Gnomie Mark Tar writes:

I just set up a Pluto home system (Smarthome + media server). It’s really cool and works great with Squeezeboxes. Just plug the Squeezebox into an ethernet jack. When it sees the Squeezebox request an IP address, it automatically installs the SlimServer and sets everything up on its own. There’s no software to install at all. And if you have a Bluetooth mobile phone, it can be used as the remote control - complete with cover art, access to playlists, etc. Plus it knows how to control all the other stuff too, so when I start playing music on my Squeezebox, it automatically turns on the stereo and sets it to the right input.

There’s only one problem… it has these interactive maps so I can see what’s playing around the house and make the same thing play in multiple destinations. If all the destinations are Squeezeboxes, it’s great. But if some are Squeezeboxes and some are media PCs, Pluto uses SlimServer to go to the Squeezeboxes and VideoLAN to stream to the PCs and the two groups won’t be in sync. I’m told it’s because the only SliMP3 player that emulates Squeezebox2 and runs under Linux requires Java. Pluto sends a network boot image to all the media PCs in the house - that’s how it turns your other PCs into set-top boxes. It doesn’t want to add the whole Java runtime to the net boot image and bloat it just to get a SliMP3 player. There are two Open Source C++ SliMP3 players that are small and lean, but they are old and don’t support the new protocols.

So, is anybody out there working on a C++ Squeezebox2 player? This is the only small piece that’s missing. With that piece, this would be a total Sonos killer. You would still have a cool GUI with cover art. But it’s even better than Sonos because it uses your existing mobile phone - one less thing to lose - and your music follows you automatically as you move throughout the house. Plus it does movies, not just music, and controls a/v equipment and home automation, too. Oh! And it costs 1/10 the price.