Entertainment center console
Friday, November 16, 2001 by Jay D Custine | Discussion: WinCustomize Talk
I couldnt find any good examples for an interface for a multimedia console system and I was wondering if anybody here could point me in the right direction. In my opinion, it is relatively easy to put together some commodity hardware to have a reasonable PC and hard drive with TV output, connected to your stereo, and controlled by a wireless remote (ok, wireless keyboard if necessary). The hardware is the easy part, but a usable interface is a little more difficult. Nevertheless, I think a solution based on standard hardware should still be a little cheaper than the specialized products currently on the market. I have been looking for anything that will provide this functionality, including (blasphemy on this site!) open source alternatives. I have found nothing that quite fits the bill and I have decided that if I am going to try to work on some kind of interface for myself, I will do it with Desktop X and DX Friends. Just to be clear, the functionality I am talking about:
-Play mp3 files and playlists off of local drive and network shares
- Dynamically build playslists off of local drives and network shares
- Play video files off of local drives and network shares
- Play Shoutcast stations off of the internet
- All kinds of other usefrul things for an entertainment center PC
Well thats it, just looking for some advice/examples from somebody who has already done this before. Thanks,
Jay
-Play mp3 files and playlists off of local drive and network shares
- Dynamically build playslists off of local drives and network shares
- Play video files off of local drives and network shares
- Play Shoutcast stations off of the internet
- All kinds of other usefrul things for an entertainment center PC
Well thats it, just looking for some advice/examples from somebody who has already done this before. Thanks,
Jay
craeonics
Reply #2 Friday, November 16, 2001 11:26 AM
Reply #2 Friday, November 16, 2001 11:26 AM
I just read about a nifty way to prevent the average user from messing things up when you run a machine at an exhibition. Change the shell to a program that is not a shell and you will be left without an interface. That way, people can't play around. The only hassle remaining is how to start your apps then...
And there is NextStart Corporate for when you want to restrict people, not free though: http://www.winstep.net/default.asp?cat=nscorporate
And there is NextStart Corporate for when you want to restrict people, not free though: http://www.winstep.net/default.asp?cat=nscorporate
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Reply #1 Friday, November 16, 2001 9:27 AM
zathrus slaps Palm.