Notices

****EDIT 05Jun2010*****
Available in maemo.org appstore now. In Extras. Thanks to all who tested and voted. Please continue your vote here.
http://maemo.org/downloads/product/Maemo5/Showtime/

****EDIT 25May2010*****
repackaged for PR1.2 and promoted. http://maemo.org/packages/package_in...howtime/1.2-3/
website : http://showtime.passiongarage.co.uk

****EDIT 18Mar2010*****
New Version 1.2-1 released. Check the Release Post here
User Guide is here. Please read this before you try.
*****EDIT*****

****EDIT 07Mar2010*****
New Version 1.2 released. Check the Release Post here
User Guide is here. Please read this before you try.
*****EDIT*****

****EDIT 27Feb2010*****
New Version 1.1 released. Check the Release Post here
User Guide is here. Please read this before you try.
*****EDIT*****

Happy to announce SHOWTIME 1.0 is in extras-devel Extras now.

I dont watch too much TV but I never like to miss my favourite programmes .
I could always do with an app like this to display TV channel listings with a facility to set reminder/remote record.
This does exactly that and only that.
Its not intended to be a multimedia player if you know what I mean

Main Highlights

• Remote record feature ( for SKY users in UK only ). I can add it to other regions if users can let me know if its available or not in their region.
  
• Adds events/alarms to your N900 under a new calendar named SHOWTIME.
  
• Can configure favourite channels or programmes.
  
• Can configure region ( countries available now are )
  UK - United Kingdom
  IE - Ireland
  AU - Australia
  NZ - NewZealand
  DE - Germany
  FR- France
  IT - Italy
  ES - Spain
  SE - Sweden
  NL - Netherlands
  DK - Denmark
  NO - Norway
  FI - Finland
  BE - Belgium
  PL - Poland
  HR - Croatia/Serbia/Bosnia/Yugoslavia
  SI - Slovenia
  RU - Russia
  MY - Malaysia
  ZA - South Africa
  SK - Slovakia
  CZ - Czech
  
• See programme listings upto a week in advance and the previous day.
  
• Orientation is configurable (Portrait/Landscape/Auto)
  
• Three modes of operation
  • daily mode - check listings by date
  • search mode - search listings for favourite programme
  • current mode - check tv listings that are current.
• Set your default mode of operation.
  
• Caches downloaded files locally and deletes them when they are a couple of days old.
  
• All settings are stored locally so its reloaded when app starts.
  
• Search for a programme for upto a week , search strings for each channel can be saved.
  
• Prime Time settings and you can set to show/hide past listings.
  
• for the fun of it, added some icon sets
  but mainly because my wife spent a couple of sleepless nights with me to make them so didnt want to discard them.

countries can be added very easily as long as there is a data source in XMLTV format.

US/Canada - I know that SchedulesDirect has a service that provides data but they charge about 20$ per year. I couldnt find a free service.
You could either send me a link to a datasource or users from there could either buy a subscription or pool in to buy one and send me a link if they wish to add it to the app.

On the other hand anybody can go ahead and generate their own XMLTV data.
http://wiki.xmltv.org/index.php/XMLTVProject
just try the above link or google. basically you need to run a script on a daily/weekly basis that gets a data and upload them somewhere on a daily basis and provide me a link if you want me to add it , as simple as that.

Last but not the least, Andrew Flegg (Jaffa) is the man who hosts XMLTV data for UK, big thanks to him for allowing us to use the data he hosts.

As always, suggestion/comments/criticism welcome.

*EDIT*
If you have used it and like the app please help me promote it to extras by voting HERE

cheers

I'll be happy to test it when it will come to Extras-Testing. Thanks again for this nice app.

a help file attached, which is also included with the app in the help section

Please read the user guide attached, it will answer most questions on usage.
Thanks

Hi this looks great. I dont use sky much but can i just use it as a normal sky remote (i dont have record or HD box)?

cheers

Is it possible to store a automatically search list?

At example, I want to store the string "LOST" in the search list. Your Application looks twice a week for the TV Program and reminds me if there is any broadcast with the string "LOST" in the Title.

nice idea, yes possible. future enhancement
I did have a search function in mind, but the app started off as a small app for my use and it now its bigger than I could imagine, so didnt have time for that and didnt think it would be as useful honestly.
I think this function could be on the top of my list for the next major release. thanks.

At the moment maybe you could live with the favourites functionality

Well, works as expected but I can't choose multiple channels to view. Pressing another channel chooses that as my favorite channel and not just selects it. When you get multi-selection working, will it be possible to have a tv-guide(like 7 channels in one list and programs displayed on a timeline?
Also, disabling the record button for all regions but UK makes sense. And capitalizing looks pretty wierd IMO. Otherwise, nice work, as I live in Sweden I actually have use of this app

EDIT: And portrait mode is a really nice touch.
EDIT#2: Highlight of current show airing would be a nice feature to see.

step1. from the drop down select the channels you want to see.
when you add more than 1 channel the arrow buttons appear.
step 2. click go. will get you the current channel shown on the "pick channel" button. thats the display for which channel you are viewing.
step 3. click the previous/next arrows, you will see the next channel you chose, click go again and you get the data.

multiselection is supported, i only said multiselection highlight is disabled, which means that the chosen programmes are not highlighed when you click on them in the programme list. they are selected nevertheless and deselected when you click again.

favourites is a different thing. you can choose the channel you usually want data for and store them as favourite. so every time you dont have to select the channels manually, all you need is to choose MYFAVOURITES from the channel drop down and all favourite channels are selected, then you just need to hit go for each of them.

please read the help file, that would explain the usage, sorry if it isnt clear enough for you.

yes, show current programs would be a nice to have feature, will keep that in mind for later.

i kept the button for remote record in case we find a way for other regions, anyways clicking on it wont do anything when you select a non-UK region.

thanks for the appreciation and comments

Wow, now it makes sense. The favorite-feature is really useful. And now I get how the UI works too
For the future, could 'Your favorites' be loaded on start so you can quickly check whats on TV? And trigger downloading at the same time?

if you mean like an IR remote , answer is no.
this is channel listings viewer and in case you dont have a remote recording facility on your box, then you could use the calendar reminders to remind you.