Gordon
van Zuiden
is the president of cyberManor, in Los Gatos, California.
When HP abruptly stopped the production of its Microsoft Media Center
digital equipment platform earlier in the year there was a sense that
Media Center solutions for the custom installation channel had been
derailed. But HP was only one manufacturer (albeit a very large one)
among dozens that are making high-end Media Center products. As we saw
at CEDIA EXPO last month, the other Media Center server manufacturers
have been steadily improving their product offerings.
Equally important, Microsoft has made significant strides in improving
the whole-house Media Center experience with a combination of hardware
and software product announcements—and, for the first time, is working
hard to enlist the support of the custom installation channel.
Extender Enhancements
Watching a live TV broadcast in the living room, pausing it, and then
resuming it at the same moment from the bedroom or kitchen will soon
become even easier, as Microsoft provided a first look at the new
Pika-based Extenders for the Windows Media Center platform. New Pika
devices from companies such as Linksys, D-Link Corp., and Niveus Media
Inc., may incorporate these new extender features, including live
high-definition (HD) video, and expanded support for audio and video
formats such as DivX and Xvid. Extenders will be available in a wide
range of form factors, including stand-alone set-top boxes and
integration with other devices such as DVD players and televisions.
These extenders will support the ability to send protected HD content
to additional rooms, including recorded TV from over-the-air ATSC or
CableCARD tuners, and movies and music available from providers such as
CinemaNow, MovieLink, and Napster. Extenders also support Media Center
features such as Reuters news feeds, National Public Radio broadcasts,
up-to-date sports reports from the FOX Sports Lounge, and subscription
music from XM Radio.
Russound Smart Media Console
Russound announced it will deliver its Smart Media Console line in the
fall of 2007. These Windows Media Center-based products will provide
custom installers with a simple turnkey solution for enabling advanced
home automation and integration with Russound’s whole-home audio
products. These CableCARD-ready consoles will come pre-bundled with
Exceptional Innovation Life-ware client licenses.
Life-ware and Niveus Media Servers
Life-ware and Niveus Media both announced support of Media Centers that
will accommodate up to four HD CableCARD tuners (up from the current 2
CableCARD limitation). These server platforms can now deliver up to
four independent HD streams of live content to up five different media
center extender sessions.
Web Guide Plug In is Now Free
I spent some time speaking with Doug Berrett, the author of the popular Media Center
WebGuide product. Berrett (whose company was recently purchased by
Microsoft) said that as of September 5, 2007, the popular third-party
place-shifting plug-in application for Windows Media Center is
available at no cost. His WebGuide software allows Windows Media Center
consumers to view live and recorded TV, schedule and manage recorded
television programs, and access music, pictures, and videos remotely
from any “web browser. It’s an incredible extension of the Media Center
interface to give you full use and enjoyment of your home’s media
content (TV recordings, songs, photos, and videos) from any computing
device with a browser and a high-speed” Internet connection. Further
details are available at www.asciiexpress.com/webguide.
If Microsoft develop as strong an ecosystem of partners in the home to
support the Media Center platform as they did in the enterprise world
to support the Windows platform, then they will become a significant
contributor to the solutions that we design and integrate for our
clients’ custom homes.
