NEWS: Kaleidescape's New iPad App!

[Mr.Poindexter]

Take Control of Your Movies with the Kaleidescape App for iPad
Your Collection of Blu-ray Discs, DVDs and CDs at Your Fingertips

INDIANAPOLIS, IN; CEDIA EXPO - September 7, 2011 - Kaleidescape, Inc., the market leader in movie servers, today announced the Kaleidescape App for iPad, which introduces an exceptional new way to browse and select movies and music on a Kaleidescape System using an iPad.
The free app offers the convenience of browsing without interrupting playback, so you can guide your guests through the best moments in your collection. For one example, you can filter instantly by actor, director, or genre, so that while friends and family enjoy the famous Dead Parrot sketch, you can select another great John Cleese scene.
Or just select any room to see what's playing or even start another movie. "Using the iPad app, I can see what the kids are watching no matter where I am in the home," said Denise M., mother of three and Kaleidescape System owner. "I can even see how much longer the movie will play, and when it's over, I can pick something else for them to watch."
"I no longer need to be in front of the television to fully control the system," said David Daniels of Electronic Systems Consultants in Aspen, CO. "For one thing, I can be outside, by the pool, picking out music. And if I like what's playing, I can easily save it to play it again later."
"Indianapolis is a special place for Kaleidescape. It was here that we won the Electronic Lifestyles award for Best Video Product when we launched the Kaleidescape System eight years ago," said Michael Malcolm, Founder, Chairman, and CEO. "We're excited to be back here with our biggest lineup ever, especially our new Kaleidescape-designed iPad app that lives up to our reputation for simple user interfaces."
The Kaleidescape App for iPad will be available worldwide on the App Store late in the fourth quarter of this year.
For more information, please visit www.kaleidescape.com.

 

[phcjpp]

I would like to be a beta tester for that iPad app. Glad I didn't bother paying for the other two iPad apps(feel a little sorry for them though). I finally get to play with my M700 this weekend - apparently I was the first in the UK to get one

Chris

 

[Mr.Poindexter]

If I just bought the iPad ap, I would feel that way, but I am glad I didn't go for a long time without it. I had this same thought when TiVo dropped their prices and my friends were teasing me that they got a TiVo for $200 less than I paid and I explained that they went two years without TiVo so who is really laughing at who.

Either way, going forward this is good for Kaleidescape's new customers.

 

[Transepoch]

Either way, going forward this is good for Kaleidescape's new customers.

...Unless your tablets & smartphones don't use iOS or a desktop flavor of Windows.

 

[TomBarnett]

Here's a video of the Kaleidescape App for iPad:

If the inline video above doesn't work in your browser, here's a link to it on YouTube:
[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMMUt1F1mtw"]Kaleidescape App for iPad - CEDIA 2011 - YouTube[/nomedia]
​

Tom Barnett
Kaleidescape, Inc.

 

[Joe]

Does the iPad app let me view my collection from anywhere, as long as I have network connectivity? It would be nice to be able to view my music or movie collections when I'm out shopping for new content to make sure I'm not double-buying. The original k-scape iPhone app does this quite well for movies, but it doesn't cover CDs. Actually, it would be great if that app also had the bar-code scanning system look-up capabilities of the older app included as well.

Joe

 

[brodricj]

.....Kaleidescape, Inc., the market leader in movie servers, today announced the Kaleidescape App for iPad, which introduces an exceptional new way to browse and select movies and music on a Kaleidescape System using an iPad.
The free app...

A free iPad app for Kaleidescape, ouch, that's going to hurt the good people at Remotescape...

 

[AnOutsider]

Definitely glad I didn't pay for the remotescape iPad app

From Eric's blog.
http://www.soundandvision.net/blog/

Breaking news-Kaleidescape 1st to offer Bluray Downloads!

Posted on September 8, 2011 by Eric Schmidt


After months of speculation on what Kaleidescape had up its sleeve, they*let the proverbial cat out of the bag today-Bluray downloads from its’ own store! “This is amazing news for our clients with Kaleidescape systems,” said Eric Schmidt. “We have been on the sidelines when it came to streaming and downloadable content. This is largely due to poor quality and limited selection.* Our clients have unbelievably high resolution systems capable of reproducing the true cinematic experience.* While Bluray certainly delivers everything the director intended, it’s really a tragedy to watch any less!” Kaleidescape promises a vast catalog of content available early in the 1st quarter.
Contact us today for more information and a hands on demo of the amazing Kaleidescape system .

Posted in CEDIA 2011 | Tagged bluray, Download, Kaleidescape

And now I'm glad I resisted buying the vault (either of them)

 

[Mr.Poindexter]

Well, the Kaleidescape ap looks like it will be largely similar to the remotescape ap.

The download service may not actually replace the Vault in that we don't yet know how extensive the library will be but I would bet it won't have every single title you would want. Hell, look at how long it took iTunes to get The Beatles. I suspect the Vault will still have a lot of value to end users.

 

[brodricj]

I kinda feel sorry for the guys at Remotescape after all the work that's gone into their product - a free Kaleidescape iPad App is really going to muscle in on their new sales market. I've bought Remotescape twice, and the thing that saves it for me over a free App is the Volume Control and Custom Buttons features, something which I doubt the Kaleidescape App will support. But the purchase price of Remotescape just for this feature when the free App becomes available will make it a tough sell.

I do like Remotescape very much, however I do look forward to what Kaleidescape has to offer with their iPad App. I am using their free module for the Pronto remote and it works a treat...we're just so spoiled with savvy control options for our Kaleidescape systems!

 

[brodricj]

...I'm guessing there are some amongst us who have been beta testing the K iPad App? I'm just wondering how that works, presumably it still needs to be downloaded via iTunes, but beta testers have some kind of special arrangement with the developer and Apple to install it on their hardware?

 

[TomBarnett]

Does the iPad app let me view my collection from anywhere, as long as I have network connectivity? It would be nice to be able to view my music or movie collections when I'm out shopping for new content to make sure I'm not double-buying. The original k-scape iPhone app does this quite well for movies, but it doesn't cover CDs. Actually, it would be great if that app also had the bar-code scanning system look-up capabilities of the older app included as well.

Joe

The app must be connected to the Kaleidescape System via WiFi to display the collection. We'll take your suggestion under consideration.

Thanks Tom. I hope there is the option to skip this new feature. I think it will be helpful for many people. But I have an automated lens and I prefer to be native as often as possible. I know the lens robs some light (all lens do) so I have different presets in my processor and my system will pick the proper preset.

I think thats a great thing to offer people as a choice, I just hope I can opt out of it.
__________________
Best regards,
Jerry

---

As to the CIH stuff- its very cool but as I said before I prefer to move the lens. I suppose my way to opt out is to tell it I have a 16:9 setup as opposed to 21:9 (2.35). I wonder how this might affect subtitles...
__________________
Best regards,
Jerry

You can (of course) still configure your player for 16:9 with no change to the user interface or video processing. That will be the default. You have to activate CinemaScape for a particular player before there is a change. Subtitles for both DVDs and Blu-ray Discs can be relocated independent of CinemaScape, using the SCREEN MASKING tab of the settings found in the installer portion of the browser interface.

...I'm guessing there are some amongst us who have been beta testing the K iPad App? I'm just wondering how that works, presumably it still needs to be downloaded via iTunes, but beta testers have some kind of special arrangement with the developer and Apple to install it on their hardware?

There are not yet any external beta testers. Apple tightly controls beta testing, providing a limited number of provisioning slots (based on the UDID of each iOS device) to the developer. Beta versions of the app are not distributed via the iTunes store, but rather via a file downloaded to the iPad.

The CIH Cinemascape functionality to be added and improved to the system is very welcomed and appreciated. For those of us with high end systems it brings some relief to a commonly frustrating aspect (pun intended) that was always compromising the K experience. I am very much looking forward to the update when it becomes available. If you need any more beta testers please count me in.

<snip>

Peter

If anyone is interested in testing CinemaScape prior to release, write beta AT kaleidescape DOT com. There are a few things we need to finish up before we begin the beta, but we're making our list.

Tom Barnett
Kaleidescape, Inc.

 

[iansilv]

Kaleidescape iPad App- can it control volume?

I saw that it can control movie selection and everything else, but can it control volume, or will a separate remote be needed to do that?

 

[JDS]

When I googled K's iPad app I found a screen shot which showed a volume control...I think it was on the "engadget" website.

I would expect a volume control to be available as other apps have it but it would be good to have it confirmed.

 

[Croptop]

I would expect a volume control to be available as other apps have it but it would be good to have it confirmed.

The Kaleidescape iPad app can be set up to control volume.

 

[sbutter]

The Kaleidescape iPad app can be set up to control volume.

The current control protocol has the volume commnands now. If a player receives volume presses from Kscape IR remote, the serial/ip event_message volume_up_press is sent. The iPad App will likely do the same event_message. Refer to page 180 of control protocol manual.

 

[iansilv]

Thanks. Well then, one app to really run the home theater setup- nice! What about power... can it power up a player? I would imagine you could setup all the triggers to power up a projector, set the proper input, etc. with that, right?

 

[sbutter]

Thanks. Well then, one app to really run the home theater setup- nice! What about power... can it power up a player? I would imagine you could setup all the triggers to power up a projector, set the proper input, etc. with that, right?

There is an event select_kaleidescape_input that could be used by your automation controller to setup all your AV gear. However, I don't know if the iPad App has a power command button.

 

[brodricj]

If you look at photo 5 in the engadget link you can clearly see 3 volume buttons on the iPad App. Presumably you can configure TCP/IP commands within the App to control the 3rd party audio controller, or use a gateway device to convert these to serial or IR. It would be great if you could configure the Volume control feature in the App so that the serial commands can be sent directly from the RS232 port on the Kaleidescape player.
Regarding a power command button I have no idea, but I'm guessing if a player in the zone is off, when you select that zone in the App the player will come on (bit like a wake on LAN command). That feature is supported in the Kaleidescape Pronto module, when I pick up the Pronto remote the player comes on automatically.

 

[brodricj]

By the sound of it the iPad App for Kaleidescape is quite robust already, why the delay to late Q4 to release it?