Android App – Music player improvements

Archive for the ‘TonidoPlug’ Category

Android App – Music player improvements

For past couple of months, we have been working on improving performance of music player in our Android app. We faced many hurdles due to the limitations in underlying Android native player. In the latest version of the app (v39), for Android phones above Android 2.3.3, we have improved the streaming (mainly mp3) , mainly time to buffer and latency between two songs. This would also eliminate internment skips that some users faced while streaming music. Consider this update as one of many coming updates to improve user experience in music streaming.

Tonido user survey- winning comments

Thank you all for your overwhelming participation, support, and comments. For small company like us, your comments provide the necessary encouragment to work hard to improve continously. Though each of your comments were very valuable, we picked following feedback for thoroughness that took into account every aspect of the product. We will soon ship a Tonidoplug to the user.

Hi Tonido Team,

I purchased a Tonido2Plug several weeks ago and I enjoy using it every day. Yesterday, I received an email from you, asking for feedback and suggestions, where you offer a prize of a TonidoPlug2 for the best feedback or suggestion. I’m am happy to provide you with feedback and would be even happier to win the prize if you think my feedback or suggestion is worthy of such an honor.

My Feedback:

Unboxing everything went well. I was pleased with how the items were found in the box and how easy it was to understand how the device was to be connected to the router, the external USB drive, and to the power outlet.

I could not figure out how to open the Tonido2plug to insert an internal drive. I learned later that the directions were not correct.

The graphic in the directions made it easy to understand the order of the connections, and I was able to get everything connected in less than 5 minutes.

There were parts of the printed instructions that I couldn’t read because of a combination of font size and font color — the blue color that you use for the links was especially difficult to figure out. One of your online pages asked for the device’s MAC address. I couldn’t read it — the label printed on the device was printed in very small text, and some of the characters were not legible
After I got it all connected, the device would not work and I could not figure out why. It took me a few attempts of trial and error, then I added a “help me” post to your forum and had to wait for a response, then I had to call my internet provider (they told me to reboot my cable modem). After that, it worked and I have had no issue since, except for …… I can’t get the wireless to work. I have followed the directions the best that I can but it’s like a trial and error puzzle where I don’t seem to get the settings done correctly. I have a wireless printer that I set up with absolutely no issue, and my family members have several other wireless devices and each of those devices were easy to set up or configure. I haven’t given up but I’m frustrated with this.
My Ratings (scale of1 to 10 where 10 is best):

Packaging and Unboxing: 10

Connecting: 10

Printed Directions:4

First Use: 2

Troubleshooting: 4

Usage after issue was resolved: 10

Owner settings: 10

Setting up a guest account: 10

Guest usage: 10

Ongoing use: 10

Wireless Configuration: 3

My Suggestions:

Reprint your instructions so the font is a bit bigger and change the color from blue to something else that is easier to read.

Correct the instructions. There is at least one part that is wrong (instructs you to hold own a switch to open the device, and that isn’t necessary).

Put the instructions on your web site.

Add some videos on youtube or your own site that show how to gt set up (how to connect the parts, how to open the device and insert an internal drive)

And finally, one request: My ultimate goal with the Tonido2plug is to create a mini web server, to host a family web site, and I’ll need to use all the parts of xampp (apache, MySQL, PHP, etc) plus maybe even install wordpress. It doesn’t look like the directions
to do that are written for a person like me (I’m not a software developer or programmer) so it would be great if there were some simple and clear and easy instructional material available to explain how to do that.

I have already recommended your product to one of my co-workers and he says he will place an order, and I think most of my other team members will want one too, so we can have a somewhat distributed file-sharing network at work, protected by the firewall. But we can’t use any device at work unless the IT department has approved it. So if I win a Tonido2Plug for best feedback, I will hand it to our IT department so they can check it out.

The New, Awesome TonidoPlug2 is available for sale now!

We are happy to say that our next generation TonidoPlug2 is available for purchase from our online store (https://store.tonido.com) starting today. We apologize for the long wait and in the end we believe we have created the ultimate, versatile plug computer in the market. There is nothing else like TonidoPlug2 out there. Period.

TonidoPlug2 Features

Power Efficient

TonidoPlug2 is based on Marvell Armada 310 chipset which draws only 1.2 watt/hr and offers GHz level performance (~800 MHz). TP2 power consumption is 4 times lesser than the TonidoPlug v1 and costs approx. 2 dollars to run 24/7/365 days (Individual results may vary).

No Wires, No Mess

TonidoPlug2 includes Wi-Fi b/g/n and a built-in SATA 2.5” enclosure. Finally you can put your plug in the closet or behind your entertainment center without wires running around. With the new SATA enclosure, you can have a complete, standalone NAS.

Portable

TonidoPlug2 form factor is similar to your portable USB hard drives. Plug in to your power socket or place it on your table or take it with you in your Laptop bag and conquer the world.

Versatile, Powerful

TonidoPlug2 is equipped with with 512 MB DDR3 RAM and 512 MB NAND flash. Even high end NAS systems have only half of these specs. You can do a lot more with the TonidoPlug2 than any other product out there.

Media Streaming

TonidoPlug2 comes with a new, powerful DLNA media server that will stream music, videos to any networked equipment that’s UPnP™/DLNA® certified (like your PlayStation®3 or Xbox 360® or TV sets.)

Personal Cloud Sync

TonidoPlug2 comes with free life time 2 GB sync offering file synchronization without using the Public Cloud. Now sync is truly personal.

Experimental Wi-Fi Hot spot

TonidoPlug2 can also act as a Wi-Fi hotspot for your computers and portable devices such as iPhone, iPad and tablets.

In addition, TonidoPlug2 includes your favorite Tonido apps and highly rated mobile apps as like before.

The TonidoPlug2 is priced at $119. Unfortunately, we don’t have enough stock to meet all the pending demand. So please order the unit as soon as possible at out online store (https://store.tonido.com).

We thank you for patience and support.

PS: TonidoPlug2 is currently available for shipping to US customers only. We expect to open availability and shipping to Europe shortly.

Introducing TonidoPlug2

The Announcement

Finally, the wait is over. TonidoPlug has just got slicker, cooler and better. CodeLathe is happy to announce the introduction of new plug computer: TonidoPlug2. The plug is currently in production and should be available soon in our stores.

Features

TonidoPlug2 is packed with all the features of the TonidoPlug. If you are new to the Tonido’s plug device series, here are some major features:

Energy efficient, green, personal cloud device.
Convert your USB drive to a network attached storage(NAS) accessible as a networked drive.
Access your device, using your own URL (http://yourname.tonidoid.com).
None of your data is stored in any of our or third-party servers.
Securely share and sync files, photos and music without need for uploading.
Drag-and-Drop file and folder uploading to your TonidoPlug from Windows, Linux, OSX from remote locations via WebDAV.
Sync your Files
Listen to your MP3s from anywhere
Download Torrents to your USB drive from anywhere
Search and download your files
Stream media to the XBox 360 and PS3
Access and share files with free mobile apps. Apps available for iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and Windows 7.
Extend your TonidoPlug with new apps from Tonido App store

Whats New

TonidoPlug2 get these face-lifts compared to its predecessor:

Newer, cooler form factor.
Plug can act as an NAS enclosure for internal 2.5 inch SATA drive. Now you can have a complete, standalone NAS.
Built-in b/g/n WiFi. Now plug can literally goto your closet or attic, without ugly cables running around.
Experimental WiFi Hotspot feature. So you can use your TonidoPlug as an extended storage for your iPad or SmartPhones when you are out and about, even when there is no network.
Newer Linux OS.
512 MB DDR3 memory in-lieu of DDR2.

When

We expect to start shipping TonidoPlug2 by end of this month. We will also announce pricing soon.

Meanwhile, to get notified when we start shipping you can subscribe to our TonidoPlug2 availability mailing list.

Android Update (v27) – Upload files from Phone to PC and more…

We are excited to announce an update with a set of new features and some fixes for Android App. Here are the highlights

Upload files from Android device to your computer

You can select multiple files to upload from your Android device to a Computer or to a Tonido device. Two simple steps to upload files

1) Browse to the destination folder and select upload from the menu

uploadoption

2) App will list the local folder and files. Select the files to upload and click ‘upload’ . You can see status of your uploads in the status page

uploadselector2

uploadstatus

Option to change destination for downloaded files

Many of you had asked for option to change the destination for downloaded files, we have added that as an option in the settings page. Save button will save the settings, if the folder is not present in the path, app will create a folder.

settings

Share pictures while browsing pictures

You can share pictures by clicking on the share button at the top of the picture gallery or in the picture view page.

pictureshare

Prompt to relogin if session is expired

If a session is expired, the app will prompt a dialog giving an option to relogin in the background without going through the login page.

Other fixes/ Improvements

Fix for Issue: While browsing downloaded files, back click takes to start page instead of parent folder
Subject of Email will state ‘folder’ or ‘file’ based on what is shared
Fix for Issue: Switching from LAN and mobile causes blank page in some phones
Overall UI lift

start

Please feel free to send us your feedback our way as it helps us fix issues and make other improvements.

Please post in our Tonido on Mobile Forums.

New Tonido for Blackberry Release 2.0.0.0

We are happy to release the new version 2.0.0.0 of Blackberry. This release can be downloaded from the Blackberry Appstore and addresses the following issues.

Network related issues faced by customers using certain network providers:

Depending on the configuration of a customer’s BB device and network some of the network options was not available. In order to accommodate this network issue, Tonido app will explicitly look for the network connection methods in the following order WiFi, WAP 2.0, BES/MDS, and Direct TCP/IP.

Support to download a file:

You can download a file from your PC or TonidoPlug and save it to your smartphone for offline viewing. The “My Downloads” link from the menu will open the folder within your BB device where all files are downloaded.

As always, we would like to hear from you.

New disk mount scheme for early version TonidoPlugs

This is backwards incompatible change that affects users of early versions of TonidoPlugs.
It needs an action from your part if you upgrade to the latest Tonido version 2.12 and later.

For Whom

This blog post is applicable to users of early versions of TonidoPlug, on which the external USB disks are mounted on /media/usb0, /media/usb1 etc.

Note: If your TonidoPlug mounts disks already as /media/disk1part1, /media/disk2part1 etc., then this post is not applicable for you, feel free to skip this blog post.

Problem:

Users of earlier versions of TonidoPlug might occasionally face an issue with their plugs, when they connect external USB disks. When a USB disk is connected to the plug, the connected disk will be detected and be available as /media/usb0 or /media/usb1 etc.,. This mount scheme will cause issues if you have multiple USB disks connected to the plug (through a USB hub) or single USB disk with multiple partitions connected to the plug.

The problem is that every time you reboot your plug, the USB disks(partitions) will be detected in random order and they might get assigned with different mount paths. This problem can occur even if remove and reinsert the drive(s).

Update:

The new Tonido release v2.12.0.12708 for TonidoPlug updates the disk mounting scheme for all TonidoPlugs including the earlier versions.

With this update, your TonidoPlug will start mounting disks with a new naming scheme as /media/diskXpartY.
where, diskXpartY will refer to disk number X and partition number Y.

For example,

disk1part2 will refer to disk number 1 and partition number 2.

By following this scheme, we are ensuring that a disk detected once will always be mounted on the same path no matter when the plug is rebooted or the disk is reinserted.

What is affected:

When early version TonidoPlug users update their software to v2.12.0.12708, all apps will become suspended.

This will not happen immediately after the update., but it will happen only when the plug is rebooted or the USB drive is reconnected to the plug.

This happens because Tonido expects your user data directory to be in /media/usb0 or /media/usb1 (based on your existing configuration) but since the USB disks will not be mounted on these paths anymore, they suspend the applications quoting user data directory unavailability as the reason for suspension.

Fix:

If this happens on your TonidoPlug, please follow these steps:

1) Goto Tonido UI. Click on ‘Settings‘ on the left-hand side tree navigation. On the settings panel, click on “Account” tab.

2) Change the existing value of “User Data Directory” from /media/usb0 to /media/disk1part1 depending on which USB drive you are using as your Tonido data directory. If you are not sure of this path, navigate using the Tonido explorer UI to find the path where your disk is mounted.

In the following image, I will change my data directory from /media/usb0/Tonido to /media/disk1part1/Tonido.

After changing the value, click on ‘Update‘ button.

Update User Data Directory

3) You need to reboot the plug for the changes to take effect. You can reboot the plug by either recycling power to the plug or by clicking on ‘Reboot TonidoPlug‘ button from the TonidoPlug admin UI.

4) Reactivate all your apps. They should now activate and function normally.

Conclusion:

This change also helps us support more features for your USB drives such as showing friendly names including disk manufacturer data.

It might take time for some users to getting used to this new disk naming scheme, and we regret having to make this backwards incompatible change, but this is a change that will make your plug robust, more use-able and make it also easier for us to support over the coming years.

New Tonido Release 2.12.0.12708 Highlights

Among all the things that is going on with Tonido we are here again with a new release. This release has a couple of new features and a bunch of small bug fixes.

Webshare and WebsharePro:

The webshare useraccess UI is revamped. Users can now play an entire folder of mp3 songs directly by accessing the share. For better user experience, the UI will be presented with three views file, gallery and music.

MP3 Player on Webshare

TonidoPlug:

When you connect a HDD to TonidoPlug and it maps to a path it will always map to the same path. If multiple HDDs are connected to TonidoPlug through a USB hub, each HDD will always be mounted on the same path.

For example, if there are 2 Flash drives one from SANDISK and other from KINGSTON connected to TonidoPlug through a USB hub. TonidoPlug will randomly map SANDISK to disk1part1 path and map KINGSTON to disk2part2 path or viceversa. And, this disk-to-path map is maintained even if the flash drives are disconnected and re-connected again. Click the Clear DiskDB button to remove this mapping.

Please Note: This is backwards incompatible change that affects users of early versions of TonidoPlugs whose USB disks are mounted on locations like /media/usb0, /media/usb1. It needs an action from your part if you upgrade to the latest Tonido version 2.12 and later. Please see the following for more information.

On plugadmin, two new buttons are added

Cleanup space – To clean up files under /media/ directory. This is in case the internal disk space of TonidoPlug gets full.
Clear DiskDB – This is to clean the list that contains the disk to HDD path mappings.

Torrents:

The torrents UI underwent a couple of enhancements.

Torrents UI now supports pagination.
UI loading is made more responsive. Torrents will be displayed immediately after adding a new torrent.
You can directly go to the folder in explorer view where the torrents are stored from the torrent detail screen.

Thots:

The categories in Thots will now be arranged alphabetically. Also, when public Thots are searched the private Thots will not be displayed.

Profile Names:

When profile names are using mixed case then there have been some problems accessing that profile using the relay. After this release, your profile name will always remain in lower case and your display name will reflect what was typed.

Other Changes:

Jukebox will no longer make unnecessary calls to the backend.
Guest Logins will be logged and displayed as part of activity log.
Change password and backupwizard dialog will function.
In websharePro UI the download zip and slideshow will standout.

Please see release notes for complete set of changes.

Thanks for your continuing support and let us know by comments below your feedback!

New Tonido for Blackberry Release 1.0.0.6

This release addresses some of the issues that prevent a user from logging-in using Tonido for Blackberry.

After investigating the login issue, we found that some models of the blackberry smartphone stored and read the cookies differently when compared to other models. Version 1.0.0.6 will handle these differences in cookies.

Steps to update to version 1.0.0.6

From your Blackberry browser, go to http://patch.codelathe.com/mobile/blackberry/tonido.jad
The above path is case-sensitive.
Blackberry will prompt you to replace the existing version.
Click ok to install the new version.
Blackberry will prompt you to restart your phone.

WordPress and Drupal TonidoPlug Images Released

The TonidoPlug was a great little device with great software. It ran Linux and let you customize it every step of the way. Then came the LAMP image – a simple way to run a full LAMP stack on the inexpensive computer. It was meant for easy, instant access to a fully-configured web suite.

Well, today, we’re proud to announce 2 more members in the TonidoPlug custom image family – the TonidoPlug WordPress image and the TonidoPlug Drupal image!

Both of these images contain the entire LAMP stack (Apache, MySQL, PHP, Webmin, and Tonido), but also include ready-to-use Drupal or WordPress installations. There is absolutely no configuration or installation (besides extracting the image to a USB drive 1GB or larger). Just plug in the USB drive to your TonidoPlug and you’ve got a fully-customizable content management system at your fingertips and in single-digit watt usage.

Check out the images at the Tonido Store and read our custom image wiki page here.

Tonido Blog

Archive for the ‘TonidoPlug’ Category