using remote desktop to a windows machine, greatly improves #1, and moderately improves #2.
Magnesus said:
1) Proper browser with adblock.
2) Proper audio player (like Amarok/Clementine/Exaile etc.).
3) USB port for attaching keyboard (I don't have the dock).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
firefox is available in android, and you can add the adblock plugin.
also a system-wide adblock via apps.
i have no idea what you would qualify as a "proper" audio player. unless you're refering stictly to that list as "proper", the stock player is also a proper player, as well as plently you'd find in the market.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
gottahavit said:
Better task swapping(alt+tab) or windowed view.
Text selection. Android NEEDS a better text selection desperately.
Other than that it makes a pretty good laptop replacement for simple things. Using remote desktop to a windows machine, greatly improves #1, and moderately improves #2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alt+tab works with the keyboard dock.
Windowed view won't happen until there is a significant increase in system resources available to these devices. Everything currently runs in full screen because 1GB of RAM is just barely sufficient for most of the current apps, and Android devices don't use swap, which means apps get flushed out of memory if the system starts running low on RAM. Windowed apps would crash or degrade under the current Android memory management scheme, which was instated because phones and tablets are so starved for resources when compared to traditional desktops and laptops.
Text selection requires a long press because click and drag on a touchscreen handles panning. I'm not sure what else you're expecting from text selection when many apps allow you to modify the size of the selection to your heart's content. Those that don't integrate nicely with Android's built-in text selection are the fault of the developers.
Thank you for the replies.
Well, Just as finalhit said - firefox has a plugin, and AFAIK Dolphin Browser, too. And by the way, Ad-free is not working on these devices? Like on my rooted Desire?
Proper audio player - I saw the transformer in action and the stock player is great, also have purchased PowerAMP for my phone and the developer says, it'll work on HC 3.2, too. Will see.
Carrying on with Text Input ~
Android needs to be able to support Rich Text in Browser Email Apps (e.g. Yahoo) and also Copy/Paste text into an Email.
Copy/Paste works in Gmail but not in say Yahoo Mail.
What I miss most, is that the TF does not have a digital audio output via USB.
A notebook can simply be connected with a DAC by USB and I can listen to MP3s over my Hifi system ...
FrankRr said:
What I miss most, is that the TF does not have a digital audio output via USB.
A notebook can simply be connected with a DAC by USB and I can listen to MP3s over my Hifi system ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd like that too, I tried plugging my USB SoundBlaster in but nothing happened.
What I miss most is a decent productivity suite, WP & Spreadsheets. I am using the beta of SoftMaker Office & it will do the job when it's released, but at the moment it crashes a lot & isn't mainstream.
Printing isn't that easy either ....
1) Definitely better text selection/manipulation - it works, but it doesn't feel right
2) Right mouse button - yes, it has long press, but it's long press, meaning it's not very fast. Make the right track pad button function the same as long press, and it will feel almost like a notebook.
3) Better file manipulation/transfer speed. Copying and pasting/moving files is a pain and is very very slow. Astro works, but it's nothing compared to the ease of windows/linux.
Android has all the functions I want, a lot of them just don't feel natural, or are cumbersome to use.
I like my TF, but I think it can't replace a notebook, unless we can port windows 7 on it..
mikelt89 said:
I like my TF, but I think it can't replace a notebook, unless we can port windows 7 on it..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Windows 8 might run on it, as it has arm support and the TF meets the minimum requirements that MS has released so far.
cottinghamm said:
What I miss most is a decent productivity suite, WP & Spreadsheets. I am using the beta of SoftMaker Office & it will do the job when it's released, but at the moment it crashes a lot & isn't mainstream.
Printing isn't that easy either ....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Documents to Go works well (given the limitations of the input methods, screen size, etc.)
Printign is a major issue. There are paid apps that I hear do printing OK, but they require a server program to run on a computer already connected to the printer. I have yet to find one that works well with a networked printer (either shared through the native Windows functionality or a dedicated print server).
FrankRr said:
What I miss most, is that the TF does not have a digital audio output via USB.
A notebook can simply be connected with a DAC by USB and I can listen to MP3s over my Hifi system ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can indirectly output to a DAC if you use the HDMI port. I have an Asus VH238H monitor that includes a SPDIF out, so I just hook up the Transformer via HDMI and have the monitor output the sound to my DAC.
For printing I use CloudPrint So far it works greatly (home & office) on my Desire - so that won't be a problem.
finalhit said:
firefox is available in android, and you can add the adblock plugin.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Firefox for Android is very far from a proper browser (in my opinion, proper browser is for example Google Chrome and desktop Firefox) and it's adblock is far from it's desktop counterpart. Maybe the new version will be better. In my opinion actually Firefox is worst browser for Android (the best being Dolphin Pad).
i have no idea what you would qualify as a "proper" audio player. unless you're refering stictly to that list as "proper", the stock player is also a proper player, as well as plently you'd find in the market.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try using Amarok, Clementine, Exile or sth similar (or Foobar if you only have Windows, but it's quite bad looking). I tested most the music players in the market and none of them are even comparable. So I resigned from using Tranformer for listening to music and bought USB sound card for my laptop instead (without it the sound quality of my laptop was... well quite horrible ).
Amarok/Clementine/Exile have clear interface with your files or library on the left (you can use both) and a playlist on the right. You can add tracks to the playlist, remove them, shuffle them, star songs, generate playlists based on the stars, select to repeat a track or repeat the whole playlist, filter the library (for example - you type John and you get all John Williams albums listed), the playlist is created by drag and drop etc. Also they play all music formats (flac, mpc included). If you never used a music player like this - try them, they are really good.
Most (all of them?) players in android market are designed for playing one album at a time (no playlist), have interface more suited for phones than tablets and no ability to use folder view (some can but are regenerating the index every time I unmount my samba share - and it takes ages). If I'm wrong - and there is sth like Amarok on the Market - please tell, I'll buy it in a second.
Magnesus said:
Try using Amarok, Clementine, Exile or sth similar (or Foobar if you only have Windows, but it's quite bad looking). I tested most the music players in the market and none of them are even comparable. So I resigned from using Tranformer for listening to music and bought USB sound card for my laptop instead (without it the sound quality of my laptop was... well quite horrible ).
Amarok/Clementine/Exile have clear interface with your files or library on the left (you can use both) and a playlist on the right. You can add tracks to the playlist, remove them, shuffle them, star songs, generate playlists based on the stars, select to repeat a track or repeat the whole playlist, filter the library (for example - you type John and you get all John Williams albums listed), the playlist is created by drag and drop etc. Also they play all music formats (flac, mpc included). If you never used a music player like this - try them, they are really good.
Most (all of them?) players in android market are designed for playing one album at a time (no playlist), have interface more suited for phones than tablets and no ability to use folder view (some can but are regenerating the index every time I unmount my samba share - and it takes ages). If I'm wrong - and there is sth like Amarok on the Market - please tell, I'll buy it in a second.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just because the default Music player doesn't show the now playing and playlist views on the same page together doesn't mean you don't have such functionality. Remember what you're dealing with here; it's just a 10.1 inch screen. It doesn't take much to clutter the UI with a lot of menu options, especially when all the UI elements have to be doubled and tripled in size in order to be legible on the tiny screen.
Now, as far as the features of the default Music app, there's plenty to keep most listeners happy. Upon starting the app, in the upper left hand corner you have the ability to sort your music collection by New and recent, Albums, Artists, Songs, Playlists, and Genres. On the right, you can Search through all of your music, refining your results by the previously mentioned sort categories. Once you choose a specific artist, for instance, you can tap once on the "All songs" option to play all of the artist's selected music, or you can just select one album of theirs to play, either of these options taking you to a list of songs added to the queue. Long press will allow you to add the selected songs to the playlist of your choice. Once in the now playing queue, you can sort the songs by name or by album, or shuffle the whole thing. Then once you finally play a song, the now playing screen allows for toggling shuffle and advanced repeat functions just like what you're used to with other applications. The default player also supports mp3, ogg, and flac, and probably some other formats that I haven't tried yet. The only thing missing is the ability to "star" your music, which is a feature I always saw as pointless.
Seriously, why would you even bother with third party music apps at this point?
And what about the microSD slot on the tablet? I'm planning to get a 32GB A-DATA - will it work normally like with my Desire?
rtadams89 said:
Documents to Go works well (given the limitations of the input methods, screen size, etc.)
Printign is a major issue. There are paid apps that I hear do printing OK, but they require a server program to run on a computer already connected to the printer. I have yet to find one that works well with a networked printer (either shared through the native Windows functionality or a dedicated print server).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
printing works well for me, but yes, requires a server at this point -- free app: https://market.android.com/search?q=printershare&so=1&c=apps
I do use it as a laptop replacement. I find that 95% of the time I do not need to go back to my laptop; however, I do miss the ability to have more than one app on the screen at once (chatting and browsing at the same time is annoying). I also miss a full office program. I have tried DTG and polaris, and both work quite well by comparison to other office apps, but are not a replacement for MS Office or Libreoffice.
I also have a server in the basement for media serving running ESXi 4.1. I have 2 VMs on it: File/media server running ubuntu 11.04 and a windows VM for running various other things like video transcoding. I would not want to do either of those functions on an android tablet either.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
ZIDOO X9 support hdmi in 1080p record(pvr),4k & H.265 hardware decoding,a great 3D UI,
CPU: MSTAR MSO9180D1R UP TO 1.5GHZ (Cortex-A9)
GPU: 8 cores Mali450
Android 4.4.2 Kitkat OS, Built in Google Play Store
2GB DDR3 RAM and 8GB emmc Storage
Great wifi signals;
Support Dual band wifi 2.4G & 5.8G (wifi module is MT7632)
Support HDMI IN
Support Bluetooth 4.0 version
Support 4K*2K and H265(HEVC) UHD video(4K and H265 hardware decodiing)
Support DTSHD MASTER,TRUEHD 7.1 passthrough
Build in XBMC ZIDOO version, support dolby dts hardware decodiing, also can play 4K, RMVB, Blueray ISO, BDMV,MKV file without any problem;
Support HDMI IN DVR(PVR)
A great launcher, file manager,music player,videoplayer, Album,based on OPENGL 2.0
The following is from KODI forum:
So I received my X9 today and these are my first initial impressions:
The box:
The build quality is very good. No flimsy plastic, but a well build aluminum uni-body. It breaths quality
Good reception for 2.4 and 5ghz Wifi
A nice little VFD, but way too bright. It needs a software option to be dimmed (VFDservice)
The software (X9 UI):
Finally a good attempt to integrate various Android-apps into a user friendly launcher. Definitely aimed for the western user. No frills, but nice and minimalistic. I've used many android boxes and sticks, but they almost all lack a good launcher (just stock android) or are very Asian orientated (no disrespect intended). The Zidoo X9 really distinguishes itself from the competition with this UI!
It has a few (cosmetic) translation errors
For those who are new at media-boxes, it is easy to work with (a very good WAF). No need to use the underlying Android-OS (4.4.2)
For those that are more experienced, it needs to be more configurable (see suggestions)
The software (others):
It comes Pre-Rooted! Very nice! User can access the whole file system with SSH or ADB. All settings needed to install third party apps are set (use unknown sources, usb debugging, etc)
Could not use Google Play initially (with Google account enabled). It says "Check your connection and try again". Installed Aptoide and updated Google Play
The built-in explorer is divided in sections (music, video, image) which scans local memory, attached usb devices or SDcards. The file chooser that follows could be less colorful in my opinion and could make better use of screen availability. Its color settings, font-size and column-width should be adjusted by the user. The fourth File option can make use of all local media or network shares. The context menu, however is still in Chinese
The mediaplayer does a good job. Tested only mkv's though. Fast skipping forward and backwards. Reads external .str files by default, but I learned if a fiddle with the subtitle settlings, I sometimes can't display them anymore. Also the fontsize could be thicker and use a shadow backdrop instead of a red frame.
It has some translation errors (cancle instead of cancel)
The Music Player initially looks nice but has no filter whatsoever in the playlist. It flattens all music files found and shows no filtering in artists, albums etc..............A non-usable app
The Image viewer has some nice transitions, but its media-scanner scans hidden files and folders and the shows numerous thumbnails created by third party apps like XBMC. Also the app crashes a lot
The Game player opens with featured Air Mouse Games. That's a little strange because the remote only has 4 directional mouse steering and no gyroscope (at least I could not get it to use as an air mouse). Did not test games but I presume they run well given the hardware
Finally XBMC. After all, it's the de facto multimedia player. Being a looooong time XBMC user, this HAD to run smooth. And it does. The remote runs swiftly through the menus with no delay whatsoever, but is can use a better button remapping. Multimedia content is added swiftly with the use of content scrapers en consequently played very smooth. (using on a LAN). I’ve only tested HD .mkv content. I’m no video purist and don’t watch 3D content, which in my opinion is a hype soon to be forgotten……….at least with glasses.
I’ve also installed the latest Kodi RC3 and initially noticed no differences in playback or CPU use. I did notice it was not possible to use Audio Passtrough
Suggestions:
System
Standby/Sleep support. The system cannot go to sleep. The android system setting does have a sleep mode but it only dims the screen. The X9 UI only has a screensaver. It must be physically made possible on a device like this. Your average android tablet/phone also can.
Dim the VFD
Add "cifs.ko" (+ support libs) to the kernel for mounting Samba shares at boot. With these present all Android apps can use network shares, not just the ones that support it
Interface
The X9 UI should be more configurable (for the advanced user)
- Theme the main tiles. The UI has theme possibilities but only changes the background. A dark background should also incorporate darkened tiles (grey scales, for instance). A brighter background could have more colorful tiles (like they are now)
- Disable the edit (+) button. Show only when needed
- Sort apps in the submenus
- The possibility to start an app immediately from the main tile (like the Google play tile) instead of showing a sub menu
Better/thicker/more colorful highlight frame in webbrowser. It's sometimes really difficult to find the cursor position
Change the mousepointer into a "normal" one. Get rid of the ugly little hand
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there some discount for xda members?
Zidoo x9 (as a media extender) with Ceton Infinitv 6
I'm trying to find out if it's possible to use the Ceton Infintv 6 on a Windows 7 Professional PC and then use Zidoo x9 (Android Box) or Pipo x7 (Windows 8.1) to access the live channels as well as stream recorded content.
Anyone with any info would be greatly appreciated.
enahsak said:
I'm trying to find out if it's possible to use the Ceton Infintv 6 on a Windows 7 Professional PC and then use Zidoo x9 (Android Box) or Pipo x7 (Windows 8.1) to access the live channels as well as stream recorded content.
Anyone with any info would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds crazy. InfiniTV 6 ETH supports CableCARD and connects to any U.S. cable system to receive all SD and HD digital cable channels without needing a set-top box.
Hi there. me too heve this fast and great box.
I just wonder if there is a way to build a loop recorder on the HDMI port. A Timeshift.
Exist yet the recorder and the Zidoo developers release the recorder app code.
Do you think someone could create a timeshift app for this machine?
Hey all,
I have an old (80's-style) full-length cabinet that sits on the floor. It's got a 8-track, FM/AM, and record player built-in, but the radio sucks and the record player is broken. I want to gut the whole thing, install some more modern speakers, install a new record player, and control it all from a tablet or touch screen computer. The big thing I'm looking for is a bit of "future-proofing" so that it can control both the built-in speakers and cast to other devices across the house or even the back patio. We have guests over pretty often, whether to cook out or just hang out in the house. I'd like to be able to pop open the lid of the cabinet and let anybody add/change the music playing, or be able to play the record player throughout the speakers in my house (my wife enjoys the records, while I prefer the convenience of Google Play Music).
I think the best way to do this is through Android, since it's much easier to cast to devices, and I can still change the music playing throughout the house via phones, tablet, and gHomes if I want.
Does anyone have a recommendation for building this solution? I think the most effective way to do this will be to set up the speakers in the cabinet and just plug them directly into a Chromecast Audio. I'll need either a ROM or a home launcher that's more conducive to selecting and limiting itself to a select few music apps & YouTube.
The big hurdles I see are setting up "zones" so that I can pick which Chromecasts the system plays to depending on where in the house we're going to be. I also need a way to feed the external audio (the record player) to the Tablet so it can forward that sound to other Chromecasts. I've looked for how to do this a bit, and it looks like Mozilla figured out a way to do it using a Raspberry Pi. I'm not opposed to this, but I want to be sure that I can use the tablet/computer I build into the cabinet to select which Chromecasts this streams to.
Thanks for the help / recommendations! If I get all of this figured out, I'll be sure to share the end result so people can see how well it all worked out!