The Clicker: According to Intel, HTPC is spelled VIIV
Oh great – just when we've uncovered ourselves from the marketing ooze of Centrino ™, Intel announces that they're
going to do it again. It, of course, is taking a set of technologies that by and large exist in the marketplace,
changing them just a bit, and branding them with its own unified brand.
I hope you're ready for the "intersection point where innovation, a multitude of digital devices, first-class
entertainment and state of the art technology converge to put consumers in more control of experiencing digital
entertainment on their own terms."
(Need to take a shower after that marketing ooze? I'll wait.)
Because ready or not here comes Viiv, Intels newest entr?into both the digital entertainment market and the who-the-heck-named-this-thing market. You see after years and years of making the latest and greatest living-room-PC concept machines, someone at Intel finally woke up and just like a classic movie from the fifties yelled, Stop the presses. No one is actually manufacturing these things. It was a real revelation for the good folks at Intel. So theyve retooled their thought process. It turns out that by creating a concept AND slapping a logo on it youre going to have a lot more success.
So what is Viiv?
Viiv is really two things. First its a set of standard components that a manufacturer must include to get that snazzy
Viiv logo on its PC. For instance, all Viiv machines will include 5.1 sound, a dual-core processor,
Microsofts Windows XP Media Center
Edition, a remote control, super-duper hibernate and resume, etc.
Second, Viiv looks to be an (arguably) more marketable name for Intels East Fork technology. Much like Media Connect,
DLNA, UPnP A/V, Media Center
Extenders, etc., East Fork is just another variant in the share your content around the house game. In fact, East
Fork is largely based on many of the aforementioned technologies.
Intel has built upon widely-recognized standards (e.g. UPnP A/V and, in turn, DLNA) and also has added their own
special sauce. The result Intel hopes will give consumers access to digital content from a multitude of devices. Viivs
integrated media server engine will, in theory, allow consumers to connect other CE devices to a centralized store
of content located on the PC. Viiv will recognize the capabilities of ancillary devices and transcode the content as
needed.
There are two ways to look at this: a) it will offer users new and exciting ways to access their content or b) its
just another slap in the face to all Linux users.
For the majority involved (read: Windows users, Intel, and Microsoft), Intels strategy is largely a good one. By
including the technology needed for three separate streaming systems (i.e. Microsoft Media Center Extenders, Windows
Media Connect and the native Viiv technology), Intel will be able to offer Viiv-logod-computer-users functionality
right out of the gate.
If you have a Viiv computer and an Xbox 360, youll be able to remote your Media Center experience right from the get
go. Theyll be able to hit the market with a story and youll have a nice simple way to enjoy some of
the benefits. (Note: this is no different from any combination of Microsoft Media Center Edition and the Xbox 360.)
Likewise, Dlinks Media Lounge, Roku, etc. will allow quick and dirty media sharing via Windows Media Connect.
In the meantime Intel will be doing its darnedest to convince manufacturers to develop, produce, and bring to market
CE devices that are fully compatible with their East Fork technology. Viiv should offer greater functionality than
todays rather limited offerings. Viivs ability to transcode should broaden the number of media file types devices are
able to play. Furthermore, Intels juggernaut of a PR hype machine might be able to put some framework around the sea
of capital letters parading as media protocols (e.g. UPnP, DLNA, RUI, XRT, etc.)
But what if youre a Linux or an Apple user?
There the story is a little less clear. If Intel does, in fact, manage to convince the world that theyre the kings of
moving data around the house, how does the average Linux user feed the system? Intels integrated media server engine
is, by Viivs definition, integrated into Windows Media Center, but it seems short-sighted of Intel to limit its
server strictly to Windows machines.
One thing is clear. You better put on your toga because were about to be inundated with a sea of Roman numerals.
If you have comments or suggestions for future columns, drop me a line at theclicker@theevilempire.com.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Pattmyn @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
Excellent article. Good take on things.
CyBeR @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
They need to hire someone who actually knows how to use roman numerals, though. Last I checked, VII was seven. But how the hell do they think they can add another V after that? Unless they wanted a really clunky way of saying -2.
Joe Smith @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
You know how Intel is thinking of doing laptop RAID? Well, what if they had a laptop with two dual-core processors, 2 SLI 7800 GTX's, two 15,000 RPM SCSI 74GB Hard drives configured in a RAID 0 fashion, and 4 GB of 633 MHz DDR3 RAM? That would be my dream machine. Oh, and about SLI, if you could put 2 graphics cards together, why can't you put 3, or even more?
Twist @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
If Intel's stuff takes off Mac and Linux users will take together software to let us integrate our stuff in with their servers just like we have done with Windows MCE stuff.
Personally after using a few PC's with Intel Graphics I would prefer to avoid them like the plague and I can't see a video capture solution from them competing with the offerings from Hauppauge, but to get the VIIV logo manufactures will probably have to include an Intel branded video capture component at some point.
www51 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
another challenge for linux users
Ghost Freeman @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
If you're a Linux or an Apple user, you won't be able to access VIIV content (DRM). Plain and simple.
At least that's what The Inquirer said when they ran an article blasting what was then known as East Fork, I tend to take that site with a grain, no, a shaker of salt.
Ghost Freeman @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
If you're a Linux or an Apple user, you won't be able to access VIIV content (DRM). Plain and simple.
At least that's what The Inquirer said when they ran an article blasting what was then known as East Fork, I tend to take that site with a grain, no, a shaker of salt.
plasmoidia @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
#2, perhaps you are supposed to split it in the middle: VI IV => 6 4. 64? as in 64-bit perhaps? Who knows.
#3, yeah and it would weigh 30 lbs, sound like a jet engine for the fans on it, and run for about 10 minutes on battery. Why do you need RAID 0? Why not just have 1 big disk, which is more managable for a laptop. Right now, SLI is for two graphics cards. I don't know why nVidia couldn't develop SLI to use more, but it isn't there now. You would need three PCI-E channels so many different things would need to change for that to happen.
Intel has way too much advertising hype going for them. AMD has been the real innovator recently. First to (useable) 64-bit (yes, Itanium flopped and does not count). First to dual-core. Intel has finally realized that it can't just make a longer pipe and keep increasing the clock rate. Intel is making slower processors that do more per clock get better performance (Pentium M and future chips) like AMD has been since the Athlon. But Intel gets all the attention.
laughing_now @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
Stop its marketing campaign and change the name... hmm... any body agree?
GregGrunge @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
Quote #7: "If you're a Linux or an Apple user, you won't be able to access VIIV content (DRM). Plain and simple."
If you're a Linux or Apple user you probably wouldn't want anything to do with anything even slightly related to MicroShaft anyway.
Vinylvision @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
So Intel and Microsoft are getting into bed together yet again. I wonder who will get screwed this time.
Wayne @ Dec 19th 2005 12:19AM
VI IV?! I'm just wondering when we are allowed to start calling it the Intel 64? God, I miss my Commodore 64. Good times, good times