TVersity Pro adds Hulu streaming (not working on HD200 yet)

[evilpenguin]

TVersity just came out with a new, paid, version that claims to be able match PlayON's ability to stream internet content to UPNP clients like the HD200. I tried it out last night and, aside from the fact it didn't actually work, its got one *huge* advantage over PlayON.

With PlayON you basically have to navigate though a giant, sluggish, folder structure to find anything, but TVersity lets you add just the RSS feeds to the content you care about. Its basically the internet video equivalent of adding a favorite in Sage.

As I mentioned, unfortunately, I couldn't actually get any videos to play on the HD200 as they all kept showing up as .m3u files no matter what I did, but I'm gonna head over to the TVersity forums and see if they can help. Hopefully, its something simple that can be fixed because I would certainly consider buying this.

[mayamaniac]

But sageTV is supposedly working on native hulu support, is it even worth it to put effort into something else at this point?

[evilpenguin]

Given the whole dust up between Hulu and Boxee, I kind of question if Sage is still planning on releasing anything Hulu related as they tend to shy away from legal grey areas. I'd love to be wrong, but I kind of doubt it. Either way, we won't hear anything offical from Sage unless they actually release something. Until them i'm working under the assumption that we're on our own

[pjpjpjpj]

Originally Posted by evilpenguin

Given the whole dust up between Hulu and Boxee, I kind of question if Sage is still planning on releasing anything Hulu related as they tend to shy away from legal grey areas. I'd love to be wrong, but I kind of doubt it. Either way, we won't hear anything offical from Sage unless they actually release something. Until them i'm working under the assumption that we're on our own

I have to agree, I imagine there is some sort of legal SNAFU, since it was shown at CES (now three months ago) and has not been heard from since.

Of course, the mods here could be reading this, knowing that it will be released tomorrow, and laughing at me. But you know what, I would gladly be laughed at, if it were to be released tomorrow.

[reggie14]

What does this sentence mean from the article?

TVersity is still able to transcode user generated video from these same sites for playback on supported devices, but premium content, which needs to maintain ad insertion / tracking / measurement scripts, will open up in a dedicated browser.

I'm not sure what "premium content" includes. Do you think the Hulu videos will have to open in a browser to work?

[dinki]

Originally Posted by pjpjpjpj

I have to agree, I imagine there is some sort of legal SNAFU, since it was shown at CES (now three months ago) and has not been heard from since.

Of course, the mods here could be reading this, knowing that it will be released tomorrow, and laughing at me. But you know what, I would gladly be laughed at, if it were to be released tomorrow.

Would it be too much to ask for someone to say "Yes we are working on it" or "No, we have decided against it for legal reasons"? I've been waiting with great anticipation with each beta release only to be disappointed. I have also half-heartedly been looking for a workaround solution. I'd like to know if I should put forth more effort in looking for a workaround and less time waiting for something that may not even be on the way.

[reggie14]

Originally Posted by dinki

I have also half-heartedly been looking for a workaround solution.

I've essentially given up on Hulu on Sage. I think Sage has shown a desire to not put themselves at risk of being sued, which probably factored into their decision to not include commercial skipping functionality in Sage. I assume Hulu has updated their terms of use to forbid things like the HD200 from accessing Hulu. While Hulu hasn't gone after anyone yet, the big players now have been not-for-profit organizations (though, there are some for-profit companies too, like the PlayOn people). So, it's probably pretty dangerous for Sage to come up with some workaround. And, perhaps the changes Hulu made to block Boxee have made it pretty hard for Sage to get it working. It sounds like Boxee make a big change to their software's underlying architecture to come up with a hopefully permanent fix.

I have my Sage server hooked up to my TV anyway, though I generally use an HD200. I'm hoping Boxee puts out a Windows version pretty soon that works with both Netflix and Hulu. I'm guessing that's a few months off, as I think they're going to do one more round of private testing.

[thatdude90210]

I tried TVersity pro a couple of days ago. Installed it on my desktop pc, and tried streaming to HD200 and an xbox360.

Didn't work with the HD200 yet, as already pointed out. On the xbox360, I got the video to play, but no sound. Instead, the sound was playing on my desktop PC. I didn't get to mess around with any tweaking, it was just straight "out of the box" experience. I saw some post on their 360 forum with similar experience so maybe I'll wait until the next beta release to try again.

My Playon experience was different, I bought it (when it was still $30) after an hour because it did exactly what I wanted. But TVsersity is still interesting because of the list of supported streaming sites.

[Jason]

Originally Posted by reggie14

I'm hoping Boxee puts out a Windows version pretty soon that works with both Netflix and Hulu. I'm guessing that's a few months off, as I think they're going to do one more round of private testing.

Without saying much... they have.

As Boxee is simply XBMC (with a few additions...), it is not too difficult to use their built in client & server software to add the different sites...

This is what I proposed in another thread... adding a UPnP CLIENT to Sage... We already have Sage's proprietary server for 'extending' (HD100/200, MediaMVP, etc), but there is no built-in client. The most obvious answer would be to utilize the same source as XBMC/Boxee and use the Platinum UPnP software that is released under the GNU General Public License (GPL)

Having a client 'plugin' for Sage would solve quite a few of the 'issues'/legalities for Sage in accessing the distinct sites out there, since that could be provided by the server (playon, tversity, twonky, etc.)

[reggie14]

Originally Posted by Jason

As Boxee is simply XBMC (with a few additions...), it is not too difficult to use their built in client & server software to add the different sites...

I know Boxee is a fork of XBMC, but it's my understanding that the two are diverging from one another more and more. As far as I know, the Hulu plugin for XBMC hasn't worked since Hulu got rid of the RSS feed workaround (please correct me if I'm wrong). Boxee drastically changed their underlying architecture by basically embedding the Firefox browser in their system.

But, I'm not sure anything is going to work for me. I've been trying Hulu Desktop, but my computer (an Athlon X2 3800) just isn't fast enough for it. Video upscaling in flash is extremely processor intensive, and as far as I know, there's no way to get flash to use a less processor intensive method by default (e.g., having the flash quality set to low by default).

[grooves12]

Is there a solution for viewing tversity or playon streams from a Sage Client or server??

[Jason]

Originally Posted by grooves12

Is there a solution for viewing tversity or playon streams from a Sage Client or server??

Well, yes and no...

Yes in the fact that it is 'feasible', however, No due to the fact that it is unrealized.

Simply put, SageTV is a 'server' and has no built in means to become a 'client'.

Check this post out for possible 'solutions'...

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...0&postcount=77

[grooves12]

With no current support for Sage to access the playon or tversity streams... is there another Windows application with a nice 10 ft. interface that can be used??

Maybe orb?? I'm new to the whole streaming video thing and am not sure how these things all work.

I do have SageTV launching the hulu desktop app, and am really enjoying that so far, but I would like to have some other internet streaming content that hulu doesn't provide, that playon or tversity claim to be capable of.

[dinki]

Has anyone gotten Tversity working with the HD200? Also, the Pro version is an unlimited trial demo meaning you only pay when you find it is worth paying for.

[drewg]

Originally Posted by dinki

Has anyone gotten Tversity working with the HD200? Also, the Pro version is an unlimited trial demo meaning you only pay when you find it is worth paying for.

I played with it using djmount from a linux box (which is pretty much how the HD200 browses UPnP). I was unable to access Hulu, but could access freebie podcasts.

I was hoping it might pass the .flv though unmolested, since the HD*00 can play .flv, and I hate the CPU cycles that playon wastes converting streams to mpeg2.

Drew

[dinki]

Originally Posted by drewg

I was hoping it might pass the .flv though unmolested, since the HD*00 can play .flv, and I hate the CPU cycles that playon wastes converting streams to mpeg2.

That's my main interest. I'm trying hard not to buy a new machine as my server and desktop both have enough horsepower for everything I do with the exception of Playon.

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by drewg

I was hoping it might pass the .flv though unmolested, since the HD*00 can play .flv, and I hate the CPU cycles that playon wastes converting streams to mpeg2.

Drew

Originally Posted by dinki

That's my main interest. I'm trying hard not to buy a new machine as my server and desktop both have enough horsepower for everything I do with the exception of Playon.

Well if it did pass the .flv thru that would be Flash that currently doesn't support hardware acceleration so it would be all CPU trying to play the .flv. I'm not sure which is worse.

Gerry

[drewg]

Originally Posted by gplasky

Well if it did pass the .flv thru that would be Flash that currently doesn't support hardware acceleration so it would be all CPU trying to play the .flv. I'm not sure which is worse.

Gerry

I do all my playback on an hd100, and it seems to play flv just fine.

Drew