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What's new in Windows 7 for Media Center
Our good friend Charlie Owen highlighted the most interesting parts of Windows 7 on his blog -- you know, the Media Center parts. Overall we're a bit disappointed to see that most of the changes to the TV functionality were just brought over from the OEM only TV Pack, in fact almost all the other changes are cosmetic. We're not sure we like the new look yet (like the new info menu pictured) but we'd like to get accustomed to it before we pass judgment. That's not to say that there aren't any new features though, as there are plenty of changes for the pictures and music's features -- which are much appreciated. It should go without saying that we're mostly interested in features that enhance our HD viewing. The biggest addition to us is one that was expected in the TV Pack, but left out: H.264 support. Although this can be a nice feature all on its own, the real excitement is because we hope that this means DirecTV fans will finally get to watch HD on their Media Centers. We're hoping that this isn't the only feature that Redmond isn't letting on to just yet, but we'll all just have to wait and see what's to come in the final release.
The unofficial user guide to the Media Center TV Pack
It's been almost two months since we got our hands on the Media Center TV Pack (aka Fiji) and although CEDIA has come and gone, we haven't really seen much fanfare from Microsoft touting the new update for Media Center -- we haven't even seen as much as a change log or feature list. The good news is that when big companies fail to spell out what's new in an update, usually someone in the community steps up and fills in the gaps. This time around it's PC Mag, which has really done a great job of not only spelling out most of the new features, but the bugs as well. So instead of holding your breath waiting on big blue to clue you in if this update is worth all the fuss, head on over and give it a read.
Use an iPhone / iPod touch as a keyboard and mouse for your Media Center
Home automation/remote control applications for the iPhone/iTouch are a dime a dozen and most of them are pretty boring. We had the same feeling about the first version of the Intelliphone application when we saw it, but the latest version is a bit more interesting. What makes it more interesting is that not only can you use the ugly interface as a remote to control your Windows Media Center, but now you can also use it as a mouse and keyboard. More importantly this means you can take that mouse hidden in the cushions of the couch or the keyboard under the coffee table and put them back in the office where they belong. Because now, for $24, when that annoying dialog box pops up on your Vista Media Center, you can just pull out your iPod Touch and click OK.[Via The Digital Livestyle]
Cannon PC starts offering internal CableCARD tuners for sale separately
If you're like some people we know - - yes Zatz, we're talking about you -- the idea of adding yet another box to your home theater setup isn't anywhere near consideration. Up until now, this meant that if you wanted to add an ATI Digital Cable Tuner to your Vista Media Center PC, you either had to hold your nose or spend the big bucks on one of the top tier OEMs that offered the internal version -- which is actually the same device sans a case, and yes it still connects via USB. Our friend Chris Lanier discovered today that Cannon PC started selling both the external and internal versions of the ATI TV Wonder DCT separately, so that finally those with CableCARD ready Vista Media Center PCs -- you know the OEM only ones -- can either add additional tuner, or opt to swap out the external variety for the internal type the takes less space, all for about $300 each. [Via The Digital Lifestyle]
The Samsung MediaLive Digital Media Adapter gets a date
We hate to admit it, but the longer we have to wait for something, the more anxious we get. So it should be no surprise that after nine months, we can't wait to check out Samsung's new Media Center Extender. We got word last week that the little guy was available for pre-order on Best Buy, but the lack of expected release date left us hanging. Now Amazon also has it available for pre-order, but this time with a release date of October 15th. That leaves just over two weeks before we can all find out if this thing is all it's cracked up to be -- you know, made to mount on the back of the latest Samsung TVs, and HDMI-CEC for seamless one remote operation.
DirecTV's Media Center Tuner still not on track for this year
It was a pretty big disappointment when we learned that the Windows Media Center TV Pack (code named Fiji) didn't include support for the long awaited DirecTV tuner, and unfortunately this means the smart money is on Windows 7 -- which will probably be out in early 2011 -- but of course this doesn't stop a few assumably uninformed DirecTV CSRs from telling customers it'll be out in November. Although we really have no idea when Microsoft will add native support for DirecTV, we do know it would be highly unusual for Microsoft to release anything without at least a few months of external testing. So with September half way over, it makes it next to impossible to believe we'll see it before the end of 2008. The thing that isn't as clear though, is that for whatever reason, the testers we've spoken to still aren't 100% convinced that the new tuner will require Windows 7, and although it seems like a slim chance, the tuner might just get here before Windows 7 after all, but your guess is as good as ours.
Microsoft is working on adding SDV support to Media Center
Some things take way longer than they should, and Microsoft making an announcement about its intent to add support for the tuning adapter, for all those SDV hating Windows Media Center Digital Cable Tuner users, is most definitely in that category. While we've been following this switched digital video problem for over a year now, most of the solutions we've seen have been aimed at TiVo owners, meanwhile Microsoft has been quiet. A few months ago we contacted CableLabs and AMD and while we received some promising responses, it's still just all talk. Some in the Media Center community -- yeah that's right, I'm talking about you Chris -- think the specs would have to be changed to even make it possible, but we don't see why it would be any more complicated than using the PC as a bridge with a little UPNP magic mixed it to bring it all together. Regardless of how it will work though, while we're glad MS said something, but the mystical response posted at The Green Button didn't give us much confidence that the solution is right around the corner.[Via Chris Lanier's Blog]
It's time to speak up for automatic commercial skipping in Media Center
Although the skeptic in us still kind of believes Microsoft may have intentionally broke automatic commercial skipping in Vista Media Center -- the developer (Andy) of DVRMSToolBox (the most popular commercial skipping software for Media Center) is no longer under NDA and has spoke out about how the TV Pack breaks his software. The long and the short of it is that the Media Center API that notifies the application that video is playing, no longer works. He sees this as a bug, and although Microsoft is aware of the issue, they have no intention of fixing it -- or even publicly admitting it. So according to Andy, our only hope is that enough people report the issue, it may just be enough to make Microsoft stand up and listen.
HP MediaSmart Connect Review
In our recent roundup of Vista Media Center Extenders we were very disappointed that HP MediaSmart connect wasn't available in time to go head to head with the rest. Now that the MediaSmart Connect is in hand, we were anxious to try it out and see how it compares and we have to say that with a MSRP of $350 and a street price at just under $300, we had pretty high expectations. Although there is no doubt that it has the nicest exterior and remote of any extender available, we're not sure if those two merits alone help it to live up to its premium price.%Gallery-30201%
Microsoft gets official with the Vista Media Center TV Pack
Although we've known all about the TV Pack (code named Fiji) for some time, Microsoft's Ben Reed posted the official details about it today over at The Green Button. As expected, most of the new stuff is for other international markets, but the few new features for the US have been long awaited. Unfortunately the one detail about the TV Pack that we most wanted to be wrong about is true, the it'll only be available on new PCs from OEMs -- lucky for us you can find it elsewhere. Ben says the OEM requirement was necessary because of the complexity of supporting the new features, but as an enthusiast, we still can't help but feel a little slighted by our friends at Redmond. The most interesting quote in the announcement is the words that were chosen to explain that the TV Pack is indeed missing native DirecTV tuner support which describes it as "subscription-based satellite tuners." This of course make us all the more confident that both DirecTV and Dish support are on their radar -- but who knows, maybe that's just wishful thinking. %Gallery-29109%
Did Microsoft intentionally break commercial skipping in Media Center?
When we finally got the Vista Media Center TV Pack in our hands we were so excited about the new found features, that we didn't even get around to trying our favorite plug-ins until later. But after trying our favorite commercial skipping utility, DVRMSToolBox, some of our enthusiasm died. At first we figured, oh we probably need an update, but instead of finding the latest update on the developer's site, we found this interesting post with a inconvenient work around. The wording of the post only prompted us to ask even more questions, and our friends in the beta group had a few things to say. Evidently the developer of DVRMSToolBox was in the beta as well and has been voicing his concerns to Microsoft ever since RC0 was released, and based on the comments in the beta tester's forum, we have reason to believe that Microsoft may have "broken" it on purpose. Regardless of the actual intent though, it seems that Microsoft has no intention of fixing it the SDK in a way that would once again make commercial skipping possible. And in case you're wondering, this affects all the various commercial skipping plug-ins for Media Center, not just DVRMSToolBox.
Engadget HD gets a first hand look at the Vista TV Pack (aka Fiji)
Still a month away from its official announcement at CEDIA -- Engadget HD got their hands on the final release of the Vista Media Center TV Pack (codename Fiji) and although the most anticipated features are missing, (H.264 and DirecTV) what is there, is well received. So if clear QAM, improved tuner support, and favorites is just what you ordered, then head over and have a look at the update that unfortunately you'll probably never get without buying a new PC.
Hands-on with the Vista Media Center TV Pack
The Microsoft eHome team's favorite beta tester is at it again, and this time they went as far as to share the RTM build of the Vista Media Center TV Pack (aka Fiji) with us -- lucky for us the update isn't language specific. We're not sure why Microsoft is officially holding back the details of this update until CEDIA, but either way all the previous details we shared with you are true. Although there is no H.264 support or DirecTV tuner information to be found, the new stuff we did find we really liked. We really had no idea how great native QAM support could be and this heterogeneous tuner support is much cooler than it sounds.%Gallery-29109%
Windows Media Center TV Pack was released yesterday
Wow, we didn't see this coming, at least not this fast -- just a week after getting a sneak peek at release candidate zero, our friend Brent Evans pointed us to a Microsoft knowledge base article that clearly states "The Windows Media Center TV Pack was released on July 16, 2008." Our sources are now confirming this and unfortunately the earlier leak that this would be an OEM only update seems to be true as the very next line in the KB says "Not all computers that are shipped by hardware vendors in the retail channel have the Windows Media Center TV Pack installed." What we really want to know though, is if we were able to did get our hands on the Windows Media Center TV Pack, could we just upgrade or would we have to re-install Windows? So while we can't wait to check out the new HD features, native QAM support, and heterogeneous tuner support, we can't say we're not disappointed. Read - MS KB955485Read - Geek Tonic
Are there two Vista Media Center updates due this year?
The little birdies that clued us in about the upcoming Vista Media Center update a few days ago are at it again, but this time with some potential good news. When the recent Windows Media Center TV Pack release candidate 0 was released to testers and was missing all of our favorite features, we were quick to assume that this would mean no new features until Windows 7. Well, based on some recent information received by our sources, the reason H.264 was cut was because it was too complex to add -- because of all the dependencies involved -- in time. You see, evidently this tuner update was promised to be released to OEMs by the end of July. Now our sources seem to be optimistic that there is another update in the works, and that it might just include both H.264 and DirecTV tuner support. More about the Windows Media Center TV Pack after the jump.%Gallery-26913%
Next Vista Media Center leaked -- no DirecTV HD till 2010?
Engadget HD has gotten the latest on the highly anticipated update for Vista Media Center and it doesn't look good. The first release candidate made it into testers hands recently and they weren't happy to see that the most anticipated features -- support for a DirecTV HD tuner and native H.264 support -- got pushed to Windows 7. So head over to Engadget HD for more details (screen shots included).
HP's MediaSmart Connect gets reviewed
We didn't get the chance to play with HP's MediaSmart Connect when we were reviewing the various Vista Media Center Extenders, but recently our friend Chris Lanier did and he was impressed. After reading his three part review, we're a little disappointed to read that the HP uses the same chip to do the heavy lifting as the D-Link and Linksys extenders, because this means it still doesn't achieve the graphic bliss that the 360 and a real Media Center can. Ultimately aside from the price, Chris recommends the HP over the rest, but admittedly there still isn't much difference if you think it is silly to leave Media Center to play your media.Read - Part 1Read - Part 2Read - Part 3
Poll: What's the best HTPC Blu-ray software?
With Blu-ray drives for PCs selling for less than $150 -- and only getting cheaper -- many HTPC fans are left wondering, what is the best HTPC Blu-ray software? While the old favorites were the first on the scene with PowerDVD and WinDVD, ArcSoft has recently been bragging how popular its TotalMedia Theater is with high end HTPC vendors like NiveusMedia and Vidabox. We assume the reason is because these companies are keen on Vista Media Center and ArcSoft works harder on integrating with Media Center than the rest. But Media Center integration isn't the end all be all for Blu-ray playback, and it isn't that difficult to integrate the other players yourself. So this left us wondering, which is the best Blu-ray player software for Windows?%Poll-15452%
Media Center Extender shootout commences at Engadget HD
Here it is folks, the matchup you have (or haven't, that's cool) been waiting for: Microsoft's Xbox 360, Linksys' DMA2100 and D-Link's DSM-750 have been pit against one another and put to the test in order to find the champion of Media Center Extending. Here's a hint -- the race is a lot tighter than you probably think. Check out the full rundown (video included) over on Engadget HD.
The Media Center Extender shootout
Vista Media Center really sets itself apart from any other DVR solution out there, and the single greatest advantage Vista Media Center (VMC) has over the other options -- like the TiVo HD -- is the ability to have multiple Media Center Extenders. There really isn't any better way out there that will allow you to watch premium HD cable in every room of your house while at the same time centralizing all your media in one place. When VMC first hit the streets, there was only one HD extender: the Xbox 360. But the problem, of course, is that the Xbox is noisy and will always be a gaming console first and a Media Center Extender second. Well, things have really heated up in the extender market recently when both Linksys and D-Link released Media Center Extenders and HP upgraded its MediaSmart HDTVs. %Gallery-25212%
