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Instant XBMC by Charles McColm
eBook : 60 pages Release Date : July 2013 ISBN : 1849696861 ISBN 13 : 9781849696869
http://www.packtpub.com/build-entertainment-system-with-XBMC/book
Instant XBMC immediately introduces the reader to the very concept of XBMC, the minimum specs for XBMCbuntu, and an image-filled step by step guide on installing it.
If you’re unfamiliar with XBMC: “XBMC is a software media center for playing and streaming multimedia content. […] Besides playing a large number of video and music file formats, XBMC can display pictures and show the weather […] Add-ons extend its capabilities so you can listen to Internet radio, watch Internet videos, play games, interact with Facebook, check your Gmail account, or even control the ambient lighting in your living room.”
As previously mentioned, the book uses XBMCbuntu. This means you don’t have to install a Linux distro and then XBMC—it’s all done in one go. So, with XBMCbuntu installed, it’s time to properly name, tag, and arrange your files.
Half-way through the book and we’re on to getting our media into XBMC. This can be done with the files being stored (locally) on the same machine as XBMC, or by streaming files from another machine. Not exactly beginners stuff, but still handy, and how I did it when I had XBMCbuntu installed on my old Acer Revo (pre-Google TV days).
A couple of pages are spent discussing playback (ie: stop, start, ffwd, etc.), and on tweaking the look of XBMC. Next, we get a Top-6 of features you need to know about. This basically means add-ons for Internet streaming, streaming to Apple/Android devices, and such like.
The book ends with a list of places to visit (help forums, XBMC site, XBMC social media pages, etc.) which is a handy reference should you come a cropper or need advice.
The ‘Instant’ series of books are perfect for the beginner as they’re not too long and never get too in-depth. Some may say they’re too short, but I prefer books that are short and to the point (where possible). One thing I would say, though, is that, while the book is listed as 60 pages, a good dozen of those pages are intro/outro stuff—so really the book is about 50 pages of information. Still, at £6 for a digital download (£13 for a paper book), it’s definitely worth it if you want to set up a nice XBMC box.