[fshagan]

Thanks for the insight. What did you decide on purchasing?

In a utopia world, if somebody offered a 'plan' that's about 30 bucks a month and allows access to tv shows up the ying-yang without commercials, I might think about it.

Until then, I think the best bet is probably to stay with XBMC. Now, onto thinking more about my hardware dilemma.

I'm building a mini-ITX system using a Zotac IONITX-B-E motherboard, a Apex MI-008 case, DVD drive and 80GB 2.5" HDD. I added 2GB of RAM, and I'm configuring xbmc on it now (on top of a full install of Ubuntu Lucid Lynx 10.04). The system is being used as a media extender for media I've ripped and stored on my Windows Home Server. That motherboard has an Atom 230 processor; I won't be using that box to transcode HD video, and it works fine so far. It has a Nvidia GPU so it takes advantage of hardware acceleration in Linux (I guess the ATI/Radeon GPUs do not).

I'm not sure it would be powerful enough if I wanted to use it to rip BD or transcode HD content, but I wanted as quiet a system as I could get. It's low power, has no internal fans for processor or GPU, and the power supply in the Apex MI-008 case is so quiet I won't be buying a pico-PSU external power supply that I had planned on.

[ashlar]

Right. Keyboards are NO living room devices.

Bah, so narrow minded... My DiNovo Edge is making me enjoy the forums, lying on the sofa.

I'm comfortable typing and I'm enjoying it. To each his own, I guess.

[davilla]

My take on GoogleTV, some things were interesting such as the realtime translation for subs. The actual demo was pathetic, I mean come on, no one at Google thought about connectivity problem with bluetooth devices and a large hall filled with wifi/cell phones. Duh. "Let's switch to the other box" was the take home message for me. This alone killed what ever message they were trying to present.

[bwilstyle]

I don't think there would be any ramifications for XBMC. As a solution for Internet on your TV, XBMC can be deployed for less cost than anything sold by OnlyOptionIsNotTheBestBuy.

And the GoogleTV set-top box will have to support hardware decoding for the TV Tuner right? So I think the price is going to be out-of-reach for most consumers even if GoogleTV is supposed to be ad-supported. So, how much "ad-support" dollars will be taken off the market price of the hardware. Google would certainly want this device to be accessible to a lot of people, but Best Buy would not. Best case scenario is $150-$200 for the set top.

If it actually costs that, then yeah there could be some ramifications. But I'm hoping overall that this would attract more developers to xbmc seeking to "free their TV" cheaply. I actually think we'll see xbmc on a more even playing field with GoogleTV... rather than having to point out their differences.

But if it actually costs that, the set top box could become the most exploited hardware device Google has come out with. And if one of those exploits allows me to watch cable through xbmc, let's get with it already!

Another log on the fire is will online content providers modify content delivery on their sites, such that xbmc scripts won't work anymore. And then scripters have to use GoogleTV SDK for xbmc to work again? Hmm... but that's a good point anyways.

[gdd2010]

Personally, I think that XBMC has nothing to worry about as the work is mostly voluntary and community supported. Google, however is in it fior the money and will be lackluster at best in features and will only be nothing more than a beefed up Youtube/Netflix player. Good search and no "Ooomph."

XBMC community strives because the "community" desires to be greater than the limits of a mega corporation.

[Starstream]

Interesting that the GoogleTV hardware will be running on Intel x86 Atom's not Arm which is what I would have thought given Android and the fact many TV's come equipped with an Arm CPU in the first place. Even Samsung have stuck an Arm Cortex A8 in their latest high end 2010 sets.

Another site says the Intel CE4100 will be used for the first wave of units. Maybe XBMC will run on these Google STB's one day via XBMC Live.

[davilla]

Interesting that the GoogleTV hardware will be running on Intel x86 Atom's not Arm which is what I would have thought given Android and the fact many TV's come equipped with an Arm CPU in the first place. Even Samsung have stuck an Arm Cortex A8 in their latest high end 2010 sets.

Another site says the Intel CE4100 will be used for the first wave of units. Maybe XBMC will run on these Google STB's one day via XBMC Live.

Yes, I noticed this too, Nvidia was missing and more surprising Broadcom was missing too, Broadcom supplies CPU/GPU support in existing Dishnetwork receivers. So looks like Dish will be jumping to Intel's embedded atom soon. Or GoogleTV will actually be some accessory device that sits between TV and existing cable/sat receiver and plays switching games.

[waldo22]

...Or GoogleTV will actually be some accessory device that sits between TV and existing cable/sat receiver and plays switching games.

Those kind of solutions always irritate me. Far from ideal.

-Wes

[fshagan]

Yes, I noticed this too, Nvidia was missing and more surprising Broadcom was missing too, Broadcom supplies CPU/GPU support in existing Dishnetwork receivers. So looks like Dish will be jumping to Intel's embedded atom soon. Or GoogleTV will actually be some accessory device that sits between TV and existing cable/sat receiver and plays switching games.

My understanding of the Dish set up is that their existing, installed HD DVRs will get a firmware update and will then control the Google box that goes between the DVR and TV (using HDMI only):

DISH Network will integrate the software to enable this advanced integration on all HD DVR receivers. Users can then simply connect their Google TV devices to their DISH Network receivers via HDMI.

From their press release at http://www.dishnetwork.com/googletv/

The rest of the press release promises integration with the Dish DVR, being able to search for online content from the electronic program guide, overlay online content onto TV shows, and other stuff you would probably never really do.

I'm thinking Dish will find a way to leverage IP delivery of Dish-on-Demand for movie rentals (perhaps they do that already with the ethernet connections the HD DVRs have.)

[davilla]

My understanding of the Dish set up is that their existing, installed HD DVRs will get a firmware update and will then control the Google box that goes between the DVR and TV (using HDMI only):


From their press release at http://www.dishnetwork.com/googletv/

The rest of the press release promises integration with the Dish DVR, being able to search for online content from the electronic program guide, overlay online content onto TV shows, and other stuff you would probably never really do.

I'm thinking Dish will find a way to leverage IP delivery of Dish-on-Demand for movie rentals (perhaps they do that already with the ethernet connections the HD DVRs have.)

Lovely, say hello to a 4-5 second handshake delay while the HMDI devices futz around talking to each other and passing DRM tokens.

[majorkong]

the most interesting thing, to me, is the personal tv schedule and the ability to tap into the meta data incorporated into the packet stream. I am HOPING? that 10.5 will allow me to create my own tv schedule using ONLY streaming tv media as I don't download anything. That is the most interesting thing about this announcement I think, the recognition that people was to tailor their environment and usage thus paying for what they use and no other. I REALLY REALLY REALLY want dish to go away now and I will not be signing up for their next generation of doltlike equipment, I am hoping that XBMC will let me dump them from our entire apartment complexes and I look forwards to making that call. Bless all the hard working people who take time to make xbmc what it is, an excellent product well executed.

[brainchild]

I disagree with the many posters on this thread who feel that Google TV is inherently limited and not a threat to XBMC. Google TV will likely become open source, so it will be extensible to those who care to add to its functionality. But more important, it is Android-based, meaning it features Android's excellent application framework. Developers will make applications for every function imaginable, just like they have for the Android phones. And in many cases the same applications that run on the phone will run on the set-top box, with slight modifications. Yes, XMBC has a plugin framework, but it can never equal application framework of Android, and developers are much more likely to want to make applications for Google TV than they will plugins for XBMC.

I'm not here to bash XBMC. I think it's wonderful. But I think the reality is it can't compete against an Android-based solution.

[Jezz_X]

......... I'm not here to bash XBMC. I think it's wonderful. But I think the reality is it can't compete against an Android-based solution.

not to mention multi millions of dollars of funding and specific "made for" hardware as well as hundreds of devs from all around the world

[topfs2]

Why do people keep thinking Google TV will be a competition, looking at android its possible that they will allow new home applications, i.e. we can be the home app. Porting to android is a possibility (still need a few things SDK wise) and if thats done we would have access to lots of hardware and public reach we couldn't dished out ourself _and_ we could have access to all those android specific features.

[AaronCompNetSys]

People are seeing XBMC as a system and not just an app. They also don't even see it as a building block for existing technologies and hardware. There is no reason XBMC could not be a building block to make Google TV a more potent system. Though, I highly doubt they will utilize it.