Contents
Install Ubuntu TV
At this time Ubuntu TV is only supported on Ubuntu 12.04. If you do not have 12.04 and would still like to help out we suggest that you use a virtual machine for now.
Warning This will replace the Unity 2d that is installed on your system. you will still be able to use unity 2d desktop but it will be altered.
If you are running 12.04 and would like to try this on your system. This is how to do that.
open a terminal (ctrl+alt+t)
enter in
sudo apt-get -y build-dep unity-2d
- Next
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:u2t/bleedingedge
- Next
sudo apt-get update
- Next
sudo apt-get -y install unity-2d-shell
That is it reboot and pick unity-2d when logging into Ubuntu.
Notes
- To Change formfactors watch this video.
- F1, F2, F3 are shortcuts for launcher, top bar (in player), sidebar, respectively
this is alpha there are bugs you can file them here. https://launchpad.net/u2t
FAQ
- what is Ubuntu TV
- it's a Unity variant (based on Unity-2D codebase) that's been adapted for a 10-foot interface - it's a proof of concept, though, so everything might (and probably will) change
- the plan is to stick it into the TV, not another box sitting next to it with lots of cables and another remote
- what's the technology behind it
- all of Ubuntu, but right now specifically all the Unity backends like Lenses and Scopes, it's based on Unity-2D so Qt / QML, gstreamer (through Qt Mobility) for multimedia playback, OpenGL (ES works, too) is used for rendering
- what is the language / toolkit for developing for Ubuntu TV
- nothing was yet decided TV-specific, but anything that's currently supported in Ubuntu should be a good start and we'll say more when we know more
- how can I try it
the workflow is described in https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuTV/Contributing but if there are any specific questions, issues, please come to #ubuntu-tv on Freenode and we'll try and help
- can I use the video lens in Ubuntu Desktop
- yes, it uses the standard Unity Lens infrastructure, but it's very rough and was never meant to go into "production"
- what remote control is supported
- anything HID (Human Interface Devices), so keyboards, Bluetooth remotes, IR remotes with in-kernel support should more or less work, we're probably not going to support LIRC as it's the "old" approach now
- as can be seen, in current concept search is a central part, so text input is an important feature
- what formats does it support
- being based on gstreamer - anything you have there for gstreamer should work
- what about HW video acceleration
check out http://rsalveti.wordpress.com/2012/01/16/ubuntu-tv-fully-accelerated-on-a-pandaboard-with-ubuntu-leb/ for Ubuntu TV running on a pandaboard with video acceleration - yes, that's definitely a requirement
- what's the target hardware
we used an Acer Revo during development, but ARM is also a definite target, HW video acceleration is a requirement, as is OpenGL(ES), HDMI out, digital audio, we want to have CEC integration (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI#CEC) and at least a single tuner (be it DVB, ATSC or whatever)
a PandaBoard with a USB tuner is probably the closest you can get to what we're thinking about now
- how can you contribute
you can extend it by providing a Lens or a Scope to feed the UI with (see https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Unity/Lenses/Guidelines), you can try it (see https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuTV/Contributing again), join the ~ubuntu-tv team in Launchpad (https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-tv) and its mailing list, join #ubuntu-tv on Launchpad, let us know of any ideas you'd like to share or any problems you've encountered
- will Ubuntu TV include a web browser
- most probably yes, but it might not be a web browser as you know it now, websites are rarely meant to be used from a distance, regardless how much you zoom, the experience is usually bad
- what PVR backend will be used
- no evaluation was yet made on that topic, but MythTV, GNOME-DVB-Daemon are definitely on the table
- what was a demo / mockup, what actually works
YouTube / iPlayer icons are just placeholders - indicators how an app could get integrated into the launcher
- only the volume indicator and clock are actually live, the rest are dummy entries
- EPG data is fake, uses offline data for 24 hours programmes gathered from BBC and no tuner backend has been enabled at all
- video playback (HW accelerated, where supported) is live
- metadata (synopsis, cast, posters, images etc.) for videos needs to be preloaded as XML and image files
- what's the best language to write Lenses / Scopes
vala and python are the most usual choices (see https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Unity/Lenses)
Use Cases
Help contribute to Ubuntu TV immediately by suggesting some features and use cases that you think would be really useful to have in a TV.