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News, Analysis, and Opinion on Microsoft Digital Media Technologies (and TGB News!)
October 2006 - Posts
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Windows
Media Player 11 for Windows XP | Windows Media Player 11 offers great new
ways to store and enjoy all of your digital media. It's easier than ever to
access all of your music, video, pictures, and recorded TV on your computer.
Play it, view it, organize it, and sync it to a portable device for enjoying on
the go, or share with devices around your home - all from one place. Windows
Media Player 11 is designed to work with all versions of Windows XP with
Service Pack 2, including Windows XP Home Edition N and Windows XP Professional
N.
PLEASE NOTE: Many of the great stores you know in Windows Media Player 10 are
available in this version of the Player. Check out a list of online stores at
the Online Stores page.
For more information, see the Readme.
NOTE: Please read Installing
the Player on Windows XP Media Center Edition for directions on installing
Windows Media Player 11 on Windows XP Media Center Edition.
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While Windows XP might be celebrating its 5th
Birthday, Windows XP Media Center Edition is celebrating its 4th Birthday
today! It’s been a long ride, but it all
started on October 29, 2002 when HP started shipping their first Media Center
PC.
It launched with the help of this goofball (pictured below)
and sported features such as use of a single analog tuner and DVD recording
only on high end machines (which you couldn’t do from within the MCE UI). Price points on the very few machines offered
with Media Center at the time ranged from $1300 to
$2000. Single tuner, no HD anything, no
widescreen anything, nothin.
I’ve compiled a screenshot history of Media
Center below including a screenshot of
the upcoming Vista
Media Center
release. Interesting to see where the UI
design has been and where it’s going now.
Enjoy!
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Last week I wrote about a new plug-in for Media
Center called MCE Tunes that allows you to sync iTunes with Media Center
and even play purchased music from the iTMS from within the Media
Center UI.
They do offer a free trial, but it doesn’t
support protected content from the iTMS so I thought I would give everyone out
there a mini-review of the protect playing back protected content before you
spend money on the product just for a letdown.
Well, I’m here to say this product is no letdown. I’ve been playing around with a full version
of the plug-in for the past week and it works great! Now, I should note that I am not an iTunes
user, nor do I generally purchase music from the iTMS. However, I do have a very small amount of
content which I used to test with.
Setup is very simple using MCE Tunes. You can import your entire iTunes Library, only
selected tracks with a certain star rating (say three stars or better), or you
can select a specific playlist to import.
MCE Tunes will share your settings on a daily basis so that your
selected content is always available in Media Center
(think Watched Folders).
After you import your select content that is just about
it. Open
Media Center
(or Windows Media Player) and you will see your music listed in Media Center. Tags are transferred over, so you can still
browse by Artist, Album, Song, etc. Currently
Album Art isn’t transfer, but I’m told that they are working on trying to get
that working.
Playback occurs just as mp3 and wma files are in Media Center. Just select it with your remote and you will
not even be aware that it’s being controlled via a third party plug-in.
This application really does “just works”, and if you are a
iTunes user I would give it a try. The free trial supports playback of
unprotected files (m4a) and the paid versions adds support for protected music
from the iTMS (m4p).
Give it a shot, I don’t
think you will be disappointed.
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DVDxml.com
- Over 15,000 dvdid.xml files! | DVDxml.com
just launched allowing simple use of the “My DVDs” feature that is included in
Update Rollup 2. You have been able to
manually enable “My DVDs” without the use of a DVD Changer since Update Rollup
2 launched, however you needed to create a dvdid.xml for each DVD you have
manually. Not anymore though, just go on
over to DVDxml.com and download the file
for free. Right now there are over
15,000 Region 1 DVD’s in the database.
The site also has information on how to enable “My DVDs” for those who
don’t know.
Here is their Basic FAQ for those just
getting started.
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Homeowners in CA will
be the first to glimpse what the future of digital living looks like.
Columbus, OH – October 26, 2006 – The
new Magnolia stores opening TOMORROW, October 27, in Santa Monica and Santa
Clara, CA will be the first consumer retail showcase for the Life|ware™ digital
entertainment and automation solution. Inside the state-of-the-art store will
be a fully integrated home designed with Life|ware to create an entertainment
experience that allows consumers to control how they enjoy their digital
content, wherever and whenever they want, as well as control their lighting,
HVAC, security and other subsystems through a single interface using Media
Center.
The age of proprietary technology is fading, and systems
like Life|ware, which do not tie homeowners into a single-branded solution but
enable control of home subsystems from a wide variety of manufacturers, are the
future. Life|ware is bringing digital entertainment and refined home control
together into one seamless package. What Life|ware represents is a glimpse into
a homes’ all-digital future, one in which all content can be enjoyed over a
network in a variety of ways.
“Magnolia represents a truly unique market segment that
includes high end retail A/V sales, combined with design and installation
services. The presence of Life|ware in the retail locations provides an
opportunity for homeowners to test drive home automation and distributed
digital entertainment in the perfect environment. Magnolia’s commitment to
Life|ware has offered us a great platform for the retail launch of our
products,” said Steve Cashman, Exceptional Innovation’s vice president of
sales.
At the new Magnolia stores, consumers will have the
opportunity to interact in a number of different Life|ware experiences
representing multiple zones throughout the home. Life|ware will be controlling
the stores’ Media Room, Media Bar, Home Office, Equipment Closet and Front Door
experiences. The integration centers around HP Digital Entertainment products,
including the new Life|ware Ready HP z565 digital entertainment center, as well
as Life|ware Connected partners such as Lutron, B&K, SpeakerCraft,
Aprilaire, GE Security, and Panasonic. The stores are the first to sell and
display the new Life|point™ family of all-digital, 16:9 widescreen touchpanels,
capable of 720p high definition display and used in Life|ware home automation
networks. Life|point is available in both 12.1” and 8.9” in-wall models.
Whether a homeowner is looking to update a single room,
remodel an existing floor plan or build their dream home, or whether they are
simply searching for a home automation solution that simply makes more sense,
the new Magnolia stores will offer good, better, best packaged Life|ware
automation solutions. In addition, Magnolia will provide customized solutions
to meet the size and scope of any home installation.
"Studies have shown more and more homeowners are
looking for home automation solutions on varying levels. Here at Magnolia, we
strive to deliver the products and services customers are looking to integrate
into their homes. We are evolving our retail and installation business model to
incorporate the next phase of digital living. Together with new industry
partners like Life|ware and HP complementing our existing supplier group, we
intend to be a full-service retailer that offers homeowners an entirely new
array of solutions and services,” said Lou Kings, Magnolia’s convergence solutions
manager.
The two Magnolia stores are located at:
2800 Wilshire
Blvd.
52 North Winchester Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA
90403
Santa Clara, CA 95050
310.309.5000
408.423.5100
For more information on Exceptional Innovation, please visit
www.exceptionalinnovation.com.
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October
2006 Update Rollup for Windows XP Media Center Edition (KB925766) | Microsoft
has released the October 2006 Update Rollup for Microsoft Windows XP Media
Center Edition 2005. This update rollup is intended for computers that are
running Update Rollup 2 for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005. For more
information about Update Rollup 2, click the following article number to view
the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
900325 | Update Rollup 2 for Windows XP Media Center
Edition 2005
Hotfix replacement
information
This is a cumulative update rollup. This update rollup
replaces the following updates:
919803
| July 2006 Update Rollup for Windows XP Media Center
Edition 2005
914548 |
April 2006 Update Rollup for Windows XP Media Center
Edition 2005
908250
| Update Rollup 908250 is available for computers that are running Update
912067 | January 2006 Update Rollup for Windows XP Media Center
Edition 2005
913437 | HTML programs do not support non-English keyboard characters
on a computer that is running the Korean version of Windows XP Media Center
Edition 2005
Issues that are
resolved by this update
In addition to the fixes that are contained in the updates
that are listed in the "Hotfix replacement information" section, this
update resolves the following issues:
- When
you scan for services in Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, a connected
Italian (Rome)
810 megahertz (MHz) version of MUX is not found.
- Windows
XP Media Center may not be compatible with certain third-party audio
stream plug-ins.
- A race
condition may occur after you install Microsoft Windows Media Player 11.
Because of this problem, licenses are not saved for TV programs that are
recorded and protected. For example, TV programs that are recorded from a
provider such as HBO or Showtime will only play for up to three days.
Information for Windows Media Center
Extenders
Windows Media Center Extenders, such as the Microsoft Xbox
360, use network ports to communicate over the network with computers that are
running Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005. This update rollup contains
updates to Media Center programs that may have been
previously configured as "approved" or "allowed" by a
third-party firewall. If you use a third-party firewall, you may have to
manually update your firewall to let the new versions of these programs access
the ports. If you do not perform these firewall updates, you may experience
failures when you try to connect the Windows Media Center Extender to the Media Center
computer.
For more information about how to configure a firewall for a
Windows Media Center Extender, visit the following Microsoft Web site: http://g.msn.com/0HEA1ENUS9/48015
Read Full
KB Article | Download
Here
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I got an e-mail last night from the folks at Proxure, Inc.
about MCE Tunes, a new plug-in to let
you play your purchased iTunes tracks
through Media Center.
It can also be used to sync your iTunes library with Media Center. Check out the free trial which only plays
unprotected (m4a) songs. The full
version ($29.99) will enable playback of protected ones. I’ll try and get a copy to play with and see
how well it works next week for playback of protected content. Proxure, Inc developed
and sold MyTV ToGo to Roxio
a while back for anyone wondering other projects the company has done with Media Center.
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Ian
Dixon points to another new application from Mobilewares, this one
being Big Screen Headlines. Native for Vista Media
Center, in Media Center
Presentation Layer (MCPL) which means it’s rendered using the same technology
as the Vista UI itself. Full list of
features is below, but I think it’s great that this application can sync with
IE7’s “Subscribed Feeds”. Very cool! Also support OPML for those who use other
desktop/web RSS readers. More
screenshots here.
- Read/Monitor
RSS News Headlines directly from the Internet.
- Listen/Watch/View
enclosed RSS Media such as Web Video, Podcast Audio, Images and more.
Translates HTML based RSS content on the fly for 10 foot viewing. Audio
and Video will be played via Media Center's 'Now Playing' window - and can
be zoomed to full screen.
- Integrates
with your 'Subscribed Feeds' from Internet Explorer 7 - add, locate and
synchronize your feeds via Vista's inbuilt feed management system. (Nb:
access to Subscribed feeds is not available when running under XBox360).
- Access
over 500 'Best of' preset RSS feeds with special focus on Media Center related content.
- Supports
external OPML Files for easy integration with desktop RSS Readers.
- Bookmark
your favorite feeds for quick access from the Big Screen Headlines Main
Menu.
Be sure to check out the rest of the growing “Big Screen” suite
including Big Screen Contacts, Big Screen Weather, Big Screen Business, and Big Screen Photos.
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Ace, Inteset and Niveus Media
Centers now meet criteria
for Exceptional Innovation’s “Life|ware Ready” logo program.
Columbus, OH – October
10, 2006 - Exceptional Innovation (EI), producers of Life|ware™ home
control software for Media Center, announce three more leading Media Center manufacturers
have achieved Life|ware Ready certification. Life|ware software operates on the
Media Center platform to create a
hardware-neutral control system that allows integrators the flexibility to
choose from the lighting, climate, audio, security, and camera systems that best
meet customers’ needs.
After undergoing a formal qualification process that
includes stringent testing to ensure each unit can meet benchmark criteria and
handle all of Life|ware’s applications, Media Centers from Ace, Inteset and Niveus
all earned the right to bear a Life|ware Ready certification logo. Each Media Center
offers something different in the way of functionality, performance and pricing
providing integrators yet another measure of flexibility when setting up a
Life|ware home control network.
“Life|ware Ready is something our dealers have been asking
for to make their lives easier in identifying the best hardware for each job,”
said Mike Seamons, EI’s vice president of marketing. “These are great Media Centers
that can meet the usage and functionality demands of end-users in different ways
and our Life|ware Ready logo certifies that steps have been taken to ensure a
smooth Life|ware integration.”
AceComputers LHD Limited II and II Pro are award-winning
Media Centers that feature a unique touch screen interface on their front
panel. Inteset's new 3TB Maximus and award winning Denzel media servers are
optimized for home theaters with advanced controllability; media stored on the
server can extend the other rooms in the home via the Vana advanced extender
system or the Julia All-in-one Touch Screen Advanced Extender. Niveus Media
Centers include the Denali, Denali Limited, and K2 Limited Edition which have
won multiple awards and are praised for their audio/video performance and
silent, fanless design.
Media Centers from all three companies will join HP in
displaying the Life|ware Ready logo on their front panel hardware to provide
at-a-glance assurance to integrators designing and implementing a Life|ware
home automation system.
Unlike other home automation solutions that tie the homeowner
into a single-branded, proprietary solution, Life|ware by Exceptional
Innovation is hardware-neutral giving dealers more choices and flexibility to
seamlessly integrate with Windows
Media Center.
Life|ware can be run on any Life|ware Ready Media Center, Xbox 360 or other Media Center
extenders, or EI’s own Life|point™ all-digital high definition touch panel. Exceptional
Innovation’s certification and logo programs ensure that dealers have the
foundation to successfully implement the Life|ware solution.
Logos and images available at www.exceptionalinnovation.com.
About Exceptional
Innovation
Based in the Westerville
suburb of Columbus, Ohio, Exceptional Innovation produces
Life|ware™ home control software and hardware for digital living. Life|ware
creates a lifestyle experience that allows consumers to enjoy their digital
entertainment, wherever and whenever they want, as well as manage their
lighting, HVAC, security, appliances and other subsystems, such as distributed
audio systems, through a single interface by integrating the digital
entertainment functionality of Media Center with whole-house automation and
control. Led by software industry professionals with extensive experience with
distributed computing based on open standards and open architecture,
Exceptional Innovation combines Microsoft development expertise with years of
home control experience to deliver simple, seamless, life-enhancing solutions
for the digital home.
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Still getting lots
of great feedback from everyone, and even better thanks to everyone out
there we have got David Fleischman asking Why
Aren’t People More Excited About Media Center? In addition, Matt Goyer (who I remind you no
longer works for Microsoft) replied with a great post about Why Media
Center does not stream DVDs (citing core functionalities development) and
another great post about eHome blogging (of course, now post-Goyer) titled Does eHome get
blogging?
All great reads, so check them out. I’d also like to thank David and all other
members of the eHome team. Even though
some of us (including me!) are somewhat criticizing the product you work so
hard on, it’s only because we want it to be the best solution out there. Keep up the great work! And then of course thanks to Matt, he might
have moved on from Microsoft but his thoughts and opinions are still appreciated
by all.
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Over the past week I have got a great
amount of feedback (more
feedback) from my question about switch
to Vista Media Center. First of all,
I would like to thank everyone who has commented. Reactions are all over the board to this
question. From people who will switch
right out of the gate, to those waiting for the dust to settle, to those who
see no point in an upgrade, and those who think it’s time to move on to another
product.
I have mixed views about Vista Media
Center, keep reading to
see what they are.
PVR/CableCARD: CableCARD is--without a doubt--the reason to
upgrade to Vista Media Center. Native digital cable support, native HDTV
support. However, a common problem
however is that CableCARD’s are a technology only available within the United States. Those outside of the states have yet to see
any additional advances for Media
Center being used as a
PVR. There is no addition DVB support,
no MHEG support, no DAB support. Those
in the US don’t have to
worry about these, but basically broadcasts outside of the US use different technologies then those inside
of the US. We can all thank the FCC for wanting another
“standard” for the US
to use.
We all know that only OEM systems are getting CableCARD,
which is a real drag. Not much to say
about this though, I’ve said before it’s CableLabs way or the Highway. I would much rather see CableCARD support
then not.
EPG/Guide: There are several enhancements in the EPG,
the one everyone wants to the “mini-guide” which has been common to STB’s for
years now. Most people however, do not
see this as something that they are dieing to have.
Extenders: This is one of the biggest reasons not to
upgrade to Vista Media Center. v1 Extenders including the Linksys WMCE54AG,
HP x5400, and Xbox v1 title are no longer supported under Vista. This is a huge problem for people who have
spent $300 a-pop on either the Linksys or HP Extenders. It’s going to be very costly to upgrade Extenders.
v2 Extenders are on the way, codenamed
Pika, and these better support additional formats like DivX and XviD or I’m
going to feel even worse about not being able to use v1 Extenders. If you are going to take away something, the
second offering better provide what was lacking in the first-generation, along
with a lower price tag (which, I believe they will).
UI: I’m getting used to the UI more-and-more, but
you just don’t mess with success like this.
Let’s not forget about the Media Center 2005 UI was actually an “award
winning” design. The UI is ok, but
nothing special. I like the MCE 2005 UI
over the Vista UI, plain-and-simple.
Lack of Features: Vista
Media Center
just doesn’t seem like its being enough to the table, to make up for what it
dropped. Windows Messenger support has
been dropped, Caller ID support has been dropped, v1 Extenders have been
dropped, the UI we all love has been dropped, even with RC2 stability is not
what it should be, and the list keeps going.
Microsoft had a big chance with Vista
to bring together all of the features it has lacked for the past four
years. I can’t say that they have done
this. First up, DVD
Streaming something that I have talked about several times here. I have said that Microsoft has the technology
to do it, but for whatever reason Vista
Media Center
doesn’t support it. While I don’t know
everything about it, there
is an public interview posted that talks about it. With Sony's
DVD Changer selling for $300 Microsoft missed the whole idea here. If DVD Streaming to Extenders can’t be done,
I can surely understand that. However,
one thing that everyone would like to know from Microsoft is why.
This brings me to another point which has nothing to do with
Vista, but Microsoft needs more transparency with its Media Center
team. Since Matt Goyer has left Micosoft,
it’s been very quite from the other Media Center bloggers. Of course, working on Vista
should be Microsoft’s top priority, but anyone from the Media Center
team reading this I would like to see you start blogging. Media
Center has a growing
community behind it, we need transparency with some of the issues and features
that we (the community) feel you should be providing.
Back to Vista
Media Center,
Windows Messenger support being dropped kind of sucked. We all know that Windows Messenger itself was
dropped from Vista, but wasn’t the implied use
of that fancy Microsoft
Remote Keyboard for Windows XP Media Center Edition for Messenger? It might have just been me, but it was a
perfect thing.
Called ID support has been dropped, which I can kind of
understand—except—why drop it? Even if
it’s not used by many did the system change so much that it would have taken a
ton of work to get it going again?
Somehow, I doubt. Those who need
Caller ID should now check out mceTapiRex
which also support Skype.
“Softsled”: On December 4, 2004, Paul Thurrott
let the world know that Microsoft had a software-based Extender for PC’s. Yet to see the light of day, there are
several conspiracy theories why it has not be released. Frankly, I don’t care what Microsoft reasons
are they need to release it or open up development for the platform so it could
be done by a third party. Beyond TV Link does
this for SnapStream’s product, I believe Myth TV has a like solution, and Sage TV Placeshifter does it
for Sage products. Those are all of
Microsoft’s main competitors. There isn’t
much to say about this, but Microsoft needs to do something here. I have seen many people dump Media Center
for this very feature.
Overall: Anyway, Keep
bring your reasons for upgrade or not upgrading! I know I left out some things above, and I’ll
add too it below this when I think of other reasons why I will be upgrading (or
not upgrading).
Right now, I’m sticking with MCE 2005. I’m waiting to see what DIRECTV
Support is going to look like. If it’s
not above what cable can offer, I will be buying a new PC with Vista and CableCARD.
I’m going to wait for that to play out, and by then maybe we can find
out more about “Softsled” and DVD Streaming and I will be sold 100% on Vista Media
Center again. I’m still locked on Media Center,
other packages just can not compete from my point of view until they either
support CableCARD or DIRECTV.
Media
Center still has the most
potential, and at the same time is still very far behind. Anyone want to get me a job at Microsoft and
I’ll be the transparency for the team??
Just kidding. Additions: Ian pointed
out that Media Center Markup Language (MCML) could allow development of a Windows
Messenger Live plug-in. One thing I didn’t
bring up above is that Media Center development for third parties has been much
improved in Vista. Plug-ins can now be much richer then the HTML
ones from past versions of Media
Center.
Peter points out that
photo viewing and browsing though Media
Center is much
improved. With tags, EXIF data, and
more. My Pictures in MCE 2005 is rather
limited, just allowing folder browsing.
Big upgrade in Vista
Media Center.
Update:David
Fleischman asks: Why Aren’t People More Excited About Media Center?
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