BYU IPTV

I recently got married and moved to Wymount Terrace, BYU's on campus housing for married people. I soon found out they not have traditional cable. They have IPTV, meaning TV streaming through an internet line. You can view it through your computer or and IPTV STB(set top box).

First let me get out all my annoying complaints. They don't let you use it over wifi. The only access is through one wall network port on your wall. Everything but IPTV is blocked on that network port, meaning you can't use the internet and watch TV your computer at the same time. I find it annoying.

Since I have a TV I decided to go with the STB. BYU OIT charges about $10 for setup. $10 a month to rent the box, and a steep $200 if you lose any components(even cords I think). That is a waste of money, so I bought an Amino 130 on ebay for $75 new and I am going to sell if for $70 when I move.

All you need to do to get it working is: plug in the box and go to the webpage: http://iptv.byu.edu/stb. If you ever need to edit the box settings it might be helpful to know the default password is either "leaves" or "snake".

Here are some other websites associated if you want them:
http://iptv.byu.edu/player/downloadPlaylist.htm
http://iptv.byu.edu/player/portlet.htm
http://go.byu.edu/iptvlaunch

*Note this should have been posted like a year ago, but I forgot. Also when I moved out I just posted the box on the community Facebook page and sold it in 2 days, totally worth it.*

Misuse

Today I am misusing this blog to try and win something. Yay!

Courtesy of: SnapKnot - Find Local Wedding Photographers

Sony Internet TV as an internet Hub

Recently I came across this post. And now believe that my Sony Internet TV NSX-40GT1 or in other words my 40" Sony Google TV is the best TV I could have ever wanted while owning a raspberry pi, or any other kid of media server. The CEC is amazing, but here is something else. If you are connected to WiFi over you TV, you can use the LAN connection in the back to plug something else in, and the TV forwards the internet on. You just makre sure under Internet Status you have Private network Enabled, and wallah you now have internet on the device plugged into your TV without another wireless card or stringing a cable from your router.

This is also awesome if you have an XBOX that needs a network cable!

Rasberry Pi, XBMC, and CEC

The only thing that Google has given me to work with on here is the new guide from like 2 months ago. That was great. It makes cable watching super easy, but beside that I am still waiting for something good from them. In the mean time I have a Raspberry Pi at home so I got xbmc running on it.

Anyone who doesn't know what xbmc is, it is a media player operating system. This is cool because I can now watch Hulu, and not just Hulu Plus on my TV full screen. That is great news!

Now I want to mention my favorite part that most people would not even think about, CEC or Consumer Electronics Control over HDMI. CEC has been my favorite feature of my Sony Google TV that add is for the set top box, but I have the TV with it built in. I think my TV is beautiful if anyone is wondering.  What it does is it sends signals back and forth between the TV and other things using the HDMI. I already had it working on my Blu-ray Player, which means that I only need my TV remote to control my blu-ray, or it even works the the Google TV Remote app or even Chromote.

CEC on xbmc means that I can control my Raspberry Pi without needed a keyboard or mouse connected, it just works over the HDMI cable already plugged into the TV. That is good news. Currently the CEC is very limited, meaning only the arrows and enter work, the mouse doesn't, and the rest of the keyboard just brings up Google searches, but it is a good start that I hope someone finishes!

CEC is my favorite. Thanks xbmc for bing awesome!

Chomemote

I just wanted to talk about one of the coolest things I have seen for Google TV recently.  It is the Chrome browser extension Chromemote. It looks like a port directly from the Android app Google TV Remote. If you are used to the app it is pretty awesome. I would personally want some different skin, but it rocks. I love being able to use my actual keyboard to search for things. I have only used it for a day, but it is very convenient for doing homework and watching something for noise in the background.

Overall I recommend Chromemote to everyone with a laptop and a Google TV. Open up Chrome and get the extension here.