Everyone's other favorite spinoff from the XBMC family tree has some major news this week, as Plex has released a Media Center app for Android that mirrors most of the functions already available for iOS devices. Available now on the Android Market for $4.99, it brings local and streaming media to the phone over WiFi, or 3G from a Mac (and now, Windows PC) running the server software, but users will have to wait a few weeks for an upgrade adding remote functions (or use any of the 3rd party apps already on the Market.) With plugins for apps like Netflix, Hulu and BBC iPlayer it's a formidable competitor in the mediastreamer market out of the gate; throw in support for PCs plus integration into LG's 2011 HDTVs and Blu-ray players and we're ready to pick Plex as the platform to keep an eye on this year. Check out the details in the press release after the break, we'll toss in a link to the Windows server once we find it / it's posted. (Update: The link is down there but it's still delivering a dmg instead of an exe, we've been told it should be up later this afternoon. Thanks, Chris!)
Plex Media Center for Android
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PLEX RELEASES MEDIA CENTER APPLICATION FOR ANDROID; REACHES LARGEST GROWING MOBILE MARKET
Plex Enables Android Users to Easily Turn Mobile Devices into a Portable Media Center
San Francisco, CA – February 16, 2011 – Plex (www.plexapp.com), a leading three-screen media center (PC, TV and mobile) provider, today announced the availability of Plex for Android mobile devices. Plex is the only truly comprehensive mediasolution that spans personal, commercial and online content, designed to simplify and improve the way people experience media across a range of connected devices. Plex's Android application allows users to consume all of their Plex media server content on their Android device, providing many of the features already available via Plex's popular iOS application.
Plex's downloadable media center lets users view and organize all their personal and local media – movies, TV shows, videos, music, pictures and more. In addition, a rich variety of streaming content is available from online sources around the globe, such as Netflix, Revision3, YouTube, CNN, PBS and over 200 others in one place, using a standard interface. Android users will now be able to browse and consume media from multiple sources in a simple-to-use and intuitive way, ensuring that even novice users will easily be able to access their favorite content.
"Current media centertechnologies tend to be focused on a single device for managing and consuming content. Plex enables and encourages users to access their media in a unified fashion across a range of devices and multiple form factors. We started Plex in order to fill a need – making access to digital media fun and simple," said Cayce Ullman, CEO and co-founder, Plex. "Releasing the Android app is a crucial step to expanding the availability of the Plex platform to users worldwide via their existing devices."
Using Plex's open framework, third-party developers and content owners have the ability to develop Plex Channels, which can be available to Plex users across all devices. Currently, there are over 200 channels available through Plex's service, including iTunes, Netflix, CNN, Revision3, YouTube, and many others.
The Android application is available for $4.99. Users need to download the Mac media center or the server application for Windows (both free of charge) to deliver content to the mobile applications. The company also offers a fully featured mobile application for Apple iOS users and will be embedded in 2011 LG SmartTV™ enabled HDTVs, which will be available in stores in early 2011. For more information, please visit www.plexapp.com.
For screenshots and images of Plex on Android, go to: http://plexapp.com/android-press/
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