[aeropriest]

Earlier in this thread, aeropriest, you stated no deinterlacing and no audio passthrough. These are both deal breakers for many of us. However as other i.MX6 builds have both de-interlacing and audio passthrough (legacy, not HD) I wondered if this had since been rectified.

deinterlacing and audio passthrough has been rectified.

If not then the Cubox-i looks to be a better bet for many of us - though the design of your box is interesting, and having an internal HD is an advantage for those who don't use servers for their media storage.

Users with servers for their media storage can actually benefit in any of the 2 ways (I personally have already moved to option2)

Option 1. Use XBMC as they using it now (configure the XBMC to use the server drives)
Option 2. Use the 'Lego drive holder' to insert the hard-disks directly and remove the clutter around TV

Been doing little survey right now about what 'lego' accesorries users would like, options are

1. Stackable 2GB hard drive
2. Stackable DVD/blue ray player drive (also to rip)
3. Stackable wireless router

[noggin]

Good to hear that the de-interlacing and audio pass through are fixed - I'd edit your original post that says they weren't working to avoid others assuming you still had issues.

I'd add a stackable 3.5" and/or 2x2.5" enclosure that allows users to add their own drives (with PSU for 3.5")?

DVB-T2 or DVB-S2 tuner would be nice too - but suspect that is too region specific?

[nickr]

24p? 50hz?

Hoe about shipping one to a team member to check your claims? No one who really knows what is needed on an xbmc machine is going to do indiegogo on unsubstantiated claims. Why not actually make a couple of them available and get some endorsements?

[aeropriest]

Good to hear that the de-interlacing and audio pass through are fixed - I'd edit your original post that says they weren't working to avoid others assuming you still had issues.

Good advise, will edit the post, Wolfgar has been helping me with the build and he confirmed those are fixed

I'd add a stackable 3.5" and/or 2x2.5" enclosure that allows users to add their own drives (with PSU for 3.5")?

-2x2.5" case is already in pipeline
-3.5" might have heat issues, will test before offering it

DVB-T2 or DVB-S2 tuner would be nice too - but suspect that is too region specific?

The development board (stackable case with USB and power interfacing board) could be used to build region specific DVB modules, we would be offering those boards at subsidised price

24p? 50hz?

Hoe about shipping one to a team member to check your claims? No one who really knows what is needed on an xbmc machine is going to do indiegogo on unsubstantiated claims. Why not actually make a couple of them available and get some endorsements?

would love to do that
-already working with wolfgar (Stephan) and would be sending him a board for testing
-already made a PR request to include the photos, video and contacts database/JSON extension
-waiting to hear from XBMC team's response on cube features and general commends
-would love to send more cubes for testing, apart from wolfgar, would appreciate if you could get me in touch

---

please check out these screenshots of the ios app (available in app store)

-auto discovering via UPnP
-swipe down menu (available from anywhere in the app)
-horizontal view for browsing large library
-modern user interface
-sync photos, video & contacts directly from iOS device (would require our XBMC build and FTP setup)

[nickr]

You didn't answer my questions about 24p and 50hz playback.

[Hedda]

Again, how about also integrating OwnCloud too as well for web access, and possible also proper NAS with SMB/CIFS (SAMBA) server with a simple web admin interface similar to FreeNAS

http://owncloud.org
http://freenas.org

Why not just ship it with both OwnCloud and FreeNAS pre-installed to allow remote access to EzeeCube over the web and other boxes? They are both free and open source software like XBMC.

Even if you think that a NAS like FreeNAS is too advanced for your target audience then you should at least checkout OwnCloud which users I think is your target audience!

audio passthrough has been rectified.

OK so that's audio pass-through solved, which doesn't require any licenses. But what audio and video decoder codecs licenses will you license for EzeeCube? Will it hardware or software decode all popular a/v codecs?

Will it be able to decode AC3 / Dolby Digital 5.1 / DD+ and DTS to down-sample and output stereo / 2.0? And will it only be able to decode H.264 video or MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 ASP too? Please include a full spec.list!

Been doing little survey right now about what 'lego' accesorries users would like, options are

1. Stackable 2GB hard drive
2. Stackable DVD/blue ray player drive (also to rip)
3. Stackable wireless router

I would like to see other options like;

- Stackable DVB-T2 dual TV tuner with CAM-slot, recommend you checkout USB TV tuners from the open source friendly manufacturer TBS http://www.tbsdtv.com/products/ Also ship it with Tvheadend https://tvheadend.org pre-installed just like OpenELEC does. You can possibly even just copy the installation packages and config from OpenELEC.

- Stackable Blu-ray Disc reader / DVD-R writer combo drive That way user can burn DVD-R backups of pictures and such, as well as play both DVD-Video and Blu-ray Disc movies and other stuff from media discs.

- Stackable 3.5-inch SATA open-bay, note that if modern low-RPM harddrives like "Western Digital RED" and "Seagate NAS" are used then heat should not be an issue. Just ship those 3.5-inch SATA open-bays with a note that have a disclaimer and a listing of only < 6000 RPM harddrives that will both be compatible and officially supported with your EzeeCube

please check out these screenshots of the ios app (available in app store)

As previously asked, will it not also ship with a real (simple) remote control as well? If not then I will that will be a showstopper for many, even for your target audience market.

Again, most people probably feel like I do here, all media players must ship with a real physical remote control, even if it just the simplest remote in the world like the Apple TV remote.

Just having an app as a remote is not enough, and I feel certain that you will loose a lot of business if you do not ship all EzeeCubes with at least a simple remote.

Latest update: we are almost ready with our campaign, should be going live on indiegogo in couple of weeks, below is the link. First 100 units should be available only at $179 so please do stay tuned.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/your-...51875#home

Link do not work? Says "hidden project"

[Hedda]

Also, will it have a fast eMMC flash (or NAND flash) for both the boot and the Linux OS / firmware image? Or will it also boot and have the Linux OS / firmware image on internal 1TB 2.5-inch mechanical harddrive?

I think it might negatively affect performance if it doesn't have boot and OS on fast flash memory. Know fact is XBMC GUI and its library databases loads and runs significantly faster of a fast eMMC flash memory.

[aeropriest]

Hedda

I am answering your questions in reverse order as below

- We want to add eMMC flash, we are getting quotes and if fits the price, we would be adding eMMC and Linux would boot from eMMC as well as XBMC binary would run from it

- Apologies for broken link, here is the link https://www.indiegogo.com/project/preview/85d90269, would also post the EzeeCube in 'Showcase' next week

- CEC has been rightly configured and should work with most TV. IR receiver is on the board however we dont right now have enough resources to get the IR remote done, if there would be good response from indiegogo, we can develop the remote (we might look into shipping with some off the shelf remote however as of now we are keeping our focus getting the box to people)

- All 3 stackable accessories you mentioned + wireless router are the accessories we are looking at well however we would continue our focus getting the main board out first (before December) and deliver accessories after that (most probably a 2.5" bay rather than 3.5" bay because our stacking works via USB 2.0 and having SATA support on the stacking might increase the cost for processor as well as redoing our stacking technology

- We dont have resources to license any codecs so it would be software decoders supported by XBMC, will send the complete list of formats (one on the indiegogo campaign is for reference only, we doing some tests right now)

- owncloud and freenas is an excellent suggestions, will explore more about its possibilities and if UPnP would work via owncloud

[aeropriest]

Everyone

Thank you all for your support, suggestion, advise and help. Indiegogo campaign is live at below link, please claim one, please share the campaign link with your friends. As soon as we get 500 units pre-ordered, we would be going into production

http://igg.me/p/ezeecube-a-modular-media.../x/5451875

Thanks again
EzeeCube team

[wolfgar]

Hi,

I have just posted on my blog regarding this product
http://stephan-rafin.net/blog/2014/06/05...organizer/

I wish the best to this project

Stephan

[Hedda]

Do you have more detailed information about the "PVR" (DVR?) record functions that are mention on your Indiegogopage?

Might recommend it to a few friends and family members if DVB-T2 TV tuners option for free-to-air broadcast television access don't cost too much.

Regardless, you should probably start over with a new forum thread here now that you opened your Indiegogo campaign.

[aeropriest]

Do you have more detailed information about the "PVR" (DVR?) record functions that are mention on your Indiegogopage?

Once we hit the campaign goal of USD75000, we would introduce stretched goals for accessories and we plan to include a stackable DVB-T2 TV tuner accessories. this should work with XBMC default PVR feature, we are not adding/removing anything to it

Might recommend it to a few friends and family members if DVB-T2 TV tuners option for free-to-air broadcast television access don't cost too much.

that would be great help and would boost our campaign rating significantly

Regardless, you should probably start over with a new forum thread here now that you opened your Indiegogo campaign.

Great advise, will do it right away
[/quote]

[dhead]

I love the project, I hope it will reach the goal (though I can't contribute currently more than the 10$ I sent).

Few remarks:
* While having a personal local cloud is great, it would still be nice to be able to automatically syncing from the local server (XBMC) to external services like Picasa (or just online storage) for backup and sharing.
A sub-feature of syncing for online service would be to able to mark a specific album for upload and to control its visibility.
Being able to automatically download albums that already exist on online service would be nice.
If this is possible already or planned then update the project page with the details.

* What about online service to manage Ezeecube remotely ?
Port forwarding isn't foolproof, a service that enables to connect remotely to your media would be a great addition (Qnap does this nicely).


* Allot of XBMC users are happy with their HTPC and won't upgrade it.
It worth clarify what features were added to XBMC (pictures and home videos in database ?) that any XBMC user will benefit from after a PR will sent with the changes.
I believe that users would love to support a project just for getting some new features into XBMC.

* What about webgui ?
For me nothing beat a computer when I need to get things done and that includes managing my media files.
Having a webgui to manage your photos and home videos that stored on your personal cloud would be nice.

* Empty EzeeDisk ?
Users might want to bring their own drives as it might be easier to exchange a faulty drive by manufacturer or due to customs fees.

[aeropriest]

I love the project, I hope it will reach the goal (though I can't contribute currently more than the 10$ I sent).

Thank you very much for your contribution, really appreciate it, please help us spread the word via fb/twitter/google+

* While having a personal local cloud is great, it would still be nice to be able to automatically syncing from the local server (XBMC) to external services like Picasa (or just online storage) for backup and sharing.
A sub-feature of syncing for online service would be to able to mark a specific album for upload and to control its visibility.
Being able to automatically download albums that already exist on online service would be nice.
If this is possible already or planned then update the project page with the details.

This is an excellent idea however would't come right off due to limited resources however would love help a developer write program addon for this

* What about online service to manage Ezeecube remotely ?
Port forwarding isn't foolproof, a service that enables to connect remotely to your media would be a great addition (Qnap does this nicely).

yes that is going to happen, service on our server would track external IP and would allow users to connect to EzeeCube at home using EzeeSync app (port forwarding sucks)

* Allot of XBMC users are happy with their HTPC and won't upgrade it.
It worth clarify what features were added to XBMC (pictures and home videos in database ?) that any XBMC user will benefit from after a PR will sent with the changes.
I believe that users would love to support a project just for getting some new features into XBMC.

PR was already sent for the changes we made however the code needs clean up and right now super busy with the campaign. would resend after the successful campaign

* What about webgui ?
For me nothing beat a computer when I need to get things done and that includes managing my media files.
Having a webgui to manage your photos and home videos that stored on your personal cloud would be nice.

Our app for iOS and Android is made in qt and same client app would be ported for Mac, Windows and Linux to manage the EzeeCube (there is always the ssh to for advance users )

* Empty EzeeDisk ?
Users might want to bring their own drives as it might be easier to exchange a faulty drive by manufacturer or due to customs fees.

Good idea, after discussing with team, would love add a 'DEVELOPMENT STACK-ON' in the campaign which would allow users to insert their own hard-drives

Again, thanks for support guys

[aeropriest]

Update:
Android app (beta) is available for download at
https://play.google.com/store/apps/detai...e.ezeesync

iOS app (beta) is available for download at
https://itunes.apple.com/hk/app/ezeesync...28382?mt=8