XBMC and Ouya? Oh yeah!
Maybe it was inevitable. Maybe it was because of the hundreds, if not thousands, of demands on Twitter, in blogs, on Facebook, in Reddit, and in Kickstarter comments. Maybe it’s because many of Team Ouya support XBMC, and nearly a third of Team XBMC members are Ouya backers.
Regardless, we are delighted to announce that XBMC will be working with Ouya to ensure that XBMC works well on the Ouya platform. Ouya’s Android underpinnings and XBMC’s work on Android (soon to be merged into master, pending final sign-offs!) will dramatically speed up that effort, as will early XBMC dev access to Ouya prototypes.
The conversation between our two teams is young, but talk is ongoing and positive. We look forward to providing more exciting news on this front as it develops.
To see what all the Ouya fuss it about, check out the link below.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ouya/ouya-a-new-kind-of-video-game-console/posts/283033
I for one am pleased wth this news. I am truthfully excited about OUYA! It’ll be like having a gaming console AND a gaming PC ALL IN ONE!!!!!! Even though it has 8GB of memory (not talking RAM here), I think that’s plenty of space for some games, and interesting apps! I will most certainly be keeping a CLOSE eye on this project! I can’t wait for this one of a kind console to come out! It’ll fly off of store shelves like crazy, and before you know it, this tiny gaming console will have a myriad of awards!
we don’t do kickstarters cause we’re not for sale. monies cannot dictate what we work on in this project – that’s reserved for our day jobs.
clarification: that’s team xbmc as a team/organization, what individual devs do is utterly up to them.
@Ultratails42
Not to throw too much cold water your way, but 10bit is almost certainly not gonna happen with Ouya. Generally speaking, it’s considered out of spec for hardware decoders, and under all the hype Tegra3 remains a hardware decoder.
@Dan J
Your kiddin right? :S theres been an Android remote for years!
This just made me back Ouya and buy a unit :)
can’t wait to see, and can’t wait to get my hands on ouya… been using xbmc for quite some times now… i love xbmc…
I already knew about Ouya but my current financial situation prevented me from pledging. But now I have no other choice… I have to have one!!
I hope it lives to the hype. For me, as long as it runs xbmc with 1080p… Goal achieved!
@Dan J
That’s already a reality. I don’t get your point.
@Pop006
Of course. That’s a standard. The android remote will control any XBMC running device as long as they are connected to the same network…
Let’s hope there is an inbuilt IR receiver on the Ouya so we can use a real remote whilst sitting on the couch enjoying XBMC!
Great! So it will run 1080p. How smooth will interface be like Aron mq3? Currently on asrock ion 330 but have no reference if this would be a step forward for me or not.
@Manu
Bluetooth all the way.
According to developers no official xbmc will come for tegra2 based devices. So is the story different for tegra3 based OUYA?
Here is XBMC for android Tegra2 http://depositfiles.com/files/76p6jemki
@Y S
Tegra2 doesn’t support “Neon” while Tegra3 should, i would think that’s the reason for the missing support.
This looks an interesting small box, looking at the specs, I don’t see an Ethernet port!! Not to sure about if your watching a 1080p movie or playing a game, I still prefer connecting a cable
I really hope to see
- ‘Real’ Remote Control (not a useless APP on a Phone/Pad) and please no BT for the love of everything holy. Something that doesn’t need pairing and works ALL the time.
- Power on / StandBy / On Button on Remote
I love XBMC but WTH can’t they fix better Remote Control support. Or even better XBMC developers. Start a kickstarter for a Remote Control for the XBMC that works on Windows / OSX / XBMCLive
without massive configuration. Now that would be awesome.
My two cents.
Blu ray? Is that one of those physical medias that were popular in ancient times? :)
@Paul
If this article is correct, it has an Ethernet port
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouya#Hardware
@Konstigt
Yeah, its one of those formats that offer way superior video and audio quality compared to any streaming solution. Wonder why anyone wants that ;)
Well I was going to pass on Ouya but XBMC was the clincher. Can’t wait to see what this $100 with a Tegra3 can do with an optimized version of XBMC. I already have a great IR receiver that I purchased on Ebay for ~$15 – so hopefully that works. Considering they are just glorified input devices – I’m assuming it will.
As far as Android XBMC remote apps – I’m still waiting for XBMC commander. That’s the only app I wish I had on my android. I guess it really doesn’t matter since I have an ipad but it would be nice to see it on a nexus 7.
It will be interesting to see how well everything works in OUYA, including XBMC (and Plex). But, has anybody looked into Equiso Smart TV, I know they will have Plex support with Google Play store app. I just wonder if XBMC Dev’s looked into it and possibly having app on Google store?
@Manu
That’s a bit old fashioned, isn’t it? So 20th century! These days we use much more programmable remotes: Tablets and Smartphones. The only thing, which needs a IR these days is, if you’ve got an old fashioned TV. But then, there is HDMI-CEC and DLNA.
I have two DVB servers in my LAN, which deliver TV. And a fileserver, which delivers the rest. And a computer monitor in my bedroom (this will get the OUYA) and a bigger one in my living-room (connected to an HTPC). Not a single device needs IR. Oh, and my preamp is controlled either via RS232 or Ethernet.
Call me arrogant, but I do not want to shelve out extra money for something, that those, who need IR could not substitute via an USB-IR dongle hooked to a USB-HUB. Then I’d better see an HDMI-CEC chip in it.
@atv420
XBMC for Android will eventually be on the Google Play store.
@Nils Jorgensen
The complication from remotes comes from the massive number of different remotes, receivers, and remote softwares. That being said, there are a number of remotes that work with XBMC out of the box, including the Nyxboard from Pulse Eight (which does IR and/or RF).
Shame and disgrace to OUYA for annoncing that they will also support Plex!
Fantastic news! I pre-ordered the ouya today.
I would like to see a crowdfounded XBMC hardware player. (it could be based on android).
It think OUYA is a great idea, but thats mainly because xbmc is supported. (i really doesn’t care for the games).
But think of it; what if some developers got together to build a affordable mediacenter for 59-99$.
You could make it in different stages.
A Hire a great designer and meka a spec
B Get founding for licenses, and hire programmers that will work on unit+ develop for xbmc as well. (devoted fulltime development for a year or two) + others.
C Get a shitload of money that well surpass the manufacturing cost (so that each unit will cost less when they are massproduced).
(Think boxee but with xbmc instead) or apple-tv
or we get OUYA to include features that are missing; Right now there are no optical audio output, a larger storing capability (like 16-40 GB) – yes, mediafiles are bigger that small games (think pre-buffering et.c.). an extra usb port (one is not simply enough. a remote (backlit) remote would be nice. But maybe they will include that as they have raised so very much that they can afford a very large advertising campaign and still can buy a nice office. As of now they easily can afford it. i hope they use the extra cash to update their spec.
@Konstigt
On the page you linked, nothing is said about the speed of the ethernet port. Because if you want to stream some 1080p Bluray without the need to reencode it, 100mb often is not even enough.
@Konstigt I agree. In the meantime, I think one of the IR WMC remotes along with a couple of hacks (e.g., to customize the green start button to start XBMC rather than WMC) is the best bet. I do hate that many functions that use the XBMC onscreen keyboard can only be access by (crappy) mouse emulation on WMC remotes rather than the ordinary up/down/left/right keys.
@Nils Jorgensen
You can’t do that easily without adding lots of code to XBMC and possibly pairing up with a hardware vendor.
You can give this a try:
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/wireless-multimedia-infrared-ir-remote-controller-with-usb-receiver-for-pc-2-aaa-34435?item=4
The system sees it as a USB HID (generic input device) under Windows (and I’m assuming probably under linux, too), most commands will work out of the box, like mouse control, up/down/left/right arrows, enter key etc.
I’ve used it for a while under Windows, but I got annoyed about being IR so I just switched to my phone for remote control.
@Nils Jorgensen
@Znuff
Sorry, I meant to link this one not the previous one: http://www.dealextreme.com/p/driver-free-universal-usb-ir-media-remote-controller-for-pc-2-aaa-27596?item=8
@Vinny
It’s technically not possible for a bluray to max out on a 100mb connection unless you have something wrong with the network. From Wikipedia: “BD Video movies have a maximum data transfer rate of 54 Mbit/s”
I personally have never had any issues on any of my devices/HTPCs that only had a 100 ethernet port.
Correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t ouya useless as a media player if we don’t have a digital sound port (optical)?
@Nick
I believe the presumption these days is that users will have upgraded their optical sound port to more powerful HDMI standard.
AWESOME!!! Guess I’ll finally be able to retire my softmoded original Xbox as my SMB stream player.
Bang on mate!!!!
Tegra3 dosn’t H/W decode AC3 audio. Dolby licence problems.
S/W decode works but performance is poor.
Unless that is fixed, “I’m out”
@Lobo . . I never knew that! I really hope they find a way around this! I bought the Ouya just for streaming and XBMC. (Second as a game system) I hope that somehow people figure out a way around this! If it can pass through the audio to my A/V receiver, then I’ll be happy with that.