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Completely Mind-Blowing! LinuxMCE ROCKS!

By Alexander Grundner | March 22nd, 2007 Interest Level: SMOKING HOT


linuxmce ui screenshot

A new project called LinuxMCE is set to create some major waves in the Media Center PC world (via Download Squad). Unlike its nearest competitor, Windows MCE, LinuxMCE is free, open source software, built on top of the Ubuntu operating system and features an innovative 3D user interface (which you’ve got see in action to believe) for superior media navigation, integrates home automation / lighting / surveillance functionality, easily catalogs content from all network storage devices and PCs, has the ability to control all existing A/V gear in your rack (i.e. stereo, VCR, Blu-ray/HD DVD set-top, etc.) with one remote, integrates an Asterisk VoIP phone system, a neat little feature called “follow me” that allows users to go to different rooms and access content from where they left off, and a whole bunch more. Personally, this is the first time I’ve heard of this project, but all I can say is: It’s the most impressive, out-of-the-box media center application suite I’ve seen to date on any platform. Have a look for yourself in the video demo below.

[VIDEO]

UPDATE 1: Official LinuxMCE .ISO image download mirrors now available.

UPDATE 2: For those skeptics out there who think LinuxMCE’s auto TV and light manipulation is a trick of video, read the developer’s explanation here on how it’s accomplished.

Features – Version 1.0

Media & Entertainment

  • 3D alpha-blended GUI optimized for displaying on a TV and using a remote control
  • Media browser presenting all content on all devices in the home on a 3D rotating cube
  • Plug-and-play detection and aggregation of network storage and DMA’s
  • Built-in NAS providing centralized backup and whole-house media server
  • “Follow Me” Media, each family member’s media follows him/her through the house
  • Automatically controls all existing av devices, like TV’s, Stereo’s, etc.)
  • Many control options: mobile phone, webpad, pda, phone

Smart Home

  • Home Automation: Control lighting, climate, security, camera surveillance, and more
  • Communication: Phone system with auto-attendant, voice mail, call forwarding/routing for VOIP and POTS lines
  • Security: Uses your existing home alarm, surveillance cameras, lights, phones and tv’s to notify you on your mobile phone of any security alerts with the option of reseting the alarm or broadcasting your voice in the house over the tv’s

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____________
Alexander Grundner is the Editor & Publisher of eHomeUpgrade. He has been following "Digital Home" developments since 2003. He's also a fan of cross-platform, open development software and industry standards related to media, networking, and the web. You can catch his daily tech musings on Twitter: @agrundner.
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  • Bernielj77
    Just wanted to add to my first comments, if it posts, and that is the V4Linux, or whatever it was called, didn't work well with my system, as I had previously mentioned, and I tried the version that came with the Mandriva 2009 "package," to try to watch TV through the PVR-500 by Hauppauge, and also had tried installing MythTV and tried IVTV too, and none of the three worked very well for me, and I even had trouble getting the radio part to work at first, and couldn't get any stations to show up in the station scan, but then I was able to finally get the stations to scan in and I saw the signal strengths, but then I couldn't get any audio through the speakers, but I have 5.1 speakers, so I even tried connecting them up as a 2-speaker system, and for the rest of the Linux system I was able to get the audio to work, but not through the PVR-500, but it may have something to do with having two receivers in the PVR-500 and I have a Digital TV conversion box connected to the one receiver, to convert DTV to Analog TV, and I sometimes would connect a camcorder or a DVD/VCR player to the other receiver, and I was able to watch a DVD through the PVR-500 and get audio through the speaker system, but if I tried to record what I was watching, all I'd get recorded was the picture, and the audio wouldn't get recorded and I checked to be sure that audio wasn't disabled or muted in all of the record and playback settings.
  • Bernielj77
    That sounds great, and the "views" or "screen shots" of LinuxMCE looks great.

    I haven't used Ubuntu, or is it Kubuntu, yet, and have only tried Slackware, which I couldn't get to work or even install properly, Solaris, which I didn't use long enough to even see if that's a Linux or just its own operating system, Debian Alpha and Centos, neither of which I really cared for.

    I did try, and liked, either Free or OpenSUSE Linux, and Mandriva Linux, both I used for a time, with multiple versions of both tried, the latest was Mandriva 2009, however my system didn't like the way the V4Linux or whatever the file or driver was called, worked and my PVR-500 wouldn't work that well with it.

    I may have the wrong version of the PVR-500 as I've read about an "A" and a "B" version of the PVR-500, so I'm using WIN-XP-Pro-MCE right now, and I did try to use the Ubuntu 7.04 I386 Desktop, or maybe it was Kubuntu, whichever the LinuxMCE works with, but I actually prefer the Gnome Desktop over KDE, but KDE is ok too.

    I wasn't used to either Ubuntu or Kubuntu, and only used the KDE Desktop a short time, so "am more familiar" with the way Gnome works, and either SUSELinux or Mandriva Linux, my "favorite two" Linux versions, so far anyway, so wish there'd be a way to get LinuxMCE to work with Mandriva 2009 which I just removed maybe two or three days ago.

    I'm almost tempted to try LinuxMCE again now though...
  • TN
    Quote: "Call me when they intergrate voice command"..

    ..Haven't tried it, but I bet it won't be long until someone integrates perlbox (http://perlbox.sourceforge.net/)or it's foundational voice recognition CMU sphinx (http://cmusphinx.sourceforge.net/) into the LinuxMCE / Pluto Home project!
  • sycore
    Call me when they intergrate voice command, like one voice media commander. I do not want to hit any buttons. Just turn it on, hold up the remote with build in mic and say "play the matrix"
  • Sounds really cool. I just wish they'd compared it to Vista MCE instead.
  • Qooop
    I am very impressed with this project. I have used XBMC almost exclusively to watch commercial free TV for a few years now and have recently wanted to moved to a PC based media center for the high def and other features not available or not well implemented on XBMC but I have yet to find any interface that can measure up to the wife-pleasing ease of XBMC. This could have what it takes to get me on that road. Thanks for the info.
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