XBMC Ported To Android

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Posted by Soulskill on Saturday July 14, 2012 @03:31AM from the xbmc-around-town dept.

New submitter TheUni writes with news that XBMC has been announced for Android. Quoting: "Not a remote, not a thin client; the real deal. No root or jailbreak required. XBMC can be launched as an application on your set-top-box, tablet, phone, or wherever else Android may be found. The feature-set on Android is the same that you have come to expect from XBMC, no different from its cousin on the desktop. Running your favorite media-center software on small, cheap, embedded hardware is about to become a hassle-free reality. And as Android-based set-top-boxes are becoming more and more ubiquitous, it couldn't be a better time. ... We will begin releasing apks for interested beta testers in the coming weeks. But for those who are up to the task, as you would expect from XBMC, the source code is available. We have decided not to push to Google Play until we are satisfied that users with all kinds of devices get the same great XBMC experience."

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If anyone wondered what to use the Q for by TyFoN · 2012-07-14 03:40 · Score: 3, Interesting

This is it :)
1. Re:If anyone wondered what to use the Q for by markdavis · 2012-07-14 03:45 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  $300 for something that could be done for less than $75 with a Pi (which includes case/ps/cables)? Or an old Linux box lying around? Or a used Xbox for $50? For $300, I could put together a complete microATX system with tons of storage and CPU.
  Sorry, I don't see the "Q" fitting into the picture for most people. At least those looking at the price tag. If it were $150, that would change the equation considerably.
2. Re:If anyone wondered what to use the Q for by mwvdlee · 2012-07-14 04:03 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Most others are something you can easily hide from view in your living room.
  
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3. Re:If anyone wondered what to use the Q for by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-14 05:43 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  Most folks probably already know as it was one of the things recently announced at the Google I/O conference. However, you are right - if you didn't hear about it already you aren't going to be able to find it without more context than just "the Q" (you could find some pictures of John de Lancie with that search though). Anyway, what they meant was this:
  
  http://www.google.com/nexus/#/q
4. Re:If anyone wondered what to use the Q for by drinkypoo · 2012-07-14 06:26 · Score: 2
  
  $300 for something that could be done for less than $75 with a Pi
  $75 for a complete solution
  
  Or an old Linux box lying around?
  That is gigantic and power-hungry by comparison.
  
  Or a used Xbox for $50?
  Gigantic, power-hungry, and limited to 1080i.
  
  For $300, I could put together a complete microATX system with tons of storage and CPU.
  Now that is an excellent point.
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
5. Re:If anyone wondered what to use the Q for by pjr.cc · 2012-07-14 07:07 · Score: 2
  
  Personally, if theres anything i would be targetting to run this on, its not the q, its the mk802 https://www.miniand.com/
6. Re:If anyone wondered what to use the Q for by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-14 08:41 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  The Pi is a fantastic piece of kit for what it is but it truly astounds me how people try to use it for things it clearly was not intended for. If you want a media center, you are going to want to watch videos at 1080P, you are going to want Netflix, you are going to want Hulu, you are going to want http://www.tubeplus.me/ you are going to want to transcode DVD's you rent at redbox, you are going to want to rip blu-ray's, you are going to want to store TB's of data, you are going to want to play AAA games on the TV set with a controller, and on and on. The only answer to do everything is a PC running an x86/x86_64 processor and as much as I hate to say it Windows or OSX as the operating system. Period. Anything else invites frustration and wistful longing for the real thing.
7. Re:If anyone wondered what to use the Q for by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-14 10:28 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Indeed, and for anyone who is wondering what Vahokif is talking about, I have tried using XBMC on a raspberry pi, and while it isn't awful, it also isn't a great experience.
  Problems that can be solved:
  * I'm using OpenELEC and it has a fixed root password! Seriously, in this day and age.
  * I was amazed to find that there is something called CEC that lets you use your TV's remote to control XBMC. Unfortunately the CEC daemon runs as a separate process and controls XBMC through its web interface, which you cannot set a password on (if you want CEC to work)! Not exactly secure.
  Problems that can't be fixed:
  * Mainly, it's very slow. XBMC was obviously designed to run on hardware that is 2-3 times more powerful.
  * Not enough USB power to run an external hard disk.
  * No mounting holes on the PCB. I mean, I understand not providing a case, but it doesn't exactly make it easy to build our own.
YAY by bobstreo · 2012-07-14 03:44 · Score: 3

who do I throw money at to thank them?
1. Re:YAY by SScorpio · 2012-07-14 04:10 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  You could always just donate to the project.
  http://xbmc.org/contribute/donate/
2. Re:YAY by godrik · 2012-07-14 05:57 · Score: 2
  
  Thanks to you, I just gave them 5 bucks!
3. Re:YAY by 0100010001010011 · 2012-07-14 10:07 · Score: 2
  
  I've donated a few times. Usually after something like this where I think to myself "I wonder what this would cost coming from a company." I've been with XBMC since near the beginning. ~2004ish. It has come an incredibly long way. Everything is hosted on NFS now. I can press a button on youtube and send the current video to the TV. My iPod touch will stream video and music to it. It looks gorgeous and there is a theme out there for everyone's personal taste.
  I'm running it on a 1.8 gHz celeron that chokes on HD content but thankfully Nvidia and VDPAU exist and I've played even the highest bitrate blueray rips without even a stutter.
  Major props to all involved.
Oooh-Ya by yotto · 2012-07-14 04:10 · Score: 3, Interesting

I wonder if it'll run on the Ouya, or Oooh-yah. Or whatever that new console is named.

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Re:Not quite a release by bobstreo · 2012-07-14 04:12 · Score: 2

There's already some (beta YMMV) apks out for mk802 and mini x
https://www.miniand.com/forums/forums/1/topics/136
Re:What in the Sam Hill is XBMC? by Latentius · 2012-07-14 04:32 · Score: 3, Informative

The article also does not explain what Android is, or what jailbreaking is, or what source code is.... If you don't know these things already, it either doesn't matter for you, or you should go Google them.
And for the record, it says right in the summary that XBMC is "your favorite media-center software." Seems pretty obvious that it's software that allows you to organize and watch all of your digital media.
Re:What in the Sam Hill is XBMC? by gtbritishskull · 2012-07-14 05:12 · Score: 2

Seriously... google "xbmc" and click on the first result. Is this your first time using the interwebs?
Thin client is not a bad thing by DCstewieG · 2012-07-14 06:18 · Score: 2, Informative

I have to think that while something like Plex would be better for a lot of people, XBMC still gets used on name recognition alone. If you have more than one device that you watch media on (TVs, Roku, tablets, phones, whatever) why wouldn't you want a central server managing the library, downloading metadata, saving watched flags, holding resume times, and serving up video to the devices? I turned a friend on to Plex from XBMC and he's amazed at how often he stops watching in one room and resumes in another. I love it too. I can't count the times that I've started watching something on the iPad in the kitchen while cleaning up and then going into the bedroom to finish on the TV. That's a way bigger feature to me than getting "the real deal" running everywhere I need it.
The people above wanting this for Google TV...check out Plex, it may be exactly what you're looking for.
Sorry to not gush for XBMC, I know it's the best solution for many people and I truly appreciate the heritage and the fact that it's the foundation for Plex, but until they have a centralized server (if ever), I can't even consider it for myself. And no I'm not going to jump through hoops to get it.
1. Re:Thin client is not a bad thing by drinkypoo · 2012-07-14 06:31 · Score: 2
  
  I have to think that while something like Plex would be better for a lot of people,
  Why?
  
  XBMC still gets used on name recognition alone
  No, it gets used because I've been using it, I'm familar with it, it works great for the most part (except for some plugins) and it runs on everything I want to run it on and plays everything I want to play with it.
  
  If you have more than one device that you watch media on (TVs, Roku, tablets, phones, whatever) why wouldn't you want a central server managing the library, downloading metadata, saving watched flags, holding resume times, and serving up video to the devices?
  I would, but I'd also like a fully open-source solution, and I'd rather have multiple media libraries (which does involve some overhead, but only significantly when a new player is brought online) than have a closed-source component hanging out in the middle of everything. As well, you can use PS3MediaServer to deliver content to XBMC, so you can get much of the functionality with XBMC.
  
  Sorry to not gush for XBMC, I know it's the best solution for many people and I truly appreciate the heritage and the fact that it's the foundation for Plex, but until they have a centralized server (if ever), I can't even consider it for myself.
  Sorry not to ride Plex's dick, I'm sure it works fine for you, but until it's fully FOSS I'm not interested.
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
2. Re:Thin client is not a bad thing by avgapon · 2012-07-14 08:13 · Score: 2
  
  Sorry, but I couldn't find Plex for FreeBSD or Plex Source Code on their download page.
3. Re:Thin client is not a bad thing by Colonel+Korn · 2012-07-14 08:21 · Score: 2
  
  I have to think that while something like Plex would be better for a lot of people, XBMC still gets used on name recognition alone. If you have more than one device that you watch media on (TVs, Roku, tablets, phones, whatever) why wouldn't you want a central server managing the library, downloading metadata, saving watched flags, holding resume times, and serving up video to the devices? I turned a friend on to Plex from XBMC and he's amazed at how often he stops watching in one room and resumes in another. I love it too. I can't count the times that I've started watching something on the iPad in the kitchen while cleaning up and then going into the bedroom to finish on the TV. That's a way bigger feature to me than getting "the real deal" running everywhere I need it.
  The people above wanting this for Google TV...check out Plex, it may be exactly what you're looking for.
  Sorry to not gush for XBMC, I know it's the best solution for many people and I truly appreciate the heritage and the fact that it's the foundation for Plex, but until they have a centralized server (if ever), I can't even consider it for myself. And no I'm not going to jump through hoops to get it.
  Plex transcodes and the resulting video looks pretty terrible. XBMC plays video natively.
  
  --
  "I zero-index my hamsters" - Willtor (147206)
Re:What in the Sam Hill is XBMC? by oakgrove · 2012-07-14 07:09 · Score: 3, Insightful

Considering the submission is obviously product advertising written by a marketing droid
Yeah, that's the one thing open source projects are well known for. Advertising and marketing...

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Re:XBMC = No DVR? Seriously? by 0100010001010011 · 2012-07-14 10:09 · Score: 2

What is this "Recording" of TV you do? What purpose does it serve? My shows just show up 1-2 minutes after they have aired automagically.
Re:Question by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-14 10:32 · Score: 2, Informative

its the Pivos AIOS DS. Pivos sponsored and supported the android port.
Does it support 10-bit h.264? by SpankyDaMonkey · 2012-07-14 10:38 · Score: 2

Like everyone else I'm going to be stuck waiting for the first build to try out. Key for me will be whether it supports the new 10-bit h.264 encoding. Seems like almost every player has issues - the only one that consistently works for me is mPlayer - and the softsub support support on that player still needs some work to bring it up to a desktop standard. Nice to see a release at least, especially considering that after the announcement that VLC is being ported to Android we're still to see a stable official VLC build on the store.