Can VLC on Android play media files stored on Windows network-share?

[98Guy]

I have a win-98 machine on my local lan that is sharing a directory containing various media files (mkv, avi, mp3, flac, etc). The share method is netbios over tcp/ip. A win-7 PC on the lan has no problems seeing this share and copying files from it.

ES File exporer on the Android tablet (running android 4.0.4) also has no problems seeing this shared directory and it also can copy files from that directory to the tablet internal or external SD ram. But from ES file explorer I am unable to play most or all types of media files directly from the shared directory on the windows PC. ES file explorer first throws up a selection of media-player apps to choose to play the chosen file, and (I guess) the selected app throws up an error like "trying to connect to 127.0.0.1" or "can't play the selected type of file". If I select other types of files (such as .jpg) that are in the shared folder on the windows machine, ES file explorer can display them.

When I run VLC on the tablet, and have it look on the network, it seems to be able to see the shared folder on the windows machine, but it doesn't bring up a listing of any sub-folders or files.

So what I want to know is:

1) is it called "streaming" when you play a media file on a tablet when the file is located on shared directory on another machine?

2) should I be able to play a file on an android tablet using VLC directly from a network shared folder on a windows PC? (I am talking about playing the file on the tablet, through the tablet's speakers). ?

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

Yes, very soon. It's in the development builds

[98Guy]

On Feb 20 this year, I asked:
> Can VLC on Android play media files stored on Windows network-share?

The answer was:
> Yes, very soon. It's in the development builds

It is now 6 months later. Where do we stand on this subject?

[edwardw]

It has been in the development builds for a while now, IIRC...