The past ten years have completely changed the way we listen to music, watch movies and television, and take photos, and one thing is abundantly clear: The future of your media lies undeniably in the digital realm. Now you just need to find the perfect media centre application to pull it all together. Photo by Aaron Escobar.
Mac OS X only: The latest version of the free Plex Media Centre for Mac now includes iTunes and iPhoto support, iTunes visualizations, TV theme music, and the ability to play songs you’ve purchased from the iTunes Store. This tight iTunes/iPhoto integration comes in part from the Plex Media Server, which makes your songs and photos show up inside Plex while running in parallel. The Plex developer explains: The Plex Media Server is a standalone program that runs alongside Plex (or alone on any machine, it’s a Universal Binary). It serves up media from your iLife applications (iTunes and iPhoto today, Aperture and Lightroom shortly). Plex communicates with the Plex Media Server on the local machine, on your local network, or even across the world over the Internet. This means that you can play your friends’ iTunes playlists or browse their podcasts or photo albums.
The Plex Media Centre is a fork of the XBMC project, which also offers a Mac version. In fact, XBMC Atlantis’ Mac version also includes iTunes and iPhoto support; compare our Plex screenshot tour to the Atlantis tour to see the differences between the two projects, which share the same code base. Plex is a free download for Intel Macs running Leopard only. Plex
Mac only (for now): The ATV USB Loader, a free tool to boot third-party software on an Apple TV unit, has updated to include the slick media centre Boxee amongst the booting options. We liked Boxee’s new looks and social flair when it was available for Macs (and, later, Linux), and the Apple TV implementation looks just as crisp. By loading Boxee, Apple TV users get access to nearly any kind of unrestricted video or audio files, can send recommendations to friends and stream Last.fm tunes, and do nearly anything else in the (currently invitation-required) Boxee. Of course, ATV also maintains support for Xbox Media Centre. If you’ve grabbed Boxee and tried it out on Apple TV, share your likes and wants in the comments. ATV USB Creator [Google Code via Wired]
The popular open-source media centre application Xbox Media Centre (XBMC) has rolled out the first beta release of XMBC Atlantis, which brings XBMC to all platforms. That means XBMC now runs on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, the original Xbox, and even your thumb drive or live CD. Despite its beta status, this release brings XBMC even closer to cross-platform bliss—including iTunes and iPhoto integration for XBMC on your Mac. The new release also boasts a killer new HD skin, so keep reading for a closer look.
Mac only: XBMC for Mac—the open source media centre software that offers a more flexible alternative to Front Row—has been renamed Plex, rebranded, and redesigned. Plex’s most recent release sports a new logo, a new skin, and a slew of bug fixes. You’ve already seen how to turn your Mac into the ultimate media centre with Plex (and the old, default, Project Mayhem skin). Now, take a look what the rebranded XBMC fork looks like sporting its new name and new skin.
The popular Xbox Media Centre (XBMC) is working toward a cross-platform release, codenamed Atlantis, with alpha downloads available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. The Windows Alpha crashed in my test, so if you have similar problems, previous versions of XBMC already run like a top on your Mac, your classic Xbox, and even your thumb drive.
If you liked the good looks of XBMC-based social media centre Boxee when we gave you the tour but have been waiting for the promised Linux version, your wait is over. [via]
Free, open source application Boxee is a new media centre application for the Mac (and soon to be Linux and Windows). Based on the open source media centre application Xbox Media Centre, aka XBMC, which we’ve covered from it’s humble beginnings on the Xbox classic to its move to your Mac and your thumb drive, Boxee completely reskins XBMC and adds a new social element. With Boxee, your local content seamlessly integrates with web content from sites like Last.fm and YouTube, and Boxee shares what you’re watching, listening to, and liking with all of your friends.
Development on the Xbox Media Centre Mac port continues apace, with the new beta 3 which dropped today. Grab the update to get more fixes and additions from the Linux version, and see how XBMC turns your Mac into a better media center.
You’ve turned your Windows PC into a media center powerhouse on the cheap, and everything’s great while you’re at home. You can watch live and recorded TV, schedule new recordings, or peruse your entire media library from the comfort of your couch. What if I told you that you could do the same thing from any computer, at home or away, and you didn’t have to shell out for new equipment to do it? Forgot to schedule a game you don’t want to miss? Want to catch up on last week’s episode on your laptop or even your cell phone? With the free Media Center add-on WebGuide, you can extend your Windows Media Center to any browser (including mobile browsers), so no matter where you are, you can take the convenience of Media Center with you.
