My thinking was that if I could connect to my shared drive and access the index file created by MOVIEJUKEBOX my problems would be solved. Also in the last firmware update i noticed I now have the ability to access online TV networks however i have not figured that out yet, anyway if you could add the movijukebox index file then that might work too.

Here are some links to MOVIEJUKEBOX I got it working on my computer and its awasome…

MOVIEJUKEBOX
http://code.google.com/p/moviejukebox/

Screenshots
http://code.google.com/p/moviejukebox/wiki/Movi…

Thanks for the UI review: just what I wanted before dropping 80 quid on this device

A few of minor questions (especially in light of the updated firmware, which I've read about on the page you link to…):

* Does the “file copy” go from USB to network *and* vice versa?
* If you had a more hierarchical directory structure for music/films, can you see the file selection issues (which would be over the network, for me) being less important?
* Is there any provision for setting bookmarks up to frequently-used areas on the network, or do you just hit the root of each network share each time you start using it?
* Have you tried NFS? *Was* it NFS you were using?
* Did you try any multi-subtitled .mkv files? Did the subtitle button on the remote control cycle between them, or do something less useful? [Did the language displayed perhaps have anything to do with system's global language settings, and how did that work when the subtitles weren't correctly tagged in the .mkv container?]

Many thanks for a really useful review!
Jonathan

Thanks for the UI review: just what I wanted before dropping 80 quid on this device

A few of minor questions (especially in light of the updated firmware, which I've read about on the page you link to…):

* Does the “file copy” go from USB to network *and* vice versa?
* If you had a more hierarchical directory structure for music/films, can you see the file selection issues (which would be over the network, for me) being less important?
* Is there any provision for setting bookmarks up to frequently-used areas on the network, or do you just hit the root of each network share each time you start using it?
* Have you tried NFS? *Was* it NFS you were using?
* Did you try any multi-subtitled .mkv files? Did the subtitle button on the remote control cycle between them, or do something less useful? [Did the language displayed perhaps have anything to do with system's global language settings, and how did that work when the subtitles weren't correctly tagged in the .mkv container?]

Many thanks for a really useful review!
Jonathan

Design a background and design button selected/unselected graphics. Design icons as needed. Then composite the images together and render the appropriate text over the relevant buttons using whatever text properties you need.

It looks like that one screen uses a flying 3D render effect that you wouldn't be quite as simple, but you could probably get pretty close using a path and scaling.

Then to define a menu, you could just write routines for how to display menus in general, use an XML file to define the menu system as a whole, and use an outer loop to iterate through all the valid menu states and perform renders.

Just code the menus for a <insert simple GUI name here> and
once it gets the graphic arts department approval, just do “screen captures”.

ASUS has had a simple GUI of their own for nearly two years -
most people know it as the EeePC “Easy Mode” interface.
Something like that could probable be made to look good on a TV.

It might even be fewer person-hours than pulling out your copy of povray.

If they release their source, it probably wouldn't be that hard to create a new menu “skin” with a toolchain for menu editing. Though it would probably take a while to build one that was easy for casual users unless an existing menu editor could be adapted to the purpose.

If there was a working menu toolchain, I would imagine there would be a ton of features that could be easily added.

These devices have been around for awhile but a lot of new ones are
being pushed out in time for the holiday shopping season.

Brad likes little gadget boxes, I am sure he will review whatever he can get.

Maybe you can start a hacking community around this product? Sounds promising. I agree with neilkeven that the credit card remotes blow.

I am waiting for a full review of the WD model too. I might want to get one of these types of boxes soon.

You don't need a tv or display with HDMI inputs -
I am using a HDMI-to-DVI adapter cable to a computer monitor.

I have also patched the composite outputs into my video digitizer -
which drives a VGA monitor at (about) 720p for any input.

If you happen to set the output to something your display device
can't display – the 'reset' button will return it to 480i.
Don't forget to reset your initial settings after using the 'reset' button.