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 “v?v” 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.