So I just stumbled across another streaming web application called Zinc, and it looks pretty good.  It’s designed for TV viewing and states that it is Media Center-compatible remote friendly.

Zinc is a free product from ZeeVee.com and basically organizes all the free TV content online in one place.  It even can tie into your Netflix account.

I decided to give this a try and see how I could integrate it into my own Media Center menu, so I downloaded the Windows version of the application and installed.  During the install, it runs a hardware compatiblility test to make sure it’s up to the task.

I then decided not to take the first run and instead fired up MC Menu Mender so that I could incorporate Zinc into my Media Center menu.  I took a look at the properties for the created shortcut for Zinc on my desktop and just copied it into the path for the new entry point in MC Menu Mender, added the necessary arguments and copied the logo for Zinc off of the website.  Since Zinc states complete Media Center remote compatibility, I decided to not enable “Use wrapper” for now.  We’ll see how it goes!

Upon starting up Media Center, I was presented by my newly created Zinc entry point in the Pictures+Videos strip…right where I put it.

I gave it a click and voila!  Success!

The first thing I did was link my Netflix account, which prompts you for confirmation.

After that, I’m met with a poster view of available titles.  Take note of all the sorting options available in various parts of the screen.  It’s very nice.  I also noticed that navigation was very smooth and not clunky like most other web interfaces.

Upon logging out of Neflix, I’m met with the initial screen again.  So, I decided to take a look at some of the available channels (FOX, in this example).

All the available shows are presented with the number of episodes.  You can also add your favorite shows here.

Drilling down further gives you the episode views where they are sorted by latest release (newest to oldest).

After selecting an episode, I was prompted to install the Zinc player.  Why this wasn’t installed with the application I’ll never know.  But, for the sake of review, I do so.  Also notice the remote support at the bottom right.

Upon installing and presenting me with a sample for playback, I was ready to roll.

Nice.  The picture is pretty good and I encountered no stuttering or other artifacts during playback.

Next, I decided to take a look at the available settings.  Here you can set Zinc up with local media folders, add other applications for launch, set a few Zinc system settings (enable fullscreen, watched video status, clear cache, etc.), and grab updates.

I decided to add a media folder so that I could check out the local media option.

This began a scan for all available media and it began showing up under the Local Content menu (notice the available thumbnail at the top right – this is generated by Zinc).  I did notice that only AVI files had been detected during the scan.  It’s going to be a disappointment if it does not allow playback of MP4, MKV, etc.  AVI is actually a small percentage of my collection.  On the other hand, I don’t plan on using Zinc for local media.

There are other views available also.

Thumb view:

Thumb detail:

Finally, selecting Zv HDTV presents you with loads of videos related to Zinc and other ZeeVee products,  in case you’re interested.

Upon exiting I was returned to the desktop and all I had to do was hit the Green Button to bring Media Center back to the foreground again.

All in all, I’d say Zinc is one of, if not the, best web apps out there for centralizing streaming media.  I found it much easier to use than Hulu (which it includes also).  The biggest knocks against it for me were the lack of metadata for local media and the overall lack of content.  When I say lack of content, I mean it in comparison to some of the other options like SecondRun.tv.  There’s still plenty to keep you busy though.  Not being integrated within Media Center may also be a turnoff for many of you, but it’s really not all that bad.  Especially if you’ve tried the Hulu desktop application and tried using it with a remote.  First indications also lead me to believe it does not have local support for MP4 and MKV…at least. Other formats may also not be supported.

Check it out…it’s free!

Integrating within Media Center:

I just wanted to make a point on adding the Zinc application with MC Menu Mender.  Your path will be the exact installation path to the Zv.exe .  In the arguments box, you must enter -zviewer or it will not work.  The logo I used is this one:

Just download and use!

Yaggs, the author of the SecondRun.tv plugin, has added another addition to the Media Center pluing library – HuluDesktopWMC.

I have not tried it out yet, but basically this is a small plugin that places the Hulu Desktop interface within Media Center.  Since Hulu Desktop works with a remote, it apparently provides a somewhat seemless interaction between the two.

Anyway, reports say it works in both VMC and 7MC, so that’s some good news.  It also requires Hulu Desktop to be installed and there is a coupe of small configurations you have to initiate in order for it to work properly.  You can more info at the TGB thread on it or the official SecondRun.tv site.  Download also available at the latter link.

I didn’t even know this existed, but then again, I don’t own any extender hardware or a MediaSmart TV either.  Anyway, vmcPlayIt is the latest plugin from eluttmann over at the Green Button forums.

vmcPlayIt is an all-in-one VMC client for the PlayOn media server software that provides Netflix WatchNow, Hulu, YouTube and many broadcast stations that host online streaming content (like FOX, CBS, etc.).  It connects to this server and provides a one-stop location for all streaming needs!

32-bit and 64-bit versions are available on the official site.

Yep, it’s looking like hulu on the Media Center (Vista and maybe 7MC) might be a reality…and as soon as tomorrow.

Yaggs over at theGreenButton has been working on a new plugin for a while now and boasts of  a Friday (tomorrow) beta release.  I haven’t paid much attention to hulu ever since it came upon the scene since there was never any serious attempts at integrating it with Media Center, but it always looked fabulous to me.  If this works out, it will be a truly fantastic addition to Media Center users.  There are a ton of TV shows and movies available on hulu, but I don’t know much about the quality of it.  I may have to give it a try this evening so I can gauge how it compares to Netflix’s Watch Now! service.

If you don’t know what hulu is, I’ll give you a quick rundown.  hulu is a website that offers commercial-backed (which is how it is free) streaming TV shows and movies from such networks as Fox, NBC, PBS, Disney and web services from the likes of AOL, MSN, Yahoo! and others.  It is available only in the U.S., so if you’re not there, it sucks to be you.

Yaggs’ plugin will put some reigns on this content and pull it inside the Media Center interface.  There is currently a solution using Boxee, but it’s not integrated and is barely a workaround.

Anyway, here is a few screenshots, curtousy of Yaggs from SecondRun.tv (official plugin site).

Networks

TV show view

Episode view

Looks great so far!  I’m looking forward to this one and you can expect a writeup with more screenshots after its release.  I’m also understanding that it does not currently support extenders, so you’ll be out of luck if your Media Center network relies on them.  He expects to fully support them, but early releases do not.

Keep an eye out for this one!

So, out of complete boredom, I decided to try and stream some videos to my Blackberry 8320 that was provided to me by my work.  I manage a Blackberry Enterprise Server Express at work and I have them configured to for data usage, so I can do this without relatively no impact.  Unfortunately, I found that the OS that shipped with our Blackberries (4.2 I think) did not support streaming media, so I was out of luck…until I decided to upgrade it.

I downloaded v4.5 from T-Mobile, which is our carrier, and it took about an hour to go through the install.  I wasn’t expecting that.  Anyway, I first tried TVersity as my streaming media server since it was supposed to support the transcoding of MKV files better, but I repeatedly timed out when trying to stream a file.  So, I figured I would try out the Orb one more time.

I set this up on my VPNSVR since it doesn’t do much except run my WSUS and act as my VPN access point.  It’s not the most powerful system  (E1200 and 2GB DDR2), but it passed Orb’s system requirements.  After configuring a folder for Orb to use and making a few configurations to test with, I accessed mycast.orb.com and logged in from my Blackberry.  I initially browsed to a folder containing a movie in AVI format and hit play.  Success!  I was presented with the Blackberry media player and it started playing 12 Angry Men.  The resolution was extremely small, however, and did not fill my screen, but I was still pretty happy that it even worked.  I don’t have any initial plans for this functionality, but it makes my work phone a whole lot more fun.  I was able to get MKVs to playback, but the video was not viewable.  The audio appeared fine, but it was still unwatchable.  Oh well, I imagine I would only really use this for TV episodes or home videos and I only have a handful of those in MKV format.

So, if you have a fairly new Blackberry, upgrade your OS to 4.3 or later and enjoy streaming media using Orb!