Media Center

Orb's Media Center Plug-In

info@santry.com — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 06:00:00 GMT

No not exactly Softsled, the software based Media Center Extender, but Ian Dixon points out that it's pretty close. Orb released an Media Center plug-in that enables you to view your Recorded TV on another Media Center machine. This would be perfect for running on the UMPC.

WebGuide Sidebar Gadget for Vista

info@santry.com — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 06:00:00 GMT

I told you about WebGuide4 and how it provides an excellent alternative for Orb. Now the developer has made available a Vista Sidebar Gadget to tie into WebGuide.

The gadget gives you instant access to your WebGuide and Media Center information right from the desktop. It makes a great addition to the software.

WebGuide - Software Extender for Vista

info@santry.com — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 06:00:00 GMT

If you're familiar with Softsled, this is the code name for a software based version of Media Center Extender. It would be nice to have Softsled, but today I found out about an alternative; WebGuide. This software runs on Vista and provides your Vista Media Center with Extender like functionality via a Web browser. If you're familiar with Orb, then WebGuide is something similar. I like WebGuide over Orb since the interface is a bit cleaner and performs better than Orb. In addition, WebGuide runs entirely on your own system and you don't need to go through third party servers as you do with Orb.

The one difference is Orb is free and WebGuide costs a little bit ($18 US), but it's worth the small cost for the developer's time. There are many features for this software, the RSS feeds are real nice allowing you to subscribe to recently recorded TV shows on your Media Center. The nice thing is you can control Media Center from anywhere including scheduling recordings and performance is great. About my only complaint is the interface isn't great for the UMPC resolution, but they're working on it.

Another feature of this software is extremely important to me. Previously I wrote about how to sync your Zune with Media Center using dCut. The problem with dCut is it's only supported on the XP version of Media Center. WebGuide does batch conversion of Media Center Recorded TV enabling you to sync to your Zune and Vista is supported! Now you can have it all in one package, no need to rig things up anymore.

Visit WebGuide...

MSN Remote Record for Vista

info@santry.com — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 05:00:00 GMT

Microsoft has made available for download MSN Remote Record for Vista. If you're familiar with this software, it runs as a service on your Media Center PC allowing you to login to MSN and send remote record requests to your Media Center PC running at home. So if you're away and you forgot to record that episode of Smallville, you can use any PC to send the record request to your home PC.

XM on Vista

info@santry.com — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 05:00:00 GMT

XM subscribers, now you have XM Radio on Vista Media Center. XM officially announced the launch today in conjunction with the Vista release.

"XM is pleased to be extending its strategic relationship with Microsoft with the inclusion of XM Radio Online in Windows Vista," said My-Chau Nguyen, XM senior vice president for marketing programs and operations. "By working with Microsoft, we are expanding the availability of XM Radio Online, which provides an extraordinary variety of music choices, talk radio options, and exclusive programming such as 'Oprah & Friends.' The integration of XM Radio Online further enhances the music and entertainment experience offered by Windows Vista."

"Microsoft is pleased to be working closely with XM," said Mike Sievert, corporate vice president, Windows at Microsoft Corp. "We are thrilled with XM's support and excitement for the launch of Windows Vista and the 2007 Office system."

I'm an XM subscriber and tried it out this weekend, it works great, and the high bandwidth version sounds nice. As you can see from the screen shot the interface is pretty simple to use, and it's all controllable via the MCE remote.

RocketBoom for Vista MCE

info@santry.com — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 05:00:00 GMT

Media Center Vista users, the plug-ins are starting to come in. Now you can download RocketBoom for Vista Media Center. View RocketBoom video blogs via your Vista Media Center interface.

Visit MCESoft for the free download...

Microsoft Announces Extended Support for Windows XP Media Center Edition

info@santry.com — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 05:00:00 GMT

Microsoft adds the Extended Support phase to two consumer products, providing customers with an additional five years of support.

With the addition of Extended Support, the support life cycle for Windows XP Home Edition and Windows XP Media Center Edition will include a total of five years of Mainstream Support (until April 2009) and five years of Extended Support, matching the support policy provided for Windows XP Professional.

Media Center Goodness with Blu-ray and HD DVD

info@santry.com — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 05:00:00 GMT

VidaBox has the Media Center system for those who don't want to build their own. This beauty contains both HD DVD and Blu-ray drives, dual CableCards, and 3TB of RAID 5 storage. This makes one nice addition to the media room. It's going to set you back a few grand, but it's only money, right?

Vista Media Center Online Content Now Available

info@santry.com — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 05:00:00 GMT

Via Scott's blog, the Vista Media Center's Online Spotlight has launched. This extends the content available on your Media Center tremendously. This is only one of the cool features provided by Media Center.

Vista Media Extenders

info@santry.com — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 05:00:00 GMT

Unfortunately our old Media Center Extenders for XP will no longer work once our Media Center PC is upgraded to Vista. There are some options though. The Xbox 360 supports both Media Center XP and Media Center Vista. In October Linksys announced that they will be producing a new Vista Extender called the DP1600 which includes Scart, composite, S-Video, component, HDMI, optical and SPIDF connections, as well as an Ethernet and 802.11 b/g wireless.

Now HP has entered in the Vista Extender market (makes sense since Linksys and HP made the XP Extenders) with thier HP MediaSmart HDTVs (pictured). The HP MediaSmart HDTVs have Extender capabilities built into the TV. There are 42" and 47" LCD versions of the TV supporting up to 1080p. As XP Media Center Extender owners are aware of, both the Linksys and HP Extenders support DivX and other video formats something the previous versions didn't support. In addition, it has media capabilities even if you don't have a Media Center PC.

System Monitor for Media Center

info@santry.com — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 05:00:00 GMT

For those of you who want to know what your hardware is doing, System Monitor 1.1 is now available for download. This software is basically a MCE wrapper for SmartFan which is a hardware monitor. There are versions of System Monitor for both XP and Vista versions of Media Center.

Online Media for Your Vista Media Center

info@santry.com — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 05:00:00 GMT

Wavexpress is releasing a version of TVTonic for Windows Vista Media Center. With TVTonic you'll be able to view online media via your Media Center interface on your Vista PC.

Some of the features provided by TVTonic:

Playback of videos in continuous full-screen format,

Easily navigable menu overlays,

Support for high-definition feeds,

Seamless integration with the Xbox 360 console with the click of a button,

Both cached and streamed viewing for reliability as well as instant access.

TVTonic is a free offering available through the Online Media feature in the Windows Media Center of Windows Vista and to any PC user at www.tvtonic.com.

Just Say it to Play it

info@santry.com — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 05:00:00 GMT

One Voice Technologies, Inc., developer of 4th Generation voice solutions for the Telecom and Interactive Multimedia markets, today announced at the 2007 International CES tradeshow that it is making publicly available a beta test of its new Media Center Communicator™ v3 for Microsoft Windows Vista. To participate in the beta testing program please send an email with your contact information to mccsales@onev.com.

For more information, please visit http://www.onev.com/mcc or for an online demonstration go to http://www.onev.com/videos/mccoverview.wmv

Features include:

Simple to use voice commands with no voice training required
High accuracy with wide range of accents
Play MP3 or Apple iTunes music using voice commands
PC-to-Phone calling using Skype to anywhere worldwide
Home automation for setting thermostats, lighting, security cameras and much more
Read and send email
View photos and photo slideshows
Create your own custom voice macros to launch websites and applications
Works with Windows XP Media Center DVD players
USB microphone included

New TV Cards from Hauppauge

info@santry.com — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 05:00:00 GMT

Hauppauge has launched several new WinTV cards for your Media Center experience on Vista.

The new WinTV products for Vista Media Center are:

WinTV-NOVA-TD-500—For the European and Asian markets, WinTV-NOVA-TD-500 is a dual tuner digital DVB-T TV tuner board that can be used in either a dual tuner or diversity configuration. Diversity uses two tuners to give better digital TV reception on a single DVB-T digital channel, while the dual tuner mode enables you to watch one digital TV channel while recording another digital channel.
WinTV-HVR-1800—For the North American market where the ATSC digital TV transition continues, WinTV-HVR-1800 is a PCI Express TV tuner for receiving analog cable and high definition ATSC digital TV. In a half-height PCIe board, WinTV-HVR-1800 has separate tuners for analog NTSC and ATSC digital TV. With Vista’s Media Center application, you can watch a cable TV channel while recording high definition digital TV from another channel.
WinTV-HVR-1600—This is an analog cable TV and high definition digital ATSC PCI TV tuner for Vista PCs. On a single full-height PCI board, WinTV-HVR-1600 has separate tuners for analog NTSC and ATSC digital TV. With Vista’s Media Center, you can watch an analog TV channel while recording high definition digital TV from another channel.
WinTV-HVR-1500—A dual format hybrid analog and high definition digital 54 mm ExpressCard TV tuner, WinTV-HVR-1400 brings NTSC analog and high definition ATSC digital TV to laptop computers running Vista’s Media Center in North America. Watch and record either analog or high definition digital TV on your Vista Media Center PC.

Shuttle's New Small Form Factor PC

info@santry.com — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 05:00:00 GMT

Here's a nice looking machine for your Media Center PC. Newly announced by Shuttle the Shuttle XPC mini X 200 sports a hybrid TV tuner and dual monitor support.

Other features of the XPC mini X 200 are:

Barely 55 mm tall
Supports powerful mobile processors such as Intel Core2 Duo, Intel Core Duo or Celeron M
Integrated Intel graphics engine with multi monitor support and DVI-out
Infrared remote control with built-in receiver in the front panel
Hybrid TV tuner for analogue and digital DVB-T TV reception*
Standard hard disk (3,5'' with Serial-ATA II technology)
Built-in DVD combo drive or dual layer DVD writer
4-in-1 card reader for numerous types of memory cards
8-channel HD-audio with digital SPDIF-out
High connectivity – despite its compact dimensions
Integrated networking and optional Wireless LAN technology
Extremely low-noise operation thanks to an external fanless power supply
Vertical and horizontal use possible (stand included)

Windows Live for TV

info@santry.com — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 05:00:00 GMT

Another new feature for Vista Media Center users is Windows Live for TV (formally known as 'Orbit') has gone beta.

All the functionality of Windows Live from the comfort of your Media Center PC. Talk with friends via chat, voice, or make a phone call.

To find out more visit the official weblog of the project.

How to Upgrade to Media Center

info@santry.com — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 05:00:00 GMT

CMP the folks who bring you several tech magazines has an article by Bill O'Brian on how to upgrade to Media Center. It's a pretty good overview covering the XP version of Media Center.

Extenders for $99 on Woot.com

info@santry.com — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 05:00:00 GMT

That's right only $99 on woot.com for Media Center Extenders. A word of caution though, these only work on the XP edition of Media Center and will not work when/if you upgrade to Vista. For $99 though it's a good deal. I own one of these and it works well for viewing recorded TV on another machine over the network. I recommend using a cable connection however and not the wireless.

Phillips Introduces Some New MCE Remotes

info@santry.com — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 05:00:00 GMT

Not as sexy as the Bluetooth remotes we just blogged about, but the SRM7500 is pretty sharp. It uses RF rather than Bluetooth, but also sports an LCD to enable you to control your MCE without having to turn on the monitor or TV. Supports Windows Vista SideShow.

Visit the Phillips site to view a slew of new MCE remotes.

MCE Remotes on Steroids

info@santry.com — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 05:00:00 GMT

CEPro.com and engadget.com are reporting on two upcoming SideShow remotes from Interlink and Ricavision. These remotes support Bluetooth and include an LCD display that enables you to view schedules, pictures, media folders, as well as other information from your Vista Media Center PC. The screen also supports tactile input (touch screen).

Great stuff! More information will become available at the Consumer Electronics Show next month.

Backup Your Media Center Information

info@santry.com — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 05:00:00 GMT

Ian Dixon has released a new beta version of his mceBackup 2.0 software that enables you to back up your Media Center schedules, and more. Here is a list of features:

Backs up TV channel assignment
Backs up Scheduled recordings and series recordings
Backs up recorded TV to local drives, or networked drives (via UNC paths)
Backup up an additional folder
Has its own schedule engine for automating backups
Displays the status of critical Media Center services
Command line and GUI version available, 10 foot version coming soon
Works with Vista and XP
Can be used to transfer settings from one Media Center PC to another

Visit his weblog for more information. In addition, Ian has some good resources for Media Center enthusiasts at his blog and his site (thanks for using DNN, by the way Ian).

D-Link Launches High Definition MediaLounge Player

info@santry.com — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 06:00:00 GMT

Verified to work with Intel Viiv technology which gives you access to on-demand, and other Internet driven content. This device is sure to make your entertainment center a little bit sweeter.

The DSM-510 features a convenient remote control and easy-to-navigate TV user interface for quick hassle-free browsing of digital content and works with standard Windows XP computers through Microsoft's Windows Media Connect and other Universal Plug and Play (UpnP) media servers. So us Redmond fanboys can integrate this into our Windows Media experience... ...sweet.

In addition to its built-in connectors for High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) and Composite Audio and Video outputs, the DSM-510 features Optical Digital Audio with support for 5.1 Channel Audio. With HTTP as the media streaming protocol, supported video formats are MPEG-1/2/4, WMV9, XVID with MP3 or PCM, AVI (MPEG-4 layer only) and DVR-MS. Audio formats are MP3, WAV Audio, WMA and AIFF (PCM only) and Ogg Vorbis. Image formats supported are JPEG and JPEG2000, TIFF 9 (RGB only), non-compressed BMP, PNG and GIF. Also included are a 10/100 Base-T Ethernet controller, 802.11g wireless networking support and a USB 2.0 port for additional connectivity with flash memory, digital cameras and portable music and video players.

The ($239.99 MSRP) and is available at retail outlets.

Death of the VCR

info@santry.com — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 05:00:00 GMT

A recent Nielson study shows DVD players surpass VCRs. More U.S, households now own DVD players (81.2% of all households) than VCRs (79.2% of households). Findings from this quarterly study also show ownership of most media technology trending up from previous years, which could continue to climb as the upcoming Christmas season approaches.

As of third quarter 2006, DVD penetration in the U.S. is up 6% from the previous year and continues to grow, while VCR penetration has started a decline. In 1999 when Nielsen first started tracking DVD ownership in its Home Tech Report, DVD penetration was only 6.7% and was dwarfed by VCR ownership at 88.6%.

Nielsen's latest report also found that DVD households now rent DVDs about twice per month, compared to VCR homes renting VHS tapes only about once per month. The frequency with which households rent video tapes has leveled off during the past six months.

Some additional topline findings from Nielsen's Home Tech study include:

* Computers -- 73.4% of U.S. homes currently have a computer in the
    household, and homes with children and teens are more likely to have a
    home computer. There is a large difference in the percentage of lower
    income homes vs. higher income homes that own a home computer. Homes
    with an income over $60K are 50% more likely to own a home computer than
    homes with an income below $60K.

* Internet -- 95.4% of consumers with Internet access go online at least
    once a week, and 37.3% of Internet users go online more than once a day.
    78.2% of online users have made purchases over the Internet. 46.8% of
    online users (ages 12+) have used the Internet to download and play
    music from the Internet.

* MP3 Players -- 26.7% of U.S. homes own or rent an MP3 player.
    Households with the presence of children 12-17 years of age are nearly
    2-1/2 times more likely to own or rent an MP3 player than compared to
    the Total U.S. The percentage of homes owning an MP3 player has risen by
    149.5% since 3rd Quarter 2003.

* PDA -- 16.4% of U.S. homes own a PDA, and since 3rd quarter 2003, PDA
    ownership has increased by 4.5%. Not surprisingly, higher income homes
    are more than four times as likely as lower income homes to own a PDA.

Web site: http://www.nielsenmedia.com/

Hauppauge UK Launch of the WinTV HVR-3000

info@santry.com — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 06:00:00 GMT

Will it work in Windows Media Center? I don't know, but out of any TV cards I have used in Media Center, the Hauppauge cards work with the least amount of headaches.

This triple tuner card will allow you to record and/or view three channels at a time. Currently this release is for the UK, but the US should be right behind. More information can be found at the product page.

No more fighting the wife over whether I'm recording Smallville or her Survivor episodes.