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[JimH]

On your Android phone, chose the "Play Store" (formerly Market) icon and search for Gizmo.  Install it on your phone.

Start by connecting Gizmo to a Library Server.  This is done with the "Access Key" that MC15 can generate.  See Media Network in MC's Options and choose "Enable easy access..." or "Manage access..."  Copy the key that looks like "AbcDef" and enter it in Gizmo.

Now you can do the following:

1.  Play Here -- this lets you browse your library and stream audio, video, and images to your phone.

2.  Play on [Device] -- this plays to any zone or DLNA Renderer, including a copy of MC (if DLNA is enabled under Media Network).

3.  Theater View Remote -- a five button remote that lets you navigate in Theater View.  Press and hold the Green Button to start Theater View.

More about Gizmo on the wiki.

[swinster]

I will check this out in tomorrow when my phone gets back. I hope it is relatively simple to be able to connect to multiple library servers? For instance, my main 'library server' is where all my media is stored ans so where I would stream music from, however I wish to be able to control multiple other systems using the one device.

[JimH]

Press and hold any album, artist, or track to get options including "Play".

The phone's hardware buttons for volume, menu, and back should all work.

[JimH]

I will check this out in tomorrow when my phone gets back. I hope it is relatively simple to be able to connect to multiple library servers? For instance, my main 'library server' is where all my media is stored ans so where I would stream music from, however I wish to be able to control multiple other systems using the one device.

The source must be a single Library Server.  The destination can be any DLNA device and the phone itself.  Multiple destinations work.

[JustinChase]

I have/had Gizmote .157 and an older version of Gizmo installed on the EVO.

I see that Gizmo will be the application moving forward, so I installed Gizmo .158, as suggested above.

When I launch it, it seems to be still opening in my web browser window and takes me to a (new?) homescreen.  it says webplay along the top and shows the main Audio, Image, Video, Playlist options, but none of the play to... or remote options that Gizmote shows.

Do I need .158 installed to get the full functionality, or have they not merged yet?  Your instructions above seem to indicate Gizmo should show the play to options, but I could easily be missing something.

Thanks again for all the work on this, it's truly appreciated.

[Matt]

When I launch it, it seems to be still opening in my web browser window and takes me to a (new?) homescreen.  it says webplay along the top and shows the main Audio, Image, Video, Playlist options, but none of the play to... or remote options that Gizmote shows.

That sounds like a webpage shortcut, not the program.

Maybe uninstall everything, then install Gizmo from the market again.

You should see a welcome screen that asks for a library server key the first run.

Subsequent runs auto-connect and show a browse (or remote) screen.

[JustinChase]

It did ask for the key and user/password when I launched it, however, it looks like it didn't install the newer version of Gizmo, although it looked like it did.

When I went to uninstall it from the market, it showed "install", but when I tried to install, it just tried downloading forever.  I un-installed Gizmo version 15.0.142 along with Gizmote 15.0.157 using Titanium backup (great program  )

When I tried to install it after that, it still hung up trying to download, so I restarted the phone.

It installed; and now, it seems, I'm "on the bus", which makes me happy.

thanks.

FYI, while playing an audio playlist, I clicked on the menu, brought up the transport controls, selected the one on the left to bring up the playing now list (NICE!) and was able to touch on another track, and that track played, and when I clicked the button again to bring back the album cover view, it still showed the cover from the song playing when I left this view to pick the new track.

i clicked back to the playing now list and the former track was still showing highlighted in black, looking like it thought that was the selected track, which would explain the cover view.  clicking the other track again just restarted the track playing over but the image did not change.

clicking on next changed track and cover to the correct, and all worked well again.

it is still not playing video on the EVO, when selected from a playlist, in case it was supposed to work; I'm not sure the status.

[JustinChase]

I'm not sure if the the EVO is supposed to show itself as a playback device/zone on a client machine connected to the library server, but it doesn't.

the client also does not show up as an option to play to from the EVO.

not sure if it's supposed to, but would be cool if it did

[JustinChase]

sorry, just throwin' 'em out there as I'm playing around.

when skipping tracks, any track that does not have cover art just continues to show the previous artwork.  this happens when skipping in either direction.

When playing images, the speed is great.  it changes images very fast, nice work!!

as I was clicking next very quickly, just to see how fast it could go, i got a force close, but it's been okay since.

it would be cool if launching images while playing music acted as it does on the server, which is to say it just adds the images to the still playing music.  I could understand if the bandwidth caused it to be one or the other, but it would be cool.

When you rotate to landscape mode the transport controls fall off the bottom of the screen, so having some other way to advance the images would be useful.  flicking as someone else suggested would be VERY cool.

having the ability to start a slideshow would be nice also.  perhaps by just moving a slider from one side (no show) to the other with decreasing time between images (down to 1 or 2 seconds maybe).  letting you easily select the timing between images.

Ya'know, as I think about it, with the kickstand on my EVO, while plugged in at the office, if you could make a slideshow force the screen to stay on, I have a great little digital picture-frame.  Combined with music playback, that would be pretty cool.

I tried selecting an image playlist with lots of subfolders and it FC'd both time.  I sent the log from those crashes, I don't know if you get those.

I think that's all for now.

nice work so far, thanks again

[jmone]

2.  Play on [Device] -- this plays to any DLNA Renderer, including a copy of MC (if DLNA is enabled under Media Network).

I can see "Play here", "Play to Server", "Connect to Server" and "Theater View remote" options but no "Play on [Device]" (which could be good when the ID gets here!).  Running V158 and updated Gizmo from the App Store
Thanks
Nathan

PS - my HW Vol buttons now work

[Matt]

I can see "Play here", "Play to Server", "Connect to Server" and "Theater View remote" options but no "Play on [Device]" (which could be good when the ID gets here!).  Running V158 and updated Gizmo from the App Store

The "Play to ..." options will list all the zones on the server.

If you have multiple zones or connected DLNA devices, they will appear.

If you have only a single zone, it will say "Play to server".

[jmone]

Thanks Matt,
After turning on my HTPC (connects using Library Server and UNC paths for the media) and ensuring that the "allow other DLNA devices to control Media Center" is checked I now from Gizmo have the following zones:
* Zone 1 (the Main PC where MC is running as the server for all devices)
* HTPC Zone 1
* HTPC Outside

Music plays fine but when I tried a video I got the : "Media Center encountered errors while trying to play the last several files.  Please make sure that the path in your media library points to the right location"

In this setup is Gizmo controlling the HTPC o it just "plays" the file (I've got "play local file" checked), or is the Main PC trying to transcode the files and play it to the zones it sees? (if that makes sense)
Thanks
Nathan

[JimH]

A new Gizmo is on the Android Market now.  Auto connect works.  It implements "friendly name" to accompany each "access key".  This feature requires MC15.0.159 (not out yet).

[swinster]

Many thanks for this update. I can now say that the Gizmo is available via the market place on my HTC Wildfire.

I also like the combination of both apps into one and its relatively simple to switch between servers. Just a couple of points though

1) I already miss the options of add the standard button to the bottom of the remote. Please bring them back.

2) Is there any way to set up sensible names for the severs instead of seeing just the access key?

[swinster]

Sorry, ignore point 2 - I have just see your post above.

[JimH]

Sorry, ignore point 2 - I have just see your post above.

Build 159 is out now:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=60667.0

[jmone]

Couple of things:
1) Using the HW Buttons for Vol control you can go above 100% (very hard rock) - but no vol change after 100%
2) I'd expect that when you look at Playing Now you would see the list of queued tracks but you just see the coverart of the current track

[JimH]

I bought a Samsung Galaxy Tab this afternoon.  It's Android 2.2, 7 inch screen and similar in functionality to the Captiva/Galaxy phone.  I bought it with no plan, so I'm using my wireless LAN to test.  More about the Galaxy Tab here.

The good news is that it works as expected running Gizmo.  Gizmo can connect to Library Server and stream.  It can connect and control MC, etc.  It's a lot nice interface on the "big" screen.

MC also sees it as a handheld and can sync to it.  The speaker on the Galaxy is pretty good for a small device.

[JustinChase]

the in-wall touch pad has been one-upped 

[nodyad]

Thanks to the Gizmo 2 developers for the great step forward with this release!

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!

I'll start a wish list later, but this note is just to let you know that I, for one, really appreciate the extra effort that this upgrade shows. You've got my customer loyalty!

[jmone]

I bought a Samsung Galaxy Tab this afternoon.  It's Android 2.2, 7 inch screen and similar in functionality to the Captiva/Galaxy phone.  I bought it with no plan, so I'm using my wireless LAN to test.

The good news is that it works as expected running Gizmo.  Gizmo can connect to Library Server and stream.  It can connect and control MC, etc.  It's a lot nice interface on the "big" screen.

MC also sees it as a handheld and can sync to it.  The speaker on the Galaxy is pretty good for a small device.

Hi Jim - in your research did you notice any with IRDa andy any RC Apps for Andriod?  These Tablets could make a great AV Controller but need to also be able to control traditional AV Equipment (unless there are other ideas like IR Blasters....)

[JimH]

I didn't look for any IR or RF options since I wanted it for Gizmo, which uses wireless network.

MC can control blasters, but it probably wouldn't work without some changes.

[swinster]

I didn't look for any IR or RF options since I wanted it for Gizmo, which uses wireless network.

MC can control blasters, but it probably wouldn't work without some changes.

Again, off topic on this one but, the other thing I would realy like to be able to do connect to devices via RS232 not just IR (or even RF). Is there anything the JRiver have come across that would work with MC (and not cost the earth as a lot of RS232 cards seem to)

[sh]

Hi everyone,

I already installed latest version of gizmo 2 on my NexusOne and MC 15.0.159. it really looks cool
just 1 problem, when trying to play a video on the device, it says you are on the bus and nothing happens
even I tried with a small file(1.2mb), no difference.
however, playing the music & images were excellent

thanks for the nice work

[JimH]

Welcome to Interact.  Thanks for the kind words.

Video requires conversion, and we're not quite there yet, but soon.  It should happen in the next month or so.

[WinoOutWest]

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!

[sh]

Welcome to Interact.  Thanks for the kind words.

Video requires conversion, and we're not quite there yet, but soon.  It should happen in the next month or so.

good to hear that, I thought it was my problem.
some suggestions:
1) trying to connect to my music, accidently I touched images instead which I don't have any in my MC library
caused gizmo a crash, however not an imporatant one really. maybe just an exception error thrown to gizmo by MC.
no idiot will try to access what he doesn't have.

2)after adding some images to my library and accessing from gizmo, I was thinking if only it could give me the phone operating system
functions, like pinch to zoom, ....

3) I guess this one been told a lot, a free real player(not just streaming) for android is awesome and it promotes for MC also
anyone getting familiar with MC makes him buy it I think

Thank you very much

[famu97]

MAN, this new GIZMO app is TIGHT. I really really like it.  The only thing it's missing now is the ability to stream video. I've love for it to stream mp4 video files out of the gate.

I don't know if this is the right thread but a feature request I'd like to see is in the authenticaion settings for the streaming Media Server.  It obviously allows you to share your library with other users by sending them an invite with a link to your library but the authentication options need more granularity. I'd like to be able to share out my library with another Android user using the Gizmo app, but limit their access to only be able to stream & play the music. Right now if I share the access code to my library (which I'm doing), they can  remote control my media server and play music back through my stereo which I don't want. Is this more granular authentication setting something that's in the works?

[JimH]

Video is coming soon on Gizmo.

[eapool]

I love the integration of Gizmote and Gizmo.  I think I might even get the wife to install it on her phone (maybe).  I used this app during my excruciating long drive over the weekend and except for a few areas with bad cell reception, it worked great.

I don't know if it is just me, but if I click on the icon to view the playing now list and I get the list of songs, I can't scroll through the list.  I can only see the first 5-6 songs in the list.  I am using my htc evo.


I was also having some issues with the bluetooth transport controls, but I think it was a conflict on the phone with another music app that I can now safely remove.

Thanks,

Alex

[JustinChase]

I don't know if it is just me, but if I click on the icon to view the playing now list and I get the list of songs, I can't scroll through the list.  I can only see the first 5-6 songs in the list.  I am using my htc evo.

I have the same phone, and the same limitation.

i also cannot find a way to make the playing now list start playing after it has been stopped.

in other words, when I stop playback, leave the house, come back, and want to just start the patio zone playing again, i can't just navigate to playing now, and hit play, I have to reselect a playlist for it to begin playing.

I'd like the transport controls to always be available or at least be able to force them to display so i don't have to navigate 10 steps to reselect the same playlist as was already selected for a zone.

[imugli]

Guys,

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!

[Sheugel]

Hi,
When I try to "Show Files" under Playing Now, I get "Connection Error - There was a problem communicating with the server - Retry/Cancel". If I hit 'Retry', the screen remains black but I can go back to the menu.
I use the latest version of MC15 and Gizmo (15.0.159). The problem occurs on a HTC Desire (Android 2.2). I tried restarting the PC (and MC) two times with no luck.
Sheugel

[JimH]

In using Gizmo the last few days, I've found a few things that are now easier.

1.  I can play music on the HTPC system without turning on the TV.  That's big for me.

2.  If I'm in the next room, I can use my phone to adjust the volume or skip a track.

3.  Because it's wireless, I don't have to keep the cabinet doors open as I do when I use the MC Remote (because it uses IR).

4.  More than one Android device can act as a remote at the same time.  I'm using a Samsung Galaxy tablet and a Google Nexus One.  Either one can pause the playback or change the volume.

But when I'm on the couch and watching video, the MC Remote is usually my first choice.  Five buttons can do all I need once Theater View is running.  Left, right, up, down, and enter.  I especially like the way that enter / OK will pause video.

[JustinChase]

yeah, I've maybe used it a week since .159 was released, and I'm also very happy with Gizmo.  As for

1. HUGE is not an overstatement about how great this is!

2. Yes, very nice. I like that I can grab my phone, browse while I walk to the door to the back yard and select a playlist, hit play and have music AND my remote control of that music in my pocket while I work around the yard.

(allowing me to just hit play from a non-playing playlist would make this even better )

3. I don't have a cabinet to open, but I like that I can use it from anywhere on my property.

RE: on the couch - I don't have a remote to go for, so the 5-button is where I need/want the help. 

Since you prefer to grab the IR remote, there is obviously something 'else' on that control device that is better/available than the Gizmo 5-button.  If you can make the Gizmo a real replacement for the version you still prefer, you've got a winner!!

Can a pronto template be used as a guide for what 'else' needs added?

I'm thinking something like this would be more useful than just the 5 buttons, allowing one to control more than MC, if one wanted.

http://www.remotecentral.com/cgi-bin/files/rcfiles.cgi?area=professional&db=systems&br=all&dv=&md=contestentry07aura&kw=&st=&ar=&dt=&so=&pg=2&file=professional/contest/entry-07.zip

However, just a few essential extra buttons would be fantastic.

[MrHaugen]

Love the direction this is taking! Good job. It'll bee cool if you get that video conversion to work! Then I just need an Android phone with HDMI port, and I don't have to bring movies with me on hard drives any more

I'm wondering if there is two things you could consider in future updates.

- Add mouse track pad support. An easily accessible button to switch between Arrows/enter and mouse with two buttons. Perhaps scrolling when touching up down on the right and left side? It would help those that don't have a mouse connected to the HTPC. Then I could ditch my other mouse remote program.
- What about enabling local music/video files as well? Might be a bit work, but it would be great to have ONE app for all media. Both streamed and local. There will always be times when you need local media. Either with high cost data traffic, or if the data connection is poor.

[swinster]

Can a pronto template be used as a guide for what 'else' needs added?

I'm thinking something like this would be more useful than just the 5 buttons, allowing one to control more than MC, if one wanted.

http://www.remotecentral.com/cgi-bin/files/rcfiles.cgi?area=professional&db=systems&br=all&dv=&md=contestentry07aura&kw=&st=&ar=&dt=&so=&pg=2&file=professional/contest/entry-07.zip

However, just a few essential extra buttons would be fantastic.

J river had some of these in the old gizmo, and I for one miss them. Although the 5 button approach is nice, I find that the phone looses connection form time to time, then button presses are missed. It is simply easier to have buttons that play, rewind, ff, skip etc, that cannot be easily accomplished by the 5 buttons alone. Maybe gesture control would be a great feature.

In addition, there is still something to be said for a remote with physical buttons. I use my Logitech Harmony the vast majority of the time. I can control multiple devices such as the TV, amp, V+ Box, DVD and HTPC all from one unit, and issue multiple commands at the same time. With another add on I should be able to control the PS3 as well. Until Gizmo can do all of this, then I can't use it exclusively. We did start another thread to talk more about this (http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=60702.0) (with potentially RS232 control of devices that don't have DNLA), but my goal is to have one control interface that can work for all devices - I hope that one day this could be gizmo, but in that case 5 buttons simple wont cut it.

[cubii]

hi i just tested gizmo, i love it!

i am only missing a button/possibility to sync  zones.

Like when i am playing stuff on zone "bath" but want to continue in zone "kitchen" i will press "sync all zones" Or sync with "kitchen"

[dees_74]

LOVE the new interface.  SO much faster/ efficient.
One thing I am still noticing is when I load a track I get "preparing" and then "Your on the  Bus" w/out tthe track playing.  I have to hit resume to get the track to play. I am using a Moto Droid

My wife has an HTC Incredible, and Gizmo is very unstable.  She say much of the time, she can't get more than one track to play without Gizmo stopping, and then losing connection. I have similar issues w/ my Droid, but far less frequently. 

Keep up the development, the improvements you have made are huge!

[JimH]

New Gizmo on the Android Market.  Requires this build of MC:
http://files.jriver.com/mediacenter/MediaCenter150161.exe

[wig]

Jim, .161 solved my problems with displaying the correct track length, and seems to have fixed the issue with certain files not playing. However, I am running into some buffering issues I've never encountered before.

New Gizmo on the Android Market.  Requires this build of MC:
http://files.jriver.com/mediacenter/MediaCenter150161.exe

[BrianD]

Is there an equivalent Gizmo app for the apple iphone 4?

[Sheugel]

When I try to "Show Files" under Playing Now, I get "Connection Error - There was a problem communicating with the server - Retry/Cancel". If I hit 'Retry', the screen remains black but I can go back to the menu.
I use the latest version of MC15 and Gizmo (15.0.159). The problem occurs on a HTC Desire (Android 2.2). I tried restarting the PC (and MC) two times with no luck.

Bump, still not working with .161 with European HTC Desire. Thanks for having a look.
Really nice app though.
Sheugel

[Matt]

Bump, still not working with .161 with European HTC Desire. Thanks for having a look.
Really nice app though.
Sheugel

Make sure you have the latest Gizmo (it's on the market).

Then, what happens if you try a smaller list?  It's possible doing 'Show files' on a huge list could timeout or cause a memory issue.

[Krazykanuck]

Is there anyway you can coordinate the releases of Gizmo and MC better.
Yesterday my phone updated Gizmo resulting in the app not working.
There is no mention of a new MC release or gizmo release on the main MC board.
Having just installed Gizmo and playing around with it, my assumtion was that I somehow messed something up.
If this is the board to check then a topic announcing the changes at the top would help save troubleshooting time.

On a positive note I managed to impress quite a few people when I showed them how I could stream music from home on my phone.

[JimH]

Is there anyway you can coordinate the releases of Gizmo and MC better.

You're right.  We're working on it.  But 161 is available, just a few posts above.

[clear and blue]

Having only recently bought an android phone (SGS) this is all quite new to me. Downloaded Gizmo yesterday and have been really impressed. I was about to give DLNA up for a bad job after the clunkiness of AllShare but Gizmo really has hit the nail on the head with the UI and functionality I was looking for. Thank you for yet another reason to be glad to be a MC user.

If you are open to suggestions, it would be great if the transport controls (play/pause, skip, maybe track info) could be implemented in to the drag down notification bar. Currently I have discovered the merits of using the Home key (rather than backing out fully with the Back key) as a way of being able to jump between Gizmo and dashboard; notification bar control would be the icing on the cake in terms of usability I think. A Widget may be another way of implementing this although you have access to the notification bar from more places. Really just a quicker way (than entering Gizmo) to skip or pause a track would be much appreciated.

Thanks again for the great android app! Just remembered the market has a rating system so that is where I am off now.

[MrHaugen]

A widget would be the best approach I think. Without it, such apps is not 100% in my opinion. I've never seen direct control from the notification menu though. There is not much point is doing the remote control from a widget, but a couple of widgets would be really nice. One 1x4, 2x4 and 4x4 perhaps?

[clear and blue]

The music player that came with my phone (think it is the Android one? if not it will be Samsung) can be controlled from the notification drawer. I thought it would be the way to go as it is almost always available without needing to go back to the dashboard/desktop/homescreen (don't know its name).

e.g. I use a computer running MC as the source for my hifi in the living room and it is nice to be able to navigate and control music from my phone without the need of turning on the tv or using a keyboard and mouse. However, when using Gizmo I have essentially turned my phone in to a remote control and temporarily lost the rest of the phone's functions. If control were to be implemented in to the notification bar and I was in the middle of a text message/email/website and felt the need to pause or skip a track, I could just drag the notification bar down, hit a button and job done.

For me I would prioritise the notification bar over a widget although it would be nice in classic JRiver style to have both options. However, I don't know if this is even possible and Gizmo as it stands today is already a brilliant solution.

[kamiller42]

I haven't tried Gizmo 2 yet, but I did read the announcement and the wiki article on it. I am anxious to give it a spin.

I was wondering if there are any plans to make Gizmo a stand alone music player, i.e. it can play music files stored on the sd card. It doesn't seem very far being able to be one.

I was thinking about Gizmo when I saw the announcement of Winamp for Android and it's ability to do a wireless sync with the Winamp desktop application. I know there is no technical reason MC and Gizmo can't do this and such a feature would fit right in the growing MC media-system.