A few days ago we published a review of the Linux-based Neuros OSD recorder and player. Now, you can win one of these devices! All you have to do is research on the product to find out its current capabilities, and then comment below with suggestions on how to make it better and with ideas for new applications and hacks. The Neuros Technology guys will pick the best idea in 3 days time and we will provide them with the winner’s email address so they can send him/her a free Neuros OSD device (that info won’t be used for other purposes). If you wish to comment but not to participate in the competition, please clearly state so on your comments. Update: The winner is FunkyELF for this post. Congrats!
Competition: Win a Linux-based Neuros OSD
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
Follow me on Twitter @EugeniaLoli
1. Remote web interface for configuring and managing over the web
2. Webdav support to make remote file access as easy as drag and drop
3. Last.fm plugin so users can share what they are listening to
4. Icecast server support to allow people to serve up their own radio station based on the music they have on their storage devices
5. Bluetooth support to allow syncing of devices without plugging them in. You could support this through a USB dongle so that you don’t have to mess with the hardware.
6. Wireless support (could also be done through a USB dongle that you sell) that can be configured within the UI. Make sure it supports at least WPA. Throw in WEP for compatibility with older devices.
7. An ssh server (including sftp) to allow text based remote access
8. A configurable firewall to protect and allow access to services (as above).
9. A web browser to allow simple surfing on TV. Optimize it to work with social networking sites like Facebook, Myspace, and Beebo. Basic Google app support (a potential partner) also wouldn’t be a bad idea, especially if you could work out a search monetization strategy with them (hey, it earns Firefox millions of dollars a year).
10. A shoutcast/icecast receiver (mp3 player that support playlist streaming) to allow internet radio to work.
11. A pandora.com player. A partnership between your companies wouldn’t be a bad idea.
12. Podcast support is a no-brainer. With the abundance of media on this platform and few easy to use means for getting it on a TV, you can be ahead of the curve on this one. Make it simple and easy to use with plenty of presets (and ability to update your directory so that people can browse, subscribe, and listen to or view free online content six ways to Sunday. You’d also get a lot of free press from podcasters who are desperately looking for just this type of solution. Be the Tivo of the podcast (both audio and video) set.
I’ve seen a lot of great ideas in this threads, but the bottom line is that you do not want to add a bunch of hardware enhancements to this that will only drive up the price.
Suggestions that would not increase the price by much:
1. iPod interface. It would be awesome if you would be capable of “docking” your iPod on the top of the device. USB ports are fairly cheap!
2. Expandability. Many on here have touched on something that it needs to be able to do – burn DVD’s. However, do not have this built in. That will only drive up the cost of the “base” unit. But, you do need to add RCA/SVideo ports to the device to allow burning to an external DVD player.
3. Expandability II. Along with the USB port for the iPod, it would be great to be able to attach a USB Wifi adapter to the unit to be able to access it’s contents across the network. I’m not sure how difficult this might be, as I do not know how the software is setup, and if it’s feasible.
The main thing you have to keep in mind is who you are gearing this to. What is your target audience? If you want to add all of this HD components, bluetooth, etc.., that will drive up the cost a good bit of this item, then your average Joe Blow won’t buy it. It’ll be too expensive. I don’t even have a HD TV, so having to spend an additional US $100.00 on this item because of the added HD would be a negative selling point for me.
Your goal should be to made this a great media center piece with Tivo capabilities, but also expandable to encompass peripherals, such as iPods, DVD burners, etc.. By keeping the “base” unit as simple as possible, you’d be guaranteed more cells due to the target consumer audience being larger.
– iTunes Server (Firefly streaming server) for streaming my MP3 files to iTunes, Roku, etc.
– iTunes Client (so I don’t need my Roku SoundBridge any more)
– ipkg (Itsy Package Management System) and a repository for prebuilt stuff others can download
– maybe some other cool stuff Synology supports on their DiskStations
– a Samba Server
– a BitTorrent client with web interface
– WebDAV
– NFS would be nice
– AppleTalk would also be nice
– Gigabit Ethernet (really a must have)
– IEEE 802.11n WLAN (WPA2)
– external SATA
-Lyrics support and Visualizations for the music
-Bittorrent and Rss support would be nice
-A web interface for controlling what it records and for set settings
-Games (I mean simple games, like tetris, arkanoid, but if the device can hand it some snes or mame would be nice)
-Last.fm support (Listening online music and scrobbling)
-More usb ports (For more than one external hard disk, or usb joysticks)
-Wireless b/g/n
-Bluetooth (I like bluetooth headphones)
-Tv-guide (Like MythTV)
And Neuros guys, thank for listening the community wishes so creatively
The device is nearly perfect in what it does.
Unlike many of the users here, I am happy that I can bring my own storage. It makes the device more flexible and easier to upgrade.
I also think that wireless is right now too immature for real audio and video streaming, so I don’t mind the fact that it isn’t there.
My suggestions:
Firewire is a must.
Turn it into anywhere, anytime streaming box that I can connect to after authenticating from anywhere. Allow me to stream my music from work or any other place. Give me remote access to my videos and pics with a nice easy to use interface.
Learn about my listening habits and make suggestions about new music by integrating with last.fm. Make sure that I can purchase these suggestions, ideally, in a drm-free format such as when getting a real cd and earn a small referral fee from the sites actually selling the music.
Sell a little receiver that I can connect to a secondary TV in my house to get the content available in my NeurosOSD. I see my local shops selling this little broadcasting devices for around $40 and they sell like hotcakes. They essentially allow you to move your content from one TV to another one.
Ask yourself why would anyone choose this product over any other Recorder/Player?
Make the device more accessible and Fun to use for your audience with an innovative interface and remote control.
The current Neuros configuration interface also suffers from what I call “hand in the bag syndrome” or H.I.T.B.S. plaguing many television and recorder interfaces on the market.
Hand in the bag syndrome is the implementation where the selection options are presented to the user “one at a time”. The user must scroll through ALL options to stumble on the option they want. Very similar to searching for a specific item in a bag without actually looking in the bag, and relying on chance and the sense of touch to find the desired object.
This form of navigation does not encourage spatial memory, and is highly inefficient in case of having a long list of choices.
As an example, take a look at the youtube video showing the Configuration settings for YouTube Browser (http://open.neurostechnology.com/node/905). The user has to navigate left and right until they find the setting they want for their preferences such as “Browse”, “Time”, “Categroy”, etc.
A better implementation would be to slide out all the possible options as the user highlights “Time”, “Categroy”, etc so they can quickly navigate to the desired setting instead of searching in the dark.
There are too many rough corners like this to name but make a winner UI and you can win with mediocre hardware features.
Neruos should allow the Remote control mimic the navigational structure of the UI instead of sprinkling a black piece of plastic with tens of tiny buttons like every other mediocre convoluted remote control device on the market.
I charge by the hour for this kind of feedback
Edited 2007-11-08 00:08
In the review watching of Youtube videos is mentioned…but it would be also nice if uploading videos made on photo camera or mobile phone etc. was possible (perhaps with _really simple_ editing options available).
And since I mentioned photo cameras – possibility to connect them via USB (without the need to pull memory card out of them) for browsing pictures on TV. Also envisioned above Youtube functionality would be nice, but for Flickr/Picasa Web Albums/etc. – both uploading photos to your albums (again, with simple edit options – simple corrections/cropping, that sort of thing) and watching existing albums on your TV.
edit: some other idead that popped into my mind…
– ability to control it from your mobile phone (schedule recordings while away from home/etc.)
– timeshifting
– possibility to play media (music/videos) from another computer present in your home network
– this one’s a bit unrealistic due to lack of existing software/network that would fit the purpose, but…what about connecting USB webcam and using Neuros OSD as a videoconferencing device. Of course, unfortunatelly, not many people use the solutions available to Linux world (basically Ekiga only?…) :/
But one also could use that to directly upload videos to Youtube… (though I’m not sure if world needs more of such videos ;P )
Edited 2007-11-08 03:48
Another one…
– Put a keyboard like in the mobile phones (2-abc, 3-def,…) on the remote.
– following the idea of videoconferencing…perhaps adding IM/mail notifier functionality would be usefull (like in: I’m watching a movie (of course with “DND, watching a movie” status on IM…but something important can come up) and when message or mail arrives, non-intrusive bar at the bottom of the screen shows up)
PS. sorry for redundant “timeshifting” and “streaming media from PC” suggestions…
Edited 2007-11-08 04:10
Last part of ideas, rather small ones here…
– after creation of recordings from any source, possibility to select a scene for image preview used in media browser (perhaps even small video preview if possible); I also wonder…tagging via text is cumbersome on such device…so perhaps ability to add short voice commentary to each position? (too bad with current state of voice recognition adding tags via voice would be tricky)
– zooming/moving across when zoomed/rotating of photos when viewing them (selected music in the background would be nice too)
– ability to watch trailers from apple trailer site/etc.
– EPG with keyword searching, when selecting few things to record showing clearly possible conflicts, automatic recording of things with certain keyword
– since OSD can control devices with IR receivers…it could also turn eveything off (timer), or even on when “I want to watch this” was selected previously in EPG
– shceduling recordings also from audio (radio) sources
– when recording from VCR, automatic recognition of “end of recorded area”
– I mention simple editing of videos when uploading to Youtube…but perhaps applicable to different source also (simple stuff, something usefull for cutting out the commercials; I wonder if this could be done automatically…)
All things Bluetooth…
– Audio (A2DP is multi-pairing possible?)
– File Transfer
– Remote Control (Phone Apps, Keyboard, Mouse, Laptop App)
– Voice Recognition / Control
– Proximity Sensing (Viewer’s phone has stepped away pause playback)…
One place I look foreword to is ubiquitous computing being dominated by Open Standards Based Connectivity … I think this is one way I have not seen in heavy development with many similar devices.
There certainly is some great input already. One thing we want to remind all of you, is that the Neuros OSD’s main purpose is to offer an easy way to build an MP4 video library with all your existing video content (DVD, VHS tapes, etc…).
Since you still have time to submit your comments, make sure you check our specs page: http://www.neurostechnology.com/neuros-osd-specifications
I also encourage those of you who want to get involved to join our mailing list. We always welcome knowledgeable and passionate members:
http://www.neurostechnology.com/community
Best Regards-
Neuros Team
Since a TV screen is for the most time a piece of hardware that we stare hours at, Neuros OSD could help us manage our computer related stuff.
– A good, easy to manage plugin system, maybe python support for script writing.
– Possibility to turn off/dim LEDs, lights etc on the device
– Discreet OSD e-mail notification (a small icon shows up), IM notification, RSS feed, stock ex feed.
– Also in addition to such functionality a “check computer screen” option would be nice. Imagine, you sit in front of the TV, watch Baywatch, press a button and *boom* (sorry Steve Jobs) you can make a fast, (alpha blending maybe?) preview of your desktop. Something like VNC, but for a quick look. Could be usefull for folks like me, that work at home and wait for IM support calls.
– Remote finding utility. Press a button on the device and the remote will beep, ring or something (yes, I loose my remote a lot)
– A simple VoIP integration, either by SIP or (hated) h.323, video on screen etc.
– Calendar, to-do lists, alarms, nag screens, sticky-notes etc.
– Communication between more then one device, file update, favourite movies/music sharing.
Ideas that would boost the price of the device
– WiFi, n standard even. Really usefull. We hate cables
– On the topic of WiFi wireless, a system of wireless cable connection, a new bluetooth-like protocol that would be able to transmit audio/video from the TV to the box. And NO CABLES.
– A touchpad on the device (like in a laptop). When you loose the remote. And it wont beep.
– Port protection, a rubber stopper or something. Dust gets in everywhere.
Various sites support:
– Joost (would be nice)
– Youtube (account support)
– Playlist show-off sites (like last.fm)
– a plugin that exports info about recorded/watched shows to myspace and other like this.
Ideas that are already here, and I second them:
– web control panel, possibly accessed from mobile too (like Zima said)
It would be interesting if it could sync recordings so that if there are more than one neuros in the net you could add recordings in serial fashion in one unit and the next available will start recording.
Very useful would be mesh storage ie all available devices see the storage on them as unique OR if the device that is setup to record and doesnt have enough empty local storage, could delegate the recording to another with adequate space.
Sync Playback is really important I have been using various uPnP solutions and what I miss is synchronized playback, the uPnP protocol doesnt cover this unfortunately so a custom solution would be welcome, by broadcasting a simple time code to all connected devices this can be solved.
Edited 2007-11-08 17:35
Here is the list of what I am waiting for in my set top media player:
– Local:
— Play video and audio files accessible through shares on my network. (With a good shuffle option)
— Allow unsupported files to be streamed by a media server.
— Record A/V.
– Internet:
— Radio (Icecast, Shoutcast, last.fm, radioblogclub.com etc…)
— Video (Youtube, Dailymotion, Hulu, Joost, VeohTV, abc.com, fox.com, nbc.com etc…) This would most likely require a simplified browser with a good flash player. I also watch France24.com and Setanta.com that use WMV…
— Video streaming a la Slingbox or Hava
— Video stream catching (a la Sling Catcher)
What is missing from Neuros OSD from what I can tell is :
1- Technology agnostic content browser to allowing playback of specific sites like fox.com or abc.com. A simplified web browser would do the trick.
2- Streaming and catching.
the OSD is great, here’s a couple of ideas
– ship with a ‘true’ universal remote
these $10 device that work with tv/cable/dvd *but* get the extra OSD button!
reasoning: eliminate remotes clutter (the one you provide only does on/off/mute/sound)
– `programmable` timed recording
I mean anything that would avoid me punching button.
simple ascii/file you could upload from a pc. fancier: web programming with cgi that could be done remotely
– built-in wireless (I’ll check the USB dongle anyway)
– 2x USB ports (one used by the wifi dongle?!)
– really fancy:
audio in port + usb camera + skype
(my mum would really love this!!!)
congrats for a really excellent and exciting product!!
Edited 2007-11-08 20:33
One thing I’d like to see for management of my videos is a rotating preview mode of everything in the directory I’ve selected. If one was simply hanging around looking for something to watch, having a rotating 10 second preview mode kind of like a video jukebox might be interesting.
Also, the ability to tag and organize videos on the fly into playlists would be awesome.
Video podcast support with a 10-foot interface would be amazing. If Neuros has a portal much like Miro’s but optimized for the TV screen, I’d be very much more likely both to watch video podcasts and to recommend the OSD to friends.
As for less video oriented ideas,
Though others have mentioned Skype integration with a webcam and what have you, I’d certainly settle for something as simple as slide-up event notices sent from my esktop/laptop.
For example, Skype calls, IM messages, Incoming E-mail etc. could generate a growl-like pop up or lower-thrid slide-up notifications prompted by the main pc.
If I were watching some video on the TV awaiting a friend to join me on skype, I’d love to see a visual notification without sitting under the laptop the entire time.
Other ideas:
Include a configurable Automatic slideshow upon plugging in a digital camera. Preferably with some smooth transitions and the ability to also play a selected music track while watching.
Implement a screensaver-like rss feed scroller, also configurable for custom rotating backgrounds.
I love the idea of basic gaming, but rather than implementing arcade-style games, I’d like to see a configurable Trivia game, much like those one plays in bars. Easily controllable via the remote and not taxing to the device whatsoever. Perhaps other word-games could be included. Hotseat hangman sounds fun, despite the lack of eye-candy.
Add Frozen Bubble
*Frozen Bubble is an incredibly addictive Free game.
*Frozen Bubble has controls ideal for a remote.
*Frozen Bubble is already a Linux program.
*Frozen Bubble is general interest: you don’t have to be a geek to want to play it!
http://www.frozen-bubble.org/
I have met very many older people who feel left out because they don’t know how to work emails and internet.
My family often exchanges pictures via email or blogs but my grandma doesn’t have access and doesn’t feel like she can still learn how a computer works.
This feature would allow me to setup the device on her TV and then push images, video and messages to her. Maybe it would automatically pull content from a list of blogs/flicker/youtube sites that I would remotely configure.
As a bonus feature she could record an audio email to send out.
Of course all this needs to be a 10 foot interface with just thumbnails to select.
Edited 2007-11-08 22:44
Seriously folks: before this thing can get third party applications it needs to attract third party developers.
Mr. Third Party Developer is not thinking, “Gee, I’d really like to plunk down $230 plus tax and shipping in the hopes that someday I might think of a programming project only to find out that none of my friends have hardware that can run it.”
Where did the enormously popular Counter-Strike mod come from (developed out of love, by fans)? It came from a large group of people who already owned Half-Life. Some of those owners had creative developer personalities and Half-Life-owning friends with whom they could share their work. The, “Gee, I could make a really cool application for this thing,” feeling comes after it gets into someone’s living room–not before. How many people do you know who yearn to write programs but don’t own PCs?
In order to get the Neuros OSD into the hands of lots of people who are really going to discover new and fun uses for it, it needs to sell itself on its own merits first.
So you want a suggestion for how to accomplish that? You need to target people like my girlfriend’s brother. He has lots of creativity, free time, technical knowledge, and most importantly a half ton of music and video files on his computer’s hard disk. What he needs is for the device to boot up into a Dead Simple Mode (TM) that lets him pick the type of media file he wants (Audio, Video, whatever…), and then show him a list of all of the media it can access of that type. It shouldn’t matter if it’s on an SD card or a USB HDD or an SMB share, and I can’t stress how important the automatic aggregation is. It is key.
The ease of playing media without having to configure anything or hunt for it first? That’s fun. Ripping DVDs/VHS casettes/DVR recordings to your PC or other storage device? Sheesh. Maybe it’ll be novel the first three or four times if you’re a geek, but once you’ve gotten over it there’s a business in my city where you can pay other people to do that chore for you. Oh, and my girlfriend’s brother? His friends may not be as bright and creative as he is, but they do have piles of media files on their PCs. (remember: developers need community)
So I guess that’s more of a rant about the way Neuros is going about getting third party developers than anything else. If I had to boil it down to a suggestion, it would be “You guys need to take everything that doesn’t directly involve playing media as simply as possible and stick it under an ‘advanced features’ menu. Then let the user play any media from an aggregated pool of media of the same type as simply as possible.” That includes autodetecting and reading from SMB shares. You can’t get by without that.
My suggestion is to envisage the Neuros OSD as the first in a line of Neuros produced extensible, embedded linux appliances, utilising a common internal architecture and format allowing the community/ISVs (and Neuros) to develop extensions and applications that would work both on the OSD and on future Neuros devices. Future appliances for example might include thin clients, micro-desktops/palmtops, etc, all sharing the same basic internal architecture and OS structure.
For example, the Neuros OSD is released, and the community port a Gecko-based browser, email client, and new codecs to the platform. Neuros then brings out a thin client, which owing to the basic compatibility with the OSD, immediately has a pool of community/ISV apps and extensions available to it due to its compatibility with the OSD. Someone develops an alternative shell for the OSD & thin client, and later on Neuros comes out with a WebTV like micro-desktop system (intended for limited use as a generic desktop PC, office apps, browsing, etc). It too suddenly has access to the growing ecosystem of Neuros platform apps & extensions. The more appliances Neuros releases, the more stimulation there is to the community to develop new apps/extensions, and more market for those apps/extensions, and thereby the more market there is for Neuros appliances.
Oh, and to add on to what I said earlier:
Look at the OpenMoko versus the iPhone. The OpenMoko “developer preview” came out at about the same time the iPhone was released. Apple wanted nothing more than to lock down the iPhone and prevent people from developing third party applications. Just look what happened! Apple can’t keep people from developing third party applications for the iPhone even after revealing their willingness to BRICK the iPhones of people who even try.
Meanwhile, the OpenMoko people said that their handset would be complete and functional by last month (October 2007). The development wiki still says “[you cannot expect a] reliable means of making phone calls, esp. not from the UI.” A phone that doesn’t reliably make phone calls! I guess their community development isn’t going as well as they thought it would.
The difference is that the iPhone is an easy, good product that works. What the OpenMoko people don’t get is that “Open Source” does not mean the same thing as “smorgasboard of free labor so we don’t have to make a good initial product.” Just being Open Source is not enough to attract developers.
Most people, especially potential developers, won’t really want a Neuros until it has a dead simple aggregated media playback interface that lets it be really useful right out of the box.
P.S.
I don’t mean to bash on the OpenMoko guys (or Neuros for that matter). Open hardware is really important, but in order for open hardware to make a difference the manufacturers have to move units.
I think integration with WHS would be a good thing, especially for external storage.
Don’t know if the CPU is powerful enough in the current version of the appliance, but it’d be cool to be capable of running older console games and possibly Mame. I’d even be amicable to buying the games (a la Nintendo Wii) if the prices were cheap enough…
I would like:
– A Bittorrent/http/ftp download client with a web interfase for remote monitoring
– Capability to playback content stored in disc images (ISO, BIN, NRG, etc.) and compressed files (segmented RAR, ZIP, etc)
– A very simple web browser with some kind of scaling to fit the content to the screen (mostly to navigate through torrents sites)
– Picture transfer protocol – PTP for old digital cameras that didn’t have USB mass storage support (I don’t sure if they already have this feature)
– Support to a external USB optical drive to access content
– Support to more video sharing sites (google video, soapbox, ifilm, etc.)
– Integrated Bluetooth or support for a external module (USB)
– A remote control like the logitech MX air (but simpler, without the laser mouse part and with point and click capability and volume and playback motion gestures) or wiimote support
– A version of the Neuros OSD that includes router functions (4 Ethernet ports – Wi-Fi)
– A future version with support to HDMI (or DVI) and component video out (with playback dupport to 1080p-720p h.264, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 and WMV HD (VC1) formats in MKV, AVI, MP4 and WMV containers, with subtitle support)
Edited 2007-11-09 19:19
EOM
-J
Yes, when Neuros replies.
With a little directed support for Flash (with the goal of playing Internet games in full screen) and appropriate USB input devices, it could function as a sort of gaming console.
We are searching for perfect machine to watch and record, tv, pictures, music.
In this machine I miss, the HDMI output / HDTV;
It could also have a VGA/DVI output to connect to a standard computer monitor.
And could have a Tunner to record TV shows directly.