If you’re anything like me, when you read the title you may have went, “Ouya and XBMC, who is the heck are they?” If you did that certainly is okay, and if you already know about these two companies even better. I have some good news to deliver to you then .
First let’s start with some history of what Ouya and XBMC and what they do. …
Ouya is a company of a new gaming console that is “in the making.” Another gaming console, really? Just wait now before you click away, this gaming console is unique from all other gaming consoles. How? It’s based on open-source software and runs Android! Do I have your attention now? I sure hope so! This interesting and intriguing gaming console will be a great ‘must-have’ for any type of developer, but especially for those who love Android, but are big time gamers too. It’s set to be released in March of 2013 and contains specs of:
- NVidia Tegra 3 (T33) quad-core ARM processor
- 1 GB RAM
- 8 GB of internal flash storage
- HDMI connection to the TV, with support for up to 1080p HD
- Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
- Bluetooth LE 4.0
- Ethernet port
- One USB 2.0
- Wireless controller sporting two analog sticks, d-pad, eight action buttons, a system button, and 3″ touchpad
- Android 4.0 “Ice Cream Sandwich”
Those are some pretty interesting specs for a gaming console. I would believe many would really enjoy seeing some of these specs for a gaming console, however I am not much of a gamer myself, I do game, yes, but not enough to consider myself a gamer. The gaming console will also consist of an ‘exclusive Ouya store’ for applications and games. I myself like the sounds of this gaming console. For more details on the Ouya console please visit HERE.
Next is team, XMBC. I went straight to their site to find more information on them, and their ‘about’ page gives a great description of who they are, and what they do.
“XBMC is an award-winning free and open source (GPL) software media player and entertainment hub for digital media. XBMC is available for Linux, OSX, and Windows. Created in 2003 by a group of like minded programmers, XBMC is a non-profit project run and developed by volunteers located around the world. More than 50 software developers have contributed to XBMC, and 100-plus translators have worked to expand its reach, making it available in more than 30 languages.
While XBMC functions very well as a standard media player application for your computer, it has been designed to be the perfect companion for your HTPC. Supporting an almost endless range of remote controls, and combined with its beautiful interface and powerful skinning engine, XBMC feels very natural to use from the couch and is the ideal solution for your home theater.
Currently, XBMC can be used to play almost all popular audio and video formats around. It was designed for network playback, so you can stream your multimedia from anywhere in the house or directly from the internet using practically any protocol available.
Use your media as-is: XBMC can play CDs and DVDs directly from the disk or image file, almost all popular archive formats from your hard drive, and even files inside ZIP and RAR archives. It will even scan all of your media and automatically create a personalized library complete with box covers, descriptions, and fanart.
There are playlist and slideshow functions, a weather forecast feature and many audio visualizations. Once installed, your computer will become a fully functional multimedia jukebox.”
I usually have my own programs I’ve used for quite some time when it comes to media software, but this sounds promising and I just may have to test drive this out.
So now that we know a little bit about who they are, and what they do, let us dive further into this partnership they have created.
Both organizations released a statement this morning stating:
“….many of Team Ouya support XBMC, and nearly a third of Team XBMC members are Ouya backers.”
It’s apparent they work very well with each other and have support for the other. That is good quality you don’t find with most organizations. XBMC will be the one of few to receive the Ouya gaming console to test it, and make it provides a quality experience for users. That sounds great!
It would seem that the two organizations alone seem to provide decent software, and hardware, but together I’m thinking they could go above and beyond. This heightens my curiosity and excitement to see the final result of this project and what the Ouya gaming console will provide for gamers.