Moovida 2.0 – A New Beginning

As the release of Moovida 2.0 draws near, we decided it was time to share the details of what’s to come with our community.

The next Moovida release is a completely innovative concept, and actually consists in 2 applications in one.

When first running the software, you’ll get Moovida Core, the flexible application ideal for desktop use. Most of you will be familiar with its features, which are based on the popular open source project Banshee. When ready to access your media via tv, the Moovida Immersed media center extension can be opened from the Core app, introducing a more visually engaging experience, optimized for HDTV navigation with remote control. In other words, Moovida Immersed will be the substitute for Moovida 1.0.

The software is still free to download and intends to provide users with a full scope media solution, bridging the gap between desktop and connected tvs. As we transition from project to commercial software with Moovida 2.0, our desktop app will be ad supported and initially compatible under Windows, with a Linux and Mac version to follow shortly. We also plan to offer a variety of premium content through the Moovida Immersed media center.

Moovida Core 2.0 is now being distributed under limited release for testing, and the complete solution will be available publicly this summer.

Moovida’s next phase of development focusses on working closely with Banshee, upon which our backend is now based. We highly encourage those who want to contribute to Moovida Core to participate in the Banshee project. We also plan to open our UI to encourage developers to keep playing with the software and adding new features.

Got questions or comments? Check out this FAQ page, or contact us any of the following ways:

• post a comment below
• email us: info@moovida.com
• post on our Forum

We’re very excited about this next release, and we very much look forward to presenting you with the finished product.

17 Comments »

1. 

   Hi; I’ve some questions about this new direction for the project:

   1. All the framework written in Python is being discarded?

   2. I completely understand (and maybe even cheer) the move to C#, but can you guys explain a little why the Moovida Immersed Media Center 3D UI is being written in Lua? Why not Python, or even JavaScript? (Specially with GNOME Shell and all the related GNOME 3.0 technologies).

   3. What will be the licenses for the Moovida Core Desktop UI and the Moovida Immersed Media Center 3D UI? They will be Free Software? I suppose the “premium services” will be proprietary (hence the “premium”).

   4. If the Moovida Core Desktop UI and the Moovida Immersed Media Center 3D UI are not going to be Free Software, the source code will be still available? Will I be able to modify and extend for personal use and customizations?

   Thanks in advance for your answers.

   Comment by Canek — April 30, 2010 @ 15:38

2. 

   Pity it’s closed source. So long Moovida.

   Comment by hads — May 1, 2010 @ 03:09

3. 

   [Sorry I deleted this comment by mistake, but here are the answers]

   Q1 – Can you provide more information about Diesel Engine ?

   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_(game_engine)

   Q2 – I see Moovida 2.0 uses OpenGL, means this that OpenGL ES is no longer supported ?

   In fact, for the moment the engine is using DirectX 9c and above. We will support OpenGL over OpenGlES as we believe there is more interest and greater potential in this technology.

   @Canek

   Q1 – All the framework written in Python is being discarded?

   To use the word ‘discarded’ may be a little strong as there is still a community around Moovida 1.0 who continues to use and develop on the software’s framework, and in my opinion rarely is anything ever lost. However, it is no longer a priority for us to support or develop in Python.

   Q2 – I completely understand (and maybe even cheer) the move to C#, but can you guys explain a little why the Moovida Immersed Media Center 3D UI is being written in Lua? Why not Python, or even JavaScript? (Specially with GNOME Shell and all the related GNOME 3.0 technologies).

   Diesel Engine uses LUA because it is a very common script language in the video game industry due to his scalibitly and portability to consoles. It’s also a great language for game logic.

   This been said, it would be nice to have it replaced by something like C#, but this is not our priority. Also, the engine is a 3D render framework (made to run 3D), and not made for desktop UI. It’s not really shell or windowed technology oriented, unlike the Moovida Core/Banshee project which is associated with Gnome 3.0 Technologies.

   Q3 – What will be the licenses for the Moovida Core Desktop UI and the Moovida Immersed Media Center 3D UI? They will be Free Software? I suppose the “premium services” will be proprietary (hence the “premium”).

   When we mention premium services, this is similar to the the plugins that were integrated in Moovida 1.0. The premium services do not have a license so to speak as it is not software, but rather these are services already being offered on the Internet (i.e. stream HD movie rental or subscription channel) which we are integrating with Moovida, by communicating via XML RPC.

   4. If the Moovida Core Desktop UI and the Moovida Immersed Media Center 3D UI are not going to be Free Software, the source code will be still available? Will I be able to modify and extend for personal use and customizations?

   Only the part of the Moovida Core UI used from Banshee will be open, however we will be working closely with them to determine if Moovida’s development on the platform can also be contributed back to the project, therefore making Moovida’s code as open as Banshee’s.

   As for the 3D UI, we plan to make the UI code available for developers to make contributions.

   Comment by Vober — May 3, 2010 @ 10:59

4. [...] Moovida 2.0 – A New Beginning [...]

   Pingback by Moovida 2.0’s Stance on Open Source and Licensing « Moovida Blog — May 3, 2010 @ 15:42

5. 

   Hey, what happend to my comment?

   Comment by suvi — May 3, 2010 @ 22:33

6. 

   @ suvi

   I’m so sorry a few comments got deleted by accident (as you can see in my post above). You had the comment about the “boooooooooring interface” right?

   To answer your comment, it’s true that Moovida Core’s interface is not ground breaking, in fact it’s pretty much the same as Banshee’s, except for the skin. What will set Moovida apart is its media center extension that can be launched from the desktop app, ideal for when you want to navigate your media from your tv with a remote control. We are keeping the interface under wraps for the moment, but when we’re ready to release, I don’t think “boring” will be the word you find to describe it.

   Comment by Vober — May 4, 2010 @ 10:49

7. [...] Moovida 2.0 – A New Beginning [...]

   Pingback by Moovida Core Debuts Today « Moovida Blog — May 7, 2010 @ 18:25

8. 

   Pity. Who needs another desktop media player? I had high hopes for the media center interface.

   All I ask is that you provide a way to launch to 3D interface by default on boot, without displaying the desktop app. The whole point of an HTPC is to not need to use a mouse and keyboard to start things up.

   Comment by Jer — May 20, 2010 @ 23:23

9. 

   @ Jer,

   It will be possible to get to the 3d interface by default, however you will need to use the desktop interface to import your media the first time you use the application. Afterwards there will be a function to rescan recently added media to update your library.

   Comment by Vanessa — May 25, 2010 @ 10:34

10. 

    I notice there is no Linux download yet, and any references to a “Diesel” 3D engine on the web only seem to mention Windows. Is the 3D interface going to be available on Linux as well?

    Comment by Jer — May 25, 2010 @ 16:36

11. 

    We’d like to have it available on Linux, but unfortunately it won’t be our first priority. We cannot commit to a launch date for Linux at this time.

    Comment by Vober — May 26, 2010 @ 16:48

12. 

    So the strategy to to become “yet another MCE for Windows” and abandoning your loyal fans that have followed and contributed to Elisa/Moovida the start. Sad. Back to Boxee I guess.

    Comment by Jer — May 27, 2010 @ 22:53

13. [...] Moovida 2.0 – A New Beginning [...]

    Pingback by Exclusive Moovida Immersed Preview « Moovida Blog — May 31, 2010 @ 10:16

14. 

    I have to agree with Jer… after all the work the Linux community put into Elisa/Moovida now it gets “re-written” into close-source… all good ideas basically stolen and the worst part is that now “linux is not a priority for development”…

    I had converted a good bunch of friends into Linux thanks in part to Moovida and I totally feel betrayed by this move.

    I’m also unistalling and swtiching back to Boxee… once you crash and burn on Windows we will not be around to support you again

    Comment by Jhex — June 14, 2010 @ 20:26

15. 

    Hey Jhex,

    I understand the frustration of the Linux community when a product goes ‘Windows’ on them, and if we had more resources at our disposition, Moovida would already be on a all platforms by now.

    When launching a commercial software, it makes more sense to start on Windows to have access to a much greater user base. It’s sometimes difficult to base decisions on the ‘bottom line’, but in Fluendo Embedded’s case, that’s what it came down to.

    With a small team such as ours, it’s close to impossible to get everything done at once, which is why we had to assign priorities to the Windows platform. I can see how this is a disappointing choice for the open source community, and I’m sorry you’re having to make the switch.

    However, It may interest you to know that we have Moovida Core on Lucid via our beta tester program, if you’re interested in joining:

    http://www.moovida.com/become-a-beta-tester/

    We still do appreciate the feedback, and we’re glad to have made such an impact with the previous version of Moovida.

    Regards,

    Vanessa

    Comment by Vober — June 16, 2010 @ 15:22

16. 

    Sad….. How many widows users know about moovida? as compared to linux? We pay for stuff too…. besides widows users just pirate software. maybe we should get priority. A big chunk of a small market is better than a small slice of a big market, linux makes business sense if software company’s like yous could stop bringing the community down by windows-centric development, taking all the goodies onto windows then leaving us with some half-assed software. I realise the amount of work that goes into putting software together but lets not forget about the community.

    Comment by Buyongo — July 3, 2010 @ 19:33

17. 

    You make a valid point, but even capturing a larger Linux share is easier said than done. And the reality is that we do have a substancial Windows user base.

    We truly appreciate the effort the Linux community has done to help with the development of Elisa and Moovida v1. Even with the different priorities we are setting, we do hope that the Linux community will keep using Moovida, currently available through the beta tester program:
    http://www.moovida.com/become-a-beta-tester/

    Regards,

    Vanessa

    Comment by Vober — July 8, 2010 @ 09:40

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

Leave a comment