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Ubuntu TV Finally Gets a Close-Up
Barence writes "Canonical has unveiled the first screenshots and details of Ubuntu TV. Plans for versions of the Linux distro for tablets, smartphones and TVs were unveiled last year, and now the television is — perhaps surprisingly — the first of those to arrive. 'It's a simple viewing experience for online video, both your own and routed over the internet,' Jane Silber, Canonical's CEO told PC Pro. Movie streaming services will be supported as well as live television broadcasts. Ubuntu TV will be integrated into television sets, but Canonical was unable to confirm any manufacturers. It will be released later this year."
Looking at the screenshots, it looks like it's running MythTV with a custom theme
I wonder how the Mythbuntu folks feel about this.
Seeing as this Ubuntu respin has never been officially endorsed by Canonical (to my knowledge), may be seen as a bit of a hijacking of the project...
I can't imagine anyone going to an electronics store and saying "I want to buy an Ubuntu TV." No, they're going to ask for features or for a name-brand.
Who is going to be shipping them? The author of the software behind a smart/internet-enabled TV is way down my priority list when considering the purchase of a TV.
From what I've read, none of the so-called "Smart TV" products works with ALL content. They're all broken for one media site or another, a far from perfect solution for anyone.
How about listing the streaming protocols and formats Ubuntu supports? Are there any it doesn't support? Why?
I guess we'll just have to hope for more info when CES rolls around. But for now, I'd appreciate it if the Slashbot editors would stop posting pre-announcements for products as if they're telling us anything useful in them. All you're doing is providing free advertising for products that haven't been shown yet and about which we know nothing.
I'd much rather see some articles during and after CES that actually have some information about the products, not just the names of the vendors involved.
I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
sudo apt-get remove realitytv
sudo apt-get install somethinginteresting
More info at Canocial blog and Ubuntu website (including a video).
Hopefully there may be some new packages coming out because of this
daap seems broken on ubuntu
least ways I can't connect via daap to my media on my nas , that may be due to a bad file name for a media file. Tried several media players and failed each time.
DLNA does work with Totem and XBMC but Totem doesn't filter and XBMC takes over the whole session meaning you can't just set music playing and get on and do something else.
rhythmbox is supposed to support DLNA but the media servers don't show up.
The other issue which exists is DRM somehow there has to be some decoding of drm in order to use a lot of feeds and what content provider is going to give keys to decode content without some certainty that their content isn't going to become part of somebodies library for the price of a rental
Blarney Quality Restaurant, Plants
but Canonical was unable to confirm any manufacturers. It will be released later this year.
Oh dear. Released by who then?
Sony may be coding up a rootkit for ubuntu as we talk.
Okay so, we have MythTV, XBMC/Boxee/Plex, Freevo, Enna, and only Github knows how many others... and now Ubuntu TV.
How many of these me-too media center suites do we need ? I've been an XBMC fan since it was an actual Xbox app, but it is only a player. The few of my friends who want PVR functionality use MythTV. Would it not make a million times more sense to concentrate people's efforts on those two projects ? I'd rather have two awesome media center apps than ten shitty ones. Both are extensively configurable so it doesn't seem like anyone would be losing prized functionality by switching to one of the big two - or even merging them into one.
And no, I'm not new here. I'm just fed up with the unnecessary fracturing of limited free software resources. Even the venerable GeeXboX has seen the light and transformed itself into a polished XBMC-based distro. The more developers and eyeballs we have on the core projects, the better.
-Billco, Fnarg.com
http://www.reghardware.com/2012/01/09/lenovo_touts_worlds_first_ics_television_set/
If this is any good then it could well be that the Canonical offering will be too little, too late.
I've used MythTV extensively in the past, not as much anymore since cable providers fight tooth and nail against clear QAM and NTSC, but never mind that.
One thing I really liked about MythTV was the ability to launch any program I wanted through use of the "Game Player" section - most notably, I actually liked being able to launch actual video games. If this thing actually hits TV's or a set top box the box itself needs to support Bluetooth - for pairing PS3 controls. USB would be an alright work around and there's lots you could do with it, but really Bluetooth is the way to go. They need the MythTV like game launch for ZSNES, Mednafen, MAME, and whatever else. The console in the TV would be the rockinest thing ever!
(Building in support for a Myth backend would be nice also, but who am I fooling? Cable providers have put a bullet in that. It's easier to just torrent and watch shows than it is to time shift - the irony of the situation - fighting against the peoples ability to legally do as they should be able to causes more piracy - who would have guessed?)
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I don't want Unity on my computer and I don't watch TV, just youtube videos. They are going the way of a TV on a general computer with Unity and sacrificing normal desktop for it.
You can't handle the truth.
Sony may be coding up a rootkit for ubuntu as we talk.
Motorola, maker of set top boxes, is working on Ubuntu Blur theme-ification and unremovable Blockbuster app as we speak.
I8-D
UbuntuTV! Maybe I'll be able to root my old black and white Philco.
It's got a little problem with the vertical hold, but that goes away if I reach in the back and wiggle one of the tubes.
You are welcome on my lawn.
I fear the `computer' as we know it will be dead in a five to ten year perspective.
All we'll have are locked down media consumption devices (e.g. ipads and these kinds of TVs, perhaps linux based, who knows, but that doesn't matter). Sure you'll be able to browse web, check email, and BUY apps, movies, music etc., but that would be it for its capabilities---and scary part is that 99% of the population would be just fine with that.
"If anything can go wrong, it will." - Murphy
One of the main reasons I don't like Unity is that it wastes so much screenspace and makes the icons so big that you only get to see a few on the screen at a time.
I noticed the paradigm continues with unbuntuTV.
I have over 1000 videos. Using the whole screen to show 6 movie icons at a time won't even slightly work for me.
Considering that netflix is the application that consumes the most bandwidth on the internet, I have to ask you what the hell your talking about.
Flash, nVidia drivers
None of this is on the livecd, nor is it installed without asking the user, so I'm not sure why AC is complaining about this.
When asked who would actually be manufacturing it, a Canonical spokesperson responded "Hey, look over there!" and ran out a nearby exit.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
A tv with a shitty interface where all the buttons get moved around every update ... how could it fail?
People complaining that existing, outdated components are is too big to fit on the back of their TV, and not having enough HDMI ports, apparently.
moox. for a new generation.