Update: This application is now Symbian signed and doesn’t require a certificate or hack by end users.
What’s a great media device like the N97 without a program to enjoy streaming media. With the recently released v2.0 update I have been using the N97 more and more. While the OviStore does have a couple of applications for viewing streaming media (YouTube, Xenozu, and others) it looks like those applications will easily be replaced by an all-in-one solution. While still in its infant stages I think if properly developed Open Video Hub will be one of the top streaming video clients available for S60. *Be warned to install Open Video Hub you will have to self sign this software*
What can Open Video Hub do?
It can play media from 3 top media streaming sites (MetaCafe, Youtube, DailyMotion) and download from one (MetaCafe).
Features:
While streaming applications are nothing new, Open Video Hub is unique in that it combines the most popular media streaming sites into one application. Not only can you stream content but you can also upload video to Youtube/DailyMotion and download content from MetaCafe.
- Search
- Upload video
- New videos
- Featured
- Top Rated
- Most viewed
- Transfer Manager (used for keeping track of downloads)
- Saved videos
- Favorites
Picture courtesy of Open Video Hub.
Note: While the picture does display downloading capabilities from YouTube it was not present in the build I downloaded.
How does it work?
The interface is simple and works well with the N97. The initial start up screen is a bit confusing since it asks you to log in to an account. Which I tried but wasn’t successful. Once I was able to skip past that I was on my way to searching for clips on YouTube, MetaCafe, and DailyMotion. You can set a default streaming site as preference and switch between each site at will. It will automatically query the site you have transitioned to with immediate results. A nice touch is that the application supports kinetic scrolling.
Open Video Hub has two interesting adjustments that can be made to make the streaming experience a tad more enjoyable. One is the option to stream at a higher quality (which is called extended), the second is the ability to change the view from normal, wide, and zoom. While its debatable that the quality does actually increase I wasn’t able to detect it. I tried streaming a couple different HD clips from YouTube.
A few negatives:
- MetaCafe would query searches but I could not get one video to play or download.
- DailyMotion and Youtube worked well but did not have a download option.
- Uploading would constantly crash, I never got to upload to DailyMotion or Youtube.
- Accelerometer is not consistent. Initially I could never get it to work (I thought perhaps the feature was missing), than when I randomly opened the application the next time around I had full accelerometer support. I think partially the reason for this is that the N97 can change to horizontal orientation by having the screen open. I believe this causes some issues.
- The application does crash frequently. Just writing the review I had the application crash on me multiple times of the course of 15 minutes.
- The application opens in portrait mode regardless of orientation.
- The application is currently unsigned
Final Thoughts:
While I tend not to use streaming media applications on a daily basis (videos and internet just kill the N97 while on simultaneously) its nice to have an application like Open Video Hub that has ability to pull from three separate streaming sources and the ability to upload (I couldn’t get it work, but its there). Like I mentioned earlier the application is still in its infant state and it shows great promise. I can only hope that the developers take community feedback and release future builds with these improvements and eventually have a fully signed version available.
Open Video Hub Main Site: http://www.openvideohub.com/
Open Video Hub Forums: http://openvideohub.com/forum/
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