[Alphabase]

Hi all,

Just a quick note to say that I have been looking for a good video, music and photo streaming app for my playbook for a while now. Subsonic works I know but is pricey when you add in the api fee!

I saw this new app appear today for .99$ and tried it. It actually works well! It's not fancy but it works on my win7 setup. certainly fills a functionality gap for me!

[conix67]

Are you talking about SonicAir, or just subsonic. I tried this combination a while back, and couldn't get it to work in a usable state. Subsonic alone works fine, but its client in web browser is not suitable on PB. It's all there but controls are just too small for touch screen interface.

SonicAir, which is the subsonic client for PB, solves that problem but couldn't read many directories on my LAN server, while subsonic itself doesn't have issues like this. So after $20+ invested to it, I gave up and waiting for simple samba client + video player solution, which is not yet available.

[Alphabase]

Are you talking about SonicAir, or just subsonic. I tried this combination a while back, and couldn't get it to work in a usable state. Subsonic alone works fine, but its client in web browser is not suitable on PB. It's all there but controls are just too small for touch screen interface.

SonicAir, which is the subsonic client for PB, solves that problem but couldn't read many directories on my LAN server, while subsonic itself doesn't have issues like this. So after $20+ invested to it, I gave up and waiting for simple samba client + video player solution, which is not yet available.

I agree no samba support yet but this new app works well enough for me. It requires a free software install on your pc. I hope more polish is added over time but for a buck I'm very happy as I was about to shell out for the Subsonic api and sonicair.

[conix67]

I agree no samba support yet but this new app works well enough for me. It requires a free software install on your pc. I hope more polish is added over time but for a buck I'm very happy as I was about to shell out for the Subsonic api and sonicair.

It's not really free software, it requires you to donate in order to use full capability. Subsonic itself is quite polished, but clients are not.

[docfreed]

Freeware (from Android) and has been converted for PB - works nicely for Windows shares and great for streaming media from your PC

[conix67]

Freeware (from Android) and has been converted for PB - works nicely for Windows shares and great for streaming media from your PC

Where do you get media player that will work with ES explorer?

[Alphabase]

It's not really free software, it requires you to donate in order to use full capability. Subsonic itself is quite polished, but clients are not.

The Subsonic stuff is not free but the pc server software for language file is.

[conix67]

The Subsonic stuff is not free but the pc server software for language file is.

Subsonic is the PC side server software that you can download and install for free.

[rkennedy01]

Where do you get media player that will work with ES explorer?

Here is how I make it work for me:

1. Locate the media file on the CIFS share (in my case, a WDTV samba share).

2. Use the "Select" button on the toolbar to highlight the desired media file. Then "copy" the file to the ESFE "clipboard" and "paste" it into a local folder on the PB. This will initiate the file copy operation which will then continue in the background (with a nice little progress notification bubble to boot!).

3. After a few seconds, open the partially downloaded media file in ESFE. On my PB, when accessing an AVI file, this causes ESFE to launch the native PlayBook video player which then begins playing the video while it's still being downloaded in the background.

Assuming your network connection is reasonably fast (I'm running over 802.11g, so nothing special), the clip will play fine while the copy operation is ongoing. Don't know why it works, but it does, so...

RCK

[conix67]

Here is how I make it work for me:

1. Locate the media file on the CIFS share (in my case, a WDTV samba share).

2. Use the "Select" button on the toolbar to highlight the desired media file. Then "copy" the file to the ESFE "clipboard" and "paste" it into a local folder on the PB. This will initiate the file copy operation which will then continue in the background (with a nice little progress notification bubble to boot!).

3. After a few seconds, open the partially downloaded media file in ESFE. On my PB, when accessing an AVI file, this causes ESFE to launch the native PlayBook video player which then begins playing the video while it's still being downloaded in the background.

Assuming your network connection is reasonably fast (I'm running over 802.11g, so nothing special), the clip will play fine while the copy operation is ongoing. Don't know why it works, but it does, so...

RCK

Interesting solution, but definitely not something I can live with. Few problems I have with this solution

• Still need to copy files over, this can be done with other file manager such as Ghost Commander
• Relies on native video player which is both good and bad, good part is if video file works, it's the best solution, the bad part is many video files won't play, even those old DVD rips I have with AC3 audio.

So, subsonic so far is the best solution for me on PB. I just need a better client for it. No need to copy files over, no need to fiddle with file browser, no need for conversion.

It's not a lot better in Android world, and for some reason developers of AirVideo is not porting their app over to other platforms.

[rkennedy01]

So, subsonic so far is the best solution for me on PB. I just need a better client for it. No need to copy files over, no need to fiddle with file browser, no need for conversion.

It's not a lot better in Android world, and for some reason developers of AirVideo is not porting their app over to other platforms.

Yes, but this won't work with something like a WDTV Live or other dedicated media server. Not all of us are looking to stream content from our PCs. There are other devices that offer CIFS/Samba support for which my solution is godsend, so...

RCK

[nimrodity]

You don't need to copy the file when using Estrong, just tap and hold the video file and select play with video and then re Estrong video player, all native supported videos work great without any need to copy anything

[nimrodity]

the app doesnt look very nice and has no options,but as the op saidmit works,that simple.
I hope it gets a bit improved,like an option to hide the app in the tray in windows 7 and a better looking ui,better playing ui.
But except look it does whta it promises,till rim gets hopefully dnla released its ok

[may21]

Hi all,

Just a quick note to say that I have been looking for a good video, music and photo streaming app for my playbook for a while now. Subsonic works I know but is pricey when you add in the api fee!

I saw this new app appear today for .99$ and tried it. It actually works well! It's not fancy but it works on my win7 setup. certainly fills a functionality gap for me!

I just tried "LAN file explorer" too. It works smoothly. And it's simple. this is important for me because i'm not a technical guy and I want something working without reading lengthy instructions. It's worth each of my cents.

[TheStanger]

I think LAN File Explorer is fantastic, I just wish there was a way to play files continuously. Kinda sucks that you start a song playing but it won't continue on to the next song in the folder...or videos for that matter.

[Bash_Man]

Definitly a great app.

Only thing i wish it did is sort the files/folder in an alphabetical order instead of just random order. maybe future updates.

[sh2sg]

Unlike AirVide@iPhone/iPad that does live conversion, LAN File Explorer is only able to play videos/audios PB supports, the server side (FileHub) does not do transcoding.

[eelect]

I would love to see total media integration where I can pull videos for my NAS. That would be great. It shouldn't be that hard to implement.

[may21]

It works if you map NAS as a network drive. How do I map a NAS folder as Windows network drive? - LG Consumer Knowledge Base.
I love LAN File explorer. It's the app I use most often except the native email app and browser. Nothing to complain for the price and their good tech support. Hope they make more good apps.

[conix67]

OK, forget ES player, forget Ghost Commander. Finally got LAN explorer and it works much better than anything else, as far as streaming is concerned. It's fairly basic but the fundamentals is there and does the job.

Now, the only reason I would still keep subsonic is the dreaded audio issue with PB native video player.

If they improve the audio issue on native video player, my rating of PB will jump by at least 30%... it is a shame they have all the file container support, video codec support but not common audio codec support!!

[zektor666]

This app works great. Let me tell you, after setting up Filezilla Server, having to open ports on my router, and jump through other hurdles (in setting up es file explorer and my Android devices), the simplicity of how this works is a blessing. It works a treat with my 60,000+ mp3 collection (it took years to rip my CD's into digital media!) and with my various movie files. Quick and easy setup and I was up and running literally five minutes after making the purchase. This app is a BARGAIN and highly recommended by me for sure!

[may21]

definitely best app of this kind!

[docfreed]

For example, I keep getting this stupid popup "the media format may not be supported... for MP4 files that actually work well. Then too, there are no settings so I can't even get ridof the stupid popup, or make any adjustments - ES File Explorer is much better.

[BlackberryOS2PB]

I use LAN Explorer all the time to access files and folders on my laptop wirelessly. Works amazingly well! Highly recommended especially considering the price is 99 cents.

[mem0ryburn]

I just bought this but the pc software, filehub, is not working for me :/
i reinstalled jre and still nothing. it opens very sluggishly, windows firewall does its thing, i say allow, and then filehub just sits there, dragging along, just a white box, nothing there. :/