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[JimH]

[I'm moving this from the web source thread to its own thread]

Yeah I was rambling I know.... Just it was the 'play' album command that showed up this reshuffle while clicking album in MJ or AV does not...
Anyway back to the web remote topic... I like it... and although the next fortnight to 3 weeks will be chaos after that I have some serious free time I hope to be able to help in any way I can...

Dan, Have you tried running your java front end on those puny touchpads yet ?? Did you get a touchpad from the deal ?? What is required (beyond OS) to get that client up and going... I have one virgin webpad that is purely Win98 converted to 98 Lite with IE 5.01 (IIRC) so as to push that little puppy to usable speeds...

If you want me to do any testing let me know... When I move I will be leaving the wireless net behind me so I may need to pick up another 802.11 card for playing...

---------------------------------------------------------------------- zigguratt 06-26-2002 09:15:38 A.M.

Nope, haven't tried my Flash front-end on a remote device. I don't have one yet. But it's certainly within the realm of possiblilty. I can reproportion the interface to fit a small device like that. I might have to lose the album cover display on something very small such as an iPaq. What's required is the Flash (F5) plugin on whatever target device. I believe it's available for the iPaq. Anything running standard Windows just needs the standard F5 plugin.
I'm about to start another thread so people will be aware of the fixes and changes.
---------------------------------------------------------------------- JimH 06-26-2002 09:58:02 A.M.


z and pp,
Just wondering what the simplest, cleanest device for this might be. Meaning, where will the market find the path of least resistance for this use? Web tablets? Pocket PC's?
The device has o be reasonably inexpensive and run a browser that supports flash.

Your thoughts would be appreciated (as always).

Jim


PhatPhreddy 06-26-2002 10:22:01 A.M.

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OK well I imagine PDA's would be popular but I am looking at Win flavors myself... I had a powerbuy on Stylistic 510 webtablets after Nabisco dumped 1000's they were running about 95 USD for a rough one to 125 for an A1 condition with stylus example... I ended up with 2 of those... Add a wireless NIC and you would be good to go for whole house control of whole house audio system via 802.11 as well as X10 etc...
Some links

http://pencomputing.com/features/fujitsus.html http://www.oportal.com/Point510/default.asp

To be honest the SVGA DSTN screen is alittle low end and I was doing this as a cheap proof of cencept as I am hopeing to design and build a smarthome soon and this would give me a clue as to interation hassles..

The upper end of this has just had a shot in the arm with the release of Progear tablet (there are some upsides to the current dot com fallout after all !!) through Sonic blue for 599 this is lot but this is a magnesiam shelled TFT touchscreen with 400Mhz Cruesoe chip and integrated 802.11

http://store.sonicblue.com/dr/v2/ec_MAIN.Entry17c?SP=10007&PN=5&CID=56451&SID=25971&PID=365951&DSP=&CUR=840&PGRP=0&CACHE_ID=56451

AFAIK these are sold out (well the win9x falvors are possibly some linux ones around...) and although these are pricey they dont need additional NICS as the 802.11 is built in... They look the bomb and will really make great touchscreen remotes for High end theaters and smart home development... These were 3k a few weeks ago !!!

I was sorely tempted but I need less toys not more !!!


Phreddy@PhatPhreddy.net
HTPC without using windoze... GUI's For Home Theater PC's

PhatPhreddy 06-26-2002 10:24:55 A.M.

Dan if you want me to test any speed issues in a week or so I will devote time (as soon as the emmigration is started)... In fact if you want to pay shipping you can borrow a 510 for a while (but I am in Europe so it may be just as cheap to pick one up as ship both ways fto end up with nothing !!!)...
I was soooo tempted by a progear !!!


Phreddy@PhatPhreddy.net
HTPC without using windoze... GUI's For Home Theater PC's
---------------------------------------------------------------------- JimH 06-26-2002 10:31:08 A.M.

Dan,
We'll help out on equipment if necessary.
Here's a device that would work except for the price:

http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/tais/pc/pc_prodList.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0589600961.1025105232@@@@&BV_EngineID=cadcegjfkmgebfekcghcfmfdgll.0&comm=CS&plin=Toshiba%20Pocket%20PC&pfam=Toshiba%20Pocket%20PC%20e740

It's $599 but it includes built-in 802.11b wireless networking.

[PhatPhreddy]

Personally (and this is very personal each to thier own for this...) I like the screen realestate of SVGA at a minimum as then it becomes a dual purpose 'on the couch' web browser for items like TV listings, IMDB lookups, etc etc...

PDA's make good remte controllers but webpads make better interfaces... Of course a PDA can do dual purpose for people where a webpad is an oddity...

Of course with Freestyla and Mira coming out real soon (let me in the Beta pretty please) this is where the industry will be following soon enough...

[claudio]

I would prefer the Web tablet (and at first glance I love the Sonic Blue), to be able to browse etc and also for the screen size.

So is it like a full Win98 machine where you can install and run native Win32 program, or is it restricted only to a browser interface?

If it's a generic Win32, at some point a "transport" only version of the media server (full control, but no streaming) , would allow you to drive using the native MJ UI.. that would be supercool!

Cost is an issue for both, since I'll also have to take a hit on the networking side

Claudio

[PhatPhreddy]

Its a full 32bit system running normal flavors of Win9x / etc (my fave is loading Win98 lite onto these devices but I may try and use a MSDN contact to play with embedded XP) but the fujitsu's I have are a an AMD 133 IIRC so thats about a 486DX2 possibly P1 100 !!! The Progears are deceptive too as Tranmeta chips are made for battery consumption and low heat more than power so people compare them to a P233 or so...

Hmmm a distributed media browser front end controlling a host PC... I wonder if anyone has ever mentioed this to Jim !!!!!

[claudio]

Hi Phreddy

Hmmm a distributed media browser front end controlling a host PC... I wonder if anyone has ever mentioed this to Jim !!!!!

that's possible , it's just that your threads, altough immensively informative, tend to become very long and full with misterious devices, magical procedures and a bit difficult to follow for the "un-initiated" so I must have missed a sentece or two ..

I swear I'll pay more attention in the future :-)

Claudio

[PhatPhreddy]

Hmmm I had an AVS'er put me in my place today too... I wrote what I though was a totally lucid and clear answer to his question and it was greeted with "err could anyone translate that" !!! It seems I only speek Geek !!!

BTW that was an inside Jooke with Jim as I have bent his ear far more than he deserved on this topic... I am the dog with the preverbial bone... not letting go now...

[JimH]

PhatPhreddy, you deserve a lot of credit for your ideas.  Not all of them make sense to everyone, but some are brilliant.  You were one of the reasons we did the web remote server in the first place, so you get a bone for that.  

Now, you'd better get back to your dish.  The cat is circling it.

Thanks,

Jim

[zigguratt]

Dan,
We'll help out on equipment if necessary.
Here's a device that would work except for the price:

That would be excellent, Jim. First I'd like to get this thing going using a standard computer as a client then modify the UI to fit various devices. All the hard stuff will be happening on the server side so making various UI configurations wouldn't be too difficult.

In case people are wondering what the heck we're talking about, I have a music application front-end called Glissando that communicates over a network with my XML server called Intermezzo to control a music application.

Glissando is a stand-alone Flash application that displays everything about the currently playing track, including lyrics, extra information, covert art, etc.  It also allows control of playback - similar to Web Remote - except that there's a persistent socket connection between client/server so a slider can adjust volume in real time, for example.

Intermezzo is Java-based server that accepts XML commands from clients and returns results in XML.  It communicates with and controls applications on the server side.  Currenty it works with Winamp and has VERY basic control over Zoom Player and DScaler.  Intermezzo is based on a plug-in architecture as well, so adding new applications isn't difficult.

I'd like to add support for Media Jukebox now.  I can already see that it will be much easier to control than Winamp, mainly due to the extensive API that jriver has provided.  Winamp only gives access via Windows messages.

It should be fun!

[Swordsman74]

Zigguratt,
    From what you describe, this would be nearly perfect for my needs!!  I've been piecing together most of those functionalities through WebRemote and a Track Info page, so I'm liking the prospect of using Flash instead.  I have no software developing experience (only web), otherwise I would offer to assist.  :-(  However, if you are looking for any alpha/beta testers, please let me know - I'd be glad to help in that regard.
    Thanks!
          Matt L.

[JimH]

z,
Feel free to post links to your software.
Jim

[zigguratt]

Will do, Jim.  I'll post a link as soon as there's something people can try out.

[PhatPhreddy]

Dan, Go on tease em... Show them a screenshot !!

[zigguratt]

Oh, alright. You twisted my arm. Here's a snapshot of Glissando in action:



(Hint: click on the mini-image above)