A plugin has been released for Media Center that updates your Facebook status, telling Facebook what you are watching. Facebook status messages are often updated to show what a user is up to or feeling, and this plugin checks what you are watching, and updates your status to say “Joe is watching Dexter” or “Mike is watching Goodfellas”. It will show if you are watching live or recorded TV, DVDs or movies, and runs in the background.
My advice is if you watch the Playboy channel or a lot of crappy reality TV, don’t install this one. Your Facebook friends don’t need to know that “Roger is watching Naughty Polish Nursemaids IX”.
Get it here.
February 18th, 2008
Posted by
Nathan Weinberg |
Media Center, Windows |
no comments
Anthony Park has released a plugin for Windows Vista Media Center called MyNetFlix. The plugin allows management of your entire Netflix account from MCE with your remote control, including searching for movies, adding them to your queue and managing it, viewing your history and recommendations and other things.
The biggest feature, though, is the ability to browse through Watch Now movies and watch them in Media Center. This lets you watch Netflix movies straight from the Media Center interface, making it probably the easiest and most effective way to watch the streaming movies that come with your Netflix account. If you’ve got Netflix and Vista, you just earned yourself a really great movie streaming solution.
February 17th, 2008
Posted by
Nathan Weinberg |
Vista, Media Center, Windows |
one comment
Microsoft has added the advertisements from this year’s Super Bowl to Internet TV, the feature available for free in Windows Vista Media Center. That means you can watch 51 ads from the big game in full-screen decent quality on your Media Center PC/TV, or streamed to your Xbox 360 or Media Center Extender.
I tried it out, and picture quality is decent standard definition with good sound, but they chose not to include HD ads (or they couldn’t), which is a shame, because seeing these ads in HD would be great. At least they aren’t too horribly compressed. If we can start counting on Internet TV for stuff like this, it’ll be a very useful feature for Media Center owners.
February 6th, 2008
Posted by
Nathan Weinberg |
Vista, Media Center, Windows |
no comments
Soon, Media Center users will be able to stream DVDs from their PC to a Media Center Extender. This means that you can pick up an Extender that doesn’t have a DVD drive, hook it up to any TV in the house, and not have to hook up anything else to get TV, DVD, music, and other Media Center applications. Previously, only Sony’s super-expensive XL1B 200-disk DVD changer could do it, but now anyone should be able to just pop a DVD in the PC, and watch it anywhere in the house. Huzzah!
January 10th, 2008
Posted by
Nathan Weinberg |
Vista, Media Center, Windows |
no comments
Word has been leaking out about DirecTV’s upcoming tuner box for Windows Media Center, which will let you watch and record satellite TV on your computer. While we don’t know what sort of restrictions it will have, appearances are that it won’t be as locked down and crippled as CableCARD, good enough for the satellite company to make the cable industry look stupid. The dual tuner will allow watching live TV and DVR recording, and can stream to Media Center Extenders.
Photo by cassidydr under CC license
January 10th, 2008
Posted by
Nathan Weinberg |
Vista, Media Center, Windows |
no comments
It was hard to miss the news over the weekend that Warner Brothers chose to focus its efforts on Blu-Ray. Warner will release all of its new movies in Sony’s Blu-Ray format, though it still has some HD DVD titles in the pipeline (after which no additional titles will be released in HD DVD). Some have claimed that Warner’s move to Blu-Ray was designed to put an end to the format wars, which has confused consumers and as a result suppressed sales of both hardware and titles. Certainly, one can appreciate that Warner’s choice has not made the battle any easier for Toshiba and Microsoft but without a doubt this is far from the end for HD DVD.
While Blu-Ray and HD DVD have both been the most visible participants in the format wars there has been one format that has been far less visible. HD digital downloads have maintained a pretty low profile but seems to be the likely end to this whole debate. Microsoft has been the most successful in the HD digital download game thus far and with more and more Media Centers occupying living rooms and the fast-growing Xbox Live Video Marketpalce, it is only a matter of time before Blu-Ray and HD DVD are both obsolete.
Additionally, for anyone that watched Bill Gates CES Keynote, Mediaroom and Xbox Live will soon offer more on demand content then any cable company. Ultimately, the convience of being able to purchase this content from home will be just one of the reasons that neither HD DVD or Blu-Ray will be able to compete with digital HD downloads.
Stefan writes for IHaveAZune.com, and we’re proud welcome him as a new writer here at InsideMicrosoft.
January 8th, 2008
Posted by
stefan |
Sony, Xbox Live, Xbox, Media Center, Windows |
no comments
It’s December, and that means its prediction season. Mary Jo Foley usually knows just that much more than the rest, so be sure to check her predictions out. They include Fiji, the long (long, long, long) awaited update to Vista Media Center, which we’ll hopefully see at CES next month and get in the second half of next year, iPhone ActiveSync support, Office 14, Zune phones, and more.
Of her 2007 predictions, 1, 3 and 5 were right, 2 and 4 were wrong (Visual Studio was named 2008, but shipped last month). Not bad, and plenty accurate enough.
December 19th, 2007
Posted by
Nathan Weinberg |
Windows Media, Windows Mobile, Zune, Vista, Apple, Windows, Media Center, Office, Applications |
no comments
CableCard is a significant part of how Media Center PCs could get a significant leg up on alternative DVR solutions, allowing for recording of high definition digital cable signals, but it has been mired in complicated unnecessary DRM and poor OEM support since Vista launched a year ago. Dell is hoping to put a serious dent in the problem by shipping every single XPS 420 with support for CableCard.
CableCard support requires a PC to be certified by CableLabs as having a protected path, meaning that for certain protected content it can prevent you from being able to have control over the signal, that everything is locked down. This has to be done before the PC is sent to you, not after, which makes it so difficult. By shipping all XPS 420s as certified, Dell is helping get a ton more PCs in the marketplace which are already certified, you can just pick up the digital cable tuner later.
Wouldn’t it be nice if, down the road, all new PCs were certified and capable of just plugging in the digital tuner to get HD cable to work? It would make a difference, and change the marketplace from its current stagnant, and failing, condition. Right now, you need the rare locked down PC, but if all of them ship with such support, it’s not that big of a deal anymore, and opens the market wide open.
December 11th, 2007
Posted by
Nathan Weinberg |
Vista, Media Center, Windows |
no comments
Chris Lanier has a thought-provoking post about how the Xbox 360’s Dashboard update means that the 360 can now play more file formats than the 360’s own Media Center Extender, because Microsoft hasn’t updated the Extender software to work with them. Version 2 Extenders support DivX, the Dashboard supports DivX, but the Dashboard’s Extender doesn’t, and we’ve been pretty much told it never will.
As big as the Xbox 360 is, Microsoft overall plan to take over the living room is so much more important. In fact, when it launched the 360 was looked at almost as a trojan horse to get Media Center into wider usage. Microsoft has this weird thing where it allows media to come into the 360 through multiple protocols with different codec support and different capabilities, making things more confusing and limiting the company’s ability to leverage the Xbox into selling other Microsoft products.
Frankly, the Xbox 360 should be more locked down. The console shouldn’t support streaming from anything except Windows Media Center, and should add new features, like new codecs, through Media Center. This is one area where Microsoft could easily have been a lot more evil and created a single pathway that goes only through its own product, just like Apple does with the Apple TV and iTunes.
At the very least, by forcing users to utilize Media Center, Microsoft would simplify things. Last night, I tried to play an episode of Dexter in the Media Center Extender, and was told the codec wasn’t supported. I had to exit the Extender, go back to the Dashboard, locate the same file for the second time, and play it again.
By having more than one way of doing things, efforts are being spread thin. Microsoft has developers working both on playback for the Extender and the Dashboard. Independent developers are building third-party streaming services (like TVersity) when they could be focusing on Media Center plugins. Media Center needs more attention, but as a tacked-on bastard sister of the Xbox 360 it is getting ignored.
I’m all for wide-open choice, which is why I choose Microsoft over Apple, but Microsoft is selling itself short by doing the same things twice. When you’ve already got a first-rate streaming protocol on the Extender, don’t build new stuff into the Dashboard. Make the Extender better, make everyone happy.
December 5th, 2007
Posted by
Nathan Weinberg |
Vista, XP, Apple, Xbox 360, Media Center, Xbox, Windows |
3 comments
Amulet Devices has announced a Windows Media Center remote control that has a microphone stick at the top of it, letting you speak into the remote and issue voice commands to your television. They have a video showing how you can name an artist and have Media Center play music by that artist, or ask your TV to change the channel or find the channel airing a specific show, among other possible applications of the remote.
The remote has some position sensing technology built in, letting the remote know when you’ve tilted it towards your mouth. This way, the remote doesn’t follow commands from the TV, switching shows and music based on what comes out of the speakers, but instead only listens when you lift it to specifically issue a command.
Amulet makes these Media Center PCs that work around the voice remote, with a 7-inch touchscreen on the front of the PC and some custom interfaces that work with the remote, dual tuners and other goodies. It looks like it comes with a special browsing interface for album cover art, one that looks similar to Apple’s Cover Flow and you can flick through with your finger on the touch screen, as well as pages of different features that you page through by swiping your hand.
It all looks pretty cool, and the Dublin-based company just unveiled it over the weekend at RDS Dublin. I’m already talking to the company, and I’ll update with more information as they send me it.
November 14th, 2007
Posted by
Nathan Weinberg |
Vista, Media Center, Windows |
4 comments
If you look in Windows Vista Media Center now, you should see the new Internet TV button. Under there, you’ll get to look at a number of interesting videos, including every single episode of Arrested Development, concerts, movie trailers, music videos, viral videos, sports highlights, news stories and more. All of it is served streaming over the internet, and all of it is free and supported by the occasional ad.
I had the opportunity to talk to some guys from Microsoft about Internet TV at Digital Life, and they explained that this isn’t a full product, but rather a beta test for a bigger setup Microsoft would like to pull off. Basically, they want as many users as possible to try it out, watch as much video as possible, so Microsoft can stress test the system, see what works, and expand it into a full Internet TV platform for Media Center.
I think the whole think works beautifully. Assuming Microsoft can sign up enough content partners, it could provide a ton of free video content for Media Center users. With streaming to Extenders and the Xbox 360, Microsoft will be delivering free content as a major bonus to those who invest in this ecosystem, and it can start selling content as well down the road.
If Microsoft wants to be truly smart, it’ll use this to find a way to deliver extra content to owners of Windows Vista Ultimate as an Ultimate Extra, like free movies, or give them content earlier than everyone else. That’ll settle some of the complainers
photos by abrudtkuhl and @le
October 9th, 2007
Posted by
Nathan Weinberg |
Vista, Media Center, Windows |
4 comments
I was at Digital Life Sunday, and I got to see the new Media Center Extenders Microsoft was introducing at the show. There are two actual products that have been announced, the Linksys’ Media Center Extender with DVD player (DMA2200) and without DVD player (DMA2100), and the D-Link DSM-750 MediaLounge HD Media Center Extender. The DMA2100 will be $300, while the others will be $350.
The new Extenders will be able to do exactly what we were told a month ago they could, including stream from Windows Vista and protected HD content, play XviD/XviD, have the latest wifi technology and all sorts of new features.
Niveus was also showing off an Extender, but I’m not sure what to make of it, especially since it’s the size of a full PC, or even an original Xbox.
Some other pictures from the Microsoft booth. I’ll be posting more Digital Life stuff all week.
October 1st, 2007
Posted by
Nathan Weinberg |
Media Center, Windows |
2 comments
Engadget has revealed that around September 27, Microsoft will unveil a new feature for Windows Media Center, Internet TV. The feature will bring a bunch of on-demand channels into the Media Center interface, letting users watch Sports, Entertainment, News, Top Picks, Music and Movies. Best of all, everything will be ad-supported and free of charge, and picture quality will be somewhere better than standard TV, though a bit less than HDTV.
With the new Internet TV, which will be delivered as a simple software update, owners of Media Center PCs and Extenders, including the Xbox 360, will have access to a lot of free content to enjoy, completely sidestepping traditional television. If Microsoft lined up the right partners for it, got enough content and made it run well on a typical home network, they could wind up with an entirely new tier of television. Can’t wait to see it.
September 9th, 2007
Posted by
Nathan Weinberg |
XP, Vista, Media Center, Windows, General |
one comment
Microsoft, after what has to be more than a year of speculation, finally released some news about the new Media Center Extenders, which allow you to stream music, pictures, video, live and recorded TV from a Media Center PC to set-top boxes all over the house. New devices have been announced from Linksys, D-Link and Niveus Media, incorporating new features like:
- Support for new media formats, including DivX, Xvid, Windows Media Video HD and H.264
- First Extenders (not including Xbox 360) to stream HDTV and in high definition and protected HD content
- HDMI and 1080p to support that HD video
- New wireless networking options, including 802.11n
- The new technology can be built into more than set-top boxes, but also into DVD players and new TVs
- Support for up to four CableCARDs (up from 2)
New Extenders will be demonstrated at CEDIA in Denver over this weekend, as well as at Digital Life in New York at the end of the month.
The Xbox 360 is not getting the new codec support, even though it presumably has the necessary power to do so. Considering all the free features the Sony PlayStation 3 offers that 360 owners have to pay for, you’d think that Microsoft would workt to give owners at least some new codecs.
Engadget says that, because of less processing power, the Extenders don’t perform as well (mostly in terms of interface animations) as the Xbox 360 does. Of course, if the 360 does a better job, why can’t it get more codecs?
September 7th, 2007
Posted by
Nathan Weinberg |
Vista, XP, Xbox 360, Xbox, Media Center, Windows |
4 comments
Microsoft has gone and hired Doug Berrett, developer of WebGuide. WebGuide is an amazing piece of software that lets you access Windows Media Center (XP or Vista) from a web browser, letting you watch live TV and recordings, schedule new recordings, access music and pictures, all over any internet connection, and do pretty much the same thing through Windows Mobile as well. It’s amazing, and it is now 100% free!
Microsoft hired Doug to work on Media Center development (though not related to the things WebGuide does), so he wrapped up development and removed the $18 price tag. Active development of WebGuide is over, which is a shame, so hopefully someone will think about doing open source updates, though the software is pretty excellent already. Download WebGuide now that it’s free and see what the fuss is about.
Interestingly, there is a recent beta of WebGuide for Windows Home Server. Hopefully Doug will let someone else complete the project, because that is too damn useful to not be finished.
(via Download Squad and Neowin)
September 6th, 2007
Posted by
Nathan Weinberg |
Home Server, Server, Corporate, Media Center, Windows |
one comment
Gary Price continues to find new domain name registrations by Microsoft, catching 39 more this time, including a bunch related to Media Center Extenders. I’m guessing that means Microsoft plans on pushing a new wave of version 2 Extenders, whenever the hell they finally come out. Domains include MediaCenterExtender.net, MediaCenterExtenderSandbox.com, MCExtender.net, ConnectsToMediaCenter.com and ItProMomentum.com.
July 17th, 2007
Posted by
Nathan Weinberg |
Media Center, Windows |
2 comments
Microsoft’s Eric Anderson says that he is using a prototype Windows Media Center Extender at home, one of the version 2 (codename: Pika) variety, the first Extender that works with Windows Vista that isn’t an Xbox 360. He gives few details on the device, save that it has a media pipeline that can handle media types that previous Extenders couldn’t handle, so long as the hardware is capable. That means that his particular prototype, because it could play back DivX video, the Extender could play back DivX in Media Center.
It’ll be wonderful for Extenders to finally be able to do more, given the annoying limitations in the past. An extender that can play DivX, XviD, and maybe other types of popular video codecs without the need for workarounds or hacks is a wonderful thing, enough maybe to even get me to buy one. Of course, the real thing Microsoft should do is add the Pika software to the Xbox 360, since the 360’s current Extender technology is hopelessly difficult for the average user.
According to a year old post of Chris Lanier’s that Eric points to, the dev kit Extender, made by Sigma Designs, supports MPEG-4 Part 10 (H.264), VC-1 (WMV9), MPEG-2, MPEG-4 Part 2 (DivX/XviD), Dolby Digital, WMA/WMA Pro, MPEG-1/2 Audio, AAC and MP3.
Our partners that are building retail product choose what features (wired and/or wireless, audio outputs, etc) + formats they will support. As it happens, the prototype device I’m using does support divx - and have I mentioned just how cool it is?! 
You’ll just have to wait to see their press releases, but if what I’ve seen is any indication, you won’t be disappointed!
(via Ed Bott)
June 28th, 2007
Posted by
Nathan Weinberg |
Vista, Media Center, Windows |
2 comments
Microsoft continues to strongly support the Media Center platform, releasing an update rollup for June 2007, although enthusiasts are getting impatient waiting for word of the Fiji update to Media Center. The update, which you can read about and get from here or Windows Update, helps Media Center properly configure combo (ATSC/NTSC) TV tuners, fixes a media playback issue when resizing the window, an audio issue after waking the computer, several fixes for the Media Center Extensibility Platform, and “an update to the Digital Cable Card component to provide better support for interaction between the digital cable tuner, the CableCARD, and Media Center”.
(via Bink)
June 27th, 2007
Posted by
Nathan Weinberg |
Media Center, Windows, General |
no comments
