Podcast #759: Plex Interview

Plex Interview

Today we interview Elan Fiengold CTO of Plex and Jason Williams Director of Product and Growth of Plex. For those of you who do not know what Plex is, Plex is a media server and client suite of applications that organizes your multimedia content from personal libraries and streams it to their player both on a local network and across the Internet.

There are two pieces to the Plex System, the server and the client.

Plex Server - The server is the portion that organizes and catalogs your content and delivers it to your clients. The server can run on Macs, PCs, NAS, and the NVidia Shield.

Plex Client - This is where you can watch your content. Pretty much if it has a screen you can watch. Tablets, Phones, Computers, TVs and on and on.

Features

• Any Format - Support for all file types (well, virtually all), including hi-fi music and video formats.
• Available Anywhere - Stream all of your media to all your devices, anytime, anywhere, with the same beautiful experience on all of them.
• Library Organization - Organize all of your media–videos, photos, and music–and make it beautiful with artwork and info like plot summaries, bios, and more.
• Privacy and Security - Enjoy your media while away from home, knowing your connection is securely encrypted.
• Sharing - Effortlessly share libraries among friends to all discover and enjoy even more content together.
• Recommendations and Discovery - Enjoy beautifully organized libraries that help you find and re-discover great gems in your collection.
• No Storage Limit - Store and stream as much as you have on your server or storage device, without sacrificing quality, security, or performance.
• Online Channels - Get online content from various sources, like TED Talks, NPR, Spike, Comedy Central, and Soundcloud, right in Plex.
• Remote Control - Use the Plex app on your phone or tablet to control any Plex player.
• Casting - Cast content from your smartphone, tablet, or computer to your TV for large screen viewing via Chromecast.
• Flinging - Start content on one device and fling it to another app to continue enjoying it.
• Media Optimizer - Create optimized versions of your media for seamless streaming on whichever device you choose.
• Watch Later - Save online videos to watch later or recommend videos to a friend.
• Plex Cloud NEW - Plex Cloud and your Amazon Drive is the simplest way to run Plex, without the need for an always-on PC or network-attached storage device (NAS).
• Plex DVR NEW - Record free television broadcast channels and watch your favorite HD shows, movies, news, and sports, on any device, anywhere in the world.
• Mobile Sync - Sync your videos, music, and photos to your mobile device for offline enjoyment wherever you go.
• Cloud Sync - Sync content from your library to supported cloud storage providers to enjoy even if your server is offline.
• Audio Fingerprinting - Manage your music with song identification via audio fingerprinting, get world-class album reviews and artist bios, as well as the best cover art available.
• Lyrics - See timed lyrics to your favorite songs when available.
• Mood Mix - Find tracks in your collection based on mood to help you wake up, wind down, and everything in between.
• Plex Mix - Kick off playback of similar tracks from your collection at any time — it's like your own personal radio station.
• Premium Music - Enjoy lyrics, automatic Plex Mix and Mood Mix playlists based on mood or similar tracks, and premium metadata matching for high quality art, album reviews, artist bios and more!
• Multiple Users Create customized, managed accounts, and make user switching fast and easy with Plex Home.
• Parental Controls - Enable parental controls to keep the kids away from inappropriate content.
• Trailers and Extras - Automatically see high quality movie trailers, cast interviews, and other extras for movies in your library.
• Camera Upload - Wirelessly sync your phone or tablet photos automatically to your Plex Media Server.
• VIP Discounts NEW - Get exclusive access to discounts on partner products
• Early Access - Be the first to get exclusive access to new features and enjoy awesome premium ones.