XBMC Ported To Android

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."

Comments

If anyone wondered what to use the Q for

[TyFoN]

This is it :)

Re:If anyone wondered what to use the Q for

[markdavis]

$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.

Re:If anyone wondered what to use the Q for

[mwvdlee]

Most others are something you can easily hide from view in your living room.

Re:If anyone wondered what to use the Q for

[Anonymous Coward]

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

[bobstreo]

who do I throw money at to thank them?

Re:YAY

[SScorpio]

You could always just donate to the project.

http://xbmc.org/contribute/donate/

Oooh-Ya

[yotto]

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

Re:What in the Sam Hill is XBMC?

[Latentius]

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?

[oakgrove]

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...