New Media Player/Photo Viewer

[chill1999]

I am pleased to announce the release of Phantom Fox, a media console that provides a full screen interface for playing music, videos, Internet radio, and photos using an entirely keyboard-driven interface. You can create hidden repositories of photos or other media that do not appear readily in the main interface, create and edit playlists, and browse and search your media collection.

Phantom Fox ships with a profile for use with Firefly, but will work with any remote that can send keypresses to an application.

Phantom Fox ships with a complete help file fully documenting the software.

The program is shareware. The evaluation version is fully functional so you can determine if Phantom Fox is right for you.

Learn more at:
http://phantomfox.homestead.com

[merrypig]

since you're pimping on snapstream's site I'm going to assume you're ready for a beating.

As such, I'll be honest and say that quite frankly those screen shots look dire.

[ScAtMaN]

Provides a clean fullscreen interface..

Or rather a black screen with some text in the corner.
Thanks, but Ill wait for beyondmedia if thats ok with you.

[darkuni]

Hey now ... let's not bash here ...

Like any good developer, they have attempted to find a niche market that needs filling and made an attempt to create product.

Instead of bitching non-constructively about the product, why not offer something USEFUL?

Interfaces don't have to be 3D alpha transparencied with multi-color volumetric fog to be useful or well-laid out. I haven't tried this product, so I can't tell you whether its well done or not. I am, however, sick of hearing about how "crappy" something is because its simple or doesn't utilize Nvidia 128MB video card technologies. Sometimes ... Simple is better. Sure, this interface is a bit BLAND ... but doesn't mean it doesn't work. Some people might not be able to run a phat app like BM will probably be.

Now my problem is; its built on existing technologies that we already KNOW offer up issues (like WMP not being able to FFW/REW). We all have to use .NET anyway, or I'd smack it down for that too (80MB runtimes are a bit extreme ... kthx).

Also, if you REALLY want to be taken seriously, register a domain name. Homestead is like geocities or angelfire. Its immediately associated with "amature" and "crappy" - and that's not the image you want to project when selling a product, right?

I think the idea is in the right direction. Beyond Media can use a little low cost, light system resource competition. Why not? Esp. since this would allow you to stream radio stations too.

No offense, but judging by the website layout and design, the developer needs a UI guy on staff. Not only would that make the website better, but also could make the UI in the program more usable and perhaps more aesthetically pleasing for those Nvidia ho's.

[dequire]

Originally Posted by darkuni

<snip> and perhaps more aesthetically pleasing for those Nvidia ho's.

nVidia ho's?

[morgan_rhys]

nVidia ho's?

Hey! I resemble that remark!! but only because ATI is EVIL!

[chill1999]

Sorry the software doesn't have all the 3-D bells and whistles you might want. I actually wanted that, however, as I wanted something that didn't eat up computer resources leaving them free for Beyond TV and other background programs.

"Dire" is perhaps a bit of an extreme description, but I focused on making the interface "spartan" but functional. Again, my favorite feature is being able to quickly jump around within a song using the number keys.

I do find it unfortunate that people are so hostile towards independent programming efforts. Guess I have to join the evil empire and spend a lot of money on marketing to "impress" folks here with a hot domain name and such. I wouldn't hold your breath though.

As for this being "amateur".. well, it is. I wrote it... and it is not my career to write these things. Whether the program is any good probably requires more analysis than looking at screenshots and the URL/web site.... although I guess most computer magazines react that way so I shouldn't be surprised. Think of it as akin to someone selling their wares at a farmers market or a craft show.

Anyway, if anyone actually runs the program and has any comments feel free to share!

[darkuni]

It crapped out on my Win2k box at work, but I'll give it a whirl another time on my whitebox running XP.

Don't let criticism get to you. I'm an indie developer myself (games and apps) and in this new Generation Gimmie world, you will consistantly find rebellion against people that believe nothing valuable can be written with a $5M budget or being product dumped into the OS.

Just remember; there are a LOT of people; like myself - that believe that small indie developers offer that close, tight knit community that tends to get requests into the software in a timely manner or actually ANSWERS emails without an automailer.

I'm a firm believer in shareware and "an honest buck for honest work" - I own TONS of shareware and will always try to find a similar program that I can buy that will support the small developer.

Anyway, I'll let you know.

As for NVidia - graphics ain't everything despite what people have been led to believe. Someday, when graphics top out, we'll get back to the basics. Until then ... Support your indie developer!

[darkuni]

Alright, I looked at it, and its time for some heart to heart honesty here...

First off, this is not a product in a condition to be asked to pay for it. I'm sorry - but its not. Its not refined enought to warrant payment (if I have to edit XML to change the config, you lost my money). That will probably stop people from even TRYING it, let alone helping you grow it.

The interface doesn't flow well and there is no 'free browse' option (which stops me cold from using anything that requires a fixed location for images, music, or videos). I know writing a file browser sucks - but that's the nature of the beast. You need a UI guy to come in and show you how to lay stuff out and make it flow smooth. Or, you need to 'borrow' from an existing interface.

This looks, and feels like an alpha or early beta build. You're going the right way - but need to make a bunch more milestones before you can 1) charge 2) pimp.

Don't be discouraged - just try again.

[merrypig]

you might also want to think about advertising a product for money on a competitor's website.

[darkuni]

I was going to give crap about that, but let's be honest: Until BM actually SHIPS, we're all struggling to find the best alternative product to give us the power that BMB doesn't give us. I'm sure BM will own, but since I ain't even seen a beta yet, I'll continue to look over alternatives

[merrypig]

Well, it aint my server so ss can deal with it. but I stand by my assertion that it's in bad form to advertise on someone elses commercial server. There are plenty of free servers, and those (htpcnews.com/avsforums) probably have an even wider audience than this one since they're not limited to a single company/product's userbase.

[chill1999]

I didn't realize it was competition for Snapstream (as far as I know, their Firefly remote doesn't have a way to browse MP3s other than through a file system). I use it with Beyond Media Basic.

I just saw that someone posted their "Weather Information" add-on for Firefly and followed suit.

I'm not really trying to make money (or hire programmers, or run a software company) I'm more interested in playing my music, and find my software more useable than anything else (certainly than the file system browser or trying to see the iTunes interface from across the room).

[aaronmielke]

Feel free to push your 10-foot apps on the Firefly boards chill1999, the more the merrier. We sell the remote. The software that comes with it is to give our users a respectable base to start from. I wish you the best of luck. Let me know when your software's in a stable condition and I'll include your profile in the Firefly bits.