XBMC For Android
We have been keeping a little secret.. the kind that is so much fun to share when the time comes.
Today we announce XBMC for Android. Not a remote, not a thin client; the real deal. No root or jailbreak required. XBMC can be launched as an application on your set-top-box, tablet, phone, or wherever else Android may be found.
The feature-set on Android is the same that you have come to expect from XBMC, no different from its cousin on the desktop. Running your favorite media-center software on small, cheap, embedded hardware is about to become a hassle-free reality. And as Android-based set-top-boxes are becoming more and more ubiquitous, it couldn’t be a better time. In fact, primary development was done on a Pivos XIOS DS set-top-box. And that is no coincidence, you will notice that Pivos is now listed as an official sponsor (more on that later). XBMC is stable and works great there, as well as on various tablets and phones. Though with Android, as many of you probably know, that is only the beginning of the story.
Enjoy the stereotypical dev-shot low-quality demo video. More video, including phone/tablet usage in the next post.
So what’s the catch? None… in time. Currently, for most devices only software decode of audio and video is hooked up. We considered waiting until universal hardware decode was ready before making our announcement, but in the end decided that in the spirit of keeping things open and working with our ever-expanding community, it made sense to open up sooner rather than later. We are confident that an OpenMax-based player (similar to the one used for the Raspberry Pi) will spring up very quickly. That said, software playback of most media plays quite well already.
Though, there is one exception. As Pivos sponsored a large portion of the port, we were able to work with their vendors to achieve buttery-smooth hardware-accelerated playback on the XIOS DS. It remains to be seen if such hardware-specific features will make it into XBMC mainline or exist as patches for vendors to integrate.
While, as you can see in the video, the port is fully usable and lots of fun to play with, it’s not quite ready for prime-time. We will begin releasing apks for interested beta testers in the coming weeks. But for those who are up to the task, as you would expect from XBMC, the source code is available. We have decided not to push to Google Play until we are satisfied that users with all kinds of devices get the same great XBMC experience. We ask that our users stay on the lookout for evil-doers trying to cash in on XBMC’s popularity. If you see anyone masquerading as XBMC, please be sure to let us and Google know about it.
There is also the issue of having a proper UI for small-screen devices. Typically, XBMC skins have been designed for use on a TV, so use on a small phone can be clunky. But there is nothing keeping skinners from creating more functional touch-oriented skins, like the included “Touched” skin from Jezz_X. With the community’s help, we’re sure to have a more refined version available for inclusion by the time we release a stable version.
There are still many details left to iron out, mainly related to the wide variety of Android devices in the wild. We have not yet decided what minimum requirements will be set, due simply to the lack of extensive testing on exotic devices.
As for taking advantage of Android itself, we haven’t even scratched the surface. There are so many interesting features that we could take advantage of: launching apps, location awareness, speech recognition, on and on. Once the core port is finished up, you can bet we’ll be exploring many new avenues.
I could write for days about how the port started, how it was accomplished technically, what tricks were used, etc, but I will save that for a (somewhat more personal) follow-up post. There is much to say about the process that would likely bore most readers, but I will try to answer the questions that come up in the comments as much as possible in that post. The port was a big effort with many contributors, many thanks to Davilla, Memphiz, Phaeodaria, Montellese, Topfs2, and everyone else who was involved.
Full disclosure: I have been working for Pivos for the last few months, where I suggested the port-work and XBMC sponsorship. I hope our users join me in a thanking them for supporting XBMC and allowing me to work on the port (among other things) during the day. Be sure to check out the Pivos forums, where discussions and unofficial builds are bound to spring up quickly.
Great news! Do you know, or have you tested, if it will run on the Logitech Revue? I’d love XBMC on that box so I could clean up my cabinet a little, and find a good use for the revue.
o.O Awesome!!!
Awesome!
Any plans on working with the guys making Ouya?
Please contact me at +Adam Outler on G+. I would like to get this on XDA Developers TV as soon as a beta APK is released! We can get OSS android developers to help! We love Android, media and open source at XDA.
jaw dropped !!!!
Congratulations and thx for continuous hard work.
Now I need to buy android device :)
Excellent news! Looking forward to beta testing this too on my phone and my girlfriend’s tablet.
For now, we only want those who build themselves to be testing. We’re about to be absolutely flooded with “abc thing doesn’t work on xyz device”. There are many things that still need fixing, and we’re not ready to support end users.
When we’re happy with the status, we’ll start building apks. Until then, we ask for a bit of patience and understanding :)
Amazing news!
This is great news. Now my GoogleTV can be useful and interesting(hopefully).
Optimizing for the chipset present in the Nexus 7 and the Galaxy Nexus would be a great opportunity. Not only is the Nexus Q an awesome device with amazing build quality and great potential, the Galaxy Nexus is one of the most popular phones out their especially amongst the typical XBMC clientelle. When prioritizing which hardware to optimize for, I hope these devices, which are functionally identical, are near the top of the list.
Proud user of XBMC since the original Xbox. Keep it strong!
This is amazing! Congratulations.
Is this the device from Pivos? http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0088IGPM8/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0088IGPM8&linkCode=as2&tag=d081a-20
I can’t wait to try this out
Any plans on working with the guys making Ouya? [2]
@David Carr
My other primary test device was my Nexus S. Runs like a dream on it.
How do us developers get a hold of this?
Where are the SVN’s? or just a tarball of the source?
Super exited to start testing.
@Nick
Yep, that’s the one.
@Rio
It’s right there in the post.
This is HUGE..No this is bigger than huge this is King of all things huge.
Looks like a few of my Android devices just got called back to active duty :)
WOW just freakin WOW…Amazing work!
any news on mutlichannel audio support out of the XIOS DS?
A port for Nexus Q will be ideal…
Awesome. I’ve been hoping for XMBC on Android for quite a while now. This is great news. Really looking forward to see where this goes. This will be great on my Nexus 7. I’m interested to see which TV connected devices this will run well on.
Will I be able to sideload this to the new 2nd gen google tv devices (the ones that run on a arm processor, not intel)?
That would make the google tv much more enticing!
Will this eventually be able to be hooked up via the mini-hdmi port on some modern androids? If so this would be no need for even purchasing a htpc for my front room. : )
Seconded. The OUYA hardware sounds like a good match for XBMC if they add an ethernet port (which apparently is already under consideration).
@theuni
How can we build this for Android? I cloned the repo from github but don’t see anything Android familiar.
You should check into the Ouya project on Kickstarter. This would be a no brainer for that console system!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ouya/ouya-a-new-kind-of-video-game-console
Super excited and super keen. Thanks guys can’t wait.
Hope I can use this on blackberry Playbook with the android emulator eventually! This is what I’ve been waiting for.
@dysproseum
see docs/README.android
@Marr
Unlikely. Until today, there wasn’t a single line of java in xbmc-android. Now there’s 1: “class xbmc{}”.
@ dysproseum read the friendly readme
“This app is incompatible with your Logitech Revue.”
Guess not yet.
@Jeremy
@Andrew
This is great news for OUYA! It means it will be easy to port to the Android based console. I love you guys!
Skyrant
Webmaster myOUYA
The fastest growing OUYA community on the web
http://www.my-ouya.net
Does it do dts? Also, I can’t see anything in the input boxes on chorme on this site. Forgive any typos.
Great job! Congratulations guys!
Congratulations people, can’t wait to see what will happen….. saw this launch (link below) and just went to check how far you guys are to find this great news :)
http://www.hardkernel.com/renewal_2011/products/prdt_info.php?g_code=G133999328931
I am speechless!………………….
You all are amazingly awesome! I have been converting my friends and co-workers to XBMC for a while now. I have done my Apple TV 2 plus 2 more for my friends. Some of my friends and family are running XBMC on a computer/laptop and they are so happy they never want to go back! You guys are truly amazing! I can’t wait to try it on my 10″ Android Tablet and my future Nexus 7 or maybe even Nexus Q.
We all thanking you for this day of great news.
dch
YOU ARE AWESOME!!! :-)
Sweeeeeeeeeeet!!!!!
Whether xbmc will support also GoogleTV?
I love you! Thanks for the good news!
My mistake I was looking at something else that controls a seperate XBMC device. (XBMC Media Player by ZappoTV).
Hopefully it will be out soon(tm).
@theuni
I can totally respect this, but I also don’t like to wait. I’ve just this evening updated to Jelly Bean on my Galaxy Nexus, and I hope to have the opportunity to test this out before long on it. Been using XBMC for almost three years now, ditching satellite for just as long.
Can it output over DNLA? i.e. One-x + XBMC + HD Media connect / DNLA
I cant believe it!!!!
at last !!!!
it seems now we should wait for OUYA ….
To make the install slimmer it might be a good idea to split out the languages to plugins
You start with English and and download the languages you need besides English
Best news ever.
Hope for Google Tv
http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921666462151
The Specs of the processor are very good
http://www.marvell.com/digital-entertainment/armada-1500/assets/Marvell-ARMADA-1500-Product-Brief.pdf
Great news. Love to see XBMC on the MK802.
You’re the best
Oh dear, forced to buy more gadgets. :)
Would like to see this for Ouya