Topic: Gizmo and other Couch Features (Read 13087 times)

JimH · « **on:** December 01, 2010, 09:23:58 am »

With build 158, we added a lot of new and cool stuff to Gizmo, our Android app. You can use it to control your MC server over a wireless connection. More here:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=60631.0

It's received a warm welcome:
"This message is truly just about my gratitude for the greatly enhanced usability and overall integration of my Android smart phone (HTC EVO) with my server and TV. Listening around the house to my own stash with headphones is fun again!" -- nodyad

"I already installed latest version of gizmo 2 on my NexusOne and MC 15.0.159. it really looks cool" -- sh

"Love Love Love the Android development! Really can't wait until I can ditch my NetRemote PDAs for a couple of Android Tablets running Gizmo 2 (or 3 or 4). Awesome work guys. You sure make easy work of the decision of whether or not to purchase an upgrade when those times come around. Of all the software I've bought over the years my JRiver purchase has been the most consistently satisfying!" -- WinoOutWest

"MAN, this new GIZMO app is TIGHT. I really really like it." -- famu97

"This is FANTASTIC! Have to say, all this time I've been wondering why all the focus on DLNA but, since moving from WM6.5 to Android, it makes a little more sense. Well done! I can't wait for video to be ready!" -- imugli

Other useful tools you can use on your network are:

Media Center Remote -- our hardware for remote control of MC.

Theater View -- our ten foot interface for use from across the room or from a touch screen. Press F11 a couple of times to see it, then use the four arrow keys and the enter key on your keyboard to navigate. These five keys are the center of navigation when you use the Media Center Remote.

DLNA -- it's the industry's protocol for how to share media. It's comparable to what http is for browsers.

More later.

WinoOutWest · « **Reply #1 on:** December 01, 2010, 10:51:02 am »

we need our own "Like" button on the forum!

WinoOutWest · « **Reply #2 on:** December 01, 2010, 11:16:55 am »

Quote from: JimH on December 01, 2010, 09:23:58 am

Theater View -- our ten foot interface for use from across the room or from a touch screen. Press F11 a couple of times to see it, then use the four arrow keys and the enter key on your keyboard to navigate. These five keys are the center of navigation when you use the Media Center Remote.

I've never really spent much time with Theater View until this weekend I happened to leave it on Theater View-->Playing Now for longer than my usual 5 seconds. And I feel like I've got another new app now. The random background image search/display is AWESOME. Very entertaining!

bergmarmot · « **Reply #3 on:** December 08, 2010, 01:50:46 pm »

I have installed the latest version and also gizmo but the gizmo app can not connect to the library.....and this was the whole reason I bought this software.i have a samsung galaxy tab. Does anybody know what I can do.when I enter the key of my library them I get the message that there was a problem with connecting to the server.

JimH · « **Reply #4 on:** December 08, 2010, 01:56:59 pm »

Quote from: bergmarmot on December 08, 2010, 01:50:46 pm

I have installed the latest version and also gizmo but the gizmo app can not connect to the library.....and this was the whole reason I bought this software.i have a samsung galaxy tab. Does anybody know what I can do.when I enter the key of my library them I get the message that there was a problem with connecting to the server.

Just download the latest MC15 from the top of the MC15 board. It's 15.0.163.

bergmarmot · « **Reply #5 on:** December 08, 2010, 02:22:38 pm »

That did the trick ...thank you very much!!

Is it also possible to reduce the font size because on a tab they are really big now and then I can display more information;-)

JimH · « **Reply #6 on:** December 08, 2010, 02:26:15 pm »

No. It's not.

petrossa · « **Reply #7 on:** December 10, 2010, 04:59:11 am »

And now the s60 version please.

splashdwn1 · « **Reply #8 on:** December 21, 2010, 06:44:43 am »

The new versions are just awesome!! I can't believe how far this has come in such a short time. What a great improvement!!

I am having trouble locating the search feature now, though. Could you point me in the right direction or is that gone since getting away from WebPlay?

Thanks a heap!
Chris

JimH · « **Reply #9 on:** December 21, 2010, 07:04:55 am »

Quote from: splashdwn1 on December 21, 2010, 06:44:43 am

The new versions are just awesome!! I can't believe how far this has come in such a short time. What a great improvement!!

I am having trouble locating the search feature now, though. Could you point me in the right direction or is that gone since getting away from WebPlay?

It's on the Home page. Press the home button in the upper left.

splashdwn1 · « **Reply #10 on:** December 21, 2010, 08:06:29 am »

Quote from: JimH on December 21, 2010, 07:04:55 am

It's on the Home page. Press the home button in the upper left.

My choices on the home page are Audio, Images, Video, Playlists and Playing Now. I think I am using the latest version of everything: just updated last weekend. I am not at home now and hesitate to update my phone cause then it may not work at all if the version at home is out of sync. I'll check when I get home, I guess.

JimH · « **Reply #11 on:** December 21, 2010, 08:19:44 am »

MC 15.0.169 is at the top of this board.

splashdwn1 · « **Reply #12 on:** December 28, 2010, 07:58:54 am »

Okay, updated MC to 15.0.171 and did an update of Gizmo and now the search is on the home screen, thanks.

Now, however when I try to play a song it just says 'Preparing...' and then goes back to 'You're on the bus' with the button to resume playback. When I press resume playback it goes to 'Preparing...' then back to 'You're on the bus' in an endless loop. If I try to skip to the next song I get a Java state error. Any thoughts?

Thanks,

JimH · « **Reply #13 on:** December 28, 2010, 08:33:05 am »

What format are the files? MP3? Can you play them on the server? Try converting one to 128Kbps MP3 on the server.

Which phone is it? Can you play MP3 files on it? Try installing another music player for it. Gizmo passes the file to a music player.

Try a search for the phone here to see if anyone else reports it working.

splashdwn1 · « **Reply #14 on:** December 28, 2010, 08:40:10 am »

Oddly enough it's working fine now. Just tired, I guess.

Thanks,

BTW, they were MP3s of varying kbps - most from 128-320. Play fine on server, playing now on HTC EVO.

Great App!

MrHaugen · « **Reply #15 on:** December 31, 2010, 05:05:40 am »

I just tried the Gizmo with the newest build of MC, and I'm really impressed! It works very well considering it's age. A few thoughts though.

- It seems that the "Play here" function does not work. It only plays on server no matter what selection you choose.
- The interface would do well with some nice icons on the main screen, so we don't have to read all the text to figure out what item to hit

JimH · « **Reply #16 on:** December 31, 2010, 07:06:54 am »

Quote from: MrHaugen on December 31, 2010, 05:05:40 am

I just tried the Gizmo with the newest build of MC, and I'm really impressed! It works very well considering it's age. A few thoughts though.

- It seems that the "Play here" function does not work. It only plays on server no matter what selection you choose.
- The interface would do well with some nice icons on the main screen, so we don't have to read all the text to figure out what item to hit

Which phone do you have? Play Here will use the phone's music player.

MrHaugen · « **Reply #17 on:** December 31, 2010, 07:42:03 am »

I have a HTC Desire (not HD). I'm not exactly sure, but it can be that my default music player have been changed to Winamp? Gizmo should be able to pick up that though. I hope.

sdgrizdan · « **Reply #18 on:** January 03, 2011, 12:36:04 am »

Quote from: splashdwn1 on December 21, 2010, 06:44:43 am

I am having trouble locating the search feature now, though. Could you point me in the right direction or is that gone since getting away from WebPlay?

Thanks a heap!
Chris

A suggestion would be to allow the user to push the [physical] Android search button on the device to shortcut to the Gizmo search screen.

dildaly · « **Reply #19 on:** April 29, 2011, 05:14:54 am »

Generally gizmo works for me but two things are still problematic:

1) Video has never worked (now up to latest version of MC and gizmo - still no success)

2) Album selection - Oddly,whilst I can select music via artist and everything works fine, when i try to search or select via album, the connection fails or I just get a blank screen. Any ideas please.

Thanks

Arbiter · « **Reply #20 on:** May 12, 2011, 10:11:46 am »

Yesterday i joined the gizmo fan van!

I bought myself an HTC Wildfire running 2.2.1 version of android (** i can't root it).

I'm loving the software so far, especially the WoL function it provides. I can't thank you enough for this superb feature. I can now happily listen to my whole music collection from the comfort of my nice garden.

ps: Is there a way to shutdown the pc using gizmo ? (as a complimentary feature of the WoL packet)

dildaly · « **Reply #21 on:** May 13, 2011, 12:36:34 pm »

Just upgraded to MC 16.0.87 and the latest version of gizmo and I an delighted to report that video streaming is now working. Thank you this is a great feature.

I still have the issue that my phone will not allow me to play selections by album (only artist) but I'm sure you'll sort it out in due course.

TMA-1 · « **Reply #22 on:** May 14, 2011, 06:51:46 am »

Just wanted to say Great jobb on the latest update. Now Gizmo looks much better on my Xoom whith the albumcovers in gridview.

Grape Ape · « **Reply #23 on:** May 16, 2011, 02:26:18 pm »

Video is working for me. It takes 1:30 for a 13 second video to play, so it seems there is still much work to be done. I hate to compare it to Orb, but with Orb, an HD .mkv movie will start playing in less than 5 seconds, on the same computer.

Gizmo for music is fantastic! Video has a long way to go.

Matt · « **Reply #24 on:** May 16, 2011, 02:30:11 pm »

Quote from: sdgrizdan on January 03, 2011, 12:36:04 am

A suggestion would be to allow the user to push the [physical] Android search button on the device to shortcut to the Gizmo search screen.

The hardware search button should work in Gizmo. Please report your device and version of Android if you're seeing something different.

Thanks.

JimH · « **Reply #25 on:** May 16, 2011, 05:15:42 pm »

Quote from: Grape Ape on May 16, 2011, 02:26:18 pm

Video is working for me. It takes 1:30 for a 13 second video to play, so it seems there is still much work to be done. I hate to compare it to Orb, but with Orb, an HD .mkv movie will start playing in less than 5 seconds, on the same computer.

Gizmo for music is fantastic! Video has a long way to go.

What version of MC are you using? Have you tried the latest?

Grape Ape · « **Reply #26 on:** May 16, 2011, 07:27:21 pm »

latest Gizmo from the app store, and 16.0.87

JimH · « **Reply #27 on:** May 16, 2011, 08:22:51 pm »

Thanks. What phone do you have?

What video type?

Grape Ape · « **Reply #28 on:** May 16, 2011, 11:52:18 pm »

Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant i9000 running 2.2

I use an mpg and a mov file for testing. They can take 5-10 times the length of the video to start playing.

JimH · « **Reply #29 on:** May 17, 2011, 07:04:52 am »

It should normally take about 1 to 1 the first time. Then the converted video will be cached on the server, so the next time it should start in a few seconds.

Maybe the server isn't very powerful?

Grape Ape · « **Reply #30 on:** May 17, 2011, 04:07:20 pm »

Orb can play a 2 hour movie within 5 seconds, so I'd say my server is powerful enough. It's a core 2 duo 6600, with 4 gigs of RAM, so it should be enough to do the trick.

dildaly · « **Reply #31 on:** May 18, 2011, 04:23:05 am »

Hi

The hardware search for album title etc still isn't working onm my phone which is an Orange San Freancisco running android 2.1.
The only way I can access content is to browse by artist.
As I said earlier, the good news is that with the larest MC and gizmo versions both audio and video are streaming very nicely.

JimH · « **Reply #32 on:** May 18, 2011, 06:09:53 am »

Quote from: dildaly on May 18, 2011, 04:23:05 am

The hardware search for album title etc still isn't working onm my phone which is an Orange San Freancisco running android 2.1.

This works for me. It brings up the regular search, which by default includes artist, album, and genre.

HTPC4ME · « **Reply #33 on:** May 25, 2011, 09:01:06 pm »

newest version of gizmo, newest version of jriver 16. on droid htc, went to gizmo, play here (play on phone) types, music videos, 4:37 minute long music video.. took me 8 minutes until it said preparing...

Then an additional 48 minutes of preparing. and i gave up and hit cancel. then phone locks up, hit home button , then try re-opening gizmo, and all i get is black screen, and lock up again, if i keep hitting back arrow, i get droid error box, asking to force quit. if i chose force quit. then gizmo loads fine again.

HTPC4ME · « **Reply #34 on:** May 25, 2011, 09:03:43 pm »

Music and images load Instantly!

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Author Topic: Gizmo and other Couch Features (Read 13087 times)