Turning Old OG Pixel into Home Controller - Google Pixel Questions & Answers

Hey everyone!
I've got an old OG Pixel I was thinking about turning into like a Smart Home controller. Basically, wiping it clean and putting only Smart Home related Applications on it. I have it in a case that has a magnet on the inside and I was thinking about mounting a magnet arm/holder to the couch in the living room as well as the headboard to the bed.
I was thinking I'd have all my streaming apps - Netflix, Spotify etc on there as well as VLC so I can remotely access my hard drive (are there any better alternatives to this? an app that can stream locally hosted files over Chomecast?), and stream my local files as well. I have a few Chromecasts as well as a Smart Screen and a Nest doorbell, which can all be controlled through this device.
Any other suggestions? Must have Smart Home apps/additions? Has anyone done this before? My only other thought was I should probably be using a Chromebook for this instead of a phone. Any other suggestions would be gladly accepted! Thanks everyone.

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help watching tv on wm6

hey guys.
this is probably a newbie issue, but i can't seem to get any of the tv players to work with my phone.
i've downloaded the trial to HandiTV, Pocket Live TV, and SPB Online. all HandiTV opens a link to media player, and when media player accesses that link, it closes down without giving an error, and obviously without working. SPB online took forever loading the few channels it had and never got to it. Pocket Live TV either said "error" or "access denied" wih some channels, and with a couple actually said "Playing" but nothing was playing on the screen.
i'm testing with the ActiveSync connection. my goal is to get a program that will let me watch over WiFi as I have free WiFi access at the university and plenty of time to myself between classes so i would like to watch tv in that time :-D
please let me know what i'm supposed to do to get one of them to work! Preferably HandiTV as it seems to have the best selection of channels
thank you!
If I am not mistaken, all of those programs require a subscription to the service they offer...so that may be your problem.
nope, all the ones i'm trying are "demo" or "trial", so i should be able to "try" them before purchasing them. i've been able to get Pocket Live TV so work with some channels, but nothing that i'm interested in watching.
oh well, after reading it seems it's never going to be a true tv watching program as i'll be watching whatever they're sending online. when i originally downloaded the programs i was hoping for something like off-the-air tv reception or something
why dont they make a tv tuner that you can plug into the usb port and then do it that way? i'd pay for that!
EDIT: well apparently they make something similar to "it". I can buy a SDIO tv tuner for about $150 from Hong Kong that will work with the wizard. To get the SD card to work though i'd need a SD-to-mini adapter, so about $200 all said and done and i can have a self-powered tv antenna hooked up to the phone...huh...that'll have to wait!

[Q]

Hi,
I want to set up a whole house media center, I have a xbmc server running in my house and a windows 7 pc which I can stream from also.
I have seen applications for andriod like 2player and skifta which allow me to stream music from these devices and it offers the ability to stream to other devices.
Can anyone advise me how I could set up a second android phone as a receiver. Since android phones are now so cheap I think it would be quite nice to have multiple android devices to act as receivers around my home.
I would aim to start a application like 2player on my own personal phone, choose my pc or xbmc server as source and then choose the music to play on one of the android phone.
Can anyone advise how to set this up as I don't know how to get the android phones to listen for streams.or even any alternative suggestions?
thanks in advance,
Dec
Hi guys,
Just to update this post last night I spent a bit of time researching this.
I found another app called "bubble upnp" which works as a dlna dmr.
I can see it all starting to come together now. I was able to stream from my xbmc server to another android phone running bubble upnp and using 2player on my own phone as the control point.
I am happy with this but I'm not sure if these are the best app's for this?
Also I think there maybe a small issue with power usage. I don't want to leave WiFi running on the end devices all the time. And or the dlna dmr app if possible.
I think sms gps can remotely turn on WiFi aswell as gps so this maybe a simple work around.
But not sure how to launch an app remotely on android phone.
Sent from my X8 using XDA App

Point of View HDMI Smart TV Dongle

hi all, i have bought the above smart tv dongle thingy from maplins
http://www.maplin.co.uk/point-of-view-hdmi-smart-tv-dongle-android-4.1-685649
anyone have one of these? im pretty impressed with it, im not too happy with the menu though and id like to customize it a bit.. any ideas on what can be done with this device?
Thanks
First thing to do with this device
I just got one.
First thing I did was install ADW Launcher Ex on it and get rid of the horrible launcher it came with.
Now I have a very fast 42" tablet, with widgets, live wallpapers the lot, no root required.
This thing has loads of potential, but if you read the customer reviews on Maplin you'll see they haven't understood that this is Android and you can customise the heck out of it.
The only thing I've found missing so far is a lock screen in case you don't want others using it while your not there without unplugging it. I also heard it loses datetime if you unplug it, not surprising as it doesn't have an internal clock battery.
It's surprisingly fast, but if you're mouse pointer will lag under heavy load.
Still exploring potential will post back as I find out more.
Ah thanks! I have since rooted and installed different firmware! I found out that it was a re-branded Rikomagic MK802III and installed the latest firmware for that device which is way better. I have XBMC running alongside MX Player Hardware video decoding, all is sweet. I found out all I needed from this guys post. Enjoy
http://www.rikomagic.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=3645
Any one know why Point of View HDMI Smart TV Dongle will not work on my Sony KDL-40V4000 but does work on my logik tv
not really useful for me though
Point of View Android tv dongle screen mirroring
I also have this dongle which is connected to my tv. I also have mine and my Mrs's Android phones which are running kit Kat and another ohms running on jelly bean.
Is there anyway to mirror my or my wife's phone to the dongle add we both have the mirror screen option on or phones?
Answers/help will be appreciated.
Point of View HDMI Smart TV dongle - interface & WD My Passport
Hi,
I have just bought the hdmi dongle and m not very technology savvy. One of the main reasons I got it was to be able to connect my WD My Passport to it to play movies etc. However I can't seem to change the settings on the menu - so when I click on Movies - rather than all my separated folders showing up - instead it shows an icon of my 1500 movies (which includes about 750 clips of my kids). I can't seem to find a way to get it to display the folders, or even a list of the movies rather than the huge icons! Is there a way around this?
Thanks in advance,
Colette

How to View HTC ONE X files on TV?

I have already noticed a detailed discussion related to the toic but unable .to find out the solution to it. I have downloaded stuff for my kids but unable to play tht on my TV.
Can anyone have a quick and simple way to guide me.for that.
Their is an optional extra HDMI device for wirelessly sending video and such from your device to your TV.
This is a fairly costly device and not many use it.
The other way is to use dlna/upnp. In the youtube apps and media streamer etc you can select your tv as the display device.
I find this does not function correctly for video with my Samsung tv's.
I use the app imediashare, but there is many to chose from such as bubbleupnp, twonky, sempervidlinks etc.
It would be good to know what your tv is capable of and how you can connect to it.
Eg HDMI device or UPNP via network?
And what type of files are you trying to view?
Eg games, videos, pictures, music, docs etc?
twistedddx said:
Their is an optional extra HDMI device for wirelessly sending video and such from your device to your TV.
This is a fairly costly device and not many use it.
The other way is to use dlna/upnp. In the youtube apps and media streamer etc you can select your tv as the display device.
I find this does not function correctly for video with my Samsung tv's.
I use the app imediashare, but there is many to chose from such as bubbleupnp, twonky, sempervidlinks etc.
It would be good to know what your tv is capable of and how you can connect to it.
Eg HDMI device or UPNP via network?
And what type of files are you trying to view?
Eg games, videos, pictures, music, docs etc?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Building on what has already been said, I find that the general rule of identification for the living room is if a device has wifi capabilities, then the HOX can usually push media to it via dlna.
If you have a device that is network capable, usually dlna will work with it too.
If you have experience pulling media from the computers around the house and displaying them on your television, then you're absolutely on the right track.
Sometimes, SMART TVs and wired network media devices have a YouTube app that is capable with YouTube Leanback, a service that lets you view YouTube videos on the big screen and control it with your Android devices.
If you lack all of the hardware mentioned above, there are three options.
1) HTC Media Link HD
All it does is receive media sent by HTC devices, via HDMI to the television. Very, very basic. If you want to buy this, try to locate the 2012 (for One X and One S, it's variants, and the Butterfly) model, maybe 2011 (for Sensation and Amaze series). The reason for this is this accessory existed last year as the flagship connector to the television for our device. It might be cheaper to buy one made for last year's devices, which we own, for cheaper, than to buy one created for the HTC One, and the Butterfly S. If I recall correctly, it's pretty expensive for doing only a few tasks. Although, if you're running HTC Sense, you'd already have three finger gestures for it built into the OS.
2) New TV
Buy one with wifi, or if it's more convenient, one with network capabilities into the wall and connect to the home network. It wouldn't hurt to make sure to verify that it is dlna-capable before hauling home the massive display.
3) Any TV accessory with network capabilities
Like a TV, but not really. Sony Blu-Ray players with wifi run for about $79 here in Canada, and I use mine to send photos and music from the kitchen to entertain guests when they come over. You could probably google more dlna accessories that connect straight to the TV, but if you're ever in the need for a new Blu-Ray player, or a new home theatre set, keep dlna in mind.
Bonus)
It pains me a bit to say this, but Apple TV is an inexpensive option that is near perfect for these needs. After setting iTunes to identify all media libraries in the house, head down to the TV and have it pull your desired content. It's so simple, and surprisingly, only $99.
YOU COULD DO BETTER THOUGH
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD
Edit:
Today I learned that the HOX has HDMI out. Even better.
You can find super cheap cables or docks online, on ebay, from China, connect them to your phone, and go from there. Only downside is if you have your television two metres away from you, this might break your neck or knees.
Asovse1 said:
Building on what has already been said, I find that the general rule of identification for the living room is if a device has wifi capabilities, then the HOX can usually push media to it via dlna.
If you have a device that is network capable, usually dlna will work with it too.
If you have experience pulling media from the computers around the house and displaying them on your television, then you're absolutely on the right track.
Sometimes, SMART TVs and wired network media devices have a YouTube app that is capable with YouTube Leanback, a service that lets you view YouTube videos on the big screen and control it with your Android devices.
If you lack all of the hardware mentioned above, there are three options.
1) HTC Media Link HD
All it does is receive media sent by HTC devices, via HDMI to the television. Very, very basic. If you want to buy this, try to locate the 2012 (for One X and One S, it's variants, and the Butterfly) model, maybe 2011 (for Sensation and Amaze series). The reason for this is this accessory existed last year as the flagship connector to the television for our device. It might be cheaper to buy one made for last year's devices, which we own, for cheaper, than to buy one created for the HTC One, and the Butterfly S. If I recall correctly, it's pretty expensive for doing only a few tasks. Although, if you're running HTC Sense, you'd already have three finger gestures for it built into the OS.
2) New TV
Buy one with wifi, or if it's more convenient, one with network capabilities into the wall and connect to the home network. It wouldn't hurt to make sure to verify that it is dlna-capable before hauling home the massive display.
3) Any TV accessory with network capabilities
Like a TV, but not really. Sony Blu-Ray players with wifi run for about $79 here in Canada, and I use mine to send photos and music from the kitchen to entertain guests when they come over. You could probably google more dlna accessories that connect straight to the TV, but if you're ever in the need for a new Blu-Ray player, or a new home theatre set, keep dlna in mind.
Bonus)
It pains me a bit to say this, but Apple TV is an inexpensive option that is near perfect for these needs. After setting iTunes to identify all media libraries in the house, head down to the TV and have it pull your desired content. It's so simple, and surprisingly, only $99.
YOU COULD DO BETTER THOUGH
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD
Edit:
Today I learned that the HOX has HDMI out. Even better.
You can find super cheap cables or docks online, on ebay, from China, connect them to your phone, and go from there. Only downside is if you have your television two metres away from you, this might break your neck or knees.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are less expensive Android Smart TV devices that work well too.
fns1979 said:
I have already noticed a detailed discussion related to the toic but unable .to find out the solution to it. I have downloaded stuff for my kids but unable to play tht on my TV.
Can anyone have a quick and simple way to guide me.for that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i see an app on my hox but not tested yet, i hear about work with smart share app in the tv i have LG smart TV i will test just for fun and commet here.

Is there an Android Tablet/ROM/App strictly for Controlling/Cast Music?

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!

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