Front Row Boxee Launcher

[janngobble]

Before everyone flames me, let me say that I know this has been discussed before

Since the team has worked diligently and come up with Launcher for the ATV, why not do the same for Front Row. It seems to me that it would be much easier to get people on board since Mac users outnumber (get the flames ready, folks) ATV users by at least 100 to 1 -- and it is a great platform to allow a simple install to integrate Boxee into Front Row.

I know, I know there is "Remote Buddy", etc out there, however, it would just seem logical to allow a Boxee launcher in the Front Row interface.

Comments?

J

[reesemclean]

I second this in a big way... it should not be too hard to do. Take a look at http://code.google.com/p/pyetv/.

It wouldn't even have to be advanced as that, I just need the ability to launch into boxee and then exit back to Frontrow.

[cammons]

We have a mac mini in our living room and airport expresses around the house to stream music. Now that frontrow no longer works with airtunes, I'm restricted to using itunes and have no need for jumping back and forth between Boxee and frontrow.

[reesemclean]

Taken from http://code.google.com/p/frontpython/ someone should be able to do a simple change to this to make it happen.

I attached a link to my attempt, it will open Boxee from Front Row but you are unable to interact with Boxee. You then have to force quit to get back to the desktop. I'm sure that it wouldn't take long for someone who knew what they were doing.

The file is at drop.io/boxeelauncher.

To compile it go to the directory in the terminal and type "python setup.py py2app". Copy the resulting build to /System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row.app/Contents/PlugIns/

Then restart Front Row by typing "killall Front\ Row" in the terminal.

[janngobble]

Taken from http://code.google.com/p/frontpython/ someone should be able to do a simple change to this to make it happen.

I attached a link to my attempt, it will open Boxee from Front Row but you are unable to interact with Boxee. You then have to force quit to get back to the desktop. I'm sure that it wouldn't take long for someone who knew what they were doing.

The file is at drop.io/boxeelauncher.

To compile it go to the directory in the terminal and type "python setup.py py2app". Copy the resulting build to /System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row.app/Contents/PlugIns/

Then restart Front Row by typing "killall Front\ Row" in the terminal.

I saw this project but my forte is Perl, not Python so i did not even look at it. Will glance at this now. thx

[charlesa]

Taken from http://code.google.com/p/frontpython/ someone should be able to do a simple change to this to make it happen.

From your effort:

class MythLaunch(PyFR.AppLauncherController.AppLauncherController):
    def init(self):
        self.launchApp('/Applications/Boxee.app')
		#PyFR.AppLauncherController.AppLauncherController.initWithApp_( self,'Launching MythTV','/Applications/Boxee.app' )
        #return self

I took a crack at this a couple of weeks ago and initially seemed to have better luck with initWithApp_() than launchApp(), at least in terms of making an integrated solution, but launchApp should work acceptably well.

Issues on my list to find solutions for:

• initWithApp_() doesn't bring Boxee to the front
• launchApp() doesn't return control to Front Row when Boxee exits
• Something about how the project is structured (or about how FrontPython is structured) means that a FrontPython-based frappliance seems to prevent PyeTV (another FrontPython-derived project) from loading. I want them both to show up.

Though the mailing list for the FrontPython project has extremely low traffic, the folks there are quite responsive. I do note that there's a compiled Front Row plugin that the patchstick folks use on AppleTV for launching Boxee. It doesn't seem to work with OS X's Front Row - or at least not load.

[SpaceBass]

I would love to see this integration - I still prefer FrontRow for music and photos, but Boxee is king for everything else... being able to seemlessly toggle between the two would be wonderful.

[MILE]

Okay, what am I missing here...?! I don't really get it...what exactly is the use or rather advantage of being able to launch Boxee from within FrontRow...?!

They are two different apps...like I would want to launch InDesign from with Quark Xpress or so...or Safari from within Firefox...

If I want to use FrontRow I use FrontRow -- and if I want to use Boxee I use Boxee...!? I either launch one or the other...

But maybe I misunderstood the original idea, so can someone clear this up for me...? Thanks...

:: M ::

[ntay]

I'm sure it's for folks who have DRM'd music or videos from the Apple Store, or people who still prefer using Front Row for music. That's my assumption, anyway.

[janngobble]

Okay, what am I missing here...?! I don't really get it...what exactly is the use or rather advantage of being able to launch Boxee from within FrontRow...?!

They are two different apps...like I would want to launch InDesign from with Quark Xpress or so...or Safari from within Firefox...

If I want to use FrontRow I use FrontRow -- and if I want to use Boxee I use Boxee...!? I either launch one or the other...

But maybe I misunderstood the original idea, so can someone clear this up for me...? Thanks...

:: M ::

To clear this up:

I have a mac mini in the living room. The mini uses front row so we can watch our huge video collection (about 15% of which is purchased through iTunes -- so Boxee is unable to play it) and have a single interface.

The big problem bringing Boxee into the mix is that a keyboard and mouse are then required to launch it. (a mouse anyway) and I would rather have just the remote which already works with Boxee.

It is also a case of integration. Why not integrate if it is not that hard. Boxee is not looking to oust Front Row (or if it is, it is not offering that which Front Row already does: Integration with iTunes).

For bad or good at this point Front Row is what most Mac people use cos they have invested tons of time into importing and tagging their libraries and do not wish to have to do this time after time. They do not wish to have to exit one app and launch another (with the keyboard and/or mouse) making them get up from the couch and find the keyboard/mouse and launch Boxee just to watch Hulu. I know. My family hates this right now and with the current Launcher issues on the ATV they are hating me for making their beloved Hulu content THAT much harder to get to. They cannot use our AppleTV's like they could when v2.2 of AppleTV was used with Boxee. ATV 2.3 is now the most hated software update I have ever done in my home (among my family members). 2.3 killed the integration with AppleTV and Boxee. This kinda proves why we need a launcher in Front Row: To make Boxee easy to use.

So, my question was just "why not?".