SMS Inputs are not working ...

[louwke]

I am about to move away from TwonkyVision and got TVersity just configured. Performance is significantly better, especially in browsing (46,000+ tracks).

What is not working (yet) is the SMS-style input from the remote (Philips SL400i). It is now only displaying the numeric value when I try to search in the menu options. How come? TVersity feature?


Thanks, L.
Philips SL400i
AMD Athlon XP 2600+, 512 M RAM

[ronenmiz]

SMS functionality is a Philips specific extension to UPnP that TVersity does not currently support, sorry. Does the streamium support search? This may be a good alternative but I do not think I saw search functionality in the streamium, or did I miss it?
The reason I am asking about search is that it will soon be added to TVersity, while the SMS extension does not have a target date yet.

Thank for your note about performance, a lot of people do not realize how fast TVersity realy is since they have small libraries and they think that since it initially took TVersity longer to scan the folders, it is slower. The fact of the matter is that TVersity is spending more time when adding new items in order to do a deep inspection of their metadata (to determine when transcoding is needed - a decision most media servers need not do) and in order to better index the information for fast retrieval later on. It is nice to have someone with a very large library appreciate the hard work we put into this feature.

[Danno100]

I also noticed that TVersity is faster than Twonkyvision using my 18,000 music tracks. From the start, TVersity was better for video on the DSM-320.

Although I bought Twonkyvision last year, it sits idle as Tversity surpassed it long ago. And, I keep reminding people on the Twonkyvision site that TVersity is a better option for the DSM if using a PC based server.

Great job TVersity !

[ronenmiz]

Thanks Danno100, you have been a supporter from the start and we are very grateful for it.

[louwke]

Thanks for the update, appreciated.

I am not aware of of any search functionality at the moment, so anything like that will be coming in future releases is welcome!

Note that I would strongly recommend SMS functionality, or any alternatives to browse through large collections. Without this your efforts to improve performance are wasted (nice to bring up a list of 50,000 tracks, but what to do with it when you want to play track no. 49,999 ...

Could you drop me a note when you have anything available (I'll settle for beta ).

FYI: Your product is top class in i) stability and ii) performance. I am about to find out the transcoding features. TwonkyVision is certainly for my SL400i more user-friendly (nice browser-based interface, configurable tree structure, and SMS inputs) at the moment. I am sure that you guys will catch up fast!!!

[ronenmiz]

The thing with search is that once we support it, it will be useful only through devices that are aware of it. Search is part of the UPnP standard and so many devices are capable of handling it and will benefit from it, however if the streamium is not one of them the new feature will not help.

[louwke]

How can I find out whether the Search-functionality is available on my SL400i?

[ronenmiz]

Check the manual I guess although I looked at the remote and found no search button so I do not have any expectations here.

[MikeL]

Check the manual I guess although I looked at the remote and found no search button so I do not have any expectations here.

Here is an earlier thread on this subject where users believed that whilst the SMS feature of the Philips SL300i/400i units was proprietary the idea that one could search (Sub directories of location in tree) on a string of data seemed like a VERY good one?

http://forums.tversity.com/viewtopic.ph ... hlight=sms

So if the streamiums provide an SMS search feature and essentially this style of feature could also prove a useful addition to search via say the PSP and Nokia 770 web interface then why not take another look at the feature/idea. Would you like some more ethereal captures, I seem to remember providing some when using the SMS feature on my SL300i.

I believe it would compliment the search of feeds, tags, folders etc.

PS how does the UPnP search feature work exactly ?

[ronenmiz]

UPnP has a Browse service for hierarchical browsing and Search service for keyword search. Almost all the devices use Browse and some use Search as well. A very small few use only Search.
The Philips SMS works via a new service called BrowseByLetter which is only utilized by the streamium so even if we do add it no other device we know of uses it. Also as far as I knwo Philips (or whatever company sells the fimrware to Philips) did no effort to suggest this extension to UPnP or to DLNA so the chances for this being used by some other device are very low.

[MikeL]

UPnP has a Browse service for hierarchical browsing and Search service for keyword search. Almost all the devices use Browse and some use Search as well. A very small few use only Search.
The Philips SMS works via a new service called BrowseByLetter which is only utilized by the streamium so even if we do add it no other device we know of uses it. Also as far as I know Philips (or whatever company sells the firmware to Philips) did no effort to suggest this extension to UPnP or to DLNA so the chances for this being used by some other device are very low.

Thanks for the clarification, so does the Philips SL300i BrowseByLetter, ever become a keyword search (Sent to the server) in the sense that with SMS you build up a word and then search down the tree structure (From where you are) by the search word or by simply a BrowseByLetter? (or are all these combinations effectively a BrowseByLetter function on the SL300i/400i and sent onto the PMM and Twonky UPnP servers for feedback etc?)

Does the standard UPnP search method, search everything regardless of where you are in the tree and provides a list of possibilities from which the user selects the item of interest. (Don't have it, so do not know how it works)

Hope you don't mind, I am just thinking the issue through, posting the thoughts as they arise, and attempting to understand why Philips would not implement the standard UPnP search method in some form?

An SMS word feature converted to standard UPnP Search might be good facility for the soon to be released PPC web browser? (In a future update of course)

[Vdub144]

Will TVersity ever support a "plug in" infrastructure? If so, the BrowseByLetter functionality for Streamium users sounds like a good candidate. Could allow some other interesting development extensions to be built by your disciples <grin> without technically compromising the core if anything goes wrong...

[ronenmiz]

Will TVersity ever support a "plug in" infrastructure?

Good question Yes, but it is taking longer than planned due to resource focus in adding much needed functionality. I always said plug-in support will come after 1.0 and it looks like it is indeed going to be the case.

I agree that this is a great feature for a plug-in but I am not sure our plug-in framework will be that flexible to allow the addition of a UPnP service. As I mentioned our initial goal is to allow connectivity to the server (kind of like web services allow you to connect to Amazon or google maps ) and to allow the import/export of media from external source (such as iTunes or PhotoShop Album) in order to simplify the user experience in terms of managing their media once and not being required to do it several times.
The first part is done but we did not yet get a chance to document it so for all practical purposes it is non existent. The second part is still being worked on.

[Wal]

Louwke

I also have a Streamium. Whilst you may not be able to use the SMS feature directly with TVersity, you can still use the alphanumeric keys on the Streamium remote to enter a number and then skip to that numbered track. So if you know that 'J' starts at track 2513, for example, you can still get a limited SMS-type functionality by entering that number and 'enter'. May help a bit....?

Wal

[abrarssdd]

Thanks for share with us..!!

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