Slingbox? (1 Viewer)

[RoyN]

Hi,

I just picked up a slingbox and it is really cool.

Has anyone attempted creating a plugin for it? I wonder how difficult it would be. I know it doesnt seem to work with VLC, but maybe it would be possible to create a plugin that "embeds" the Slingplayer video?

I would like to use the slingbox as " My TV"... could someone give me some pointers on how I could prceed?

Thanks for all!

 

[Marcusb]

There isn't too much information at this stage, but when the new TV engine is release in the next few weeks (provided all goes well) it just might have the same features as a sling box.

I doubt it will work with sling box, but it may replace it all together...

 

[RoyN]

Hi,

How is it going to replace a Slingbox?

I will rquire a computer instead of each slingbox, in that case... which isnt really convenient....

The slingbox is cool because it is small, inexpensive, maintenance-free (I hope), etc... it also is easy to have, say 5 TV feeds, to 5 different MP client machines, each one watching stuff from onw cable-box, or antenna-cable tuner.

I hardly think that a software-only solution will ever be able to subtitute the slingbox in *this* type of specific application... For more general 1-user operations, yeah... I see it working...

Still, any ideas for a plugin I can make? Does the my Programs plugin allow you to "embed" an application, and make a skin that sends keys to the application?

Thanks!

 

[marshall]

Sounds like a worthwhile plugin. It might be wise to wait for the new TV Engine though; while it is doing it in a different way (and hence not really competing with the slingbox) it will be more similar than it is presently, so it might make your plugin a lot simpler to make.

I suppose another option would be asking frodo if he would give you any pre-release information to get you started on coding this now instead of waiting for the release. Never hurts to ask.

 

[ASiDiE]

If you guys take a look at this post HERE. You will see that I suggest something like slingbox for MP. I use a Free product called orb (www.orb.com) and it does the same thing slingbox does... for free. I can stream to my PDA, phone... pretty much any computer with a internet connection. I asked frodo is something like this was planned... he said they are going to look into it once the TV engine is release and stable. You guys should really check out ORB, it's a pretty cool program for sharing videos and pictures.

 

[RoyN]

Orb isnt the same as a Slingbox in that it requires a computer, and the slingbox is its own dedicated small unit. Also, Orb requires you to go through their service, while the slingbox can be used in a LAN.

This is important for my application since I wont always have a good internet connection available, and dont want to put any impediment at all on the performance of house services if I have a network outage on the exterior)

 

[RoyN]

actually asidie... from my understanding, the new tvengine will already function like a slingbox!

It will allow you to have on server with a tv tuner card (like slingbox), and a client on a network (different pc) with a MP frontend (like slingplayer, lets say)... same concept, but even beter: inside MP!

 

[ASiDiE]

You are correct when you say the new TV engine will have a server and it will stream to the clients. The one thing that the slingbox can do is re-encode the stream to support slower devices. Basically what it does is checks the speed on the device and then adjusts the stream to support that speed. So slower devices (PDA's and Phones) can listen to music and watch TV. Now the quality will be degraded but at least you can do it.

This would be a huge selling point (if we sold the product) to our users. This would allow them to have access to Pictures, music, recorded shows and live TV anywhere they have an internet connection. As far as I know, SageTV is the only Media Center product that has this feature.

I use ORB all the time to stream music and videos to work (Watching a full length movie at very good quality at work is pretty cool) Orb is a very good product and it is free, But I would like to see MP jump to the next level in terms of being a well rounded media center.

 

[RoyN]

Yeah, I see what you mean... It is something for the future I guess.... beofre we can get bandwidth optimizaion on live tv streams, we need to get the live tv streams!

Anyways, I think the new TV engine is something very cool, and cant wait for it to arrive!

 

[snarlyboy]

Hi RoyN,

Have you had any more luck with your slingbox suggestion?

I am currently using MP with my satellite cable and loving MP, but hating the limited channels available in my area, and I'm not really interested in worrying about the trouble that torrenting can bring when wanting to view other content not available where I am - Sooooo I was considering purchasing a TiVo and a Slingbox for installation at my sister's where she has like 700 channels and was wondering how hard it was to use and/or integrate into MP...

Any ideas on where to start? The idea is i'd like a way to access the paid content in that location at my location with no hassles as my sister is not really able to troubleshoot things if it goes belly up. My questions are:

How's the slingbox work for you?

Did you make a player plugin for it to MP?

If a plugin exists can it record the slingbox stream locally too?

I'd even be happy if I had a way to not stream but record at my sisters and ftp files over to me? Any suggestions on how to do that? I'm pretty noob in relation to Tivos if they have any kind of built in ftping as they don't have em where I live..

thanks for any advice!