January 13th, 2011 – SPB Software, a leading mobile software developer has announced that its major solution SPB TV is now also available for desktop. As the best in class TV for mobile devices SPB TV has already gained popularity among the smartphone owners. The numbers confirm this: this month SPB TV has reached the 3 million users milestone, and it doesn’t include the subscribers of 4 mobile operators worldwide that have already deployed SPB TV based mobile TV solutions. With the launch of the desktop version, it becomes possible to have the same user experience on desktop, tablets and smartphones. And the users may choose which way of watching SPB TV is the most convenient for them.
SPB TV for desktop is available in several modes. It’s enough to type http://tv.spb.com in the address bar to start watching it online. SPB TV can be accessed in all major browsers: Firefox, IE, Chrome, Opera and Safari. The browser mode allows to switch between channels, browse the integrated TV guide to see the current and upcoming TV programs, switch to the full-screen mode and control the volume level. It also shows the channels of the user’s previous choice. It is possible to install SPB TV on Windows PC or Mac and enjoy the convenient and easy-to-use interface launching it on the desktop in the out-of-browser mode.
Out-of-browser mode allows the user to switch to the compact mode and to the full screen mode. The compact mode is an on-screen window that can be chosen to stay always on top of the windows so that the user could combine watching the favorite TV shows with browsing in the Internet or working. The full screen mode is on the contrary for those who want to be fully engaged in the TV-watching process and have a real TV experience. Video-on-demand channels are another option in addition to the live streaming.
Mobile Operators will now have an opportunity to provide the full-service solution including not only SPB TV for mobile devices on Android, iPhone/iPad, Symbian, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, bada, Maemo and WebOS platforms but also SPB TV for tablets, Macs, Windows PCs and netbooks
Main Features:
- TV Everywhere: desktop, mobile, tablet
- Windows and Mac compatible
- In and Out of Browser modes
- Updates automatically
- Compact view
Pricing and Availability
The SPB TV Desktop requires Silverlight 4 and is compatible with Mac OS X and Windows. SPB TV Desktop is free of charge and can be watched in most popular browsers or installed on the desktop.
Further Information
Watch SPB TV Desktop
SPB TV product page
SPB TV Desktop description page
St. Petersburg, May 6th, 2009 – Spb Software, a leading maker of mobile applications, today announces the amendment of Spb TV channels catalogue with over 40 new mobile TV channels. The majority of the newly added channels were suggested by Spb TV users. Today, approximately one hundred of international mobile TV channels are available via Spb TV.
Spb TV is a subscription-free mobile IPTV viewer, designed for tuning in to publicly available digital TV channels from all over the world. A downloadable software client, Spb TV makes a wide range of international live TV channels available for viewing directly on Windows Mobile phones. Spb TV does not only provide users with access to a world of live TV streaming on the go, but it offers exclusive on-screen controls and an integrated TV guide. Spb TV supports fast channels switching, use of intelligent stream correction, picture-in-picture mode, and export of show reminders into Outlook, brining the genuine TV watching experience onto mobile. Spb TV requires a high speed mobile data connection which may be available via 3G, Wi-Fi, or WiMax networks.
Among the recently added channels are Comedy Time, Chick Comedy, and Comedy Time Latino. According to Comedy Time, it is the number one viewed comedy channel on a mobile platform.
New channels to be added to the Spb TV catalogue can be suggested here:
http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/pocketpc-software/tv/suggest-channel.html
Pricing and Availability
Spb TV 1.0 is compatible with Windows Phones running on Windows Mobile 5 and later Professional and Standard platforms, qVGA, VGA, Square QVGA, and WVGA screen resolutions are supported. Spb TV 1.0 has a full and a freeware versions, with the freeware version limited in features and number of channels available. Spb TV requires a reliable 3G, WiMax or WiFi network connection for proper streaming. Full version of Spb TV is available for 14.95 USD at www.SpbSoftwareHouse.com.
Further Information and Downloads
Spb TV web page (Pocket PC)
Spb TV web page (Smartphones)
Spb TV screenshots page (Pocket PC)
Spb TV screenshots page (Smartphones)
Spb TV evaluation copy downloading page (Pocket PC)
Spb TV evaluation copy downloading page (Smartphones)
About Spb Software (www.spbsoftwarehouse.com)
Spb is a leading brand in mobile software, standing for a unique line of popular consumer products and partnerships with the world’s most innovative handset makers and wireless carriers. The popularity of Spb’s solutions rests on profound usability research, relevance to valid subscriber needs and smartphone use cases, as well as superior technical implementation, stability, and quality graphic design.
If you followed my other (tiny) tutorial on creating a mediacenter then you should now have your PC linked to your TV.
If youre a fan of Singstar and similar games for the consoles, then you may like this… An open source (free) karaoke game for your pc!
[QUOTE]A free and open source karaoke game inspired by the Singstar™ game available on the Playstation®. It allows up to six players to sing along with music using microphones in order to score points, depending on the pitch of the voice and the rhythm of singing[/QUOTE]
Download
Windows
UltraStar Deluxe Installer (10 MB) (If you´re not sure, use this one):
With possibility to download 40 songs and some additional themes
UltraStar Deluxe ZIP (22MB) – With three songs and additional themes
UltraStar Deluxe ZIP Lite (13,6MB) – without songs and extra themes
Linux / Mac OS X
There is no pre build package available yet, but this version is known to work well in Wine – a tutorial can be found in the USDX Wiki here.
Links of interest
Linux getting started guide – Forum thread
Linux compiling guide – Wiki
Mac OS X Snapshot version – Forum thread with dmg file
Mac OS X the actual progress – Forum thread
Mac OS X working UltraStar – Eddie (the author) has joined our team, this his old project (NonDeluxe!)
Additional Content
Themes – More Eyecandy 
Plug ins – For more game modes in the party mode
Songs – Different songs either released under Creative Commons licenses or where the project obtained the permission to distribute them
Las Vegas, March 31st, 2009 – Today at CTIA Wireless, Spb Software – a leading maker of mobile applications, announces the release of Spb TV – a practical mobile TV player with patent-pending on-screen controls and fast channel switching technology, use of intelligent stream correction, picture-in-picture mode, and an integrated TV guide with export of show reminders into Outlook. Spb TV is a subscription-free and international live mobile TV solution that is geared up to utilize the new generation of faster wireless networks.
The now standalone mobile TV solution for Windows Phones, Spb TV was first introduced to the market in September 2008 as the flagship feature of Spb Online. Since then, it has hosted millions of mobile TV sessions. Spb TV is unique in its approach to the mobile TV experience, offering the unexpectedly natural simplicity of watching live TV on a phone. Spb TV goes a long way to support the genuine TV watching behavior on a handset: quick TV guide check-up and channel hopping, on-screen controls for volume and backlight, neat integration of TV functionality with other mobile features (such as messages, calls, and battery life monitoring).
“Mobile TV is an additional fun factor for phone users, who expect hassle-free access to a nice selection of international TV channels from their handsets,” – comments Sebastian-Justus Schmidt, Spb Software CEO. “This is why Spb TV is subscription-free, optimized for 3G and WiMax networks, but works great with WiFi connections too. We also look to cooperation with mobile operators, to provide more customized and branded mobile TV experiences to their subscribers,” Sebastian concludes.
Spb TV 1.0 Main Features
- Unique TV browser with quick channels preview and list of current & upcoming TV shows for fast channel selection
- Integrated full week’s TV guide
- Ability to set Outlook reminders for TV shows of interested
- Fast channels launch and switching technology
- Picture-in-picture mode (channel preview while in another channel)
- Finger-friendly onscreen “transparent” controls with instant access to regular TV features
- Full support of hardware buttons controls
- Network bandwidth fluctuations support
- Clever integration of mobile TV functionality with other mobile phone features
Pricing and Availability
Spb TV 1.0 is compatible with Windows Phones running on Windows Mobile 5 and later Professional and Standard platforms, qVGA, VGA, Square QVGA, and WVGA screen resolutions are supported. Spb TV 1.0 has a full and a freeware versions, with the freeware version limited in features and number of channels available. Spb TV requires a reliable 3G, WiMax or WiFi network connection for proper streaming. Full version of Spb TV is available for 14.95 USD at www.SpbSoftwareHouse.com.
Further Information and Downloads
Spb TV web page (Pocket PC)
Spb TV web page (Smartphones)
Spb TV screenshots page (Pocket PC)
Spb TV screenshots page (Smartphones)
Spb TV evaluation copy downloading page (Pocket PC)
Spb TV evaluation copy downloading page (Smartphones)
About Spb Software (www.spbsoftwarehouse.com)
Spb is a leading brand in mobile software, standing for a unique line of popular consumer products and partnerships with the world’s most innovative handset makers and wireless carriers. The popularity of Spb’s solutions rests on profound usability research, relevance to valid subscriber needs and smartphone use cases, as well as superior technical implementation, stability, and quality graphic design.
Spb Software invites members of the media to get familiar with the application by claiming their complimentary copy of Spb TV through contacting Victoria Krasilshikova at pr@softspb.com.
Thanks to Matthew Fenton for pointing out Streamed MP
Which is now my skin of choice on my media server.
“Streamed MP is a port of Team Razorfishes skin Mediastream created for XBMC, over to the popular open source HTPC Application MediaPortal. Streamed MP is a close port, however there are some new views/layouts included with the skin that will keep the fanart fans happy. This skin has also been designed with ease of use in mind, with a custom menu generator included to make creating menus suited to your setup extremely easy. All of this is wrapped up in a nice installer that also installs the latest version of two very popular plugins TV Series (currently being worked on by various developers) and Moving Pictures (worked on by fforde and armandp). “
The more I use MediaPortal it grows on me, the only draw back at the moment is the speed of the animations and the transistions. Which I was hoping to sort by upgrading the RAM.. However just before I got round to placing the order for the RAM it’s priced was hiked up to nearly double!!! So that’s on the back burner for now..
At least I have had confirmation that my heatsync is on it’s way!
Next on the cards (besides the RAM) is another TV card, twin tuner this time I think, another DVD drive and a TB hard drive.
