Idea: Support Portable Devices
Description: Make the media library more portable.
1) Synchronize: Have the ability to synchronize certain media with media devices (such as MP3 player, video player, iPod, your laptop, whatever) based on manual selection or a set of rules. Rules would include reasons to copy media to a device, import media from a device, or to delete media from a device. The Rules could be defined in a new section of the Web admin, or in a completely new interface. Eventually, the rules interface could exist in the Orbiter. The media would be automatically copied to the proper devices whenever they are connected to an MD (in the case of USB devices) or the network (in the case of network-capable devices). Any transcoding should be possible on a per-device basis - for instance, turn all audio into MP3 for my MP3 Player, turn all video into MPEG for my video player, video sent to my n810 should be the correct resolution for the small screen, and H264 media should be allowed on my really powerful laptop. Transcoding might happen before the device is connected, based on the next set of media that would be sent to it. The portable device's usual interface would be used for browsing the media and playback.
2) The "Portable Media Director": For devices with a bit more power (such as a laptop), do all the stuff from above, plus install a viewing client similar to the On-Screen Orbiter so the user would be very familiar with the interface no matter what media is playing. This would build upon the Synchronize features, but have a bigger footprint on the client.
The scope of the initial project would only cover the Synchronize functionality, and may need to be simplified down further - say to one simple device category, like USB Mass Storage or NFS.
Skills Required: Lots, some outside of LinuxMCE for specific hardware support, like iPod. Probably C/C++ for device templates and rules engine, web and database skills for rules interface
Mentor: ?
