• Fixes for XBMC Dharma Live
• Fixed Shoutcast freezing up XBMC
• New add-ons including Transparency! skin being added to the official repository
• Many scraper add-ons fixed

Head over to xbmc.org to download the latest version.

• 0003047: [general] GUITextureManager deadlock
• 0002983: [TV-Server] Case sensitive SQL installations fail with an exception
• 0003040: [My Videos] very slow browsing speed in shared folders which contain many files
• 0002989: [Radio Guide] when scrolling down in “channeldetail view”, the day does not change
• 0003003: [My Music] Improved speed of Music Database Scan
• 0002973: [My Weather] in Blue3Wide, weather text overlaps the weather icon
• 0002991: MPTray.exe locks the MPTray.log file
• 0002994: [WatchDog] Unable to browse to set folder with watchdog due to invalid characters in filename
• 0002992: [general] MediaInfo: delay on AVI with AC3 codec introduced after v0.7.26
• 0002969: [general] MiniDisplay: MatrixOrbital driver locks DVD/CD tray
• 0002981: [general] Memory left indication is wrong when PC has more than 2GB RAM
• 0002980: [Installer] Sometimes font installation fails
• 0002984: [Installer] Crash with filenames containing special characters (ascii code > 127)

For a complete list of fixes and changes, check out the changelogs below.

• Changelog: MediaPortal
• Changelog: TV-Server
• Changelog: Installer – DeployTool

If you’re a MediaPortal user or just want to try it out head to team-mediaportal.com to download the latest version.

Changes from Mythbuntu 10.04:

Highlights

• Swanky new installer
• Mythbuntu-bare, a backup/restore utility for your MythTV configuration files
• MythTV 0.23.1

Underlying system

• Underlying Ubuntu updates are found here

MythTV

• Recent snapshot of the MythTV 0.23.1 release is included (see 0.23.1 Release Notes)
• Preview of the upcoming MythNetvision plugin.

For more coverage check out mythbuntu.com.

• Mythbuntu theme fixes

For more information on the release, check out mythbuntu.org.

• Ubuntu Software Centre – Gives you access to thousands of open-source free and for fee applications in categories including: education, games, sound and video, graphics, programming and office.
• Social Networking – Ubuntu’s new Me Menu lets you access your Facebook and Twitter accounts straight from the desktop. You can connect to all your favourite chat channels and make updates through a single window.
• Music Streaming – Ubuntu’s music player now includes an integrated store allowing you to buy and download new tracks with just a few clicks. Ubuntu One’s (http://one.ubuntu.com) file-syncing ability lets you stream your music uninterrupted to your Android device or iPhone (for $3.99 per month).
• Unity Interface for Ubuntu Netbook Edition – Unity is a new interface that makes its debut in Ubuntu 10.10 Netbook Edition. It is designed to simplify the mobile experience by using larger icons and a more touch-intuitive interface.

Head to Ubuntu.com to try out the latest version of the OS.

Plex users are in for another treat. 3rd party developer Frank Bauer (Ambertation) has launched KLEXi, a gorgeous, full-featured iOS client for Plex Media Server. Frank, the talented author of KLEXi, contacted us about six months ago and expressed an interest in writing an iOS app based on our nascent API, says Elan of the Plex team. Since then, Frank has been hard at work developing this impressive product as well as reporting and fixing bugs in the Plex Media Server.

The end result fulfills some of the functionality users felt the official Plex for iOS left out–namely “download and play” where users can download (and transcode) videos to their iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch to play offline. Among other features are:

• External Play: Watch your videos on an external screen (Requires a VGA to UniversalDock Connector)
• Parental Controls: Restrict access (browsing and playback) for Movies and TV-Shows based on the content rating provided by the Plex Media Server (When using the parental controls, make sure everything works as expected before giving the device to your kids. You should never let kids use KLEXi unattended)
• Wake & Go: Wake up sleeping Machines in your local network
• Shake & Surprise: Shake your device while in shelf-view and KLEXi will pick a random item for you

KLEXi is available in the App Store for $5.99 USD. Want to see it in action first? Well, check out a video demo after the break.

XBMC Media Center 10.0 (Dharma) Beta2 is now available for download in just two weeks after the release of the first Dharma beta. We have closed many bugs, touched up some translations, and updated a substantial number of addons, says Team XBMC’s theuni. Along with these changes, the new JSON web interface is now an Add-on rather than a core component, meaning you can keep the interface current without waiting on the next beta or stable release of XBMC. If you’re already running Dharma or would like to try it out, download Beta2 from http://mirrors.xbmc.org/releases/.

As we draw near the November release of Boxee Box by D-Link, Boxee has announced that Amazon.com is now exclusively taking pre-orders ($199) for the Boxee Box. If you haven’t heard of the Boxee Box, I’ll give you a moment to crawl from under the rock you’ve been living under for the past year. The Boxee Box is a media player made by D-Link and Boxee which brings all the Internet TV and social networking goodness that Boxee provides straight to your TV in a simple, easy fashion.

Good news for folks around the world as well! Along with the US launch, D-Link has decided to launch the Boxee Box internationally to the following countries (for now): US, Canada, Australia and in Europe – Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Macedonia, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.

I’m definitely ordering one right now for my bedroom. If you also want 1080p playback, 5.1 surround sound, HDMI, 802.11n WiFi and a stupidly sweet two-sided remote with QWERTY keyboard, go on and pre-order your Boxee Box for $199 now!

Press Release

ZOTAC International, a leading innovator and the world’s largest manufacturer of graphics cards, motherboards and mini-PCs, today announces a new value-added software bundle for motherboards and mini-PCs – the ZOTAC Boost XL software bundle – that includes a carefully selected suite of applications that will maximize performance and deliver a richer multimedia experience with systems powered by ZOTAC motherboards and mini-PCs. ZOTAC Boost XL includes BoostSpeed 5.0, Cooliris, Kylo web browser and XBMC Media Centre.

BoostSpeed 5 from Auslogics is a leading performance optimization application for Microsoft® Windows® Vista and 7 operating systems that let users perform one-click tune-ups to maximize the performance of ZOTAC platforms. Advanced users can tweak over 280 hidden settings in Windows to maximize performance and customize Windows to their preference with BoostSpeed 5 and ZOTAC-powered systems.

“ZOTAC platforms are designed for reliability and security. BoostSpeed 5 is the perfect system optimizing application to clean your registry, defragment your hard disk, clear your Internet cookies and the perfect match for ZOTAC platforms,” said Carsten Berger, marketing director, ZOTAC International.

Cooliris completely transforms the typical video and image viewing experience with a revolutionary 3D wall user interface that presents images and video in a single place. The 3D wall takes advantage of onboard graphics processing on ZOTAC platforms to render the user interface beautifully without stuttering or lag for a smooth viewing of images and video.

Kylo is an HDTV-optimized web browser designed for use while sitting back and relaxing on a sofa. When paired with home theatre PC-friendly ZOTAC platforms, Kylo delivers Internet streaming video and audio, social networking, web-based games, news and other Internet content directly to home theatre PCs with HDTV-friendly features such as big fonts and buttons, pan and zoom, and an onscreen keyboard.

“The Internet has taken over as the main medium for all your news and entertainment needs. With Cooliris and Kylo, we’re presenting our customers with a new way to experience images and video, and experience the Internet from the comfort of your living room,” Mr. Berger said.

XBMC Media Centre transforms any ZOTAC platform into the ultimate media hub with a beautiful high-definition user interface and customizable skins. XBMC Media Centre is compatible with virtually all video formats including stunning high-definition 1080p formats in any container, including AVI, MKV, MP4 and more, as well as and all audio formats, including MP3, OGG, FLAC and more.

“Digital audio and video formats are replacing physical formats as the preferred content source for entertainment. XBMC Media Centre is a fantastic application that presents all your digital media into a single place with all the niceties of physical media, such as cover art, track listings and movie information,” Mr. Berger said.

ZOTAC Boost XL begins shipping with select new motherboards and mini-PCs this month.

It’s time to play with ZOTAC and the new Boost XL software bundle.

General details
New ZOTAC® Boost XL software bundle
BoostSpeed 5 (14-day trial)
Cooliris
Kylo™
XBMC media centre
Take your computing experience to the next level
Shipping with select new motherboards and mini-PCs

via ZOTAC Announces Boost XL Software Bundle for Platforms – Z-SPOT – Its Time to Play – ZOTAC.

Yesterday, Plex announced that it was selected to be integrated into LG’s 2011 offerings Netcast TVs and Blu-ray Players. What it specifically looked like and how it worked were still gray area. A few videos from the IFA 2010 trade show have surfaced filling the gap.

A couple things are to be learned from the videos. The Plex experience is actually an app within Netcast called Netcast Media Link which has a “Powered by PLEX” emblem on the top-right of the interface. Oh.. It did crash (see 2nd video) so it’s not perfect (yet). As mentioned in the previous article, a Plex version for Windows will be coming in two months according to the LG spokesperson.