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Ceton My Media Center Thread

post #1 of 107
9/6/12 at 6:31am
Thread Starter 
http://cetoncorp.com/products/companion/





Companion app is out! This app, which works with WMC and extenders, allows you to schedule recordings, control playback, and more from your phone or tablet. Unlike, Remote Potato, it doesn't allow you to stream content to mobile devices, although developers seem interested in the idea. Overall, I think it's very attractive and functional. They are a few bugs, but the developers are quickly expunging them. It supports iOS, Android (including the Kindle Fire), and Windows Phone. Check it out! Also, one of the developers, motz2k1, is monitoring this thread for questions and comments.

Update: The app is now called "My Media Center" smile.gif
Edited by lockdown571 - 1/17/13 at 8:08pm
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post #2 of 107
9/6/12 at 7:07am
Thread Starter 
Unfortunately, I can't get the remote to work with my Xbox 360 extenders. Even if I an extender selected, it keeps controlling the PC. It should work with extenders, I believe, because it was working on what of the beta versions.

Edit: And it's fixed! That was quick. You just need to update the companion services.
Edited by lockdown571 - 9/6/12 at 7:58am
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post #3 of 107
9/6/12 at 7:28am
It will but it looks like it needs an update first. The comment below was posted on Engadget a few minutes ago.

"It will work on extenders fully as a remote, we are working on a patch for the Companion Services at this very moment and should have it ready in a few hours. Thanks!"
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post #4 of 107
9/6/12 at 7:33am
Thread Starter 
Yup, found the support thread here. Sounds like the fix is coming soon. Also, this app is amazing! Really well done.

Edit: Fixed with latest companion services!
Edited by lockdown571 - 9/6/12 at 7:58am
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post #5 of 107
9/6/12 at 7:41am
I like what I see in their gallery for the app but I think I'll wait a week or two before installing it, from the looks of the support thread! LOL
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post #6 of 107
9/6/12 at 11:03am
I just got this app, looks pretty nice and well thought out. I am looking forward to the Echo beta!
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post #7 of 107
9/6/12 at 11:35am
While I'm glad to finally see a good alternative to Remote Potato, I have to ask how so many bugs made it through the beta. I've found dozens in just a few minutes. I think I'll keep using the potato for a few more months.
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post #8 of 107
9/6/12 at 4:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mdavej View Post

While I'm glad to finally see a good alternative to Remote Potato, I have to ask how so many bugs made it through the beta. I've found dozens in just a few minutes. I think I'll keep using the potato for a few more months.

I found a few myself. But the app was just released. I think in the next few weeks it will get ironed out. While I think Remote Potato when used with tablet/phone apps can offer more then this does, the companion app offers alot and is alot quicker then Remote Potato is.
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post #9 of 107
9/7/12 at 7:50am
Quote:
Originally Posted by skybolt View Post

the companion app offers alot and is alot quicker then Remote Potato is.

Is that, then, the only advantage of the Ceton companion apps over Remote Potato? Speed? I haven't seriously used WMC since the initial XP version all those years ago. So I have no experience with either solution.
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post #10 of 107
9/7/12 at 9:12am
the remote and playback on my phone dont work. do i need to reboot my computer to fix this? everything else works. and i cant find it on my kindle fire.

update
i got the remote working by restarting wmc. and i guess it does not play recorded tv on my phone. but it works good.
Edited by tootal2 - 9/7/12 at 9:27am
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post #11 of 107
9/7/12 at 9:20am
You might want to search or post here.
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post #12 of 107
9/7/12 at 9:20am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jm9843 View Post

Is that, then, the only advantage of the Ceton companion apps over Remote Potato? Speed? I haven't seriously used WMC since the initial XP version all those years ago. So I have no experience with either solution.

Can Remote Potato be used to initiate playback on a PC or extender? I didn't think so, but I could be wrong.
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post #13 of 107
9/7/12 at 9:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jm9843 View Post

Is that, then, the only advantage of the Ceton companion apps over Remote Potato? Speed? I haven't seriously used WMC since the initial XP version all those years ago. So I have no experience with either solution.
The Ceton Companion App gives FAR better control over managing recordings than Remote Potato does.

The only advantages Remote Potato has are:

1) Remote Potato can stream video so you can watch your recordings remotely if you have a good enough internet connection. We've been told that this is on the road map for the Ceton Companion (no date has been given for this though).
2) Remote Potato can be used via a web browser so if you happen to be somewhere without your mobile device (or don't have a supported device) you can still access Remote Potato.
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post #14 of 107
9/7/12 at 11:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jm9843 View Post

Is that, then, the only advantage of the Ceton companion apps over Remote Potato? Speed? I haven't seriously used WMC since the initial XP version all those years ago. So I have no experience with either solution.

Remote Potato doesn't support remote control of extenders AFAIK. Where the Companion app does, not very intuitive though, to switch it is hidden in an android menu. And as gsr pointed out, it manages recordings and sheduleing much better. Which in my opinion is what this app should excel at.

I don't think Ceton was expecting to conquer the world with this app but, just complete what will be a total media solution from them when the Q arives on the scene. It makes sense to me, and it seems that thier going about it in the right way. $5 for the app isn't going to break the bank.
Edited by skybolt - 9/7/12 at 12:02pm
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post #15 of 107
9/7/12 at 12:15pm
Thanks for the breakdown guys. I'll likely give the Ceton companion app a try over the weekend although I do wish that they had a web component as well.
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post #16 of 107
9/7/12 at 2:46pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by skybolt View Post

Remote Potato doesn't support remote control of extenders AFAIK. Where the Companion app does, not very intuitive though, to switch it is hidden in an android menu. And as gsr pointed out, it manages recordings and sheduleing much better. Which in my opinion is what this app should excel at.
I don't think Ceton was expecting to conquer the world with this app but, just complete what will be a total media solution from them when the Q arives on the scene. It makes sense to me, and it seems that thier going about it in the right way. $5 for the app isn't going to break the bank.

Hidden under an android menu? I'm not sure what you mean. Whenever you've selected a recording or a TV channel, you just click the play or tune channel button at the top of the screen. Right next to that is a remote button that gives you complete control.
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post #17 of 107
9/10/12 at 4:54pm
Hey guys if anyone has any questions or issues please let me know. I am the lead developer on the mobile applications side.
Thanks,
James
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post #18 of 107
9/10/12 at 5:01pm
We had a pretty long beta process and ironed out a lot of issues. Transition from a few hundred users to thousands in a few days obviously caught us a bit off guard and are working hard to fix up anything that people might be having issues with.

Here is a list of things we are working on for Wednesday:
1.) Remote Control working on x86 system (everything works just fine on x64)
2.) Metadata for local movie files (and they will show up in the movie gallery)
3.) Automatic UPnP port forwarding
4.) Device renaming for extenders

We are also working on an additional "Api Key" that some users have requested.

Overall everyone seems really happy and while I am usually hanging out over at thegreenbutton forums, I will keep up to date on this thread. Always feel free to PM me as well.

Also if you like the app please rate the app on the app store, I really read all of these and it means a lot to me.
Thanks!
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post #19 of 107
9/10/12 at 5:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by lockdown571 View Post

Hidden under an android menu? I'm not sure what you mean. Whenever you've selected a recording or a TV channel, you just click the play or tune channel button at the top of the screen. Right next to that is a remote button that gives you complete control.

On WP7/Android there are a few options for the remote:

1.) "Auto launch remote" -> This will automatically navigate you to the remote page after you start playback of recorded tv or movies (not tuning channels) It will also select the device you started playback on for you automatically
2.) Under "menu" or the overflow drop down there is a "select device" option where you can switch to you main htpc or different extender
3.) We save which device you selected last and it should attempt to select it again for you next time you go to the remote.

I hope this helps, if you see anything odd let me know.
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post #20 of 107
9/10/12 at 6:20pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks Motz! Keep up the good work! I can't believe you guys made the app for all three hand sets AND tailored them aesthetically to each device's OS. They're really beautiful!
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post #21 of 107
9/14/12 at 8:28am
I just tried the app again, this time on a 64-bit system, and as Motz said, everything works fine. Most of the bugs I found before are only on the 32-bit version (still several cosmetic issues on iPad1 though). So it looks like a keeper. Once it does WOL, launches WMC and streaming, it will replace the potato completely. Nice work.
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post #22 of 107
9/14/12 at 8:37am
Quote:
Originally Posted by motz2k1 View Post

We had a pretty long beta process and ironed out a lot of issues. Transition from a few hundred users to thousands in a few days obviously caught us a bit off guard and are working hard to fix up anything that people might be having issues with.
Here is a list of things we are working on for Wednesday:
1.) Remote Control working on x86 system (everything works just fine on x64)
2.) Metadata for local movie files (and they will show up in the movie gallery)
3.) Automatic UPnP port forwarding
4.) Device renaming for extenders
We are also working on an additional "Api Key" that some users have requested.
Overall everyone seems really happy and while I am usually hanging out over at thegreenbutton forums, I will keep up to date on this thread. Always feel free to PM me as well.
Also if you like the app please rate the app on the app store, I really read all of these and it means a lot to me.
Thanks!

I haven't tried this yet due to time constraints on my end, but are the x86 bugs worked out yet? My HTPC is x86 because I initially set it up that way to try to solve some codec issues I was having and it is working well so I haven't bothered to switch it to x64 although I know now that it would work fine with x64.

Really cool that you read all the reviews in the app stores, BTW. This is something that you are guys at ceton are real passionate about and it shows!
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post #23 of 107
9/14/12 at 8:44am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2 View Post

I haven't tried this yet due to time constraints on my end, but are the x86 bugs worked out yet? My HTPC is x86 because I initially set it up that way to try to solve some codec issues I was having and it is working well so I haven't bothered to switch it to x64 although I know now that it would work fine with x64.
Really cool that you read all the reviews in the app stores, BTW. This is something that you are guys at ceton are real passionate about and it shows!

This update was pushed back. They're hoping to release a big update today.
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post #24 of 107
9/14/12 at 10:44am
App works great on Windows Phone, been waiting for this and glad to see Ceton publish the app for all OS (WP, Android, iOS)

keep up the great work motz!
Edited by BfnC - 9/14/12 at 1:20pm
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post #25 of 107
9/14/12 at 3:20pm
I have both remotepotato and ceton companion. I ideally would like to be able to watch liveTV on my mobile device or tablet but I guess this probably will not be able to be done. Regardless I like both apps for what they do. I agree that the Ceton app is easier to manage and record shows remotely. The guide loads up a lot quicker and easier to maneuver.
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post #26 of 107
9/21/12 at 10:18am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2 View Post

I haven't tried this yet due to time constraints on my end, but are the x86 bugs worked out yet? My HTPC is x86 because I initially set it up that way to try to solve some codec issues I was having and it is working well so I haven't bothered to switch it to x64 although I know now that it would work fine with x64.
Really cool that you read all the reviews in the app stores, BTW. This is something that you are guys at ceton are real passionate about and it shows!

Yep everything is all worked out now with x86, just go ahead and update your companion services to the latest build.
We are also looking to offer a developer build for the local movie metadata fix as well hopefully tonight or tomorrow over at TGB forums.

Quote:
Originally Posted by utee05 View Post

I have both remotepotato and ceton companion. I ideally would like to be able to watch liveTV on my mobile device or tablet but I guess this probably will not be able to be done. Regardless I like both apps for what they do. I agree that the Ceton app is easier to manage and record shows remotely. The guide loads up a lot quicker and easier to maneuver.

Our plan is to do everything all in one down the road smile.gif
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post #27 of 107
9/21/12 at 10:23am
A really big update for iOS dropped yesterday as well. tons of enhancements for it.

We have another iOS update coming for iPhone 5 support and should be out next week.
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post #28 of 107
9/21/12 at 10:51am
Change Log?

Android updates too?
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post #29 of 107
9/24/12 at 3:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2 View Post

Change Log?
Android updates too?

Android is all up to date. Google Play android gets a lot of updates really fast because there is no certification process.

Changelogs are all found here:
http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=2825
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post #30 of 107
11/11/12 at 6:36am
Hmmm...Any new updates here? I downloaded the WMC/win 7 portion of this, and it doesn't seem to support recorded TV (at least when I tried to add a directory for TV, I got a warning that said this functionality was going to be added).
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