First things first … DAKboard now supports video in the background, in addition to all the existing photo sources! We’ve added support for videos from YouTube and Vimeo with more in the works. These video sources are available in the DAKboard options, under the “Background” section.
Busy, Busy, Busy!
We’ve had an extremely busy and productive fourth quarter. In addition to our internal bug fixes and enhancements, we’ve completed more than 30 issues and enhancements reported and suggested by you (our users!) on our GitHub list. Some of the highlights include:
- Custom Text
- Reducing time change between photos
- Integration with iCloud for photos
- Instagram hashtag search option (in addition to usernames)
- Additional colors for calendars
- Immediate refresh of a dashboard after a configuration change has been made
- Addition of RSS News and Todo lists to the “Big Calendar” layout
- Added the ability to display all current tasks from Todoist
- Using video and external sites as a background
And even more! Feel free to take a look at the list and add your own suggestions or vote or comment on existing ones.
A Note About Video
For those running DAKboard on a Raspberry Pi (and other small tablets), you may experience some choppiness or stuttering when trying to play HD/4k video. The Raspberry Pi is a tiny computer and doesn’t have the video horsepower to always play large videos smoothly. However, we’re working to include any software optimizations that may improve this experience.
Also, with the introduction of video and external sites (iframes) as options for your DAKboard background, we’re renaming the “Photos” section in the DAKboard options to “Background”.
That Backorder Though…
You may have noticed that our Wall Display has been on backorder for a while now … There has been a significant increase in demand and we’re working with our manufacturer to ramp up production. We are receiving shipments from our manufacturer multiple times a week and are shipping out units on a first come – first serve basis, so get your orders in now!
On the Horizon
We have some great features planned for release in early 2018. Including photo integration with Google Drive, enabling multiple Photo/background sources at once, and a widget-like drag/drop framework for complete customization and control of your dashboard and more!
Thanks!
We’d like to offer a big “thank you!” to everyone who has used DAKboard, and especially those who have supported us by becoming a Premium subscriber! Your Premium subscription allows us to continue to develop and support DAKboard, and without you, this would not be possible.
If you would like to support us by becoming a Premium subscriber, you can do so here:
And as always, please feel free to contact us with any comments, problems or questions!
I have noticed that Yahoo weather is not reporting the correct sunrise time for my location. It keeps reporting 7:00 when our current sunrise is 8:09. The sunset time appears to be reporting correctly. It would also be nice if a moon icon could be included in the weather area to identify if it is a full moon, etc. Thanks.
Hi Tiffany, we’ll take a look at the sunrise issue. The moon phase is included if you switch your weather source to WeatherUnderground.
Thank you for your reply. I have tried to use Weather Underground but I can’t seem to figure out how to get it to pull my weather info onto the calendar. It always shows 0. I have tried putting in my location several ways including the way it shows with no luck. That is why I went to using Yahoo. If you have more instructions or can help me on using Weather Underground I would appreciate it so I can get the moon info.
Thanks,
Tiffany Aldrich
Hi Dan,
I was able to get my weather switched to Weather Underground but it is still not showing the moon phase. Is there another setting that I need to mark to get the moon phase to show on the Big Calendar view?
Thanks,
Tiffany
I commented on your Facebook post but got no response. Is video only supported from Youtube/Vimeo, or can it play video files mixed in with static images from sites like Dropbox? If so, does it have to be a particular format?
Hi Peter, Video is only currently supported from YouTube and Vimeo. We hope to add other integrations, inlucding Dropbox, soon!
Excited about the widget drag & drop framework. Will check out the new background options, thanks for the continuous improvements and new features!
I am not sure if I am doing something incorrectly or if this is an issue, but I have selected the five day weather option for my big calendar but it is only showing four days. Could you let me know if this is an issue that has been identified or if I need to do something different in order to get five days to show?
Thanks,
Tiffany Aldrich
Hi Tiffany, looks like this was a bug, and it has since been fixed. Please give it another shot and let us know if you run into anything else. Thanks.
Thanks Dan. The five day calendar is displaying correctly now.
Why not videos from Flickr?
Hi Grant, this is not something that’s currently supported, however, we’ll look into it! Thanks for the suggestion.
Ok I’ve signed up to premium subscription, fingers crossed for some video support on Flickr. I have turned a 1950 Woden TV into a lovely DAKboard display and have top family pictures in my album on rotation, just love to include videos in that mix. My kids love knowing time & weather, keep up good work!
Hi Dan. Is there a recommended maximum size limit for a display (TV) to use with the DAK CPU?
Hi Steve, there’s no maximum size, however the max resolution we’ve tested with is 1080p and for some videos, 720p works best to avoid any stuttering.
i like to watch live cameras (web address) that are on rare bird nests (like bald eagle, etc.) ….can that be configured on the DAKBoard?
Yes, within the Custom Screen Settings, you can add Youtube or Vimeo feeds via a “Video” content block. If the feed offers an HTTPS feed URL, you can add an “Website / iFrame” block and add the feed URL there.
Aloha from Hawaii
Maybe you can give me a breakdown of what dakboard is doing with videos (and photos)
I know the two ends of the process, assets to dakboard
I have video (and photos) stored in dropbox (supported service)
what is happening in-between?? (i.e local storage/cache and bandwidth)
Dakboard plays video or photo (end result)