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News, Analysis, and Opinion on Microsoft Digital Media Technologies (and TGB News!)
July 2008 - Posts
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Adding to the long list of mControl add-ins, drivers, and
plug-ins is
their text to speech beta driver that allows the Microsoft Speech API to
make your Vista machine speak text as part of a macro. The speech commands are specific to Windows
Vista, so the client will not work on MCE 2005 (the controller part of the
driver should work on MCE 2005 however).
Source code and documentation are also
included in the download.
Cross Posted from Chris Lanier's Blog at http://msmvps.com/blogs/chrisl/
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Recently QWebL announced their
intentions to bring their home automation software to Media Center and
other platforms including touchpanels, phones, and more. A week or so ago they also announced
a contest in which they are giving away two $1,000 American Express gift cards
for video entries on your frustrations with remote controls for your home and/or
your dream feature in a home automation system.
I’ve recently had a chance to see QWebL in action, and I can
really say that they are doing things differently than anyone else on the
market. As I’ve been trying to write
more about home automation, I was wondering what everyone would like to see in
home automation software. Not only will
it let me better know what to cover, but those who are smart can take the
information and record it in a 1-5 video
for a chance to win $1,000 (and if you don’t, I will).
From a consumer standpoint what do the existing Media Center
applications do right and wrong? For you
custom installers out there, do you currently use Media Center based home
automation systems (Life|ware, mControl, Cortexa)? What do they do wrong?
According to the countdown
on their website you have 3 weeks 3 days 22 hours 57 minutes 29 seconds (as
of my typing this) to enter the contest that QWebL is holding, and I think
around the same time you will get to see what QWebL is about.
Cross Posted from Chris Lanier's Blog at http://msmvps.com/blogs/chrisl/
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Samsung Electronics America Inc., the leader in the U.S.
digital television market, lets consumers view PC-content on a Samsung HDTV with
the retail launch of the company's MediaLive adaptor.
Samsung's MediaLive delivers digital content (including
HD content) in real-time from Windows Media Center on a PC running Windows
Vista Home Premium or Windows Vista Ultimate operating systems to the big
screen of a Samsung HDTV via a wireless or wired home network. From photos,
music, feature films, home movies, and live and recorded TV programs, Samsung's MediaLive is the ideal plug-and-play complement to most
2008-model Samsung HDTVs.
"The PC is quickly becoming the hub for entertainment
in the home and Samsung's MediaLive gives consumers the freedom to enjoy and
manage movies, photos, and music on the bigger screen of an HDTV," said
John Revie, Vice President of Visual Display Marketing at Samsung Electronics
America. "Samsung's MediaLive opens up a constantly expanding world of
content for consumers, adding yet another connectivity option to the latest
Samsung HDTVs.'
Easily connected to an existing wireless or wired Internet
connection, Samsung's MediaLive allows PCs running Windows Vista or Windows
Vista Home Premium to stream a personal movie, photo, music, and video
collection to any 2008-model Samsung HDTV in the home with an HDMI-CEC
connection. With the ability to display content at up to Full HD resolution and
support for a range of video, audio, and image codecs such as AC3, H.264, JPEG,
MPEG2, MPEG4, WMA, and WMV, consumers will be able to enjoy an impressive
variety of video and audio files using Samsung's MediaLive. Instead of crowding
around a 15-inch PC monitor to share their latest music or movies, users can
transfer the same PC content in real-time and share it on a 50-inch HDTV with a
group of friends. One PC can stream content to up-to five Samsung MediaLive
boxes connected to a TV through a home network - providing total access to
entertainment from most 2008-model Samsung HDTV's in the home.
Beyond streaming personal entertainment, Samsung's MediaLive
gives consumers access to a wide range of entertainment options including online
services such as Vongo, MovieLink, Showtime TV, XM Radio, and FOX Sports, as
well as the ability to browse through top news stories from Reuters and NPR.
Additionally, in the U.S., Windows Media Center features the Internet TV beta
program, which offers access to viral videos, news stories, movie trailers,
sports clips, cast interviews, movie concerts and more. For access to live and
recorded TV through the Samsung MediaLive, a simple TV tuner can be connected
to the PC, turning it into a powerful DVR with the ability to watch and record
favorite television shows and movies. In conjunction with FOX Sports, consumers
are able to access SportsLounge to quickly view up-to-date sports scores,
statistics and schedules - a perfect tool for any fantasy sports fan.
'Microsoft is pleased to be working
with an industry leader such as Samsung, which shares our commitment to
expanding TV entertainment options through Windows Media Center,' said Ron Pessner, General Manager of the Connected TV
Division at Microsoft Corp. 'We're
seeing the industry recognize the value of delivering these types of integrated
solutions that allow consumers to extend pictures, music and more from their
Windows Vista Home Premium- or Ultimate-based PC to the TV.'
Employing the simple-to-navigate user interface and
integrated electronic program guide of Windows Media Center, content browsing
and playback is easily controlled using the arrow and enter buttons available
on either the included MediaLive Simple Remote, or the Samsung HDTV's remote control.
Using the included mounting bracket, the compact device can
be easily mounted to the rear of select Samsung flat-panel TVs for a
clutter-free home theater setup. Operational commands are sent to the MediaLive
via the HDMI-CEC port for a high quality, single-cable connection to the HDTV.
The device connects to a PC via a RJ45 connected LAN cable, or wirelessly
through a built-in 802.11 a/b/g/n receiver.
The Samsung MediaLive will be available in August 2008.
Specifications
Online Content
- Windows Media Center
online media content providers
Audio
Video
- WMV, MPEG2, MPEG4, H.264
- HDMI-CEC output
- Replay
- Down & Play of recorded TV program In PC
- AV Streaming with PC (Server)
- AV Streaming with PC (Client) - WMV, MPEG2 file Streaming
Photo
- JPEG
- Zoom in/out, Rotation
Input and Output
- DC Power
- USB 2.0 Slave
- USB 2.0 Host
- HDMI-CEC
- Ethernet (RJ45 LAN cable)
Works With
- 2008-model Samsung HDTVs 450 series and higher, LCD, Plasma
and DLP
Dimension (W X H X D, mm)
Weight
Estimated Selling
Price $200
Availability August 2008
*Subject to change without notice.
About Samsung
Electronics America, Inc.
Headquartered in Ridgefield Park, NJ, Samsung Electronics
America, Inc. (SEA), a wholly owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co.,
Ltd., markets a broad range of award-winning, digital consumer electronics and
home appliance products, including HDTVs, home theater systems, MP3 players,
digital imaging products, refrigerators and washing machines. A recognized
innovation leader in consumer electronics design and technology, Samsung is the
HDTV market leader in the U.S. Please visit www.samsung.com for more
information.
Cross Posted from Chris Lanier's Blog at http://msmvps.com/blogs/chrisl/
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After what seems like an extremely long wait Windows Home
Server Power Pack 1 has been released.
If you have automatic updates enabled on your server then Power Pack 1
will be downloaded directly, but if you can’t wait for that then
the download is up here.
Power Pack 1 includes several new features and fixes, most notable
Vista x64 support and a fix to the nasty data corruption bug. Other features include Home Server Shared
Folder backup, improved remote access, and power consumption/performance improvements.
Hot on the heels of Power Pack 1, HP has also released their
MediaSmart
Server Update which adds a few additional features.
Read more on We
Got Served and the Windows
Home Server Team Blog.
Cross Posted from Chris Lanier's Blog at http://msmvps.com/blogs/chrisl/
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It has always been hard to stomach the DRM variations that
CableLabs has set up between OCURs and UDCP devices like TiVo’s. TiVo
gets the ability to have non-DRM recordings if the content provider hasn’t
flagged the broadcast at all whereas Media Center with CableCARD has to protect
everything no matter what. This discrepancy might is ready to change.
CableLabs
recently unwrapped an update to the OCUR specs in which they appeared to have removed
the “Requirement to Protect Output of Content with No Protection Flags.”
Hard to say whether you will need the Windows
Media Center TV Pack to take full advantage, but based
on what S1Digital is planning to ship it would appear that at least
at first the TV Pack will be required. There will also have to be a
Digital Cable Tuner update that would most likely allow shows not marked as
copy protected to skip the WMDRM process within the tuner.
Cross Posted from Chris Lanier's Blog at http://msmvps.com/blogs/chrisl/
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Lots of stuff going around on Fiji, and while I can’t say as
much as I’d like too I can say that no single person has put all the pieces
together yet. Word is that Fiji final name is indeed Windows Media Center
TV Pack, and useless a separate product pops up out of nowhere I’d consider
that pretty concrete. Microsoft let that bit slip themselves by releasing a few knowledge
base articles specifically about the TV Pack.
Engadget
HD runs down what they expect to be in the update, and Brent Evans covers
more of the news
from a few different sources as does Mary Jo.
Now, I still can’t say much about it because of various
different NDAs, but I can say there are still pieces missing from people
accounts of how this is going to work and/or what is included in the
update. Good or bad however, I can’t say so you will have to wait. Microsoft
has hinted that the official announcement for Fiji will come at CEDIA in
September.
On to what I can say, this beta has been a disaster if you
look at it with an outside perspective. I am very disappointed on how
many people are leaking stuff, and if you thought a two year wait for a public
beta was long for Fiji I’d suggest you not get your hopes up about testing
anything else related to Media Center in the future. Based on the
disregard of the testers I wouldn’t be surprised if Microsoft cut out a public
beta until everything is finalized for the next release. You can thank
your fellow beta testers for screwing you out of a possible opportunity.
I’m also very disappointed at the collective attitude of The
Green Button. Not because Fiji might be OEM only, not because it might be
missing DIRECTV support, not because of any included or missing feature but
instead because of the childish name calling and activity that has gone
on. The Green Button used to be a community that pretty much moderated
itself, but of course the second I get busy at work all hell breaks loss and
people turn into name calling teenagers. You can all do better, and I
expect to see it.
Just because Microsoft bought The Green Button does not mean
they will reply to all threads about unreleased and/or unannounced
software. Everyone needs to realize this. Microsoft employees have
been being more active in the forums, and considering this ownership transition
is just starting it will take time for things to change. Those who insist
on flaming and name calling any member, Microsoft employed or not, will not be
welcome at The Green Button.
I will have more on Fiji when I can talk about it, but sadly
at this point all I can say is above.
Cross Posted from Chris Lanier's Blog at http://msmvps.com/blogs/chrisl/
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VidaBox Releases the vController - a Solid, Feature-Rich Hardware
Solution Integratable with Software-Based Automation packages
Westbury, NY – July 17th – VidaBox
is excited to offer the vController, a powerful rack-mountable automation
solution. Designed for heavy-duty automation, it comes standard with four USB
ports, dual Ethernet Ports, VGA video out, and two standard RS-232 ports.
Optionally, it can be configured with up to nine RS-232 ports for the most
demanding of integration projects.
“With the growing popularity of PC-based automation platforms, integrators have
been looking for a solid, pre-built hardware solution where they can reliably
run their software,” explains Steven Cheung, President of VidaBox LLC. “The
vController is specifically designed to meet that need. It comes in a
rack-mountable form factor at only 1U tall, yet sports a wide array of
connectivity options. When used in conjunction with software packages such as
Charmed Quark System’s CQC platform, it can replace proprietary solutions and
provide similar functionality at a fraction of the cost.”
Based on the XP operating system, the vController is compatible with a wide
range of automation solutions, allowing an integrator to combine it with their
favorite software package to control a myriad of devices via TCP/IP, RS-232,
IR, and other communication protocols.
“While the vController is available as a standalone product,” continues Cheung,
“it’s ideally used with CQC as a part of a predesigned vAutomation package,
serving as its automation & control backbone. By choosing a vAutomation
package, integrators can save hours of design work and product testing that
traditionally needs to go into every new project, reaping tremendous time
savings.”
The vController is available now, and ships with 2 RS-232 ports with options
for 6 or 9 ports total. For more details and specifications on the VidaBox
vController and their comprehensive line of media servers and extenders, please
visit the company website at http://www.vidabox.com,
or visit them in Sound Room 17 at CEDIA Expo 2008!
About VidaBox LLC
VidaBox LLC is a premium manufacturer & designer of AV and integration
hardware. Specializing in multiroom audio-video distribution and automation
equipment, VidaBox is focused on providing professional installers and
integrators with complete solutions that include media servers & extenders,
touchpanel hardware and interface software, as well as predesigned,
customizable AV packages that are scalable to meet the needs of a wide range of
projects & installations.
Cross Posted from Chris Lanier's Blog at http://msmvps.com/blogs/chrisl/
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VidaBox Announces the PicoPC with Malware-Proof Write
Protection & Solid State Design for Ultimate in Reliability & Ease for
PC on TV
WESTBURY, NY – July 16th– VidaBox
LLC is excited to announce the new PicoPC. Unlike traditional computers,
this 13-ounce device is designed to be ultra-compact at only 1-1/4” tall, has
no moving parts, and comes with built-in write protection that restores the
software to its original condition upon every restart.
“The PicoPC is the ideal solution for anyone who wants simple, fool-proof
access to PC capabilities on their HDTV,” says Steven Cheung, President of
VidaBox. “Because it’s so small and light, you can easily hide it behind any HDTV
with some Velcro®. Because it has no fans or hard drives, mechanical failure is
a thing of the past. Combined with its virus and malware-proof
write-protection, the PicoPC’s features a very attractive solution.”
The PicoPC features a VGA video out, with inputs & outputs for audio, an
RS-232 port, dual USB ports, and also includes the VidaBox premium wireless
keyboard – all standard. There is also an option for a built-in wireless
802.11b/g adapter for installations where a hardwire LAN connection isn’t available.
“The versatility of the PicoPC makes it a great candidate for a wide variety of
applications,” Cheung continues. “Beyond simple web browsing on an HDTV, one
can also use it as an inexpensive digital signage solution. AV integrators
using VidaBox’s vAutomation can take advantage of the PicoPC’s RS-232 port and
use it to control a connected TV or projector. For consumers, they can connect
webcams and microphones to the PicoPC, and turn it into an ultra-portable,
compact communication station.”
“Best of all,” Cheung elaborates, “once the PicoPC is set up the way you want,
simply enable write-protection, and the entire setup is saved! Afterwards, it
doesn’t matter if someone downloads a virus, or decides to delete the operating
system - a simple restart will bring the system back to its original condition,
as if nothing happened! When this level of software protection is combined with
a reliable, solid state design, the PicoPC is clearly the ideal choice for an
endless number of applications.”
The PicoPC is available now, and ships with a standard 2 GB CF card, with
options for 4, 8, and 16GB. For more details and specifications on the VidaBox
PicoPC and their comprehensive line of media servers and extenders, please
visit the company website at http://www.vidabox.com,
or visit them in Sound Room 17 at CEDIA Expo 2008!
About VidaBox LLC
VidaBox LLC is a premium manufacturer & designer of AV and integration
hardware. Specializing in multiroom audio-video distribution and automation
equipment, VidaBox is focused on providing professional installers and
integrators with complete solutions that include media servers & extenders,
touchpanel hardware and interface software, as well as predesigned,
customizable AV packages that are scalable to meet the needs of a wide range of
projects & installations.
Cross Posted from Chris Lanier's Blog at http://msmvps.com/blogs/chrisl/
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One of the most popular Media Center plug-ins has always
been TweakMCE, but with the release of Vista the community has been lacking
such a tool produced by Microsoft. That
has now changed with the
release of TweakMC for Vista Media Center.
The new tool exposes an interface for the various registry settings that
control Media Center behavior.
TweakMC allows easy access to several dozen Media Center
settings including some of the ones listed below. The UI is hardly pretty to look at, but the
good news is that once you change the settings this tool shouldn’t be needed
again.
Wonder if Matt approves
of the new version? (he headed up TweakMCE for Media Center 2005)
- Display Wireless Passwords
- Overscan Adjustment Settings
- Enable AddIn Debugging
- Override the Current Screen Resolution
- Enable DVD Library
- Skip Forward/Back Interval
- More Info Panel Timeout
- Enable Universal Remote Control
- Set Remote Control ID
- Much more
Cross Posted from Chris Lanier's Blog at http://msmvps.com/blogs/chrisl/
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