[mythtv-users] Akimbo, Integrate into Myth ?

[Brian Wood]

I got an Akimbo box, and I have to say I am impressed. Even though I  
presently have cable and Dish Network, there are many program choices  
available that I did not have previously, commercial free and on-demand.

As mentioned previously, it is a download service, not a streaming  
service like ITVN. Once the program has been downloaded to the STB's  
hard drive you can view it at your convenience.

Some programming is included in the $9.99/month fee, and some is at  
additional cost. Most programming seems to be described as "rentals",  
and expires after 7 to 30 days (ie: gets deleted from the drive).

I guess as far as Myth is concerned it is just an additional analog  
video source, one that you can't get schedule data for automatically,  
but can control. There would seem to be nothing that can be done with  
the actual disk files, and even if you were to get the MCE version of  
Akimbo the files are Microsoft DRM-infested and therefore useless,  
but the analog output is clean and quite usable. Duplication would  
appear to be a violation of the EULA, but backing up programming I  
have paid for would seem to be fair use to me (note: I'm NOT a lawyer).

Obviously it would be nice to have this program source integrated  
into the Myth interface, controlled by the same remote, output from  
the same video card etc. The only way to control the STB is with the  
included remote, so I guess the first step is to define what the  
control codes are. Starting a program would be more complex than  
simply changing a channel, but a script to select and start a program  
should be fairly easy.

I can certainly do that, and post any results. I guess the question  
is how much, if any, interest might there be in such a feature set  
for Myth. A source of good programming at reasonable cost is always  
welcome in my book, it remains to be seem how many others might find  
it useful and interesting.

Brian Wood
beww at beww.org