So, what are u guys working on? -:) (NEED +1 from u all )

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So, what are u guys working on? -:) (NEED +1 from u all )

Postby lar282 on Thu Feb 02, 2012 7:41 am

It's so quite arouind here...............
So Wes and Steven, what are u working on these days. What's the next release gonna contain. Any hints? Any teasers? Roadmaps?


//Lasse
Last edited by lar282 on Tue Feb 07, 2012 7:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: So, what are u guys working on? -:)

Postby wesblack on Fri Feb 03, 2012 5:08 pm

xLobby News Update.png


We are working on a few things, finishing up the Android integration improvements on the Xpad webserver, the project creation system in the skin editor for setting up home control systems using a simple step by step menu based creation process making it easier to setup menu's to create control systems faster and more efficiently. Adding a few new features, misc bug fixes, exploring new oppurtunities.

Obviously there has been many changes in the last few years in regards to home control, home automation systems and content management, devices such as Apple TV, Roku, VUDU STB products. The economy is obviously playing a major role on consumer spending habits and for many the crippling housing markets make it difficult for many to justify the costs for many of these types of systems. Many consumers are confused and uneducated on all the technologies available to them, simply put they just don't want to keep recycling electronic products on a regular bassis. Keep in mind that not all home owners have the expertise that many individuals have here on this forum to create virtually any type of systems for themselves or adopt new technology on the fly.

Many companies including xLobby that market and sell products in the system integration channel are experiencing the same issues and unknowns of where the market is going exactly. More and more iPad-Android control systems and companies are showing up everywhere based on IP-network control hardware devices and several different web based cloud concepts. The market will so become saturated with these types of control systems but beware many of them will have huge obstacles to deal with in the future.


1. Shrinking IR based products to control are reducing the need for expensive or eloborate tablets many manufacures of receivers, TV's now provide simple hard button tactile remote controls with the ability to act as a universal remote for other products like your stereo receiver, direct TV box, etc. Many home users still want simple tactile devices to control there home systems, companies like RTI, Universal Remote Control (URC), Logitech all do a fine job at a reasonable price point. Some models are do-it yourself and others require extensive programming skills from a knowlegeable system integration company.

2. DLNA is going to play a bigger part in remote control as well as IP based interfaces between equipment. More information on DLNA here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Living_Network_Alliance

3. HDMI CEC control. More info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI

4. Many manufactures are providing free applications that can operate there products using iPads, Androids devices more effectivly than programmers can write externally because they don't have direct access to information and tools to communicate efficiently like native applications created by the manufacture do.

5. Cloud based storage for media and smart televisions will reduce additional external devices and the requirements to control them.

Gesture based concepts and speech enabled devices will also play a role in the future when interacting with electronic devices.

As far as any roadmap we are constantly evaluating the market place to see how we can continue to develop solutions that will enhance a users experience when interacting with there technology. xLobby will move in the directions necessary to be relevant in media management and control and to adapt to the industry as it moves forward.

As always I will post any relevant information about xLobby in the news section of the main website.

Thanks again to the valued end users and individuals here on the forum that continue to make xLobby a great product....!
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Re: So, what are u guys working on? -:)

Postby lar282 on Mon Feb 06, 2012 9:17 am

Puh...... That's alot things.

DLNA would be great to have in XL. Been wanting that for years.
Also wish u would look into a way to use a Xpad client for listning to music. It would be a Sonos "killer" and a perfect way to use clients.


Thanks for a GREAT software.

//Lasse
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Re: So, what are u guys working on? -:)

Postby wesblack on Mon Feb 06, 2012 4:19 pm

I assume you mean streaming the content to the device such as an iPad, etc., if so it's on the to-do list. :D
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Re: So, what are u guys working on? -:)

Postby lar282 on Mon Feb 06, 2012 5:51 pm

wesblack wrote:I assume you mean streaming the content to the device such as an iPad, etc., if so it's on the to-do list. :D

YES

Xpad as a music zone :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)
Or is it called Xdroid? :-)

Lasse

Ps:Maybe if everybody +1 on this they might prioritize this feature :Ds
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Re: So, what are u guys working on? -:)

Postby Bill Lott on Tue Feb 07, 2012 2:32 am

How do you not +1 to that!
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Re: So, what are u guys working on? -:) (NEED +1 from u all

Postby lpg on Tue Feb 07, 2012 3:46 pm

Thanks Wes. I have decided to mount android tablets throught my house as the whole house controller. between xlobby and a few other programs I can control everything.

Larry
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Re: So, what are u guys working on? -:) (NEED +1 from u all

Postby lar282 on Wed Feb 08, 2012 3:34 pm

Just imagine....

Every room can have a fixed or portable cheap tablet with android allowing Multizone music without ANY cables or expensive hardware like Russound or other.
If we want better sound then we can buy the http://xlobby.com/news/2011/12/21/95-2035-25-watt-stereo-amplifier/ and hook that up the the Android tablet
No more cables, no more buying special hardware. FREEDOM to us all 8)


It's a dream...............

:shock:
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Re: So, what are u guys working on? -:) (NEED +1 from u all

Postby lpg on Wed Feb 08, 2012 11:46 pm

I am hoping it is a dream around the corner. I just downloaded the ARcsoft Theater Master 5.2 upgrade with TM Server. There is an android Control program that works very well once the movie is launched. I am hoping that Steven and Wes are working on a native android app that will allow launching of other android apps within the client besides serving up the client http pages.

The only thing you will need is power. If Calrad could work on a remote power supply to charge the tablets then you could just fish a small wire through the wall. There are many mounting options out there even those that you can mount underneath a cabinet.

This could get exciting.

Larry
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Re: So, what are u guys working on? -:) (NEED +1 from u all

Postby billberet on Mon Feb 13, 2012 3:03 pm

I use HP tablets, webOS is is useless so i installed android on them all, use it for my xl control as well. http://ipaddress:port/web

but i find some of the features don't work well from a tablet running under independent control (http://ipaddress:port/web)
if i do the mimic, (//ipaddress:port) then things seem to work better, but not 100%.
examples:overlays not displaying correctly(like the zone overlay not showing any data), video not displaying when playing a movie, etc.
i'd say 95% of my issues is overlays not displaying any data with music, zones, movies, etc.

For all you tablet people, what configurations do you use to get your tablets working well.
should i use a different skin? i'm using a default skin from about 3 years ago, modified for my stuff.

i get the same issues if i use any of my ipads, so i assuming it might be the older skin i am using.
any advice or direction would be great!
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Re: So, what are u guys working on? -:) (NEED +1 from u all

Postby lar282 on Mon Feb 13, 2012 3:07 pm

I agree with u and I ended up creating parralell skin pages just for the Android (Xpad).

Maybe it will get better since wes mentioned "Native Android"...Not sure if he ment a App or what but we'll see

//Lasse
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Re: So, what are u guys working on? -:) (NEED +1 from u all

Postby lpg on Mon Feb 13, 2012 4:49 pm

I have gone to just using IP address:8002/ with the helix skin. All of the issues mentioned exist. I did write my own skin for movies and music. I used the helix skin as the base. I also found that in some cases I could not use an overlay but needed to use goto screen to make it work. The music worked fine but I had problems with DVD movies. For some reason mediaplayer would load and play the DVD at the same time as TMT5.2.

I did find the best browser to use was Dolphin HD. It does a great job of maximizing the screen so the xlobby interface takes up the whole screen. It also has an easy way to create shortcuts that you can put on your home screen.

I expect an app so that Xlobby has a more stable and predictable platform to operate from.

Larry
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Re: So, what are u guys working on? -:) (NEED +1 from u all

Postby lar282 on Tue Feb 14, 2012 7:58 am

agree again. Especially when using without /web (no Xpad) the result and behaviour is not consistent.
I hope the Native Android acts like a client and there is a easy way of telling if the commands should be executed like u were on the server or just executed locally on the client.
I still do not know if the movie execute when using filetypes works properly or not when using with or without /web?



//Lasse
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Re: So, what are u guys working on? -:) (NEED +1 from u all

Postby lpg on Tue Feb 14, 2012 5:46 pm

lar282 wrote:I still do not know if the movie execute when using filetypes works properly or not when using with or without /web?
//Lasse


When I was trying to get the movies to work I had to do some strange things. I used the file types but did not include the program. This mounted my iso with Daemon tools. First I had to execute media player "play category item. If I did not do this the movie that would mount was the last one I selected not the current. The wierd thing was that when the media Server screen was displayed it was of the current movie selected. Then I executed theater master and pulled up the mediaserver screen. This worked for DVD's and HDDVD's but for DVD's it launched the mediaserver player.

The reason I pulled up the mediaplayer screen was to see if the coverart of the current playing movie could be shown. I would like to have a now playing screen on the tablet with controls for my audio and theatermaster.

I finally gave up because I could not get consistant performance. There is no way I could convince my wife to upgrade all of my DVD's. Not that I really need to . MY Sharp TV upscales the DVD's extremely well. It is hard to tell the difference between the blu-ray and the dvd's.

Larry
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Re: So, what are u guys working on? -:) (NEED +1 from u all

Postby lar282 on Wed Feb 15, 2012 9:26 am

just thought of music behaviour. added new mantis:
http://xlobby.com/mantis/view.php?id=983


//Lasse
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