Lightbox press event release

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#1104105 7-Aug-2014 14:34

ptinson: And that relies on the DRM, authentication and streaming solutions be able to support that. As well as the studios accepting that as a valid method of accessing content...

Its possible see libspotify as an example...
https://developer.spotify.com/technologies/libspotify/ (just look at all those supported platforms)

Yes all the netflix addons are terrible for the main reason you can't playback in xbmc all the addons launch a webbrowser due to no way to hande the DRM internally... this may change as netflix continuous its slow html5 push.

I guess another (maybe more realistic due to DRM requirements) option would be a small android box/stick

But then of course you would need another device for tvnz/tv3/sky go...

Killerkiwi2005

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#1104127 7-Aug-2014 14:44

reven:

also NZ devs arent that common for xbmc, there was a tvnz/3 on demand app for xbmc, but once that developer left the plugin basically died.

Making the addon is actually easy, its the ever changing way the flash video is obfuscated that makes it not worth while

tdgeek

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#1104141 7-Aug-2014 14:57

lchiu7: This is not a beta access issue so I thought I would post here.

It seems most beta users are using PC's, IOS devices and Airplay(?) to access the service.

That's all fine but I would much prefer to watch on my big TV (I have no IOS devices and Airplay sounds like a bit fiddly).

What sort of dedicated media players would folks like to see implemented?

My preference would be

- PS3 (that could just be selfish since I use my PS3 for Netflix, Amazon, Vudu and Hulu)
- Some sort of TV app but that might be difficult since there are so many platforms around
- A locally available media player like a WD Live or Netgear NeotV?
- Google TV (but only as a last resort). I do have a Google TV device (Logitech Revue) and it does Netflix nicely on a big TV and the app is just from the Play Store.

All the above devices support IR remotes and universal remotes which I think is essential if the service wants to be in the living room rather than in the home office.

Perhaps hard to cater for every device, in that every person wants their fave device to be supported, so you'd end up with every devuice being wanted. The Airplay isnt fiddly though. Turn the ATV on, bring up the Lightbox app. Inside the app, turn Airplay from iPad to Apple TV, and its playing on the TV. This is the best by far solution image quality and motion wise IMO. And no messing with laptop or Airplay resolution settings to fill the screen. The iPad becomes the STB, or you can watch on the iPad.

ptinson

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#1104147 7-Aug-2014 15:00

Killerkiwi2005:
ptinson: And that relies on the DRM, authentication and streaming solutions be able to support that. As well as the studios accepting that as a valid method of accessing content...

Its possible see libspotify as an example...
https://developer.spotify.com/technologies/libspotify/ (just look at all those supported platforms)

Yes all the netflix addons are terrible for the main reason you can't playback in xbmc all the addons launch a webbrowser due to no way to hande the DRM internally... this may change as netflix continuous its slow html5 push.

I guess another (maybe more realistic due to DRM requirements) option would be a small android box/stick

But then of course you would need another device for tvnz/tv3/sky go...

Oh its technically possible and not actually that hard but as you say its the DRM etc that makes it tricky, not impossible though.

meat popsicle

dclegg

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#1104149 7-Aug-2014 15:03

tdgeek:

Perhaps hard to cater for every device, in that every person wants their fave device to be supported, so you'd end up with every devuice being wanted. The Airplay isnt fiddly though. Turn the ATV on, bring up the Lightbox app. Inside the app, turn Airplay from iPad to Apple TV, and its playing on the TV. This is the best by far solution image quality and motion wise IMO. And no messing with laptop or Airplay resolution settings to fill the screen. The iPad becomes the STB, or you can watch on the iPad.

The problem I see with this is that if you don't already have an iPad, the setup costs are pretty high. Thats why I think there may be room for a cheap STB option that Lightbox can push to the non-technical majority.

Also, the current iPad app does have some issues around sleep mode, but hopefully these can be resolved in a subsequent update. I'd also ideally like to see the app still stream when another app is brought to the foreground. My wife likes to potter away on the iPad while we're watching TV. But currently the Lightbox app won't allow this.

But those minor quibbles aside, I agree with your points regarding the picture quality of the iPad/AirPlay setup.

tdgeek

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#1104150 7-Aug-2014 15:03

dclegg:
nzconan:
My preference is definitely to see it on a TV (watching Vikings on the Beta version via PC (in the study) last night was just not the same and I ended up changing my geo location (UnblockUS) and watching further episodes on Netflix (Mexico) .. I might be getting hooked).

I think that's far more than just your preference. For it to really have mass adoption in the marketplace, there needs to be an easy way for non-technical folks to get it onto their TVs. And this can't be ticked off by saying "We support 2014+ models of <Insert single TV manufacturer>".

Having it via an relatively easy to use and configure standalone device such as the Apple TV, Roku, or similar is the answer here. The device must be relatively inexpensive (< $200), and possibly even have some sort of subsidy (e.g. discounted if you sign to an n month contract, or have other Spark services).

My personal preference here (because we already have two of the little fellas) is the Apple TV. But as that is an "invite only" platform, I suspect it may not be the best choice for Lightbox.

Rumours are that the Apple TV will soon le to support apps, so that games, and other apps, such as Lightbox, can be installed on the ATV as well as iPhone, iPad, Mac. That would be quite a mini game changer, and for a low cost STB that also does other stuff, be a good buy.

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tdgeek

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#1104163 7-Aug-2014 15:13

dclegg:
tdgeek:

Perhaps hard to cater for every device, in that every person wants their fave device to be supported, so you'd end up with every devuice being wanted. The Airplay isnt fiddly though. Turn the ATV on, bring up the Lightbox app. Inside the app, turn Airplay from iPad to Apple TV, and its playing on the TV. This is the best by far solution image quality and motion wise IMO. And no messing with laptop or Airplay resolution settings to fill the screen. The iPad becomes the STB, or you can watch on the iPad.

The problem I see with this is that if you don't already have an iPad, the setup costs are pretty high. Thats why I think there may be room for a cheap STB option that Lightbox can push to the non-technical majority.

Also, the current iPad app does have some issues around sleep mode, but hopefully these can be resolved in a subsequent update. I'd also ideally like to see the app still stream when another app is brought to the foreground. My wife likes to potter away on the iPad while we're watching TV. But currently the Lightbox app won't allow this.

But those minor quibbles aside, I agree with your points regarding the picture quality of the iPad/AirPlay setup.

I'll check sleep mode tonight, I dont recall having that issue. IIRC the iPad went black on Airplay being switched to Apple TV, and I watched more than the 2 minutes autolock. Hopefully iOS8 may get past the multitasking, as I gather that, like many other thibngs are being relaxed/freed up. Hopefully a setting to allow more contorl overt multi tasking.

I turned mirroring on as a test, iPad Air to ATV3 to Plasma, it was bad. I will retry that tonight

dclegg

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#1104176 7-Aug-2014 15:30

tdgeek:

I'll check sleep mode tonight, I dont recall having that issue. IIRC the iPad went black on Airplay being switched to Apple TV, and I watched more than the 2 minutes autolock. Hopefully iOS8 may get past the multitasking, as I gather that, like many other thibngs are being relaxed/freed up. Hopefully a setting to allow more contorl overt multi tasking.

I turned mirroring on as a test, iPad Air to ATV3 to Plasma, it was bad. I will retry that tonight

Sleep mode is definitely an issue for me. I've had to disable it, otherwise the stream stops as soon as the iPad sleeps. Pressing the Sleep/Wake button will have the same effect.

lchiu7

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#1104185 7-Aug-2014 15:35

tdgeek:
lchiu7: This is not a beta access issue so I thought I would post here.

It seems most beta users are using PC's, IOS devices and Airplay(?) to access the service.

That's all fine but I would much prefer to watch on my big TV (I have no IOS devices and Airplay sounds like a bit fiddly).

What sort of dedicated media players would folks like to see implemented?

My preference would be

- PS3 (that could just be selfish since I use my PS3 for Netflix, Amazon, Vudu and Hulu)
- Some sort of TV app but that might be difficult since there are so many platforms around
- A locally available media player like a WD Live or Netgear NeotV?
- Google TV (but only as a last resort). I do have a Google TV device (Logitech Revue) and it does Netflix nicely on a big TV and the app is just from the Play Store.

All the above devices support IR remotes and universal remotes which I think is essential if the service wants to be in the living room rather than in the home office.

Perhaps hard to cater for every device, in that every person wants their fave device to be supported, so you'd end up with every devuice being wanted. The Airplay isnt fiddly though. Turn the ATV on, bring up the Lightbox app. Inside the app, turn Airplay from iPad to Apple TV, and its playing on the TV. This is the best by far solution image quality and motion wise IMO. And no messing with laptop or Airplay resolution settings to fill the screen. The iPad becomes the STB, or you can watch on the iPad.

Does the Airplay solution offer Dolby Digital 5.1? In fact does Lightbox offer 5.1 audio? It's hard to tell from the browser app.

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Linuxluver

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#1104188 7-Aug-2014 15:37

Facebook bought a company called Lightbox a couple of years ago. Possible name conflict?

_____________________________________________________________________

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tdgeek

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#1104189 7-Aug-2014 15:37

lchiu7:
tdgeek:
lchiu7: This is not a beta access issue so I thought I would post here.

It seems most beta users are using PC's, IOS devices and Airplay(?) to access the service.

That's all fine but I would much prefer to watch on my big TV (I have no IOS devices and Airplay sounds like a bit fiddly).

What sort of dedicated media players would folks like to see implemented?

My preference would be

- PS3 (that could just be selfish since I use my PS3 for Netflix, Amazon, Vudu and Hulu)
- Some sort of TV app but that might be difficult since there are so many platforms around
- A locally available media player like a WD Live or Netgear NeotV?
- Google TV (but only as a last resort). I do have a Google TV device (Logitech Revue) and it does Netflix nicely on a big TV and the app is just from the Play Store.

All the above devices support IR remotes and universal remotes which I think is essential if the service wants to be in the living room rather than in the home office.

Perhaps hard to cater for every device, in that every person wants their fave device to be supported, so you'd end up with every devuice being wanted. The Airplay isnt fiddly though. Turn the ATV on, bring up the Lightbox app. Inside the app, turn Airplay from iPad to Apple TV, and its playing on the TV. This is the best by far solution image quality and motion wise IMO. And no messing with laptop or Airplay resolution settings to fill the screen. The iPad becomes the STB, or you can watch on the iPad.

Does the Airplay solution offer Dolby Digital 5.1? In fact does Lightbox offer 5.1 audio? It's hard to tell from the browser app.

No idea, sorry. My sole issue is if the image is TV HD quality, and if it has smooth motion.

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dclegg

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#1104202 7-Aug-2014 15:51

tdgeek:
lchiu7:

Does the Airplay solution offer Dolby Digital 5.1? In fact does Lightbox offer 5.1 audio? It's hard to tell from the browser app.

No idea, sorry. My sole issue is if the image is TV HD quality, and if it has smooth motion.

Yep, thats pretty much my main priority too. It doesn't even have to be HD quality. It just needs to be "virtually indistinguishable from terrestrial TV" quality. On that note, Lightbox is doing pretty well so far.

DD 5.1 isn't important for me, as I don't currently get that from my ATV, and the Pro Logic II in my A/V receiver does an acceptable job of faking it. If this wasn't the case for me then it'd be a different story, I'm sure. ;-)

Dratsab

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#1104207 7-Aug-2014 15:56

Agree with Reven - freeview channel with an HTML5 stream is the best option for mass adoption to the lounge without adding another set top box. There's no need to worry about what flavour of TV is being run via the freeview platform.

DRM is currently the problem but that's a codec issue as HTML5 provides neither support nor barrier to DRM. There is discussion around extending the HTML5 architecture though. Related article.

PhantomNVD

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#1104253 7-Aug-2014 17:12

tdgeek:
dclegg:
tdgeek:

Perhaps hard to cater for every device, in that every person wants their fave device to be supported, so you'd end up with every devuice being wanted. The Airplay isnt fiddly though. Turn the ATV on, bring up the Lightbox app. Inside the app, turn Airplay from iPad to Apple TV, and its playing on the TV. This is the best by far solution image quality and motion wise IMO. And no messing with laptop or Airplay resolution settings to fill the screen. The iPad becomes the STB, or you can watch on the iPad.

The problem I see with this is that if you don't already have an iPad, the setup costs are pretty high. Thats why I think there may be room for a cheap STB option that Lightbox can push to the non-technical majority.

Also, the current iPad app does have some issues around sleep mode, but hopefully these can be resolved in a subsequent update. I'd also ideally like to see the app still stream when another app is brought to the foreground. My wife likes to potter away on the iPad while we're watching TV. But currently the Lightbox app won't allow this.

But those minor quibbles aside, I agree with your points regarding the picture quality of the iPad/AirPlay setup.

I'll check sleep mode tonight, I dont recall having that issue. IIRC the iPad went black on Airplay being switched to Apple TV, and I watched more than the 2 minutes autolock. Hopefully iOS8 may get past the multitasking, as I gather that, like many other thibngs are being relaxed/freed up. Hopefully a setting to allow more contorl overt multi tasking.

I turned mirroring on as a test, iPad Air to ATV3 to Plasma, it was bad. I will retry that tonight

[@beta users] SWITCH TO BETA USER TOPIC FOR FULL BETA FEEDBACK PLEASE?
http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=151&topicid=150861

But while I'm here, I ONLY get mirroring to work on my home ATV2, and ha to disable screen lock to do so... Direct airplay only gave a black screen for me, with audio.

Bobdn

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#1104348 7-Aug-2014 20:14

dclegg:
Lightbox:
solaybro: Will you be monitoring what shows are being watched and what's in peoples watchlists in order to see what sort of content people might want? You could even copy what Netflix does and see what shows are being torrented to see what people want.

Hi,

In preparation of our content negotiations, we'll look at a variety of different data sources - including customer surveys, "wider internet usage" and viewership in NZ or other territories.

As we go forward, obviously usage, watch listing, browsing, search terms etc. will all be important sources of this data for us.

Would it be worthwhile having a "Is there anything you'd like to see?" contact option on your website. Obviously there will be cases where users request content that is hard/impossible to get due to exclusivity arrangements. But there may be some gems suggested that you didn't think to source.

FWLIW, I know I'd get my wife to sign-off on immediate sign-up at launch if you had all current seasons of Sister Wives (reality TV show) available. NetFlix has up to S4, and we can't find the remaining seasons anywhere outside of iTunes & Amazon. :-)

I think you have fantastic content so far. May I suggest The Hills and Made in Chelsea? (as long as you get them really cheaply). I like those programmes and lots of girls do as well.

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