Connect360 works!

I’ve tried a lot of different uPnP servers in the pursuit of using my XBox 360 to be a media hub. Now that I have a PS3, I figured one of the two ought to be able to fill the huge gap in my technology requirements.

As I was out there looking once again for the latest offerings of uPnP servers, I came across nullriver’s MediaLink (for PS3) and Connect360 (for the, well… you can guess).

I installed both on my mac (yeah, native apps!). They both quickly dipped into my iTunes and offered iPhoto integration (no integration offered for Aperture). They even let me pick which folders to share, presumably for videos.

I got them both configured, thinking I would give them both a go and see which worked best for me.

Well, as you can guess from the title, Connect360 is the clear winner, for many reasons:

• The PS3 interface sucks ass. There’s very little anyone can do about that, so there’s that.
• MediaLink let me traverse the shared folders on my mac, but none of the files actually showed up.
• Connect360 showed all my files, let me quickly sort through them, and let me fast forward, rewind, and pause my videos without an issue.
• While the XBox 360 UI is no gem, it’s usable - there I said it again. The PS3 really blows.
• It all worked with Connect360 on the first try.

Now, how much will I use this capability? I dunno. Now that I can play DivX files, maybe more often than previously expected. But it’s nice to know it’s there - and it’s easy enough to use.

I wonder if I’ll still need to get an Apple TV (take 2). Hmmmm…. probably… but for all the wrong reasons