Ubuntu TV Finally Gets a Close-Up 146
Barence writes "Canonical has unveiled the first screenshots and details of Ubuntu TV. Plans for versions of the Linux distro for tablets, smartphones and TVs were unveiled last year, and now the television is — perhaps surprisingly — the first of those to arrive. 'It's a simple viewing experience for online video, both your own and routed over the internet,' Jane Silber, Canonical's CEO told PC Pro. Movie streaming services will be supported as well as live television broadcasts. Ubuntu TV will be integrated into television sets, but Canonical was unable to confirm any manufacturers. It will be released later this year."
But WHO will manufacture them? (Score:5, Insightful)
I can't imagine anyone going to an electronics store and saying "I want to buy an Ubuntu TV." No, they're going to ask for features or for a name-brand.
Who is going to be shipping them? The author of the software behind a smart/internet-enabled TV is way down my priority list when considering the purchase of a TV.
From what I've read, none of the so-called "Smart TV" products works with ALL content. They're all broken for one media site or another, a far from perfect solution for anyone.
How about listing the streaming protocols and formats Ubuntu supports? Are there any it doesn't support? Why?
I guess we'll just have to hope for more info when CES rolls around. But for now, I'd appreciate it if the Slashbot editors would stop posting pre-announcements for products as if they're telling us anything useful in them. All you're doing is providing free advertising for products that haven't been shown yet and about which we know nothing.
I'd much rather see some articles during and after CES that actually have some information about the products, not just the names of the vendors involved.
Re:Mythbuntu (Score:5, Insightful)
Does Mythbuntu have a mechanism for renting/buying movies though?
RedundantTV (Score:5, Insightful)
Okay so, we have MythTV, XBMC/Boxee/Plex, Freevo, Enna, and only Github knows how many others... and now Ubuntu TV.
How many of these me-too media center suites do we need ? I've been an XBMC fan since it was an actual Xbox app, but it is only a player. The few of my friends who want PVR functionality use MythTV. Would it not make a million times more sense to concentrate people's efforts on those two projects ? I'd rather have two awesome media center apps than ten shitty ones. Both are extensively configurable so it doesn't seem like anyone would be losing prized functionality by switching to one of the big two - or even merging them into one.
And no, I'm not new here. I'm just fed up with the unnecessary fracturing of limited free software resources. Even the venerable GeeXboX has seen the light and transformed itself into a polished XBMC-based distro. The more developers and eyeballs we have on the core projects, the better.
Re:Mythbuntu (Score:4, Insightful)
Seeing as this Ubuntu respin has never been officially endorsed by Canonical
If something called Ubuntu TV and presented by Canonical isn't endorsed by Canonical they must be pretty schizophrenic over there ;). Anyway, did Canonical need the endorsement of Debian to create Ubuntu? Or did Mint need the endorsement of Canonical? I don't see why Canonical should have to ask permission to make a respin of MythTV. If they could actually get some market traction (which I'm not holding my breath for) then patches and improvements will hopefully make their way back. Or not, since there's no law that require you to work well with upstream. If it turns out to be nothing but MythTV with a skin I'm sure most people will hear about that anyway.
Re:RedundantTV (Score:5, Insightful)
We don't need any that don't support Netflix. Will they have netflix support?
Re:One more.... (Score:4, Insightful)
Considering that netflix is the application that consumes the most bandwidth on the internet, I have to ask you what the hell your talking about.
Re:Does it run on Raspberry Pi? (Score:0, Insightful)
Raspberry Blob! Just a useless closed down piece of shit.