Getting a streaming video in your Android smartphone or tablet is no longer enough.In the latest period, Google shows how to push this concept forward to new appliances. Chromecast and Android TV are two of the most promising gadgets for upsetting the way users enjoy video streaming. This talk we’ll give you an overview about the streaming in Android. Starting from video streaming on mobile devices, we will guide you into the evolution of the development through Chromecast up to Android TV. Matteo Bonifazi and Alessandro Martellucci will be illustrating this talk with their experiences developing mobile television applications for the main Italian broadcaster providers.

1. Video Streaming
from the native Android player
to uncoventional devices
Droidcon London – 2014 – Matteo Bonifazi & Alessandro Martellucci

2. Droidcon London – 2014 – Matteo Bonifazi & Alessandro Martellucci
• Reply is today a leading IT Services Company
• Operates in Italy, Germany, UK, Benelux, USA and Brasil.
• Open Reply is the company of Reply Group focused on open source software,
multichannel web solutions and mobile applications.
• Based in Rome, Open Reply’s Android Lab is a young team of over 20 engineers 100%
focused on Android development.
• We are specialised in broadcasting, banking and Android OS Customisation.
Open Reply & Android Lab

3. Droidcon London – 2014 – Matteo Bonifazi & Alessandro Martellucci
• Playing a content on your handheld device.
• Entertaiment tailored for the user with
• Easiest way to enjoy online video and music on user TV on
Presentation Millestones

4. Droidcon London – 2014 – Matteo Bonifazi & Alessandro Martellucci
Android multimedia framework
• Android support for playing several media types from media file stored inside the
application (raw resources, standalone files) or for OTT streaming.
• Documentation of the media framework is enough just for simple test case.
• Underneath MediaPlayer Framework documentation is kind of nightmare (lot of
events and error are not documented at all).

5. Droidcon London – 2014 – Matteo Bonifazi & Alessandro Martellucci
Supported type
HttpLiveStreaming Protocol 3 is supported by Android 4.0. Best implementation is in
Kitkat.
Google seems putting all his efforts to support new media type ( SmoothStreaming,
Dynamic adaptive streaming)

6. Droidcon London – 2014 – Matteo Bonifazi & Alessandro Martellucci
Playing a video
VideoView
Three different approaches
Mediaplayer
&
SurfaceView
ExoPlayer

7. Droidcon London – 2014 – Matteo Bonifazi & Alessandro Martellucci
//1. Find the view from the layout
VideoView myVideoView = (VideoView)findViewById(R.id.myvideoview);
//2. Setup video url
myVideoView.setVideoURI(Uri.parse(SrcPath));
//3. Setup Video controller
myVideoView.setMediaController(new MediaController(this));
//4. Start playing
myVideoView.requestFocus();
myVideoView.start();
android.widget.VideoView
MediaPlayer code example
Programmer doesn’t directly
handle the MediaPlayer

8. Droidcon London – 2014 – Matteo Bonifazi & Alessandro Martellucci
//0. Get SurfaceView and its holder
mPreview = (SurfaceView)findViewById(R.id.surfaceView);
holder = mPreview.getHolder();
//1. Create MediaPlayer object:
mp = new MediaPlayer();
//2. Add SurfaceHolder callback - Aware when SurfaceView is created
holder.addCallback(new SurfaceHolder.Callback(){ ....
@Override
public void surfaceCreated(SurfaceHolder holder) {
//3. Attach the surface to the player
mp.setDisplay(holder);
try {
mp.setDataSource(filepath);
//4. Prepare the Mediaplayer in sync or async mode ( prepareAsync() )
mp.prepare();
} catch (Exception e) {// Catch the exception}
//5. Start the player
mp.start();
}...
});
android.media.Mediaplayer
&
android.view.SurfaceView
MediaPlayer code example
Application creates SurfaceView and MediaPlayer.
More control on MediaPlayer state

9. Droidcon London – 2014 – Matteo Bonifazi e Alessandro Martellucci
// 1. Instantiate the player.
player = ExoPlayer.Factory.newInstance(RENDERER_COUNT);
// 2. Construct renderers.
MediaCodecVideoTrackRenderer videoRenderer = …
MediaCodecAudioTrackRenderer audioRenderer = ...
// 3. Inject the renderers through prepare.
player.prepare(videoRenderer, audioRenderer);
// 4. Pass the surface to the video renderer.
player.sendMessage(videoRenderer, MediaCodecVideoTrackRenderer.MSG_SET_SURFACE, surface);
// 5. Start playback.
player.setPlayWhenReady(true);
...
player.release(); // Release when everything is done!
ExoPlayer
MediaPlayer code example
Pre-built player that can be extend.
Implement features not currently
supported in the normal mediaplayer.

10. Droidcon London – 2014 – Matteo Bonifazi & Alessandro Martellucci
What kind of Mediaplayer exist?
• Built-in players
ü AwesomePlayer (default player selected)
ü NuPlayer (Apple HLS)
• Extra player factories can be registered
• DIY mediaplayer
ü Demuxing: android.media.mediaExtractor
ü Decoding: android.media.MediaCodec
ü Video rendering: android.media.MediaCodec
ü Audio rendering: android.media.AudioTrack
ü Implement the interface frameworks/av/include/media/MediaPlayerInterface.h

11. Droidcon London – 2014 – Matteo Bonifazi & Alessandro Martellucci
Android TV
Entertainment tailored for you
Source:h)p://www.televisedrevolu4on.com/

12. Droidcon London – 2014 – Matteo Bonifazi & Alessandro Martellucci
Nexus Player
Source:h)p://www.televisedrevolu4on.com/
1.8GHz Quad Core, Intel® Atom™
Imagination PowerVR Series 6
Graphics 2D/3D Engine
1GB RAM
8GB storage
Asus device – 235 g

13. Droidcon London – 2014 – Matteo Bonifazi & Alessandro Martellucci
Android TV app
features
• Android
TV
devices
have
Android
Lollipop
5.0
on
board.
• Android
TV
has
inside
the
same
Android
mul4media
framework
of
normal
devices.
• Android
TV
app
can
be
built
on
API
17
towards.
• Based
on
Leanback
Android
Support
library

14. Droidcon London – 2014 – Matteo Bonifazi & Alessandro Martellucci
10 feet experience
Smartphone 5”
320 dp
TV Full HD 30”
320 dpi
10 feet
16 inches

15. Droidcon London – 2014 – Matteo Bonifazi & Alessandro Martellucci
Manifest features
Support landscape
Portrait activity are forbidden

16. Droidcon London – 2014 – Matteo Bonifazi & Alessandro Martellucci
Manifest features
No touch screen
<uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.touchscreen" android:required="false"/>

17. Droidcon London – 2014 – Matteo Bonifazi & Alessandro Martellucci
Manifest features
Limit sensor
<uses-feature android:name="android.hardware.sensor.accelerometer”
android:required="false" />

18. Droidcon London – 2014 – Matteo Bonifazi & Alessandro Martellucci
Keep calm and lean back!!
Provides built-in tailored for 10 feet experience

19. Droidcon London – 2014 – Matteo Bonifazi & Alessandro Martellucci
Leanback support library
<uses-feature android:name="android.software.leanback"
android:required="true" />
<application
android:allowBackup="false”
android:label="@string/app_name”
android:theme="@style/Theme.Leanback" >
<activity
android:name="MainActivity”
android:screenOrientation="landscape" >
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
<category android:name="android.intent.category.LEANBACK_LAUNCHER" />
</intent-filter>
</activity>

20. Droidcon London – 2014 – Matteo Bonifazi & Alessandro Martellucci
Leanback support library
Model View Presenter
Presenter
Model
View

21. Droidcon London – 2014 – Matteo Bonifazi & Alessandro Martellucci
Leanback UI component
BroswerFragment
allows the developer “to create a primary layout for browsing categories and rows of
media items [with a minimum of code]”

22. Droidcon London – 2014 – Matteo Bonifazi & Alessandro Martellucci
Leanback UI component
DetailFragment
Display information about the content that the user has selected

23. Droidcon London – 2014 – Matteo Bonifazi & Alessandro Martellucci
Chromecast
a cast-ready device for multi-screen experience
source: www.google.it

24. Droidcon London – 2014 – Matteo Bonifazi & Alessandro Martellucci
Chromecast
hardware specifications
source: www.pcworld.com

25. Droidcon London – 2014 – Matteo Bonifazi & Alessandro Martellucci
Chromecast
components
• Google Cast technology
• Multi-Screen experiece
• Google Cast SDK
• Sender Application
• Android app
• iOS app
• Chrome app
• Receiver Application
• Default Media Receiver
• Styled Media Receiver
• Custom Media Receiver

26. Droidcon London – 2014 – Matteo Bonifazi & Alessandro Martellucci
Android Client Application
library dependencies
• Minimum SDK version supported by Google Cast is 9 (Gingerbread)
• MediaRouter API of android-support-v7
• Google Play Services
• AppCompat API of android-support-v7

27. Droidcon London – 2014 – Matteo Bonifazi & Alessandro Martellucci
Android Client Application
typical sender application flow
• Sender app starts MediaRouter device discovery: MediaRouter.addCallback
• MediaRouter informs sender app of the route the user selected: MediaRouter.Callback.onRouteSelected
• Sender app retrieves CastDevice instance: CastDevice.getFromBundle
• Sender app creates and uses GoogleApiClient: GoogleApiClient.Builder
• Sender app launches the receiver app: Cast.CastApi.launchApplication
• Sender app creates a communication channel: Cast.CastApi.setMessageReceivedCallbacks
• Sender sends a message to the receiver over the communication channel: Cast.CastApi.sendMessage
source: developers.google.com

28. Droidcon London – 2014 – Matteo Bonifazi & Alessandro Martellucci
Cast-Ready Device Discovery
capabilities
Remote
Playback
Live
Audio
Live
Video
MediaRouteSelector.Builder mediaRouteSelectorBuilder = new MediaRouteSelector.Builder();
mediaRouteSelectorBuilder.addControlCategory(MediaControlIntent.CATEGORY_REMOTE_PLAYBACK);
mediaRouteSelectorBuilder.addControlCategory(MediaControlIntent.CATEGORY_LIVE_AUDIO);
mediaRouteSelectorBuilder.addControlCategory(MediaControlIntent.CATEGORY_LIVE_VIDEO);
MediaRouterSelector mediaRouterSelector = mediaRouterSelectorBuilder.build();

29. Droidcon London – 2014 – Matteo Bonifazi & Alessandro Martellucci
Media Cast Button
easy approach for discovering
source: developers.google.com source: developers.google.com
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
MenuItem mediaRouteMenuItem = menu.findItem(R.id.media_route_menu_item);
MediaRouteActionProvider mediaRouteActionProvider = (MediaRouteActionProvider)
MenuItemCompat.getActionProvider(mediaRouteMenuItem);
mediaRouteActionProvider.setRouteSelector(mMediaRouteSelector); …. }

30. Droidcon London – 2014 – Matteo Bonifazi & Alessandro Martellucci
Receiver Application
what a mistery?
What is?
HTML5 and Javascript application
What does it do?
Display the media content on TV
Message handling
Which type?
Default
Media
Receiver
Styled
Media
Receiver
Custom
Media
Receiver

31. Droidcon London – 2014 – Matteo Bonifazi & Alessandro Martellucci
Default Media Receiver
simplest
• Off-the-shelf
• No UI customization
• No registration
Source: developers.google.com

32. Droidcon London – 2014 – Matteo Bonifazi & Alessandro Martellucci
Styled Media Receiver
simple and customizable
• Similar to Default Media Player
• CSS UI customization
• Registration
Source: developers.google.com

33. Droidcon London – 2014 – Matteo Bonifazi & Alessandro Martellucci
Custom Media Receiver(1/3)
whatever you want
• Fully Web Applicaiton
• Debug(able) at 9222
• Registration
Source: developers.google.com

34. Droidcon London – 2014 – Matteo Bonifazi & Alessandro Martellucci
Custom Media Receiver(2/3)
example
<html>
<head>
<title>Example minimum receiver</title>
<script src="//www.gstatic.com/cast/sdk/libs/receiver/2.0.0/cast_receiver.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
<video id='media'/>
<script>
window.mediaElement = document.getElementById('media');
window.mediaManager = new cast.receiver.MediaManager(window.mediaElement);
window.castReceiverManager = cast.receiver.CastReceiverManager.getInstance();
window.castReceiverManager.start();
</script>
</body>
</html>

35. Droidcon London – 2014 – Matteo Bonifazi & Alessandro Martellucci
Custom Media Receiver(3/3)
advanced features
• Video Codification/Decodification
• H.264 High Profile Level 4.1, 4.2 and 5
• VP8
• Adaptive Bitrate Streaming
• HTTP Live Streaming (HLS)
• Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (MPEG-DASH)
• Smooth Streaming
• Digital Rights Management
• Play Ready DRM
• Widevine DRM
• Media Player Library

36. Droidcon London – 2014 – Matteo Bonifazi & Alessandro Martellucci
Channel, Namespace and Protocol (1/2)
communication
• Protocol: a set of well-known messages
• Namespace: a labeled protocol
• Channel: the communication layer
class CustomChannel implements Cast.MessageReceivedCallback {
public String getNamespace() { return “urn:x-cast:com.channel.custom”; }
@Override
public void onMessageReceiver(CastDevice castDevice, String namespace, String message) { … }
}
…
Cast.CastApi.setMessageReceivedCallbacks(mApiClient, mCustomChannel.getNamespace(),
mCustomChannel);
…

37. Droidcon London – 2014 – Matteo Bonifazi & Alessandro Martellucci
Channel, Namespace and Protocol (2/2)
communication
• Media Namespace: urn:x-cast:com.google.media.cast
• RemoteMediaPlayer
• MediaManager
RECEIVER MEDIA CHANNEL
window.mediaManager = new cast.receiver.MediaManager(window.mediaElement);
…
CLIENT MEDIA CHANNEL
Cast.CastApi.setMessageReceivedCallbacks(mApiClient,
mRemoteMediaPlayer.getNamespace(), mCustomChannel);
…

38. Droidcon London – 2014 – Matteo Bonifazi & Alessandro Martellucci
Google Api Client and Media Route Provider
manufacturing
Source: developers.google.com
CastDevice selectedCastDevice = CastDevice.getFromBundle(selectedRouteInfo.getExtras);
Cast.CastOptions.Builder apiOptionsBuilder = new Cast.CastOptions.Builder(selectedCastDevice, …);
googleApiClient = new GoogleApiClient.Builder().addApi(Cast.API, apiOptionsBuilder.build()).build();
googleApiClient.connect();
Cast.CastApi.launchApplication(googleApiClient, applicationId, launchOptions);
Cast.CastApi.joinApplication(googleApiClient);
Cast.CastApi.stopApplication(googleApiClient);
Cast.CastApi.leaveApplication(googleApiClient);

39. Droidcon London – 2014 – Matteo Bonifazi & Alessandro Martellucci
RemoteMediaPlayer
…finally
MediaInfo mediaInfo = new MediaInfo.Builder("http://your.server.com/video.mp4")
.setContentType("video/mp4")
.setStreamType(MediaInfo.STREAM_TYPE_BUFFERED)
.setMetadata(mediaMetadata)
.build();
…
mRemoteMediaPlayer = new RemoteMediaPlayer();
mRemoteMediaPlayer.load(mApiClient, mediaInfo, true);
…

40. Droidcon London – 2014 – Matteo Bonifazi & Alessandro Martellucci
Enjoy the video
Source: www.huffingtonpost.ca
Thank you to all of you

41. Droidcon London – 2014 – Matteo Bonifazi & Alessandro Martellucci
Resources
• Google Cast -> https://developers.google.com/cast
• Chromecast App -> http://www.google.it/chrome/devices/chromecast/apps.html
• Google Cast Downloads -> https://developers.google.com/cast/docs/downloads
• Github -> https://github.com/googlecast
• Android TV -> https://developer.android.com/tv
• Nvidia Guideline -> https://developer.nvidia.com/android-tv-developer-guide
• Github -> https://github.com/googlesamples/androidtv-Leanback.git
• Android Mediaplayer-> http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/media/mediaplayer.html
• ExoPlayer -> https://github.com/google/ExoPlayer

42. Droidcon London – 2014 – Matteo Bonifazi & Alessandro Martellucci
Contacts
a.martellucci[at]reply.it
@martellux
+AlessandroMartellucci
m.bonifazi[at]reply.it
@mbonifazi
+MatteoBonifazi
http://www.reply.eu http://www.gaiareply.com