Windows7 & Vista: iViewWMC - Watch iView without keyboard/mouse

[HiddenCake]

Just a note on that 0.2.x planned update for this week - it won't happen this week. However, there will hopefully be an 0.2.x update during the next few weeks which will be able to replace the 0.1.x branch.

[Angrypeanut]

WAHOOOO!!!!

Cant wait for it mate.
Thanks for all your hard work!

[woohoo]

This looks fantastic, but I'm living overseas (India) for a couple of years. I would kill to get iView on my Media Centre, but I guess it's too much to hope your plug-in will somehow get around the country constraints on iView?

Regardless, keep up the great work HiddenCake.

[HiddenCake]

Unfortunately I can't put in support for bypassing the GeoBlocking, however, if you have any software installed that gets Internet Explorer to play iView from outside Australia, then it will probably work with iViewWMC too.


As mentioned yesterday, I hope to release a 0.2.x update in the next few weeks that will replace 0.1.x. The 0.2.x branch only works with Windows 7 at this point, but if anyone uses a Vista based Media Center, let me know, and I will see if I can get it working there too.

[woohoo]

Originally Posted by HiddenCake

... if you have any software installed that gets Internet Explorer to play iView from outside Australia, then it will probably work with iViewWMC too.

If anyone else has done this I would be very interested to hear how it can be done

[HiddenCake]

iViewWMC "test version" has been updated to version 0.2.3
You can download the update from here: http://www.xpmediacentre.com.au/comm...do=file&id=242
If you use 0.1.5, please see the comparison at the bottom of this post.

Description
- This version of iViewWMC installs an icon into Media Center, in the "Extras Library", titled "iViewWMC". When selected, iViewWMC displays iView.
- At this stage, you need a mouse. The remote control will be supported in an upcoming release.
- I suggest you go into the iView options, and set fullscreen to "Manual". iViewWMC displays iView in fullscreen anyway, if you have Media Center in fullscreen mode.

Requirements
- You must be using Windows 7. If you use Windows Vista, let me know, and I will look into making this compatible with Vista.
- A Mouse - iViewWMC 0.2.3 does not use the remote yet. You will need a mouse.
- Flash Player for Internet Explorer - Even if you have Internet Explorer disabled, Windows Media Center uses the IE rendering engine when displaying iView, and iView needs Flash Player. http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/

Updating from a previous 0.2.x version
This version should automatically remove the old version when you start installing this version. Or, you can uninstall the old version first, then install this version.

Updating from 0.1.5 (or older)
If you want to upgrade from 0.1.x to this version, please see the comparison at the bottom of this post. If you still want to remove 0.1.x, start by removing the iViewWMC icon from Windows Media Center (using Media Center Studio). Then delete the "C:/iView/" folder and everything inside it. Then install this version.



Comparison between 0.1.5 and 0.2.3
- 0.1.5 does not integrate with Media Center, but 0.2.3 does.
- 0.1.5 is harder to set up, and is buggy, but 0.2.3 is easy to set up and is quite stable.
- 0.1.5 allows a 'custom channel', but 0.2.3 does not.
- 0.1.5 needs a loading time before it starts, but 0.2.3 does not.
- 0.1.5 can use your remote, if you can figure out how to set it up, but 0.2.3 needs a mouse.
- 0.1.5 shows only a few 'channels', but 0.2.3 shows exactly what iView shows.
- 0.1.5 tries to use a Media Center styled menu, but 0.2.3 is the proper iView menu.
- The 0.1.x branch is being phased out, to be replaced by the 0.2.x branch.

[void]

HI Hiddencake,

Any chance of porting across to Vista???

very keen to give this a go...

[HiddenCake]

I will give it a go soon. Hopefully a bit more remote-control support will be in it soon too, if I can get that going.

For those already using 0.2.3, you might find that your remote can now Play/Pause a video, with its Play/Pause buttons. (No update needed, as long as you are using 0.2.3). This is still a work in progress, and I haven't done much testing of it yet, but let me know how it goes for you guys.

For those still using 0.1.5 (or older), a recent iView update may have broken it. If this is the case, please change to 0.2.3, as I will not be maintaining 0.1.5 any more.

[Zonared]

HiddenCake this is a fantastic plug-in, I havent installed it because I'm running Vista. It would be great if it could support Vista. I use my media centre in full screen mode with remote only, no k/b or mouse and its my sole machine so dont want to stuff it up if you dont recommend installing it.

Again good work,

Zonared

[drturner]

I've noticed SBS and all the commercial channels now have their own versions of iView. Any chance of integrating all?

[skypilot]

While I have had Iview installed for a few weeks now, I tried it for the first time last night and I am quite impressed! I watched the Rat Catchers (A bit of a boring show; how may times do you need to see a person going to a house to catch a rat or to put poison on wasps nests?). The other was the iceberg that sank the Titanic - was interesting enough about icebergs and started to watch another show - unfortunately my ISP (TPG) does count the download, but with a 40 gig limit I can use a bit on Iview- the lot only cost me around 510 megs - not too bad in my opinion and the quality was really very good.

[HiddenCake]

@skypilot - Once you got the video playing, did you try out your remote at all? At the moment, the arrow/directional buttons do this:
Left - Skip back 1 minute
Right - Skip forward 1 minute
Up - Volume up
Down - Volume down
(The volume is for the iView Flash window. The actual volume buttons on your remote will still control the volume of your Media Center, as normal)

Originally Posted by Zonared

It would be great if it could support Vista. I use my media centre in full screen mode with remote only, no k/b or mouse and its my sole machine so dont want to stuff it up if you dont recommend installing it.

I'll be adding in Vista support in the next release, if I can. At the moment, iViewWMC does need a mouse, but I am in the process of working on an interface for the remote, so you won't need a mouse at all.

As for the safety aspect, it is safe to use on your Media Center PC. However, I wouldn't recommend using it while you are recording something. iView itself uses a Flash interface, and it might use some RAM/CPU/Graphics resources that Media Center wants to use to record from your TV tuner. It depends on your system though.

Originally Posted by drturner

I've noticed SBS and all the commercial channels now have their own versions of iView. Any chance of integrating all?

I won't be adding them into iViewWMC, but I might do them as their own addons in the future. However, I don't use any of them, because they all take up part of my monthly download limit (unlike iView). So I have less interest in them. But I might have a look at making something once iViewWMC is fully functional. Can't make any promises though.