Category: plex

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‘Plex VR’ Social Viewing Is Now Cross-compatible with All Supported VR Headsets

Plex VR, the free PLEX viewer for VR devices that lets you stream locally stored media to your headset, just got an update that includes cross-platform social watching for all supported platforms, including Gear VR, Oculus Go, and Google Daydream headsets.

Called ‘Watch Together’, the social viewing mode in Plex VR lets you watch and share your own TV and movies with up to three other people. The mode includes voice chat and a dedicated avatar maker.

As one of the many features of ‘Plex Pass‘—a paid extra to the free app that lets you do things like record and play broadcast TV—you’ll need at least one person in the theater with it to run the social viewing room. Plex Pass can be had for a monthly fee of $5, a yearly fee of $40, or a lifetime fee of $120. A trial is also available to try for a seven days from the time you first sign into the app.

To add friends using any supported VR headset for ‘Watch Together’ sessions, simply add the user from your Plex friends list through the app itself, or if you’re on Gear VR or Oculus Go, add them via the Oculus friends list. To add friends to your Plex friends lists, navigate to the Invite Friend button in the Plex app, which lets you send an invitation by specifying the person’s Plex username or email address.

Another Plex Pass perk is the newly announced Virtual 5.1 Surround Sound, which uses spatialized audio for more TV and movie-watching immersion—a cherry on top if you already have Plex Pass for standard media consumption.

To get started, download both the PC-based media server and the VR app. Plex VR can be downloaded for free on Google Play (Daydream View), the Oculus Store for Gear VR, and the Oculus Store Go headsets.

The post ‘Plex VR’ Social Viewing Is Now Cross-compatible with All Supported VR Headsets appeared first on Road to VR.

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Plex VR Releases Onto Samsung Gear VR

Plex, the service that allows users to watch any of their content from anywhere with access to their network has now released the virtual reality (VR) version of the service, Plex VR, onto the Samsung Gear VR.

Plex

After a release only a few months ago onto the Google Daydream platform, Plex VR is now releasing for Samsung Gear VR via the Oculus Store. Plex allows users to enjoy any and all their content from anywhere they can access their network all in stunning VR. Once inside the app and connected to a server of your choice, all the content that is available on their and on the mobile device you are using can be viewed within VR. Plex VR also supports 3D content and 360-degree video content.

Plex VR also include a number of different locations for you to sit in and enjoy your content. This includes an apartment and a drive-in movie theater each with a number of interactive objects that you can play with while watching your media. Viewers have full control over the position and side of the media window as well meaning they are able to set up the ideal viewing experience right within VR.

Plex VR screenshot 01

As part of the announcement Plex note that a number of features for the Samsung Gear VR release of Plex VR will be available in the coming weeks. This includes the ability to watch together with friends, including the voice chat function, is still in active development and will be available on the platform soon.

In order to use Plex VR on the Samsung Gear VR users will need to use a Samsung Galaxy 7 or new smartphone or the Samsung Galaxy Note 6 or up. The Plex VR app is available to download from the Oculus Store as this instant of Plex VR is different to that on other Android and Daydream devices. Lastly, the Plex Media Server version 1.8.1 or later is required if a user is planning to stream for a Plex Media Server.

Plex is not going to forget about their other platforms now that they are released onto Samsung Gear VR as they confirmed continued development on the Daydream experience, alongside new platforms.

For more on Plex VR in the future, keep reading VRFocus.

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Plex Hits Google Daydream, Bringing More Media To Daydreamers

Being able to have access to all of your media from anywhere on your network is a wonderful thing, but for many people it’s still difficult to organise and access all of their media. Which is exactly why Plex is such a wonderful thing, making it simple to organise and view all of your content wherever you are on your network. Now though, you can witness Plex in virtual reality (VR).

plex vr

Many of you will probably be aware of the VR project Plevr, which looked to give users access to Plex in VR. Plex themselves admit in a new company blog that they were skeptical of Plevr when it launched unofficially, but after trying it themselves were very impressed. As a result, they’re now launching their own app, Plex VR, and you’ll be able to use it on Google Daydream.

In Plex VR you can enjoy watching content with friends, easy access to your content in virtual environments and more. You’ll even be able to voice chat with the friends you’re virtually watching movies with. Of course, there will be multiple environments in which to enjoy content in.

Plex sell the communal watching as being able to enjoy the same space as people anywhere in the world. Watching TV and movies together can be a great bonding experience, and with Plex, you can still have that experience regardless of wherever you are in the world. If it’s as immersive and impactful as they claim, it’ll be a great way to spend time with people that are far away.

Here’s a short list of features you’ll find on Plex VR on Google Daydream;

  • The ability to watch your Plex Media Server videos with friends, in real time, with voice chat!*
  • The ability to play local videos on your Android device (including 3D and 360/180 video)!
  • A fancy apartment that keeps itself clean, with fully automated, mechanized blinds.
  • A drive-in movie theater. The whole thing. For real.
  • Various conflict-free potted plants.
  • Bragging rights.
  • A kitten.

They do, however, go on to specify that there actually is no kitten. Which has significantly reduced the value of this product. But do keep reading VRFocus for all of the latest VR applications, when one includes a kitten, you’ll read about it here first.

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‘Plex VR’ App Comes to Gear VR, Social VR Viewing to Arrive ‘in a few weeks’

Plex, the media server software that lets you stream your own video, music, and photos to a bevy of devices, has landed on Gear VR with its latest app Plex VR. The app, which includes support for 360180-degree and 3D videos, first made its way to the Daydream platform earlier this year.

Update (04/06/18): Plex VR is now available on Gear VR for free, giving you all the abilities of the Daydream Plex VR app minus the ability to host multi-user viewing sessions. Plex says in a recent blog post that the social VR function will be available on Gear VR “within a few weeks.”

The original article follow below.

Original Article (01/25/18): On top of letting you stream any content stored on your Plex media server, the app features interactive environments and social viewing with 3D avatars. At the time of this writing, environments include a luxury apartment, a space-based ‘Void’ theater, and a traditional drive-in theater.

The drive-in theater is for Plex Premium members only however, a subscription service that lets you additionally record TV for free over the air, sync your media for offline viewing, enable parental controls, and have ‘enhanced’ media playback.

In the VR app, you can resize and reposition content windows, bookmark a show by creating interactive magazine-like objects, and view 3D and 360 video. More importantly, you can pop into a friend’s media server and watch their locally-store content with them—sort of like popping over to a friend’s house to watch their TV.

You can download the new Plex app through the Daydream Store, or get Plex VR on Google Play.

The post ‘Plex VR’ App Comes to Gear VR, Social VR Viewing to Arrive ‘in a few weeks’ appeared first on Road to VR.