Slingbox and Slingplayer Plugin Development

Alok · April 23rd, 2008, 12:47 AM

I did a quick search on the forums to see if there was any progress on developing a plugin for slingplayer to use in Centrafuse. I have not seen much other than a hint from the flux staff saying its on their list of plugins to make.

Currently the only way to watch tv is using an antenna based tv tuner, who those that have tested know does not work as well as we would like it to (only works well in large metropolitian cities with dense tv tower coverage). Using a slingbox and either a high speed wifi or wireless broadband connection you can watch near HD quality video anywhere (requires hd cable connection at home). Also I know I am just following the marketing ploy when I say that in 2009 they will no longer broadcast regular terrestrial tv signals and only HD but its all the more reason to use a slingbox for mobile tv. I know there is a hefty initial cost for the hardware but there is no other subscription fees to worry about afterwards. Also there are many other applications that it can be used for, one example I found particularly clever was to use it as a way to broadcast your home video security system. Simply plug the video output of the security system into the slingbox and use the sling remote to control its functions (play, pause, rewind, forward, switch camera, etc.) You would now be able to watch your home from anywhere, even when you leave your kids at home by themselves. There so many other applications out there that can be used in a Car PC environment. To me it sounds like a great opportunity to create something that will add useful functionality to an already awesome product.

I myself am not a programmer and lack the knowledge to produce a plugin of this difficulty but I know there is a lot of programming talent out there in the community. I know the Flux staff is busy with RC1 and getting 2.0 up to speed so I suggest we work together to make this plugin as it can benefit almost all of us. I can offer my support as a tester as I have the time, resources, and hardware to provide useful feedback to help the development process move smoothly and quickly. We can seek guidance and offer our results to the flux staff as I am sure they are eager to help too, and who knows maybe we can have some beta module ready for the upcoming Centrafuse beta builds (I know its a little too optomistic but you never know). Let me know what you guys think.

HiJack · June 10th, 2008, 07:58 AM

I agree with you.... Sling Box is the best way to go.... I use Sling Box A/V, which allows you to hook up 2 diffrent sources (one through a/v and the other through s-video). In saying that I outsource all my movies from my MediaCenter PC, which has a huge library. I also have DishNet connected to it. People are so amazed when they see DishNet in my car, and wonder why I dont have that bulky equipment on the top of my car........ I have been begging for a designer..... maybe we can ask Zorro, he seems to be the plugin master. In fact i'll message him and ask him to chime in on the subject.

Like I said in many posts.... I think the best way to go, is to base the plugin on the mobile version of sling player (pocket PC version).... it looks very simple and easy to disect, from experience, the mobile PPC version is made for mobile bandwidth. I notice that when watching tv and moving in my car, the phone has almost no drop out, where as the desktop version has a ton of drop out. Both devices are using the Sprint EVDO rev.A network. So they must do something diffrent with the mobile PPC version to keep it running nice and smooth, even driving at 80 mph, there is no issues with the mobile version, where as the desktop version you cant go over 30 mph sometimes. Also the skin for the mobile version is very simple and would adapt to the carpc very well.... all we would have to do is make the buttons larger.

I'll ask Zoro, hopefully he can help!

Zorro · June 10th, 2008, 08:37 AM

Sorry guys. I don't own a SlingBox nor do I plan to buy one.

On a sidenote: The SlingBox doesn't provide a decent API and the streams are encrypted, which makes it unusable for 3rd party products. I guess the only way to use the SlingBox in your car is to embedd the SlingPlayer as external app.

Alok · June 10th, 2008, 09:47 AM

Zorro you may be right but when I was doing some searching I came across an SDK for slingbox skin developers. We may be able to embed the application and give it a "CF look" by skinning similar to the skin used for your background. Zorro if I were to gift you a slingbox would you work on it? How about this I will gift anyone a slingbox (slingbox a/v) if they are able to complete a Slingbox plugin or at least something useable in CF. If you can get an actual working plugin I may even go as far to get you a slingbox Pro (4 inputs including HD input and built in tv tuner). Hopefully some incentives will get some developers moving on it.

Zorro · June 10th, 2008, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Hopefully some incentives will get some developers moving on it.

Yeah, maybe.
Here's the how to: http://www.slingcommunity.com/articl...gPlayer-Skin-/

HiJack · June 10th, 2008, 02:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zorro

Sorry guys. I don't own a SlingBox nor do I plan to buy one.

On a sidenote: The SlingBox doesn't provide a decent API and the streams are encrypted, which makes it unusable for 3rd party products. I guess the only way to use the SlingBox in your car is to embedd the SlingPlayer as external app.

That sucks, because the mobile is better :-( ..... but on a side not getting it to embed would be great.... all my attempts have failed, and obviously so has everyone elses..... no matter what we do, it will not embed into CF. It will always open the player in a seperate window.... How would we fix this?

Zorro · June 10th, 2008, 02:47 PM

Since this is a SlingPlayer issue, I guess you should take this question to the Sling community forums.

HiJack · June 10th, 2008, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zorro

Since this is a SlingPlayer issue, I guess you should take this question to the Sling community forums.

Wouldnt they have to know the CF software? This is going to be a mission.... I know the forums suck big time for sling box. What should I ask them, like technical wise?

Zorro · June 10th, 2008, 03:55 PM

How about: How to embed SlingPlayer into another application?

But don't aspire to get a solution soon. Some applications are not meant to be very cooperative.

Alok · June 10th, 2008, 06:36 PM

Alright guys I just posted over in slingplayer forums hopefully we can get some response. Hijack see if you can add something to hopefully make the thread a bit more attractive. Maybe we can get a cross forum discussion going on slingplayer and CF and bring some life into this project. http://www.slingcommunity.com/forum/...by-Flux-Media/