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  LinuxMCE Partners with KDE for New Release
Applications Posted by Aaron J. Seigo on Wednesday 15/Aug/2007, @11:10
from the the-medium-is-the-message dept.
When picking a media center solution for your PC, it tends to be a matter of compromise. There are solutions that are visually attractive, solutions that are Free/open source software, solutions that are more complete than others and solutions that integrate well with a desktop environment. In the past there have been few, if any, that have been all of these things. After an extensive beta testing period a new version of LinuxMCE, release 0704, was recently made available to the public that shows how we can indeed have our media center cake and eat it too. Read on for details of this release and future plans for KDE integration.

LinuxMCE uses X.org's window compositing functionality to provide a simple to use fullscreen interface that is blended on top of the media being played. This interface is a key focus of LinuxMCE according to lead developer Paul Webber. "The traditional PC user interface doesn't work well on a TV.  So a different interface is needed, which is called the '10 foot' interface (in reference to the fact that people interact with media devices such as televisions from a distance). The '10 foot' interface is still in the same state as the desktop was pre 1983. There is no standardisation and each application has to figure out how to present its functionality to a user."

In an effort to address the '10 foot' interface challenge, LinuxMCE and KDE Plasma developers are working to bring the two projects together. The first step was making a prototype showing how LinuxMCE and KDE can work together, which is showcased in the 0704 release where LinuxMCE is integrated with Kubuntu and KDE 3.5.

Future efforts will integrate LinuxMCE technology closely with Plasma to make it a compelling media centre option for KDE 4. Bringing the much needed interface standardisation along with a rich set of features to the masses requires such a combined effort between the desktop environment and the media centre projects. This ambitious goal is possible due to both KDE and LinuxMCE being open source projects which hobbyists and corporate interests alike, can freely participate in.

Of course, interface alone is not enough: LinuxMCE also provides a compelling set of both traditional and innovative media center functionality. From its built-in media browser, one can play media both locally as well as on devices scattered throughout the house over the network. MythTV is used as the basis for the default media player functionality, but with LinuxMCE's design this can be swapped out for other options such as VDR.

Built in thin-client features allow systems to be booted remotely then have media streamed to them, with consumer electronic devices such as HD TVs, stereo components and iPods detected and set up upon being plugged in, often automatically with little to no user setup required. Wizard based screens with instruction video walk-throughs are provided for devices that can not be autoconfigured, making it simple to add even more complex hardware components to the system.

These are only some of the capabilities presented by this very comprehensive system. Other interesting features include its home automation system, motion sensitive gyro remotes that provide full access to all on-screen features with just three buttons and much more.

As a showcase of its breadth and depth, a 25 minute video walkthrough and presentation has been made that shows all the key features of LinuxMCE 0704.

Encouragingly, there is also an emerging marketplace growing up around LinuxMCE. For instance, one can already purchase motion sensitive remote controls made specifically for LinuxMCE as well as pre-assembled, plug-and-play high end LinuxMCE based media systems from companies such as Fiire. Such consumer electronics products are helping open source media centers move from being in the realm of the enthusiast to being a realistic option for the average person.

While much attention is being paid to the KDE 4.0 release, there is already thought and work going into the future of KDE beyond the first KDE 4 release. The integration of media centre technology in concert with the LinuxMCE project is a prime example of this. By bringing a usable, consistent and comprehensive interface to the modern maze of media, Free software is staking out a leadership position in this area of client-side computing.

Downloads of LinuxMCE are available via FTP/HTTP and BitTorrent. DVD distribution of LinuxMCE can also be purchased at cost (US $3-$5 at the time of this writing) via Google Checkout on the LinuxMCE main page.



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Over 40 comments listed. Printing out index only.
This is soo much needed!
by Thomas Zander on Wednesday 15/Aug/2007, @15:41
I know there is a big market for things like harddisk recorders already, but honestly if you actually tried the offers out there it just makes you cry. My dad bought one a year ago after he saw me use a self-build one. And I highly admire his persistence to use it since the thing drives me crazy. Its got a user interface that is really really sad.

So, having an open source software stack so companies can include that instead of pushing their own sad piece of quickly-manufactured software is a great prospect IMO.

Go libre-stuff, go!
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Cool.......
by Segedunum on Wednesday 15/Aug/2007, @15:45
With all the lovely stuff going into Plasma, I can well see why it would be a compelling platform for building a lovely looking media centre interface. MythTV currently uses Qt as well.

People may laugh at open source media centres like this and say "What chance have they got?", but to be honest, it's the only way forward for many of us to get the 21st century TV and entertainment systems we all thought we were going to get, but just haven't. The proprietary guys are falling over themselves trying to lock you into a particular supplier or subscription, with DRM systems so onerous that all the usefulness that could have been there has merely been taken out. All the restrictions merely take away all the advantages and convenience of having a media centre type system in the first place!

"For instance, one can already purchase motion sensitive remote controls made specifically for LinuxMCE as well as pre-assembled, plug-and-play high end LinxuMCE based media systems from companies such as Fiire."

Well, they might well have another customer pretty soon ;-).
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Ubuntu Media Center / Mythbuntu on the wrong path
by AC on Wednesday 15/Aug/2007, @20:05
It would be nice to see Ubuntu Media Center (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuMediaCenterTeam) and Mythbuntu (http://mythbuntu.org) join LinuxMCE and the KDE team to create one kickass Free/Open Source media center. Given that MythTV is built on Qt, that would make perfect sense, wouldn't it? But no -- they want to build their tools based on GTK and Gstreamer (which are LGPL) so that they can force proprietary DRM and closed-source software on the user. Even the Mythbuntu installer and desktop is based on GTK instead of Qt -- how silly is that?

I congratulate LinuxMCE for building your exciting technology on top of the truly Free Software desktop: KDE. Too bad Ubuntu has so many anti-KDE, anti-Qt, anti-GPL, pro-DRM zealots calling the shots. (BTW: I'm not referring to Mark Shuttleworth or Jonathan Riddell, but to some of the GNOME developers hired by Canonical).
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KDE4 integration plans
by LordBernhard on Wednesday 15/Aug/2007, @22:58
Hi!

First i'd like to thank you for the article but to be honest: i would have liked to hear more about the "port" going on for KDE4. Or things like if it will get shipped directly with KDE (basic package/multimedia package) or if you'll need to download it from there homepage and install it and it just fits into the plasma desktop (design wise). Or are these things not decided yet? If this is the case i'm sorry for this post ^^. At last i've got to say: great work so far. move on ^^

friendly greetings

Bernhard
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Hardware awareness
by Martin on Wednesday 15/Aug/2007, @23:23
I watched the video. A major portion of the magic here seems to come from awareness of connected devices. Could parts of that be merged into Solid?

Interestingly, a lot of the hardware information is provided by the user; which room is a particular light located in? Which port of the digital TV receiver is connected to which input of a particular TV set?
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Other applications
by T. J. Brumfield on Wednesday 15/Aug/2007, @23:52
Actually, what appeals to me the most about a self-built MediaCenter PC as opposed to a TiVo box is the ability to add other apps. I have DVR functionality in my cable box, but I stream media from my computers to my TV through a hacked XBox because it also plays games, has XBMC, and I can run emulators off it. It is nice but lacks any real horsepower. I've been considering building a decent MediaCenter PC and ditching the DVR service from my cable company. This looks to be a great alternative!
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Nice, but
by Bernhard Rode on Thursday 16/Aug/2007, @01:46
It looks nice and it is always good, when commercial products join to support a project.

But after all the things I've read until now, I'm a little bit upset.
Imho a KDE Plasma MediaCenter would mean I zoom to my MediaCenter and their, I'll get some widgets connecting to Amarok/DigiKam/... via DBUS and give me the ability to show/hear my media in a comfortable way. Very cool might be sharing my Libraries via Zeroconf.
For me at the moment LinuxMCE seems to be some kind of sperate piece of Software, they use so many different technologies. This is Ok for MediaCenter only Screens, but not on my Desktops. Here I think the footprint should as small as possible...

I believe in the kde team, and I know that many killer features will be released with 4.1. After the base is done in 4.0.

Linux MCE does many things good. I will try it out as soon as I have some sparetime left.

And to the LinuxMCE guys... you did a great piece of software and with your decision to join plasma, you got style too....


About the XBMC:
I think its the perfect MediaCenter UI.
Maybe we should get this project (http://www.xboxmediacenter.com/wiki/index.php?title=Linux_port_project) team to join us.
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Plasma hotness -vs- GNU's flash project?
by Borker on Thursday 16/Aug/2007, @07:16
As plasma seems to be becoming this great rich media vehicle, would it be possible / desirable to make it the front end to something like GNU's flash clone? With SVG, animation effects engine as well as the scriptability of plasma it seems like they would be a somewhat natural pairing...
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Demo video
by Jack H on Thursday 16/Aug/2007, @07:20
I appreciate the effort put into that video walkthrough, but in all honesty it's utterly disorienting. Does anyone else find it to be a bit of a sensory assault, or is it just me?
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Video quality
by LB on Thursday 16/Aug/2007, @16:38
Is it possible to create a videofile that is not HD? A _lot_ of systems are not capable of playing HD files and the flash quality is, well, less than optimal. Just a normal wav, mpeg, ogm and/or wmv is _very_ much appreciated.

Thanks!!
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KDE 4.0 "media center" Form factor
by Bernhard Rode on Friday 17/Aug/2007, @01:14
What do you think about using the "media center" form factor just as a Orbiter.
So kde can build the UI in a KDE Style way and just connect to a Server, which runs the whole MCE as a Media Director.
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Perhaps I'll get an answer here...
by cesman on Friday 17/Aug/2007, @10:05
First off, thanks for your work on KDE. I've been using it since 1.x and can patiently wait for 4.x. ;) Based on what I've read, it seems 'KDEmce' is LinuxMCE/PlutoHome rewritten to take advantage of Qt/KDE. Is this accurate?

Since MythTV used Qt, why not port Pluto's sweet frontend to MythTV? This to me would mean more to the community. I don't think another Linux media center is needed, especially when LinuxMCE/Pluto Home is essentially a pretty face on top of MythTV (and other software).

Kind regards,

Cecil
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LinuxMCE is the best!
by Michael on Friday 24/Aug/2007, @01:45
That good idea to make integration home automation system and KDE. I like Plutohome and I prefer KDE as working environment. Now I can use both - thanks to LinuxMCE and KDE development teams. Waiting for Plasma release to see how it will work with LinuxMCE.
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