chesterwilson Posted November 9, 2011 Share Posted November 9, 2011 Why doesn't C4 develop apps like rhapsody for the above services? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seth_j Posted November 9, 2011 Share Posted November 9, 2011 Why? You can get all of those from a $99 bluray player. Why would C4 invest any money in this for so very little in return? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterwilson Posted November 9, 2011 Author Share Posted November 9, 2011 Why? You can get all of those from a $99 bluray player. Why would C4 invest any money in this for so very little in return?It would be nice IMHO to have a setup like rhapsody, where I can view titles and select through them, without having to navigate to the individual devices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterwilson Posted November 9, 2011 Author Share Posted November 9, 2011 Why? You can get all of those from a $99 bluray player. Why would C4 invest any money in this for so very little in return?I guess the return would be people buying the system. My main interest when I first started was audio distribution. I would have never bought C4 if it didn't have rhapsody.Clearly video streaming is the next frontier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seth_j Posted November 9, 2011 Share Posted November 9, 2011 I'm still failing to see what the motivation would be for Control4 to duplicate an existing product that has no margin for profit. People buy Control4 systems, Crestron systems, AMX systems, URC systems, RTI systems, Elan systems regardless of this functionality because the control system can still control the $99 bluray player.Why in the world would C4 invest thousands (if not millions) of dollars to produce a product that Sony, LG, or Samsung could make obsolete in 3 months? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterwilson Posted November 9, 2011 Author Share Posted November 9, 2011 I'm still failing to see what the motivation would be for Control4 to duplicate an existing product that has no margin for profit. People buy Control4 systems, Crestron systems, AMX systems, URC systems, RTI systems, Elan systems regardless of this functionality because the control system can still control the $99 bluray player.Why in the world would C4 invest thousands (if not millions) of dollars to produce a product that Sony, LG, or Samsung could make obsolete in 3 months?I guess the same reason C4 makes a multi tuner, amp, audio matrix and touch screen, so do a lot of other companies! Wouldn't it be cool to make a roku type media player or have a 2 way interface with it so that you could pick titles from pandora/netflix/blockbuster/amazon directly from your touch screen/ipad/iphone without having to navigate through your blu ray player or other device? I don't know maybe its just me but to me that would do a lot better at CES/Cedia than a portable touch screen (oh oh, don't mean to start that debate up again, but just a comparison).I guess maybe it's not as cool as the other apps floating around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterwilson Posted November 9, 2011 Author Share Posted November 9, 2011 I'm still failing to see what the motivation would be for Control4 to duplicate an existing product that has no margin for profit. People buy Control4 systems, Crestron systems, AMX systems, URC systems, RTI systems, Elan systems regardless of this functionality because the control system can still control the $99 bluray player.Why in the world would C4 invest thousands (if not millions) of dollars to produce a product that Sony, LG, or Samsung could make obsolete in 3 months?BTW if this did exist it would force people into buying an hdmi/component matrix and to possibly retrofit wiring in there home. I imagine you could upsell this even if C4 couldn't monetize the above product for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kahn Posted November 9, 2011 Share Posted November 9, 2011 Why in the world would C4 invest thousands (if not millions) of dollars to produce a product that Sony, LG, or Samsung could make obsolete in 3 months?Wonder how much money was invested in the most awesome Chuck Norrisapp? There was money well spent! I don't think the OP is asking for C4 to produce a product but rather an app for Netflix. A frontend interface wouldnt be a bad idea with streaming handled from that $99 blueray player. Maybe if there were more focus on apps and that "WOW" factor - we could tear ourselves away from apps like Napoleon Dynamite Quotes.JMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterwilson Posted November 9, 2011 Author Share Posted November 9, 2011 Why in the world would C4 invest thousands (if not millions) of dollars to produce a product that Sony' date=' LG, or Samsung could make obsolete in 3 months?[/quote']Wonder how much money was invested in the most awesome Chuck Norrisapp? There was money well spent! I don't think the OP is asking for C4 to produce a product but rather an app for Netflix. A frontend interface wouldnt be a bad idea with streaming handled from that $99 blueray player. Maybe if there were more focus on apps and that "WOW" factor - we could tear ourselves away from apps like Napoleon Dynamite Quotes.JMOFront End app but would be my number one preference (2 way interface with roku if possible). If not why not make a roku type device, slap a c4 badge on it, and have it interface with your touchscreens/navigators/myhome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecodeman Posted November 9, 2011 Share Posted November 9, 2011 The APIs would have to be exposed by Netflix or by third party hardware capable of netflix (roku for example) to allow you to manage your queue, search, etc for it to be a successful app imo. The icing on the cake would be to be able to select that movie and have the app send your netflix capable device the command to start playing that movie. the netflix app only allows you to view what's in your queue presently. I'm not sure, but I would venture to guess that there is something in the netflix agreement prohibiting this for either hollywood's protection needs or netflix wanting tight control over the interacting devices (ala why it took so long to see netflix streaming on android devices and then a phased roll out)I dont know anything for certain and just speculating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterwilson Posted November 9, 2011 Author Share Posted November 9, 2011 The APIs would have to be exposed by Netflix or by third party hardware capable of netflix (roku for example) to allow you to manage your queue, search, etc for it to be a successful app imo. The icing on the cake would be to be able to select that movie and have the app send your netflix capable device the command to start playing that movie. the netflix app only allows you to view what's in your queue presently. I'm not sure, but I would venture to guess that there is something in the netflix agreement prohibiting this for either hollywood's protection needs or netflix wanting tight control over the interacting devices (ala why it took so long to see netflix streaming on android devices and then a phased roll out)I dont know anything for certain and just speculating.I think the netflix queue will change with time. Obviously that is a netflix limitation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seth_j Posted November 9, 2011 Share Posted November 9, 2011 Why in the world would C4 invest thousands (if not millions) of dollars to produce a product that Sony' date=' LG, or Samsung could make obsolete in 3 months?[/quote']Wonder how much money was invested in the most awesome Chuck Norrisapp? There was money well spent! I don't think the OP is asking for C4 to produce a product but rather an app for Netflix. A frontend interface wouldnt be a bad idea with streaming handled from that $99 blueray player. Maybe if there were more focus on apps and that "WOW" factor - we could tear ourselves away from apps like Napoleon Dynamite Quotes.JMOSince the Chuck Norris app was made by Zatabit and not Control4 your answer is $0.So i'll flip this on its head -- as a developer I could make an app that could do this and charge money for it. But who would pay for it? I guarantee you there would be people on this very forum that would say "Meh, I can already do this through a $99 bluray GUI for free and its faster!. Why would I pay $30 for this?" So as a developer where is the incentive to make such an app? On top of that there already is a Netflix Queue Manager app.. Are you guys using this? Probably not... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seth_j Posted November 9, 2011 Share Posted November 9, 2011 If not why not make a roku type device, slap a c4 badge on it, and have it interface with your touchscreens/navigators/myhome.Lets say they did this and you know it would be priced $199... Everyone on here would be bashing it and saying you could get the same thing from Roku for $79 and they don't need a dealer to install it or whatever. No thanks.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterwilson Posted November 9, 2011 Author Share Posted November 9, 2011 Why in the world would C4 invest thousands (if not millions) of dollars to produce a product that Sony' date=' LG, or Samsung could make obsolete in 3 months?[/quote']Wonder how much money was invested in the most awesome Chuck Norrisapp? There was money well spent! I don't think the OP is asking for C4 to produce a product but rather an app for Netflix. A frontend interface wouldnt be a bad idea with streaming handled from that $99 blueray player. Maybe if there were more focus on apps and that "WOW" factor - we could tear ourselves away from apps like Napoleon Dynamite Quotes.JMOSince the Chuck Norris app was made by Zatabit and not Control4 your answer is $0.So i'll flip this on its head -- as a developer I could make an app that could do this and charge money for it. But who would pay for it? I guarantee you there would be people on this very forum that would say "Meh, I can already do this through a $99 bluray GUI for free and its faster!. Why would I pay $30 for this?" So as a developer where is the incentive to make such an app? On top of that there already is a Netflix Queue Manager app.. Are you guys using this? Probably not...Will the netflix app allow me to choose a title from the queue and play it on a zone with distributed video? BTW I would pay a good amount for a 2 way roku driver, I think other people with distributed video would as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterwilson Posted November 9, 2011 Author Share Posted November 9, 2011 If not why not make a roku type device' date=' slap a c4 badge on it, and have it interface with your touchscreens/navigators/myhome.[/quote']Lets say they did this and you know it would be priced $199... Everyone on here would be bashing it and saying you could get the same thing from Roku for $79 and they don't need a dealer to install it or whatever. No thanks..at $199 if it interfaced with my system I would do kart wheels. You and I know it be more like $600-$700. Still a good value IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterwilson Posted November 9, 2011 Author Share Posted November 9, 2011 The APIs would have to be exposed by Netflix or by third party hardware capable of netflix (roku for example) to allow you to manage your queue, search, etc for it to be a successful app imo. The icing on the cake would be to be able to select that movie and have the app send your netflix capable device the command to start playing that movie. the netflix app only allows you to view what's in your queue presently. I'm not sure, but I would venture to guess that there is something in the netflix agreement prohibiting this for either hollywood's protection needs or netflix wanting tight control over the interacting devices (ala why it took so long to see netflix streaming on android devices and then a phased roll out)I dont know anything for certain and just speculating.Roku is a pretty progressive company, IMHO it would be a game changer to display this at CES. It definitely has the cool factor and eliminates the need for multiple devices, and the extra step of having to go through them to pick a program. I could do all of it through the C4 app. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seth_j Posted November 9, 2011 Share Posted November 9, 2011 Will the netflix app allow me to choose a title from the queue and play it on a zone with distributed video? BTW I would pay a good amount for a 2 way roku driver, I think other people with distributed video would as well.Dunno..Does Roku have a 2-way API? If not then, just like the Nest thermostat, there is no possible way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seth_j Posted November 9, 2011 Share Posted November 9, 2011 I remember someone had a Roku driver.... I don't think you could tie in video library information but it did have IP control and the ability to go straight to programs (like netlfix)... maybe I'm thinking of something else.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterwilson Posted November 9, 2011 Author Share Posted November 9, 2011 I remember someone had a Roku driver.... I don't think you could tie in video library information but it did have IP control and the ability to go straight to programs (like netlfix)... maybe I'm thinking of something else..James did for the first generation roku, not the new roku. As you said video information was not tied in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecodeman Posted November 9, 2011 Share Posted November 9, 2011 I remember someone had a Roku driver.... I don't think you could tie in video library information but it did have IP control and the ability to go straight to programs (like netlfix)... maybe I'm thinking of something else..The roku driver worked on the first gen models but something changed with the second gen. James wrote it. Even then, from my understanding, it just mimics the roku remote and does not offer any api to netflix itself. When you do this for movies in case of the dune, the c4 system understands a file location on the nas drive that's associated with cover art and issues "play file \\share\movie.type" to the player. We would need a way to scrape that info from netflix's database and then issue that command to the roku. Then, if netflix changes anything in their api, be able to reissue the driver accordingly, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diamonddesign Posted November 9, 2011 Share Posted November 9, 2011 It has a IP shortcut to netflix and about 30 other channels and for every channel there are event triggers in the driver (so you can say if X happens in control4 make the video device Roku and turn it to Netflix). That being said, you cannot get feedback from the netflix data to C4 for a touchscreen, etc. or see it as now playing or anything like that.I think the Roku 2 (2nd generation hardware) driver will be done this weekend. I have one of the forum members to test it out with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kahn Posted November 9, 2011 Share Posted November 9, 2011 Since the Chuck Norris app was made by Zatabit and not Control4 your answer is $0.Point well spoken....but didn't mean to aim at C4 developing the app in particular. I meant that all the BS (imo) apps seem to tarnish the C4 product and I don't understand why in the world they would allow useless apps like that in the store. Who in the heck rated the Napoleon Dynamite Quotes as cool? Really? Does the C4 demographic really demand it? I meant that a developer like you SethJ (btw-love your work) could determine a way to model something for those type services, I for one would do it. (see next quote).So i'll flip this on its head -- as a developer I could make an app that could do this and charge money for it. But who would pay for it? I guarantee you there would be people on this very forum that would say "Meh, I can already do this through a $99 bluray GUI for free and its faster!. Why would I pay $30 for this?" So as a developer where is the incentive to make such an app? On top of that there already is a Netflix Queue Manager app.. Are you guys using this? Probably not...I'd buy it. You make it able - log into my account - let me browse and select a movie - and have C4 connect to the correct video source and player? It would be well worth $29.95! Flipside at $199, I can assure you I would not.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seth_j Posted November 9, 2011 Share Posted November 9, 2011 There are some really cool apps for C4 now.. EV has made some, Kevin has made some.. I'm not a big proponent of the app store but its going to take some time to take off. It certainly has better apps in it now than there was when it was started. I'll give it a few more years and see where it goes.I get the idea -- and if there was a device that could do all this AND happened to have an open API that we could write an app/driver for I'd be ALL for it. I'd caution on the thinking that Control4 can do everything. They're a very small company compared to something like Sony or LG and if they were to make something they wouldn't sell as many so prices would for sure be higher. Also updates would be slower and you'd be stuck with a device that you paid more for that does less.For me I'd rather C4 stick to being a really good software company and let hardware guys do their thing. Yes C4 makes hardware but in some cases they had to make the product so there would be a market for their software. In a perfect world everyone would have C4 software running on their products and we'd just ID them into the system for control. Maybe one day.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CFUG Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 Why? You can get all of those from a $99 bluray player. Why would C4 invest any money in this for so very little in return?I fully agree with you and to take it a little further, why would anyone integrate their PC with Control4 to get Netflix? Again, that and Vudu are on a number of cheap sources already out there and probably already integrated into many Control4 systems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterwilson Posted November 10, 2011 Author Share Posted November 10, 2011 Why? You can get all of those from a $99 bluray player. Why would C4 invest any money in this for so very little in return?I fully agree with you and to take it a little further' date=' why would anyone integrate their PC with Control4 to get Netflix? Again, that and Vudu are on a number of cheap sources already out there and probably already integrated into many Control4 systems.[/quote']Not sure where the PC came from? I would be very interested to know how Vudu and other cheap sources are integrated into C4 systems so that you can view and select specific videos from the C4 interface? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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