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<blockquote data-quote="Oxan" data-source="post: 1015591" data-attributes="member: 97484"><p>I think he meant that you miss (dont understand) the attractiveness of the Chromecast, he just phrased it poorly. I tend to agree with him though.</p><p></p><p>Let me explain the why for the last time with a fancy *ugh* ASCII-art. The traditional setup is as follows:</p><p>[code]Controller</p><p>(IR-remote /</p><p> aMPdroid / ------------> MediaPortal ---------------> TV</p><p> keyboard /</p><p> mouse)[/code]</p><p>However, this has the big downside that you need to have an HTPC coupled with each PC. If you've multiple TVs, that gets expensive quickly.</p><p></p><p>If you use an Android dongle (like you suggested), you get a setup like this. </p><p>[code] MPExtended</p><p> ^</p><p> |</p><p>Controller |</p><p>(IR-remote / v</p><p> keyboard / ------------> Android dongle ------------> TV</p><p> mouse /</p><p> bluetooth)[/code]</p><p></p><p>With the Chromecast, your setup looks like this:</p><p>[code] /-----> MPExtended -----\</p><p> | |</p><p> v |</p><p>Controller v</p><p>(phone / <-----------> Chromecast ----------------> TV</p><p> tablet)[/code]</p><p>It looks a bit more complicated, but it isn't. The user interface (i.e. aMPdroid) moves from your android dongle to your phone. The only added complexity is that the Chromecast does the playback instead of the controller, but that's taken care of by Google (i.e. the MPExtended -> Chromecast link is already developed by them). The missing link is Controller -> Chromecast, which is easy to implement.</p><p></p><p>The big advantage of this setup is that it's cheap ($35), easy-to-setup (you plug in the Chromecast and you're done) and it's generic. You're not bound to MP with this setup, you can just as easy fire up Netflix or YouTube. You also get a context-aware smart remote (i.e. your phone) for free, which is (in my opinion) a lot easier to use than a traditional keyboard or IR-remote. That's why I think the Chromecast is superior compared to existing alternatives.</p><p></p><p>So far my last post on the why, let's move on to the how now:</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I'm going to try to get my hands on a Chromecast. (I'm not a US citizen, so it's a bit tricky).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I expect that we'll start by implementing a "play-on-TV" button in WebMP using the Chrome plugin, to demonstrate that it works.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The next step would be to implement a simple API for playback control (i.e. pause, volume control, etc), so that each controller (i.e. WebMP, aMPdroid, Eve, and other remote apps) doesn't need to reinvent the wheel and only has to wire up the buttons in its own interface. I except this to be quite simple with the SDK. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The final step would be to add the buttons to all other controllers (which requires support from the individual app developers, of course). </li> </ul><p>Help from other developers is of course welcome and much appreciated. Let me know if you're interested <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Oxan, post: 1015591, member: 97484"] I think he meant that you miss (dont understand) the attractiveness of the Chromecast, he just phrased it poorly. I tend to agree with him though. Let me explain the why for the last time with a fancy *ugh* ASCII-art. The traditional setup is as follows: [code]Controller (IR-remote / aMPdroid / ------------> MediaPortal ---------------> TV keyboard / mouse)[/code] However, this has the big downside that you need to have an HTPC coupled with each PC. If you've multiple TVs, that gets expensive quickly. If you use an Android dongle (like you suggested), you get a setup like this. [code] MPExtended ^ | Controller | (IR-remote / v keyboard / ------------> Android dongle ------------> TV mouse / bluetooth)[/code] With the Chromecast, your setup looks like this: [code] /-----> MPExtended -----\ | | v | Controller v (phone / <-----------> Chromecast ----------------> TV tablet)[/code] It looks a bit more complicated, but it isn't. The user interface (i.e. aMPdroid) moves from your android dongle to your phone. The only added complexity is that the Chromecast does the playback instead of the controller, but that's taken care of by Google (i.e. the MPExtended -> Chromecast link is already developed by them). The missing link is Controller -> Chromecast, which is easy to implement. The big advantage of this setup is that it's cheap ($35), easy-to-setup (you plug in the Chromecast and you're done) and it's generic. You're not bound to MP with this setup, you can just as easy fire up Netflix or YouTube. You also get a context-aware smart remote (i.e. your phone) for free, which is (in my opinion) a lot easier to use than a traditional keyboard or IR-remote. That's why I think the Chromecast is superior compared to existing alternatives. So far my last post on the why, let's move on to the how now: [list] [*]I'm going to try to get my hands on a Chromecast. (I'm not a US citizen, so it's a bit tricky). [*]I expect that we'll start by implementing a "play-on-TV" button in WebMP using the Chrome plugin, to demonstrate that it works. [*]The next step would be to implement a simple API for playback control (i.e. pause, volume control, etc), so that each controller (i.e. WebMP, aMPdroid, Eve, and other remote apps) doesn't need to reinvent the wheel and only has to wire up the buttons in its own interface. I except this to be quite simple with the SDK. [*]The final step would be to add the buttons to all other controllers (which requires support from the individual app developers, of course). [/list] Help from other developers is of course welcome and much appreciated. Let me know if you're interested ;) [/QUOTE]
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