Internet TV Arrives (for Mac users) with DTV

luigi6699 writes "The fine folks at Downhill Battle just released a Beta of their Internet TV software for Mac OS X, called DTV. Mac users can download it now. It's totally free and open-source. The Windows version and full DTV launch is coming in just a few weeks... DTV is an Internet TV player: you can browse the built-in Channel Guide and subscribe to dozens of channels. Watch full-screen: music videos, documentaries, video blogs and more. You can submit your channels to their open Channel Guide, or make your own channel with Broadcast Machine. And you don't need to be a videomaker to have your own channel -- use Broadcast Machine to link to videos from all over the place. Check out this latest iteration of the read/write web!"

Comments

Pretty cool stuff

[d'oh89]

Just downloaded and fired DTV up. I'm real impressed. I never knew how many vblogs are out there. Already found a really cool show (Rocketboom). I'm thinking that this software is going to help push this more mainstream. Definitely worth the download to check it out.

Re:Pretty cool stuff

[Tibor the Hun]

Rocketboom...Sweet Mother of God, can you say "awesome cleveage"...

Re:Pretty cool stuff

[Peter Cooper]

I don't get it. She's nice and all, but it seems so forced and "wow, look at me". I guess that's the whole thing about vlogging though. I think if TV were like that, though, I'd go nuts. It's like watching a valley girl's diary.

Why is is Mac only?

[revmoo]

What were downhillbattle THINKING when they released this stuff for Mac only???? I love Mac myself, but that's not enough to delude me into thinking that their target audience would be more than one fifth mac users, and that's a generous guess.

WTF?

Re:Why is is Mac only?

[slthytove]

A quick peek at the Sourceforge CVS seems to indicate that the meet of things is done in Python, and they already have directories for Linux and Windows (although they're both sparse at the moment). My guess is that whoever was taking the most initiative in getting this done was/were Mac users, and so they wanted to see results there first.

It's also possible that they wanted to get a small sampling of the kind of activity they'd expect - releasing it Mac-only for now would allow them to gauge interest, and prepare for the bandwidth onslaught that will occur when the Windows version is released... maybe?

Re:Why is is Mac only?

[Anonymous Coward]

Um it says in TFA that a Windows client is due out next week. Did you even read the summary.

Video channels on the internet are the next wave, and thank God, with all the crap the broadcast and cable networks are putting on TV.

Re:Why is is Mac only?

[tres]

more likely:

it's just a lot easier to develop for the mac.

Re:Why is is Mac only?

[aristotle-dude]

Especially the interface.

You can knock out a prototype of the UI in minutes with Interface builder and have something that you can play with.

Once you are happy with it, you just wire up the code/objects and hit build.

Notice that they have several features which have not been implemented yet but the UI controls are already there in this beta.

Re:Why is is Mac only?

[Directrix1]

Glade is just as simple for linux to layout an interface.

Re:Why is is Mac only?

[TheRaven64]

GORM, the GNUstep version of Interface builder, makes this equally easy (actually, easier in some cases since you can add Smalltalk scripts directly to GORM making it a complete RAD platform, as well as an object modeller like IB). The place where OS X wins is QuickTime - if all you are doing is playing video that QuickTime is trivial to use (and to port to Windows, although *NIX is another matter).

Re:Why is is Mac only?

[OmniVector]

Spoken like someone who's never actually used IB / Xcode (and possibly not even glade?)

Re:Why is is Mac only?

[Directrix1]

No, I've never used IB / Xcode, give me a Mac and I might try it. But Glade is damn simple. And yes I have used it. I've also used Delphi and other RAD environments. Granted these RAD environments might be a little easier since its part of a larger IDE, but Glade is still pretty simple. Try pyglade or glade#.

Re:Why is is Mac only?

[OmniVector]

Give it a shot sometime in an Apple store if you can. You can create a web browser with 0 lines of code using IB. It's by far the best MVC based designer I've ever used. And with the new Cocoa Bindings you can even populate portions of your interface with data without writing more than a couple lines of code.

Re:Why is is Mac only?

[Anonymous Coward]

Once you have Cocoa bindings under your belt, be sure to look into CoreData as well. I've just started working through some samples, and it's some very impressive technology, taking a lot of the grunt work out of app development. Definitely worth the learning curve!

Market Share

[ndansmith]

Will internet TV players and video blogs be able to steal any market share from standard broadcast, cable, and sattelite TV? Perhaps with an array of quality video blogs, the internet could make a dent in the ratings for mainstream's low quality offerings (read: Reality TV). I think the more important question is: will the networks or producers of mainstream programming being to offer their product on line as well?

Re:Market Share

[kevcol]

Who cares- with a million low budget "Wayne's World" type shows popping up all over, break out the beer and popcorn because That's Entertainment!

Re:Market Share

[Ohreally_factor]

I don't know if it's really that important that a "dent" be made in big media's market share. What is important is that there are tools like this and that tools like this continue to be developed for those of us that want something different.

The downside of this becoming popular is millions of idiots filling the web with their video clips that are already getting airplay on the major media outlets. In that sense at least, yes, we're going to get plenty of mainstream media.

Buzzphrase Alert

[FLAGGR]

"read/write web" is going to make a very annoying buzzphrase

Re:Buzzphrase Alert

[byolinux]

I think we should call it WWW-RW ;)

Re:Buzzphrase Alert

[reynhout]

or WWW+RW.

Just be careful, because WWW-RW and WWW+RW each only work in certain browsers, and if you accidentally browse to the wrong kind of website because you didn't notice the stupid 2-pixel difference, CompUSA isn't going to give you your time back.

Re:Buzzphrase Alert

[Gogo Dodo]

No, it should be WWW+RW. And then Firefox can be WWW±RW compatible! ;)

Re:Buzzphrase Alert

[bersl2]

WWW-RW -> RW-WWW -> RW4

Re:Buzzphrase Alert

[Ohreally_factor]

You sure it wouldn't be 2W-R? Or W^2 - R?

Bandwidth...

[daviq]

But the real question is - does it hog your bandwidth?

simple

[Anonymous Coward]

The Mac is hella easy to write software for.

Neener, neener, we got something first for once.

Re:simple

[Horrortaxi]

Neener, neener, we got something first for once.

We get everything first, what are you talking about? Word, Excel, Photoshop--all on the Mac first. Mouse, USB, floppy drive, CD Rom, Firewire--all first commonly used on the Mac.

Re:simple

[sootman]

Yup. All these whiners are just hella jealous.

Re:simple

[bwintx]

Before the M$Borg attack you for that, let's note that you obviously meant a windowed version of Word, which absolutely was on the Mac first ('84). However, I recall reading a review of the DOS version as early as '83. Going off to grab my cane, now...

Re:simple

[daeley]

floppy drive

First used, and first not used. :)

Re:simple

[aclarke]

Hella

Re:simple

[Golias]

Kind of reminds me of that line in The Commitments:

"Jimmy, you were the one who told us about Frankie Goes To Hollywood before anybody else even knew about them... *and* you were the first to know they were shite."

first thing that pops up

[rebug]

This perplexing pseudo-dialog.

Uhm, yes?

Re:first thing that pops up

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh yeah, that was the first sign. And then I downloaded 1 episode of Diggnation, entered fullscreen mode and that whole thing crashed on me. Definitely not up its task.

Next!

Re:first thing that pops up

[jaywarrietto]

you did RTF summary right? it said beta.
don't expect it to be perfect. Firefox isn't beta anymore and I still have trouble with it on occasion. no software is perfect.

Re:first thing that pops up

[dema]

Known bugs in BETA Build 1: preference panel and menu items not functional - fullscreen not working on OSX 10.3. Fixes and new features coming soon.

A new way to discover talent

[chia_monkey]

Oh sweet mother...

I don't know if it's the coffee in me buzzing me up beyond belief or if this has worlds of potential. Slashdot is great for listening to people comment about things from all around the world. The social networking sites (LinkedIn, MySpace, etc) are good for meeting people both personally and professionally. And now you have this, which could be many things to many people. Some could use it as their ranting platform. Others use it to discover talent (talent in writing, talent in gathering interesting video and compling it, talent in editing, etc). I can't wait to get home and download it (you Mac users out there please hold off and don't slashdot the page so I can get it).

Re:A new way to discover talent

[Shanep]

I can't wait to get home and download it (you Mac users out there please hold off and don't slashdot the page so I can get it).

Ha ha. Okay, let us know once you've arrived home and completed your download, so that we may then do so. Please don't forget about us! I realise that once you have completed your download that you will want to get straight into the web TV thingy, but please take the time to keep us in the loop so that we don't have to wait any longer than we need to. ; )

Re:A new way to discover talent

[chia_monkey]

I'm good. You can proceed now. ;) Thanks for waiting.

I just had an amazing thought....

[Vaevictis666]

I wonder if there were any forward-thinking tv stations/networks that would be willing to buddy up with this idea.

Imagine, the traditional TV shows we're used to, viewable over the internet, commercials intact. How can that not make everybody happy?

Viewers get a legit avenue of watching TV over internet, and the show producers can track download stats and validate commercial impressions to advertisers in much more concrete numbers than the current model (if significantly less in volume)

Re:I just had an amazing thought....

[Wesley Felter]

Local affiliates get screwed by that model, since no one would see the local commercials. Personally I think that's fine, but never underestimate the wrath of a complacent incumbent pseudo-monopoly.

Re:I just had an amazing thought....

[Sancho]

And the FCC would probably prevent it for this very reason. Same reason you couldn't get Network channels by DSS for the longest time.

rocketboom lady, will you marry me?

[Anonymous Coward]

Man, I can't watch that show at work. One look at her and I'm bonerfied for the rest of the day. I'd crawl a mile through broken glass to suck off the last guy who tapped that ass. What a total fox.

Oh my dang, rocketboom lady, I love you so much! Wait, who's this faggot in the vest? Rocketboom lady, don't tell me you love him. Look at his stupid hipster glasses! Rocketboom lady, say you'll be mine and I promise you a future without a man in silly glasses. I promise I'll never wear a vest, especially not with a t-shirt because rocketboom lady, I am not gay. This man on your show, clearly he enjoys sexing up other guys, and rocketlady, that is so not what I'm all about. Please, lady, please say you'll be mine and not go out with that gay dude any more.

Re:rocketboom lady, will you marry me?

[Anonymous Coward]

No shit- with that rack she looks like she got hit in the back by a couple of cruise missles. It's an unpolished act now, but watch her get picked up by a real show in the not too distant future.

Re:rocketboom lady, will you marry me?

[Anonymous Coward]

Hey- the gal can drive a stick shift!

http://www.amandacongdon.com/amanda%20congdon%20re sume.pdf

Re:rocketboom lady, will you marry me?

[Anonymous Coward]

I got a stick she can shift anyday!

Re:rocketboom lady, will you marry me?

[Seumas]

Not to be that "her knees are too pointy" guy or anything, but if she's the "Amanda Congdon" girl that someone else here linked to, I don't see what the big deal is.

She's attractive, certainly. But she's kind of the typical television/women's magazine bland beauty. You know, nothing special. Face looks like every other famous "hot" chick's face. Typical hot chick body.

I like my chicks a bit more on the interesting side. I mean, look at her - she doesn't even seem to have a style unless "whatever I copied off of the latest copy of Cosmopolitan magazine" counts as a style.

But if she's like an uber-brain, that's different. I've never really found Gena Davis all that good looking, but that whole Mensa thing definitely helps.

I'd still take Morgan Webb or that faux-punk blonde chick from the same network (G4TV I think) over this rocketboom girl. Or even the hottie in the yellow outfit from Cowboy Bebop.

Oh god . . . I'm so pathetic.

Re:rocketboom lady, will you marry me?

[Seumas]

She said STICK.

Not twig.

Re:rocketboom lady, will you marry me?

[Golias]

Holy crap. You sound exactly like the sort of whiner who would complain if they hung you with a brand new rope.

Re:rocketboom lady, will you marry me?

[Anonymous Coward]

Better than a pathetic bastard who gets wood over some random intarwebs chick. I mean. Come on - what are you guys, four years old? Do you still giggle at the word "boner"?

Since there's a few ABC News podcasts...

[computerdude33]

...will there be a ABC News videoblog?

INTERNET TV ARRIVES!!!

[jgartin]

Has anyone heard of a little program called WinAMP? Internet TV has been around for a while now.

Re:INTERNET TV ARRIVES!!!

[aristotle-dude]

Is WinAMP still in development? Is is cross platform compatible? Is it open source? This one is.

Secret for you

[Anonymous Coward]

'Cause we Mac users are always ahead of the curve. Thpbpbbt!

Redundant

[Lon]

I've downloaded and tried DTV -- looks ok, but nothing great. Nothing that iTunes 4.9 doesn't already do for both Mac and Win platforms (yes, you can watch videos in iTunes -- look to the album art pane).

Re:Redundant

[jigoman]

I think the similarity is intended. Once the video ipods come out I can see this blowing up large..

Re:Redundant

[An Onerous Coward]

I think the problem is that you're evaluating it as a video player. The "we play video" feature is the least interesting aspect of this software. The goal, as far as I can tell, is to provide a new network where anyone can publish their video online. So the success of the software should be evaluated based on how easy it is to find interesting content, and find interested viewers for your own content.

In short, we might have to wait years before rendering a final verdict.

Re:Redundant

[Anonymous Coward]

and point us to the source code for iTunes please.. moron.

Is there one for Windows and Linux?

[antdude]

I know this is off-topic from Apple. Is there a free software for Linux and Windows (2000 and XP)?

Re:Is there one for Windows and Linux?

[Ohreally_factor]

RTF . . .uh, yes. They're coming soon, perhaps in a week. Sorry, I forgot where I was.

Two thoughts.

[vertinox]

1. Do I need a biger pipe?
2. Does it count if I point the video camera at my cable TV?

Re:Two thoughts.

[Jeff DeMaagd]

1) It is basically a podcast aggregator that plays videos, for retrieving video over RSS feeds. Except for lacking the thumbnail feature, iTunes 4.9 does this better, its podcast feature can download videos.

I hope this program improves though.

Re:Two thoughts.

[Ohreally_factor]

You're only looking at half the picture, which is the viewer/client. The exciting part is the publishing component, i.e., the "broadcast machine".

Re:Two thoughts.

[Anonymous Coward]

You are only looking at half of iTunes 4.9 then, because that allows you to publish your own podcast, too.

Re:Two thoughts.

[Ohreally_factor]

~~You are only looking at half of iTunes 4.9 then, because that allows you to publish your own podcast, too.

iTunes 4.9 has a built in mechanism for broadcasting video "podcasts"? Seriously? (I haven't upgraded to 4.9. I'm still on 4.7.1)

Content is king- Who shall be my messenger?

[Leontes]

okay. So the pages are slashdotted. I'm looking for increasing the content, since it seems like a neat program.

Public domain tv like cartoons?

clever, possibly missed daily show clips

Classic moments in Television

Those funny clips that people sometimes share online

This works pretty well: I like the RSS aspect of it, I can see it to be a new type of podcasting.

Oh, my!

[Anonymous Coward]

That first girl...she's hot!

Max Headroom

[Fudge.Org]

Everyone can have a TV channel.

Re:Max Headroom

[dal20402]

In one corner: The New Goatse Channel(tm).

In the other: John Aschroft Live!

Sounds fun....

[ShyGuy91284]

I'll have to give it a try when I get my shiny new *Book soon. I'm just waiting for commercialization of MythTV. If console makers licensed it, It could probably become extremely popular, and us Geeks wuold be payed to set up Myth servers....

Re:first thing that pops up -- FOOL! Its NOT Beta

[Anonymous Coward]

FOOL! Its NOT "Beta"

Beta means... upon initial designation NO KNOWN BUGS, AL FEATURES PRESENT.

This software is ALPHA, not beta, it has known bugs and missing features.

Apple has a technote for developers that Darin Adler himself wrote, 5 or 6 pages in length describing the exact meaning of beta, alpha and developmental.

the original poster was correct... it is BUGGY not beta until they redesignate it correctly.

beta means always : NO KNOWN BUGS and FEATURE COMPLETE... it just has not been tested.

More! :-D

[Anonymous Coward]

And who wants to mod parent up "informative"?

Bittorrent distribution?

[elliotj]

Does anybody know how the video is downloaded on this app? I'm running it now and can't tell. If they could combine it with bittorrent, it would be an incredibly powerful distribution model.

I'm very impressed. (and very pleased to see it come out for the Mac first!)

Re:Bittorrent distribution?

[slim]

The web page says "Download seamlessly with HTTP or BitTorrent".

MythTV.

[saintlupus]

Please God, someone convince Isaac to write a Myth module for this.

I'd much rather watch this stuff on the real TV than on my ancient iMac.

--saint

Re:first thing that pops up -- FOOL! Its NOT Beta

[jaywarrietto]

Then why did the summary call it a beta? Is it my fault if I quoted their mistake?

Way Awsome

[jimmyjim]

I just did the download it this rocks!! I ma was waiting on this it seems like forever because I got a plasma monitor back in the day when they cost an arm and a leg and ofcourse I always wanted to watch t.v. thru it. This is no doubt one of the coolest things Mac has rolled out in awhile.