Recientemente The launch of the most popular open media center, Kodi 18.0, was unveiled, which was previously developed under the name XBMC.
Since the latest version, some 10 thousand changes have been made to the code base, including approximately 500 thousand lines of new code added, plus new features and bug fixes.
What's new in Kodi 18?
One the main novelties that were announced in the beta versions of Kodi, is the work of the developers in a section with games to the graphical interface that allows you to run various game applications, including the use of emulators and game engines available in Libretro.
A large collection of retro game emulators is available for installation and a configurator is provided to configure various game consoles, joysticks and game controllers.
For Linux, Support is provided for Wayland and Mir display server. Improved support for OpenGL ES, EGL, VAAPI, VDPAU (NVIDIA) and XvBA (AMD).
Added the ability to work with DRM / KMS drivers and use V4L2 to speed up video playback.
Finally DRM support arrives
Another of the great novelties that were expected in this new launch is DRM support (Digital Rights Management) that is provided for the legal reproduction of copy-protected content.
By connecting external CDM modules (Content Decryption Module), decoding DRM content, Kodi can now be used to access paid content provided by different providers.
Redesigned tools
In this new Kodi release, developers couldn't miss a tool revamp that Kodi provides us, among which the music, as well as expanded tools to filter and classify content (by source, type, genre, musician, etc.) were improved.
Improved Live TV support
In addition, it can be noted that RDS support was added (Radio data system), automatic selection of radio channels / stations during launch.
Enhanced PVR mode (watching live TV, listening to Internet radio, working with the electronic program guide, and organizing video recording on a scheduled basis). New Zattoo, Teleboy and Sledovanitv.cz backends were added.
other developments
Of the other novelties that we can find is that added support for connecting binary plugins and a repository of ready-to-use plugins compiled for certain platforms.
Many components (VFS, codecs, decoders, etc.), previously offered in the basic composition, are included in the plugins, which allowed the mail to cut the size of the installer in half.
The transition to a modular architecture has been implemented, which allows adding new types of processors and content sources.
The plugins in the repository are collected only for Android, macOS and Windows and for Linux.
Added the ability to browse the Kodi content library from the main interface of Android TV devices using voice control and voice input (instead of the on-screen keyboard).
Support for playing video and audio content was also expanded.
Finally, another of the things that can be highlighted is the support for new codecs and hardware acceleration mechanisms.
Whereupon high quality processing of HDR and 4K / 8K resolution was provided. Improved compatibility for Blu-ray, including correct disc detection, metadata reading, BD-J menu support, and the ability to process 3D video and stereoscopic output.
The codecs are synchronized with FFmpeg 4.0. Improved support for ALSA, PulseAudio, OSS, Pi Audio, DirectSound, WASAPI, Darwin, and SndIO audio subsystems.
How to get Kodi 18?
The installation packages for this new version are available for macOS (x86, PPC), FreeBSD, Linux (ARM, PPC, x86 and x86-64), Raspberry Pi, Android (ARM, x86), Windows, Apple TV and iOS.
For Ubuntu, a PPA repository is provided.
You can get this new version from the following link.