09-03-2002, 03:00 PM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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Watching TV on your Pocket PC
Leon Schell has put together a great article on setting up a Windows Media streamer on your regular PC for use on the Pocket PC. He focuses on streaming TV but you can do just about anything available from your PC.
Pocket PC Thoughts would like to give a big Thanks! to Leon for putting this together and selecting us to publish it. Here you go!
Watching TV on your Pocket PC
I have always wanted to be able to watch the 8 o�clock news on my iPAQ while sitting in the garden, so I was intrigued by the post of That_Kid in Andy�s What to do with wirelessly connected Pocket PCs @ home. That_Kid basically described he was streaming everything everywhere using, among other things, Windows Media Encoder and Windows Media Server. I remembered having seen Windows Media Encoder on Windowsmedia.com so I thought it was time to learn in what way WME and WMS could benefit me.<!>
I decided to have a read at various documents on MSDN which is always a good start when checking out Microsoft technology (See the MSDN library, then from the menu Graphics and Multimedia | Audio and Video | Technical Articles).
In the end I decided to start with Windows Media Encoder (about 4 MB), so I downloaded, installed and started it. As I would soon find out, it was the only program I would need. Wow! I can�t remember having been up and running so quickly ever before (using rather advanced technology) - in no time I was watching TV streaming from my desktop PC to my wireless iPAQ. Interested? OK, here�s how:
The things that you need:
�A wired or wireless network. Here I will take a wireless Pocket PC as a client.
�Something you want to stream, e.g. your TV card (sound and video). You could also stream sound only, e.g. from your favorite MP3 player. In this example I will use my TV card.
�Windows Media Encoder
First, start your TV application on your desktop PC. Then open Windows Media Encoder. As soon as you start WME, a Session Wizard pops up:
Click Next.
(For me, selecting the TV card driver itself didn�t work - the TV image would freeze and there would be no sound. So I selected Screen Capture)
Choose Configure. You will see a drop down list with all currently running programs. Select your TV application and click OK.
Click Next.
Remember the URL that is given here. You will need it later to connect to the stream. Don�t change the port unless you have a good reason to. Click Next
Select a streaming profile. There are several available and you probably will have to experiment a little, depending on your network bandwidth, preferred screen size, number of frames per second and percentage of CPU usage you are willing to sacrifice. Although MSDN says WM8 is not optimized and not recommended for streaming using Pocket PCs, I actually got terrific results with the selection shown in the picture below. I can watch a soccer game on my iPAQ and, not unimportantly, even see where the ball is.
Note: you can also click "Edit" to fine-tune your selection.
Click Next. Actually, you can click Finish here but the first time you may want to fill in the Display Information.
Click Finish if you haven�t done so before.
That�s it. Now, open Windows Media Player on your wireless Pocket PC or another PC on your network. Select Tools | Open URL on the Pocket PC or File | Open URL on a PC and enter the URL you remembered from earlier on.
Tap OK and enjoy!
Remember: you can stream any window. That includes your webcam (video) or your favorite web radio (audio). Tip: there are web radios out there that have a special HTML interface with ActiveX or Java enabled Play buttons that won�t work on a Pocket PC. Using this setup you can start that radio on your desktop PC and then stream it once more to your Pocket PC.
If you connect a digital video camera, for example through a firewire cable, XP will recognize it immediately and you will be able to stream the video image directly choosing Capture audio or video from attached devices or computer screen in the Session Wizard.
You can even open port 8080 on your firewall and watch TV from e.g. your PC at work using the IP address you got from your ISP instead of that internal (192.168.x.y) IP address. The possibilities are endless. You can�t change channels remotely but you could use Terminal Services or Windows XP�s Remote functions for that. But that goes beyond the scope of this story�
Conclusion: Windows Media Encoder is all you need to add an extra dimension to your Pocket PC. It�s a free download and no Windows Media Server required! You will need to experiment a little with the various options to get the best results but when that�s done you can save your settings for future use. Likewise, you can save your streaming URL as a Favorite (Tools | Add Web Favorite) in Windows Media Player, so you don�t have to type in that URL all the time.
Note: sometimes, after changing the streaming profiles, you'll hear sound on your Pocket PC but there will be no image, or nothing will happen at all. Don�t think immediately that you tried a useless setting. Let WMP try to reconnect, rather than just tapping the Play button and it will probably work.
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09-03-2002, 03:31 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 37
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fantastic article. thanks.
you should talk to pt about including it in his upcoming media e-books.
__________________
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
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09-03-2002, 03:39 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 41
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Does not work for me
Maybe im missing something....
I followed your instruction, (however only for audio)
I was running MusicMatch, and streamed my audio, everything looked like it was working, however i could not connect to it on the pocketPC.
so i tried from a browser on the same computer (useing both lan address, and internet address. and both got "cannot find server" "this page can not be displayed"
Is there a setting im missing?
Thanks
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09-03-2002, 04:03 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 91
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Re: Does not work for me
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Originally Posted by DavidRoss
I was running MusicMatch, and streamed my audio, everything looked like it was working, however i could not connect to it on the pocketPC.
so i tried from a browser on the same computer (useing both lan address, and internet address. and both got "cannot find server" "this page can not be displayed"
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Opening the URL from a browser will not work. Same here. You have to use Open URL from Windows Media Player.
It's difficult to see from here why it's not working for you. Did you try another profile?
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09-03-2002, 04:56 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 139
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Great stuff indeed! Good work!
__________________
Wes SalmonSoftware Test EngineerMicrosoft Mobile and Embedded Devices
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09-03-2002, 07:32 PM
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Philosopher
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 541
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Make sure you don't have a router or a firewall that may be interferring with WMS. You may have to change the port, or make sure it's open. As a test, disable everything you can.
Seeing as it's HTTP, you can try port 80 too, though many broadband sevices have it blocked.
Very cool article, makes me wish I had a WiFi connection :\
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09-03-2002, 07:36 PM
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Neophyte
Join Date: Sep 2002
Posts: 3
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: Watching TV on your Pocket PC
Good job ED nice :P
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09-03-2002, 07:39 PM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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Re: : Watching TV on your Pocket PC
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Originally Posted by mulla
Good job ED nice :P
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Leon did all the work. I just posted it. 
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09-03-2002, 09:01 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Apr 2002
Posts: 24
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A classy article, & fun for us kids to try @ home!
Good stuff, Leon!! Now you have to write another one to top yourself... Ever think of submitting to one of the Handheld Print Magazines?
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09-03-2002, 09:44 PM
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Sage
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 784
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I found that the WithMP3 player does an excellent job of streaming MP3 audio over wireless/ethernet. All I had to do was share my music folder on my PC then I used the map Network to folder option built into Resco File Explorer (I think this is the same thing that Netrunner does). Then I started up WithMP3 and I was able to browse my network share and stream the music to my Pocket PC while I cleaned my car. The only downside to doing this is the battery life is greatly diminished while transfering data but that's what the cigarette adapter is for. I also plan on buying an extra cradle and/or AC power adapter for the house.
Also where's the cheapest place to get a cradle for the Toshiba E570/Audiovox and does the AC adapter come with the cradle?
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