Integrate TV from Internet

[ydekmekji]

Maybe this is already possible, so i didn't put it on the wishlist, but in the US, TV Stations are beginning to put their shows on TV (for free). They are the reruns. For example, check out http://www.cbs.com/innertube/

And when I saw the Yahoo PVR stuff, I realized that the advantage Yahoo has is that it can integrate all of its videos into its PVR software.

I'd love it if there was a way to do that with GBPVR--maybe do something with ubustream?

[ubu]

And when I saw the Yahoo PVR stuff, I realized that the advantage Yahoo has is that it can integrate all of its videos into its PVR software.

If you mean "Go TV", looks like they are partnering with Tivo so, although it's vapourware now, chances are it will actually be a viable product. And, yes, they can easily integrate on-demand video since they are providing both content and player. But look for a) lots of advertising, b) pay per view packages (like RealNetworks do) and c) little choice over what you can view. See here for more info.

I'd love it if there was a way to do that with GBPVR--maybe do something with ubustream?

Well you can use UbuStream right now if you're prepared to fiddle about a little to grab the URLs. The cbs site you mention uses RealPlayer, for instance, so you can select "Play" on one of the videos, right click on the video screen, then choose "Play in RealPlayer" from the menu. When the video comes up in RealPlayer, pick "Clip Properties" from the File menu, then "View Clip Info" from the sub menu and then copy the URL (Ctrl-C) from the "File Name" field. You can then paste this URL (Ctrl-V) into the UbuStream config program (choosing RealPlayer as the player for the "station") or directly into the UbuStream.xml file. Do this for several videos at a time and you can have a few hours of on-demand video viewing available next time you run GBPVR.

I'm thinking about adding support for an easier way to define on-demand video to UbuStream in a future release but I doubt it will ever achieve the kind of integration Yahoo could offer since I don't control the source of the content. It's hard to figure out how to intelligently scrape the page source for media content since they all have different formats or hide URLs in java wrappers, etc.. Also, some of the TV rerun stuff uses Flash to render the video which means HTPC users who want to view it on a TV are basically SOL.:mad: