Good news if you're a user of the Linux-based commercial desktop operating system Linspire or Freespie; SageTV has released SageTV Media Center Version 6 all for you.
I've neve used SageTV myself, but I understand it's pretty nifty.
Get yourself along to the one-click download and installation location at www.linspire.com/sagetv if you want to get your hands on a copy right away for $99.95.
Oh, those Linux hackers. Sure, they're constantly endeavoring to put Linux on every device possible, from PDAs to open-source PVRs. But what about building desktop Linux clients for popular consumer devices, like say the Slingbox?
Well, since Sling Media has yet to release a SlingPlayer for Linux, Andrew Butkus over at the Sling Community went and hacked together his own method to get SlingPlayer to run on his Acer Aspire notebook running Ubuntu 6.10.
Essentially you need to install Wine to get a layer of Windows compatibility. Then you need to install SlingPlayer and Windows Media Player 9. There's a few other tweaks you need to enter to get the whole thing working, and there's still no guarantee this will all work on your system, but what fun would it be if it worked on the first try?
To spark a bit of Windows vs. Linux action Tvease has posted a visual comparison of the Windows Media Center GUI and the MythTV GUI. You can instantly see some very strong similarities and where MCE might appear more visually appealing in one area (e.g audio), Myth TV is more appealing in another (e.g images).
However overall I think MCE has a slightly better look and feel, but so it should given the money gone into it compared to the open source MythTV project. Although MCE does look slightly better I would have to admit the functionality and customizability of MythTV is much better than with MCE.
L International Computers is rolling out a blueprint design for what they're calling "an all-new class of computers," although it looks like just another system for storing and displaying digital audio and video. That said, it looks pretty sweet.
The Darwin Media Hub PC System is an Intel-based 64-bit multi-core system in a silent case. Each system would come with support for up to 8 displays, an HDTV Tuner, a next generation DVD burner (either HD-DVD or Blu-Ray, although the press release makes it sound like it could be both, or a combo-drive of some sort. That said, it also says "Blue-Ray" instead of "Blu-Ray.")
Of course there'd be PVR software, and the ability to connect to cable and satellite boxes. You'd be able to send commands to the unit over your cell phone, and you could also stream audio and video directly to your phone. It'll include every flavor of wireless you can imagine, with support for Bluetooth, 802.11n, and even wireless USB. Darwin systems can be designed to run either on Linux or Windows Vista.
All told, I'd expect units based on this architecture to drop for somewhere in the $15,000 sometime in the next five years. Most of the technology they're touting exists today, but it seems to me like they threw a bunch of buzzwords into a press release with a pretty picture. Anyone want to convince me that this isn't vaporware?
The fine folks over at the Freevo project released their latest stable version, 1.6.0, on Saturday. Of course with the usual stability & performance increases, there are also a couple of new features.
Some of noteworthy fixes include some code to clean up a few remote control problems, a few caching issues seem to have been fixed, and there are also a few interface tweaks. As far as new features goes, a few new plugins have been added, multi-tuner support is now built in, and there are more skins available to add some life to the Freevo interface.
Although Freevo may not be as popular as some of the other homebrew solutions, it has so far with stood the test of time. However it still seems behind in a few areas, especially when you consider that it only recently received support for more than one tuner card.
As with any software upgrade, you may want to watch out for new issues that may arise. Since the release, things have been fairly quiet on the Freevo-users mailing list but that's not to say that it's bug free.
One of the biggest turn offs people have when trying to build their own PVR is that things can get complicated quickly, especially if you use a Linux based software solution. Heck, even for the seasoned PVR builders amongst us, we know that configuring everything just right can be a huge hassle and time sink.
Well if you have ever wanted to try and build your own MythTV box, you should really check out this great MythTV Ubuntu Installation Guide. This guide uses the latest release of Ubuntu (6.10 Edgy Eft) for the base system, and the tuner card of choice used is a Hauppauge Nova-T card, so most of the drivers are already built into Ubuntu.
The guide is split into several sections which makes it easier to follow, and it has quite a few screen shots which always makes things go smoother. Also make sure to check out part two of the guide which includes the steps involved with getting remotes, MythWeb and MythVideo all working.
Guides like these are always welcomed in the community, especially to those who are new to the subject. Part 1 of the guide can be found here, and part two can be found here.
One of the best features of MythTV, the open source DIY Linux PVR software, is its ability to completely skip commercials without any human input.
This is something that mainstream PVRs have shied away from in fear of lawsuits from TV networks. After all they get enough stick over the fast forwarding feature.
MythTV uses a very impressive system to detect adverts and is generally very accurate. It uses the following three criteria to score video segments as being commercial breaks:
Fade to Black: Often just before advertisements start and end there is a short fade to black. This can help identify adverts but can also produce false negatives from fade to black scenes within TV shows.
Frequent Scene Transitions: By detecting regular changes in scenes (high contrast image changes) MythTV can help pinpoint a block of commercials. Commercial breaks generally contain several frequent scene changes every 30 seconds over a short period of time.
TV Station Logo Disappearing: Quite often TV networks have a watermarked logo in the corner of the screen to help brand their station. This disappears during commercial breaks so can be used to detect them.
Take a look at the video below to see MythTV's commercial skip in action.
As some of you have surely noticed, we recently launched a new feature: Media Center Edition Plugin Spotlight. Although we are currently only focusing on MCE plugins, there are a lot of other homebrew PVR solutions which also support plugins.
On that note, Tom's Hardware has a put together a nice, little six page article that highlights 13 official plugins for MythTV.
MythTV for those who may not know is by many accounts the leading software for a free, do-it-yourself PVR solution. Although it may be a little more complicated to set up than other PVR solutions (due in large to the fact that it is Linux based), it is still one of the most developed and versatile packages out there.
Some of the plugins showcased include MythDVD (a DVD ripping and playback solution), MythNews (a RSS aggregator) and MythWeather (a plugin that displays weather forecasts, similar to MCEWeather which we spotlighted last week).
It's quite nice to see that a lot of the software based PVR solutions allow for development from the community. Because of this development we are given options to not only add to the software, but we are also given the opportunity to turn our PVRs into true media centers.
Although MythTV is probably the best known PVR software available for Linux, it is definitely not the only one. SageTV has had a commercial version available for Linux for awhile now.
With that in mind, Nathan Willis from Linux.com ventured into the do-it-yourself PVR world and gave SageTV Media Center 5 for Linux a try.
His biggest complaints throughout the process was the initial install (limited hardware support and firmware upgrades), the menu layouts and the lack of plugins that the Windows version has.
On the good side he was impressed with the video quality overall and once SageTV was installed, the guided setup was fairly easy.
Overall the biggest issue seems to be the lack of support, both from a technical and hardware standpoint. I tend to agree with him that if users are expected to pay $80 for the software, then the support will need to be brought up a few notches.
Hopefully these problems will be rectified with the 6.0 release.
SageTV is looking for users willing to beta test a Mac version of their personal video recorder software.
SageTV is already one of the few PVR programs that will run on Windows and Linux computers. A brief glance at their user forums show that a number of folks have already been running SageTV on their Mac minis, but have had to boot into Windows to do so.
In order to participate in the closed beta, you need a PowerPC or Intel Mac running OS X 10.4 or later, have an existing SageTV license for Windows or Linux, be willing to sign a non-disclosure agreement, and you can't work for a competitor. They're also looking for users who already own a Hauppauge WinTV PVR USB2, which, for now, will be the only capture device supported by the SageTV Mac client.
There aren't as many options for Mac users looking to make their computers into home theater/PVR systems as their are for windows users right now. The best seems to be Elgato's EyeTV which integrates with Front Row. But with SageTV jumping into the market, that could all change.
Neuros is working on another update to their line of MPEG-4 recorders. Neuros's claim to fame is that their device acts as a simple PVR, but lets you record directly to Compact Flash, Secure Digital, or Memory Stick media.
Now Neuros wants to add to its PVR features to its Neuros OSD by allowing you to browse YouTube or Google Videos online, access Flicker accounts, and record radio signals. But rather than do all the work in-house, Neuros is making 200 beta units available through ThinkGeek for $160 after rebate. The device will work alone as a standalone recorder/player, but Neuros is hoping they'll be picked up by hackers skills who will help develop new applications for the open-source Linux-based system.
They're even offering bounties:
YouTube or Google video Browser Bounty: $1000
Flickr Photo Browser Bounty: $600
Implement a wireless remote using a WiFi PDA (or PSP) as the remote. Bounty: $500
TiVo style functionality for radio. Hook up the OSD to a FM/AM or Satellite receiver and do timed recordings or FF/RW and Pause Live Radio. Bounty: $700
Voip on the OSD. Plug a USB phone into the OSD and make calls without touching any of your PCs. Bounty: $500
I get the feeling the final version of the product will have an opaque case, but personally I think it'd be pretty cool if they'd release it with the clear casing. I mean, anyone who's buying a PVR that records iPod and PSP-ready video is probably pretty geeky anyway, right?
The worlds favorite homebrew Linux PVR solution has just received an update. Version 0.20 of MythTV was released today and houses an abundance of changes. The release notes are pretty extensive, but the major changes can be found below:
Added MythArchive plugin for archiving recorded shows
Menus are now drawn by MythUI using OpenGL. This option can be enabled/disabled in the Appearance settings
Improved internal DVD player - now supporting menus and other missing features
Added MHEG content implementation (Interactive TV in UK)
Added Hotplug support for removable media in Media Monitor and MythGallery
Added support for the HDHomeRun encoding device
Added support for basic FreeBox recorders
Added support for H.264 (aka MPEG-4 AVC) TS decoding
Added an MPEG1/MPEG2/MPEG4-AVC IP network recorder
Added internal UPnP server support for TV and Music
Added experimental second commercial detector
New socket class for backend communications
OSD image cache which improves channel changing speed
Fixed program transition while Watching LiveTV
Added beginnings of firewire capture support for MacOS
Support for DVB radio channels and guide data collected via EIT for them
Added mouse support in menus, including gestures
The new version is available for download from the MythTV website in the downloads section. The site is currently running very slowly, which is probably on account of this release being Slashdotted.
In its infancy comes another homebrew Media Center application set on creating an open source cross-platform media center solution. Cross platform in this case means the software is intended to work across Unix, GNU/Linux, and Windows operating systems.
The Elisa site (which strangely, doesn't appear to format correctly in IE 6), indicates that Elisa is a project initiated by Fluendo, which is a company that specializes in delivering products and consulting services for Unix and Linux multimedia.
Apparently, Fluendo has multiple full-time coders working on the Elisa Media Center project, and has some intention of selling products and services centered around Elisa. More importantly, they also intend to offer a set-top box using the finished Elisa Media Center at some point in the future.
As you can tell from some of the screenshots, the Elisa Media Center has a pretty slick looking GUI that appears to be inspired in part by the Mac operating system.
As stated, Elisa is in its early stages of development. Version 0.0.1 was released a few months back and is available for download here.
Features of this release include:
Pictures, music, movies browsing and playback support
Basic media operations (picture rotation, video navigation, ...)
Partial interoperability with UPnP MediaServers
OpenGL 1.3 rendering support
Storage hotplug support using HAL and DBus (USB volumes, iPod, ...)
Web radios support
Basic DVD playback
Remote control support using LIRC
Extensible plugin framework
Planned features of future releases include:
Full TV viewing and PVR capabilities, including features such as time-shifting
Full integration and compliance with Intel's ViiV devices
Trick mode support, both client and serverside. Offering features such as fast forward, slow motion and reverse playback.
DAAP music sharing support for iTunes, Banshee and Rhythmbox integration.
Videoconferencing and Voice over IP. Also adding support for videoconferencing and voice over IP to Elisa.
Since Elisa is a very flexible and themable system, a wide range of user developed plug-ins will be available for it allowing people to add features to their hearts desire.
We have talked about the new Archos 604 here, here and here, but we didn't really talk about how it will be based on embedded Linux software and use the Opera web browser.
Fans of Linux and Opera will definitely find this very appealing. Opera previously supplied the browser for the Linux powered Archos PMA400 PMP. Archos founder Henri Crohas stated that: "This time around we have selected Opera once again to deliver a superior Internet experience to this new generation Archos device."
Opera is boasting that its browser will bring full, unabridged internet access to the 604 and do so with the feel of a regular PC. Opera believes that this internet experience is unmatched on any PMP.
A friend of mine discovered his Xbox 360 had a hard drive attack so he had to send it in to Microsoft for emergency surgery. This happened right around the time NCAA '07 came out so he was fairly pissed off and probably even a little depressed (he's kind of a loser).
Looking for ways to occupy himself for the twelve days it would take to get his 360 back, he did what any sane person would do. He decided to install Linux on his spare computer citing, "It'll probably take me all twelve days to get it up and running properly."
Linux may be a wonderful OS, but from what I understand you practically need a Ph.D to get it all installed and working the way you want. Thankfully, there's a solution for laymen like myself who may be interested in using MythTV but don't want to endure the headache that could go along with Linux.
You can now purchase a preconfigured system called a Monolith Media Center that comes prepackaged with MythTV and a TV tuner. In short, you get a Linux Box with PVR capabilities all without the jail time that comes with trying to install Linux yourself but murdering a loved one in a blind fit of frustration and rage instead. It's a win-win situation, except the basic system will set you back $649.99.
Personally, that sounds like a lot of money to spend for a PVR. I understand I'd be getting a computer too, but if I had to have someone build me a Linux PC with MythTV preinstalled, than I probably wouldn't know a lot of other fantastic Linuxy things I could do with it, but that's just me. I'm sure there's a whole segment of people who are interested in something like this so have at it.
Good news if you're a user of the Linux-based commercial desktop operating system Linspire or Freespie; SageTV has released SageTV Media Center Version 6 all for you.
Oh, those Linux hackers. Sure, they're constantly endeavoring to put Linux on every device possible, from PDAs to open-source PVRs. But what about building desktop Linux clients for popular consumer devices, like say the Slingbox?
To spark a bit of Windows vs. Linux action Tvease has posted a visual comparison of the Windows Media Center GUI and the MythTV GUI. You can instantly see some very strong similarities and where MCE might appear more visually appealing in one area (e.g audio), Myth TV is more appealing in another (e.g images).
The fine folks over at the Freevo project released their latest stable version, 1.6.0, on Saturday. Of course with the usual stability & performance increases, there are also a couple of new features.
One of the biggest turn offs people have when trying to build their own PVR is that things can get complicated quickly, especially if you use a Linux based software solution. Heck, even for the seasoned PVR builders amongst us, we know that configuring everything just right can be a huge hassle and time sink.
Although MythTV is probably the best known PVR software available for Linux, it is definitely not the only one. SageTV has had a commercial version available for Linux for awhile now. 
Neuros is working on another update to their line of MPEG-4 recorders. Neuros's claim to fame is that their device acts as a simple PVR, but lets you record directly to Compact Flash, Secure Digital, or Memory Stick media.
We have talked about the new Archos 604 here, here and here, but we didn't really talk about how it will be based on embedded Linux software and use the Opera web browser.
A friend of mine discovered his Xbox 360 had a hard drive attack so he had to send it in to Microsoft for emergency surgery. This happened right around the time NCAA '07 came out so he was fairly pissed off and probably even a little depressed (he's kind of a loser). 
