Any Chance of a Placeshifting with WinCE/PocketPC/SmartPhone

[Brent]

I think what bcjenkins was trying to say is that there are plenty of folks who would like to get placeshifting on their mobile devices, in the end it's just a matter of cost/benefit to SageTV.

For instance, I'd love to see it on a blackberry or iPhone/iTouch myself. It's on the "feature request" list, but not sure how soon or likely.

[nspindel]

I don't buy that at all. Nightrader's comment is extremely valid. I would like someone to point me to a thread where people are requesting animations in Sage. I would be willing to bet that more people are requesting mobile clients than are requesting animations.

Btw - I'm with you on an iphone client! I actually don't even use my windows mobile devices any more since getting iphone 3g.

[Brent]

Originally Posted by nspindel

I don't buy that at all. Nightrader's comment is extremely valid. I would like someone to point me to a thread where people are requesting animations in Sage. I would be willing to bet that more people are requesting mobile clients than are requesting animations.

I'm not saying it won't happen - just trying to explain some of the possible reasons why it hasn't & why it might not be right around the corner. You and everyone else who wants such a thing should let SageTV know directly though

[bcjenkins]

Originally Posted by nspindel

Excuse me??? You're posting on page 7 of a thread specifically asking for this functionality! If there wasn't much demand for it, I don't think this thread would have reached page 7. If you don't want it, fine, but that doesn't mean that there aren't a whole lot of other people who do.

Ok, I'll break it down for you. Not including this post there were 143 posts in this thread. Your 7 page thread is only 4 in my view.

Of those 143 posts, only 62 were made by unique posters. If we were to dig deeper, you would find requests for Palm, iPhone, BB, and Windows Mobile mixed within.

Unfortunately, there isn't a truly inexpensive mobile data experience available in the US and much of the world. Which I believe is the biggest reason for the lack of focus from SageTV on this. Perhaps this chages with something like WiMax. Until then, I think the best experience will be a Sling Box with an HD extender. You'll get HD channel support along with ripped DVDs, and all the other file types SageTV's extender supports.

That said, I am indeed interested in a mobile client, but not WinMo. I have a Centro, a BB, an iPhone/iPod Touch (both gen 1 devices), and an Android unit. I think Sling is likely to be first to provide client support on all these device types before SageTV since it is their focus.

B

[motobarsteward]

bcjenkins, I think that you are probably correct in your assessment with one exception. Most Windows Mobile, Symbian and Apple phone have WiFi which, when at home, is free.
I find the WebInterface acceptable on my mobile but a full client would be nice.
SageTV is wrapped around mplayer, which is not supported by many platforms and I suspect this is why we have to continue to wait for mobile support.

[GKusnick]

Originally Posted by nspindel

I would like someone to point me to a thread where people are requesting animations in Sage. I would be willing to bet that more people are requesting mobile clients than are requesting animations.

Since you ask, here is a current thread discussing possible upgrades to the stock UI. There's a long history of such threads, and animations and other forms of eye candy always figure prominently in the discussion. Also, if you spend some time browsing the Studio forum, you'll find numerous threads by third-party UI devs seeking help in creating animations and other flashy effects. The look and feel of the stock UI, and what can be done to improve it, is probably one of the most discussed issues on these forums. So it's not like the Sage devs just decided on a whim to add animations. People have been agitating for UI upgrades for years.

[reggie14]

Originally Posted by bcjenkins

Unfortunately, there isn't a truly inexpensive mobile data experience available in the US and much of the world.

There used to be, and I still have it! I'm on an old Sprint SERO plan, which gives me 500 minutes, free nights and weekends, free calls to 3 numbers of my choice, and unlimited data access for a total of $30 a month. They don't offer it anymore, but I'm grandfathered in.

That being said, data access is getting very popular. Smart phones are catching on quickly, in spite of the current economic conditions, which I think speaks highly for them. Smart phones will be the norm very soon.

Originally Posted by motobarsteward

b
I find the WebInterface acceptable on my mobile but a full client would be nice.

I agree- the mobile web interface is fine (though, the full web interface doesn't really work on my browsers on my phone very well). And I think it makes sense to focus on a web interface, rather than an actual placeshifter client. That's what Verizon and TiVo have done with their efforts on remote access to DVRs.

But, the mobile web interface doesn't tie into the main webservers streaming functionality. There's various reasons for this, probably mainly that its hard to come up with streaming formats that 1) work on most phones and 2) are supported by the VLC streaming engine. Even if it did, I'm not a big fan of VLC streaming due to the lack of support for fast forwarding, etc.