November 20, 2005
Cablecard Cometh to MCE
Important news last week to position Microsoft as an ever-increasingly established competitor to the Motorola and Scientific Atlanta (nee Cisco) set-top box makers. Microsoft has struck a deal with CableLabs, the non-profit cable industry technology consortium, to allow Windows PCs to view HDTV content from cable providers, including premium networks. The technology should be shipping before the end of 2006.I'd like to hear what the upgrade path will be, if any, for current MCE systems.
The agreement includes efforts to qualify MSFT's digital rights management under the OpenCable standards, and paves the way for the Microsoft Media Center Edition (and then Vista), to receive the full spectrum of content from the cable industry. The announcement also touches on the ability for consumers to share this content throughout the home on compliant network devices - including the Xbox360. And while the CableCard is a one-way device (no interactive TV, EPGs, etc which require 2-way comms), having a PC with broadband connectivity on one pipe and HDTV coming in the other should further expand the impact of Microsofts eHome stratgegy, long before IPTV establishes a significant footprint.
Technorati Tags: mce, cablecard, cablelabs, iptv, xbox360, drm, vista, ehome, microsoft
Posted by jetrotz at 04:43 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 29, 2005
All about Viiv
I've been meaning to catch up on this announcement from last week - Intel took the wraps off their new technology and branding effort called Viiv - rhymes with 'five', by the way.
The announcement notes that:
Working together with a variety of Intel-verified consumer electronics devices, online services and software -- including movies, music, photos and games -- Intel Viiv (pronounced "vīv" and rhymes with "five") technology, disclosed for the first time at the Intel Developer Forum today, will help usher in a new era of entertainment choices for consumers. PCs based on Intel Viiv technology will be easy to use with a remote control and will be powered by a suite of Intel technologies, including a dual-core processor, chipset, platform software and wired networking capabilities.
Aside from the PR-speak, the blogosphere has a lot to say about this new effort. Stephen Speicher (writing on Engadget.com) wonders aloud about the comparisons between Viiv and Centrino; but also notes that Viiv is a set of standard components a manufacturer needs to include to get the Viiv logo, rather like Centrino. These machines will include, according to the entry, Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition, 5.1 sound, a dual-core processor, remote control, etc.
So what does that mean to me in my home? Basically, just as the Centrino badge tells me my PC laptop will work at any Wi-Fi hotspot, the Viiv label should clarify that this hardware will make for a great home entertainment experience, allowing me to experience my content from one device to another. Chris Lanier talks about how "This will surely be a boost in sales for Microsoft for the MCE platform, plus consumers will get to bring a new world of growing opportunities with Media Center Extenders, much like the built-in Extender that will ship with the Xbox 360." Cool!
Interestingly, ArsTechnica wonders aloud if Apple's move to the Intel platform might not mean that Macs of tomorrow might also share this Viiv brand. Good food for thought.
Posted by jetrotz at 06:05 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 02, 2005
Creating the Xbox 360's Interface
Design Interact has a fascinating story up that talks about the two-year process of designing the Xbox 360's user interface. The process included Microsoft designing their own Flash-like animation tool, working with design firm AKOA and narrowing ten ideas down to one. The end result is a sucked in interface that resembles the console's own sleek design and features the ability to quickly cycle through games, photos and other entertainment capabilities.
(Via Kotaku.)Posted by jetrotz at 07:30 AM | Comments (0)
August 01, 2005
Xbox 360 gonna have a qwerty controller?
Update: This image came from a demo Microsoft did in Spain, showing off this detachable QWERTY keyboard for the controller, plus lots of other goodies. LINK
This might make the whole Media Center Extender experience built-into the Xbox 360 a whole lot more useful for those applications requiring more text input than you'd want to hunt and peck with an on-screen virtual keyboard.
(Via Engadget)
Posted by jetrotz at 07:47 AM | Comments (0)
March 14, 2005
Xcellent XPS
It's taken a bit of time to get around to blogging this, but Amy and I bought a new home PC recently. My old Dimension 8100 was showing it's age (bought in 2000), and Dell had a great sale on President's Day a few weeks back. All told, I saved almost 50% off the normal price on a brand-spanking new Dell XPS Gen 4 machine. Yes, that's the one with the glowing faceplate, aimed at the gamer market. And yes, the front panel backlight can be changed to any of eight diferent colors. Silly, but cool nontheless. It's a sweet piece of machinery. The specs:
P4 650 w/ hyperthreading (3.4 GHz, 800 front-side bus)
2GB 533MHz dual-channel DDR2 SDRAM
ATI Radeon x850XT/256MB Video Card
250GB SATA/7200RPM HD
Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
16x DVD/CD Burner, Double-Layer write capable
Anyway, the machine absolutely rocks. Most of the settings were fairly easy to migrate from the old machine (although some of our email seems to be lost to the ether), but boy oh boy - games run like butter on this bad boy. I've cranked up Far Cry and the Half-Life2 Demo to their absolute maximium, and there is no lag whatsoever. Battlefield Vietnam is a new-found joy to play. And I cannot wait for Band of Brothers to be released this week.
Related: AnandTech XPS Review
Related: Dell.com XPS Page
Posted by jetrotz at 07:03 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
January 19, 2005
The Best Media Center That Isn't
Guest columnist Ross Rubin blogs on Engadget today that despite Apple not calling the Mac mini a media center device, it has all that in spades. DVD-player? Check. Rip, Mix, Burn? Check. Ken Burns hi-res slideshow effects? Check. Add on a USB TV tuner, and this thing is your TiVo on steroids. Rubin suggests the mini is a stealth MCE. The apps in iLife are all that a user is looking for when they want to access their media (movies, music, photos), and of course, there is the elegance factor. He also talks about the possibility that Apple is waiting to enter this market for a true media center once the CableCard standard is settled. That's a great point - you should see how my IR blasters are scattered around with my MCEs, TiVo, etc. Anyway, others have blogged about 'mini as media center', but I think he hits the nail on the head here.
Posted by jetrotz at 07:45 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 10, 2005
Shuttle MCE
Interesting bit of info from CES. Shuttle, makers of super-small form factor PCs, showed off a set-top-box form factor Windows XP Media Center Edition box. It's super slim (like half the height of the AlienWare DHS), so I'll reserve comment until more specs come to light. Interesting, though.
Posted by jetrotz at 08:30 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 08, 2005
Behind the Bugs during Bill G.'s CES Keynote
For those of you who hadn't heard, Bill Gates CES keynote was marred by three crash/errors last Wednesday. Now, Sean Alexander, product manager for Windows Media Center edition, has posted his behind the scenes post-mortem on what actually happened on his blog, Addicted to Digital Media. Interesting read, for sure. If it had been my call, I would never have tried to run both Sean's demo as well as the Conan/Bill demo off a single machine far across the stage. Nobody expects real-world in these demos, so the notion that it would be best to play off a single machine with all kinds of enhancements like a USB booster just doesn't make a lot of sense. Anyway, Sean is a great guy (I know him from some dev work I've done with MCE), so kudos to him for his open report on the incident.
Posted by jetrotz at 03:50 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 05, 2005
HP Goes Linux for Home Entertainment
Despite already offering one of the slicker Windows Media Center solutions, Hewlett-Packard is announcing a Linux-based home entertainment hub at CES this week. Link to C|net report.
HP's new media hub will run the Linux operating system, include HD TV recording and an ethernet connection to your home network for access to media files stored on other PCs. It will have a remote control, much like the MCE, but likely have an option for a full keyboard.
It's fascinating that HP is choosing to go the Linux route when they have so fully embraced Windows Media Center. Variety is good, and a statement on Tuesday from Vyomesch Joshi, executive vice president of HP's imaging and printing group that "customers want simplicity, innovation and mainstream price points," seems to explain some of the reasons why they have gone the Linux route.
HP has done this before, way back in 2001, also on a Linux platform. And we all know and love another fabulous Linux-based home entertainment box - the TiVo!
I'm looking forward to seeing HP's new offering.
Posted by jetrotz at 10:30 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 03, 2005
Update: OnCinema MCE
For those of you DIY-types who lust after the Italian OnCinema TEATRO D1 A/V component sized, aluminum encased MCE 2005 PC with a built-in 7-inch touch screen I discussed earlier, here's a nice option. Atechfabrication has announced a slick case, complete with a cutout for a 7-inch LCD touchscreen. Not a bad idea to offer this to the home consumer market itching to leverage the MCE2005 approach to home media convergence. Still gonna cost a bundle to build a complete system, but it's nice to dream about, isn't it? Meanwhile, my DHS system from Alienware has now been on order since 11/16, even after they called to swap out video cards to avoid a 'lengthy delay'. Grumble.
Posted by jetrotz at 11:53 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 23, 2004
MCE Envy
It's Italian. It has a built-in touchscreen. It's freaking gorgeous. It's the most lust-inducing Windows Media Center Edition PC I've seen to date. The specs - 7” 1280x720 VGA touchscreen, dual layer DVD burner and 500gbHD, dual SD tuners, plus FM and integrated Wi-Fi. I don't speak Italian, but their web site is worth a look. Meanwhile, it's been like six weeks since I ordered an Alienware DHS - and no sign of it yet.LINK to Oncinema web site (Italian).
Posted by jetrotz at 12:46 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 30, 2004
Windows Media Center Extender
I installed the new-fangled Windows Media Extender for Xbox today. Very simple. Drop the 'Media Center for Xbox Disc' (DVD) into the Xbox, connected to the same network subnet as your MCE 2005. Why should you care? Well, if you don't have a Media Center PC, no biggie. But the promise here is pretty cool. You can have your home PC hidden in your office, or in a closet somewhere, but access the PC's recorded TV, live TV, pictures, mp3s, and other applications on your living room PC with no wires. NICE!
Box Contents:
So, get your Xbox connected to your TV, and then on the same wireless or wired network subnet. Plug the infrared receiver into an unused controller port on the front of the Xbox (it's just like the DVD kit sold by MSFT), and drop the DVD into the tray and boot the Xbox.
After a few prompts, the Xbox reports a startup code you will need to enter back on your MCE 2005 box. Then fire up the Setup CD in your Media Center, mine being a Qosmio laptop across the room. After a typical Windows application install process of just a few minutes, several EULAs (who reads these?), and numerous progress bars, the installer asks first for the lengthy product key, then the startup code. Reboot the Xbox, and you should be up and running.
It seems to work quite well - although some buttons and interface elements gracefully degrade to have less animation, etc. to optimize performance over the terminal services connection being used. I found television to look quite good, most third-party apps to function just fine as well. More reports to follow!
Posted by jetrotz at 03:37 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 24, 2004
Qosmio
Yesterday I recieved a new laptop - the Toshiba Qosmio F15 Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 multimedia machine. Amazing little laptop, that - integrated TV tuner, PVR functionality, 80GB drive, Pentium M 745/1.8ghz, NVIDIA GeForce FXGo5700/128MB, etc. Early reactions are that it's fairly HUGE (14.7"x11.2"x1.7") and HEAVY (8.6 lbs, plus adapter). So it's not quite the svelte machine that my TiBook is. But then again, this machine is much faster, has better video, and can watch/record tv. The Media Center apps are an interesting acoutrement, too. Got it up and running pretty easily, but was confounded by *two* audio streams from my DirecTV box. Turned out that you have to mute the line-in audio signal, otherwise you get audio piped directly through to the speakers *and* the encoded audio from the MCE video recorder. Was proud that I figured that out. And what is the deal with user manuals only on the HD for $2500 pieces of gear? That's B.S., thank you very much. More detailed review soon.
Posted by jetrotz at 03:11 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack