Media Center PCs rehearse for living room

Grok Headline matches for Media Center PCs rehearse for living room

Media Hubs Bridge PC, Living Room Gap
(AP)

Media Hubs Bridge PC, Living Room Gap
(AP) 06/25/2004 10:06 AM
AP - You've got hours of home movies, thousands of songs and countless digital pictures on the PC in the den. But the best places for watching and listening — the big television and stereo — are in the living room at the other end of the house.

Media Hubs Bridge PC, Living Room Gap

Media Hubs Bridge PC, Living Room Gap 06/25/2004 01:33 PM
AP via Newsday Jun 25 2004 5:08PM GMT

Media hubs bridge gap between PC, living
room

Media hubs bridge gap between PC, living
room 06/23/2004 08:43 PM
San Jose Mercury News Jun 24 2004 0:17AM GMT

HP Aims at Living Room with TVs, Media
Hubs (Reuters)

HP Aims at Living Room with TVs, Media
Hubs (Reuters) 01/05/2005 01:36 AM
Reuters - Computer maker Hewlett-Packard Co. is pushing aggressively into television sales this year as it rolls out full lines of TVs, projectors, and home media servers, Chief Executive Carly Fiorina said on Tuesday.

Research and Markets: Media Networking
2005: the Networked Living Room Becomes
A Reality

Research and Markets: Media Networking
2005: the Networked Living Room Becomes
A Reality 03/29/2005 05:08 AM
Research and Markets (researchandmarkets.com/reports/c14550) has announced the addition of Media Networking 2005: the Networked Living Room Becomes A Reality to their offering. [PRWEB Mar 29, 2005]

Microsoft Windows Media Center Extender
Technology Delivers Digital
Entertainment and the Media Center
Experience to Any Screen in the House

Microsoft Windows Media Center Extender
Technology Delivers Digital
Entertainment and the Media Center
Experience to Any Screen in the House 01/08/2004 07:35 PM
This evening during his keynote address at the 2004 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Microsoft Corp. Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates unveiled Windows® Media Center Extender Technology. The software will power a new generation of products that will extend the Media Center Edition PC experience allowing consumers to access their favorite digital entertainment, such as live and recorded television, photos, movies, and music that reside on their Windows XP Media Center Edition PC, from any room in the home -- regardless of where the PC is located. Media Center Extender Technology will not only provide access to rich content and services, but will enable devices throughout the home to utilize the full processing and storage capabilities of the PC creating new opportunities for services and providing unprecedented choice and access to content for consumers

Premio Introduces Media Center PC with
Microsoft® Windows® XP Media Center
Edition 2005

Premio Introduces Media Center PC with
Microsoft® Windows® XP Media Center
Edition 2005 12/19/2004 03:45 PM
Premio Computer, Inc. today announced the Premio Media Center PC. Preinstalled with Microsoft® Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005, the Premio Media Center is a versatile, comprehensive solution for media and home entertainment applications [PRWEB Dec 15, 2004]

Windows Media Center Extender and
Portable Media Center Fact Sheets (PDF)

Windows Media Center Extender and
Portable Media Center Fact Sheets (PDF) 01/08/2004 07:34 PM

• Windows Media Center Extender (1.8 MB)
• Introducing Portable Media Centers (569 KB)

Your Living Room is Theirs, Not Yours

Your Living Room is Theirs, Not Yours 01/09/2004 09:58 PM
I moderated this panel on high-definition TV at the CES show today, featuring some of the top people from the cable and satellite industries, plus several members of what's quaintly called the "content" business. The topic got around to DRM (digital restrictions management), of course, and the panelists' answers were -- to put it mildly -- unsatisfactory.

More living room

More living room 12/02/2003 01:06 AM
Speaking of iTunes, its release for Windows did finally motivate me to rip the rest of my music and organize it, so I don't have the mess of its physical artifacts laying around my small living area. (Instead, I put them in a handy place.) Which is nice. But, damn, now I have to buy an iPod for car listening, just like Jobs was planned!

Why is Apple MIA from the Living Room?

Why is Apple MIA from the Living Room? 03/06/2004 02:03 AM
For all the leading-edge industrial design and user interface work it's done, Apple has yet to make any kind of living room play. Dave Salvator asks "What gives?"

TiVo, MS, and the War for the Living
Room

TiVo, MS, and the War for the Living
Room 08/12/2004 12:35 AM

"The Living Room Candidate"

"The Living Room Candidate" 07/06/2004 02:58 PM

The Living Room Candidate

The Living Room Candidate 07/07/2004 04:43 AM
has made available online .. The Living Room Candidate .. every TV ad

livingroomcandidate.movingimage.us/index.php
track this site | 5 links

Thanks for the new living room,
neighbor!

Thanks for the new living room,
neighbor! 12/27/2004 03:18 PM
Thanks for the new living room, neighbor! In case you needed any further news about the earth moving, residents in Berkeley, CA have found themselves embroiled in a property-line quagmire as the result of the shifting earth. Small quakes and unstable ground have caused real property to slide as much as 20 feet in the last century, though property lines remain firmly fixed, in some cases causing bitter disputes between neighbors who find themselves with new and sometimes unwanted "improvements" relocated across into their survey area. Even in California where the earth moves all the time, th e law still hasn't quite caught up to these trickle events.

Why Is Apple MIA From The Living Room

Why Is Apple MIA From The Living Room 03/08/2004 11:24 PM
Making a serious living-room play could improve Apple's fortunes. By Dave Salvator (ExtremeTech via MyAppleMenu)

PC Makers Target The Living Room

PC Makers Target The Living Room 01/05/2004 09:48 AM
DVD Recordable Jan 5 2004 8:46AM ET

Disk drives and the living room

Disk drives and the living room 06/04/2004 01:08 AM
News.bbc.co.uk - Thu Jun 3, 03:51 pm GMT

Microsoft targets the living room

Microsoft targets the living room 03/13/2003 10:26 AM

TiVo Moves Out of the Living Room

TiVo Moves Out of the Living Room 01/03/2005 10:15 AM
Some TiVo customers woke up Monday to find a new option available on their digital video recorders, or DVRs. Called TiVoToGo, the feature enables subscribers to transfer television programming and digital media between their Series2 TiVos and computers or laptops.

Other News: Living Room Opportunity

Other News: Living Room Opportunity 01/03/2005 12:45 PM
Could Apple take over the living room with a media server, as the iPod did the digital music market?

What Microsoft and TiVo must do to win
the Living Room

What Microsoft and TiVo must do to win
the Living Room 08/11/2004 09:21 PM

Great article on Engadget that the Microsoft and TiVo crew should read it has some really great points. [Endgadget< /a>]

NewsGator Media Center Edition Featured
in Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004
"Online Spotlight"

NewsGator Media Center Edition Featured
in Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004
"Online Spotlight" 06/04/2004 12:40 PM

NewsGator Offering in Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004 Enables Users to Read Selected Content, or Watch On-Demand Video Content

DENVER, CO - June 4, 2004 - Today, NewsGator Technologies announced that the recently launched NewsGator Media Edition is featured in Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004's "Online Spotlight," an online guide created specifically for Media Center Edition PC customers that offers a central location for them to find the latest third-party services and software, such as music, movie trailers, news updates and even Karaoke.

NewsGator provides a mechanism for Media Center PC users to easily find NewsGator software and services online, without having to separately download anything from the NewsGator web site. Both text and multimedia content is supported, and information that has not already been viewed on another device can be displayed by synchronizing user subscriptions with NewsGator Online Services.

"We're excited to be included in Online Spotlight - this will dramatically increase our visibility to the many thousands of Media Center PC users," said Greg Reinacker, President & Founder of NewsGator Technologies.

NewsGator Media Center Edition is included as part of NewsGator Online Services. NewsGator Online Services includes three other content reader editions, which allow users to read content they have subscribed to from any web browser (with Web Edition), any email client (with POP Edition), and from a mobile wireless device (with Mobile Edition), which is a powerful feature for road warriors who use mobile devices to access information while on the road. The service also provides exclusive, subscriber-only content to its subscribers, as well as the ability to search for content that matches a specific keyword or URL, and return that content in a feed. NewsGator Online Services pricing starts at $5.95/month per user.

"Media Center PCs allow consumers to have faster and more efficient access to all of their favorite digital content when, where, and how they want," said Brad Brooks, Director of Marketing at Microsoft Corp. "With the NewsGator Media Center Edition, NewsGator Technologies is delivering a complementary and innovative service that will let Media Center Edition PC users easily access their customized choice of news services."

More about NewsGator Media Center Edition

This is the latest step in the "any time, any place, any device" strategy that distinguishes the NewsGator product line. NewsGator Online Services allows users to read one set of content from any device, without duplication. The combined power of NewsGator Media Center Edition and Online Services offers customers a productive and fun way to access their personalized subscriptions and information from any device, whenever they need it.

Notebook makers want a place in your
living room

Notebook makers want a place in your
living room 06/01/2004 07:13 AM
Computex Move over, small form-factor PCs...

Will Windows Power the Living Room? (PC
World)

Will Windows Power the Living Room? (PC
World) 05/04/2004 02:01 PM
PC World - Microsoft's Home Concept PC combines video recorder, CD player, phone, and more.

Electronics industry battles for the
living room

Electronics industry battles for the
living room 01/01/2005 10:10 PM
CNET News.com Jan 2 2005 1:38AM GMT

2Wire's gateway to follow SBC into
living room

2Wire's gateway to follow SBC into
living room 01/04/2005 08:25 PM
The wireless-gateway maker expands its all-important SBC deal--but the clock may be ticking.

'Killing: the dead elephant in the
living room

'Killing: the dead elephant in the
living room 07/21/2004 04:18 AM
'Enemy Contact. Kill 'em, Kill 'em'. The Price of Valor. Invisible Casualties. The Psychological Effects of Combat. The Psychological Consequences of Killing: Perpetration-Induced Traumatic Stress. Soldiers, Self-Defense, and Killing in War - (PDF). Psychological and Psychosocial Consequences of Combat and Deployment with Special Emphasis on the Gulf War. Military Leaders’ Obligation to Justify Killing in War. And, from last year, come The Killer Elite, From Hell to Baghdad - The Killer Elite Part II, and The Battle for Bagdhad - The Killer Elite Part III--Evan Wright's Rolling Stone articles recently published as Generation Kill. They are well worth re-reading in this context.

Prescott makes play for living room

Prescott makes play for living room 01/27/2004 11:27 AM

Ten things that Microsoft and TiVo must
each do to win the living room

Ten things that Microsoft and TiVo must
each do to win the living room 08/13/2004 05:18 AM

Thomas Hawk raps it out on Engadget.....

Hot on the heels of his in-depth comparison of TiVo vs.
Microsoft’s Media Center, we asked Thomas Hawk to follow up for us with a list
of ten things each of the companies could to do to win the War for the Living Room. It won’t be easy (like TiVo making
a version of their software for PCs? Not going to happen.) but we’ve got a feeling they might be better off listening
up.

The digital video recorder revolution is on, with two players, Microsoft and Tivo, having emerged as the most likely
candidates to dominate. Microsoft is betting on their Media Center Edition software package, while upstart TiVo has the
name brand recognition and strong reputation among loyalists and was first to market. Either has a shot at becoming the
gold-standard.

At present Tivo is winning in the quality game. This year Hughes released the HR10-250 Tivo PVR.  If you have not
seen time-shifted high def television yet, it is simply breathtaking. Microsoft is winning in the portability
game.  It is much easier to get content off of your MCE box than a TiVo.

Below are my suggestions for the top 10 things Microsoft and TiVo must each do to win the battle for the living
room. align="right" border="1" height="150" hspace="4" vspace="12" width="200" />

The top 10 things Microsoft must do to win the living room:

1. Offer support for recording high-definition TV as soon as possible, including an immediate announcement of an anticipated delivery date.
2. Offer quad (four) tuners - two for regular broadcasts and two for HDTV. There should never be recording
   conflicts.
3. Provide easy support for 16:9 widescreen video display, including the development of a generic display driver
   that will display the Media Center software correctly on almost any 16:9 display. Forcing a plasmato display in 4:3
   format for extended periods of time creates screen burn.
4. Develop simple drag-and-drop archiving of shows to DVD. Words like codecs and drivers and DivX and Sonic DVD and
   memory buffer error should not be a part of the process.
5. Media Center should handle large media libraries better. In the “instant on” world of today, media libraries
   (especially music) must be indexed and optimized to create instant entertainment.  At present Media Center does
   not handle large digital media libraries well.
6. Create a  “My Radio” option and a “My Radio” guide. If I would like to listen to KFOG’s “Live at the
   Archives” on Wednesday morning at 3 a.m., so be it. If I would like to get a season pass to Howard Stern, great.
   These files should be saved to MP3 and be portable. 
7. Improve stability.  Media Center should be as stable and error-free as TiVo’s Linux-based system.
8. Provide ratings and preferences in the user profile rather than in the files or players. They must also create
   some kind of suggestions feature similar to Tivo for television and music. One huge step that Microsoft took in the
   right direction was creating a music ratings feature.  At present these ratings must be the same for all users
   of a computer. If I like Nirvana and my wife prefers Alan Jackson then we are out of luck. 
9. Provide ratings and simple filtering capabilities for digital photos. If I want to show pictures of John and Alan
   and Pete and Bob while they are over for dinner then the filter tool in “my pictures” should allows for me to do
   this.
10. Provide a host of additional remote services including email, voicemail, caller ID, vehicle tracking, home
    automation (lights, home alarm security, window shades, thermostat), and “My RSS” feeds.  “My Art” should also
    be included.  Wasn’t Bill Gates running around buying up all the digital rights to fine art a while
    back? 

align="right" border="0" height="134" hspace="4" vspace="12" width="80" />And the top 10 things TiVo must do to win the
living room:

1. Produce a standalone HDTV unit. The development and expected delivery of this unit should be announced immediately.
2. Provide Ethernet connectivity to their HDTV unit and include the ability to share recorded files with a
   Windows-based PC. The fact that the Ethernet ports are disabled on the Hughes HR10-250 is simply
   ridiculous. 
3. Provide a DVD burner with all units. Copying should be as simple as selecting a program and pressing “Burn to
   disc” on a menu.
4. Create a “My Pictures” and “My Music” option for their HDTV units that can access a music and picture library via
   an Ethernet connection. The current HDTV unit does not allow the TiVo Home Media option.
5. Offer a software package for sale that will run on any Windows-based PC. TiVo should leverage their name brand
   recognition and become a powerful software player.
6. Create WiFi-enabled devices to access TiVo media from any television in the house.  I would also mention
   this as a must for Microsoft as well, were it not for the fact that they have already announced that this technology
   is on it’s way in the form of “extender” units due out by the end of this year.
7. Provide the ability to connect external hard drives. The robust 250GB drive on my Hughes HR10-250 will be a
   dinosaur in a few years, and you shouldn’t have to hack into your TiVo box to upgrade storage.
8. Improve their recommendation feature. The thumbs up / thumbs down system is good, but it frequently gets derailed
   by erroneous entries, changes in taste, etc. Like Microsoft’s “My Music” ratings, at present TiVo ratings are limited
   one user per box. Tivo should allow profile ratings so that my wife and I could each set our own ratings.
9. Similar to my suggestion for Microsoft, TiVo should develop a “My Radio” feature, and also develop a similar host
   of external applications including email, RSS feed reader, home automation, alarm, lights, shades, security, “My
   Art,” etc.
10. Merge with a cash flow positive company. TiVo is losing money. Yes, the talk turns to profitability at some point
    but at the present they do not have the bank account that Microsoft does to fend off lawsuits and the like. A
    possible merger candidate would be Netflix who does have real earnings. There are board relationships as well as
    corporate synergies where this might work.

---

Thomas Hawk is a digital media writer and enthusiast living in the San Francisco Bay area.

Alzheimer's in the Living Room: How One
Family Rallies to Cope

Alzheimer's in the Living Room: How One
Family Rallies to Cope 09/15/2004 11:42 PM
For the caregivers of patients, life is an act of stoic devotion that most families embrace as the antithesis of a nursing home.

Electronics Industry Battles for the
Living Room (Reuters)

Electronics Industry Battles for the
Living Room (Reuters) 01/01/2005 10:35 AM
Reuters - The living room, once the most technologically simple part of the average home, is a high-tech battleground today as the consumer electronics industry seeks to digitize home entertainment and make it available anywhere, anytime.

nice house, but whats outside that
living room window?

nice house, but whats outside that
living room window? 08/27/2004 05:25 PM
But they couldn't hide forever! .. this real estate listing

mlsb.com/mls/property_morephotos.cfm?ClientID=384&LIST_NUMB= 40033129&list=2&ht=1&type=SFR
track this site | 4 links

Linksys, Real take digital tunes to the
living room

Linksys, Real take digital tunes to the
living room 05/19/2004 08:39 PM

"nice house, but whats outside that
living room window?"

"nice house, but whats outside that
living room window?" 08/27/2004 03:50 PM

Daily video of a geeky dancer in his
living room

Daily video of a geeky dancer in his
living room 06/17/2005 05:08 PM

Cory Doctorow @ Boing Boing Blog

Daily video of a geeky dancer in his living room

Daily Dancer is a site where a geek video-records himself dancing to a different song every day and posts it. Jamal recommends starting with the Fett's Vette boogie, on the basis of its laudable Star Wars Kid reference, and I concur.

Link

Some day people will look back and try to understand.

Comment - TrackBack

Headless iMac is next step in digital
living room for Apple

Headless iMac is next step in digital
living room for Apple 01/03/2005 05:09 PM
In a research note to clients today, Merrill Lynch analyst Steven Milunovich provided his thoughts on reports of a headless (without monitor) sub-$500 iMac...

The Village Voice: Features: The
Elephant in Wilson's Living Room by
Murray S. Waas

The Village Voice: Features: The
Elephant in Wilson's Living Room by
Murray S. Waas 10/31/2003 08:33 PM
The Village Voice: The Elephant in Wilson's Living Room by Murray S. Waas .. FBI Broadens Leak Probe to Include GOP Officials .. quite serious

villagevoice.com/issues/0344/waas.php
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In the Charts: Media Center 2005 PCs
Take Center Stage Among Desktops

In the Charts: Media Center 2005 PCs
Take Center Stage Among Desktops 12/29/2004 11:54 AM
This month's Top 15 Desktop PCs chart highlights two trends: the emergence of powerful new gaming systems that have sophisticated style, and the rapidly growing selection of Media Center PCs, which expand PC-based home entertainment beyond gaming. Examples of the former are two new Athlon-fueled machines that sit atop the power section of our chart: Alienware's Aurora 64 FX-55 and ABS's Ultimate M5-64. Both of these systems are visually appealing without shouting "I'm just for games." Not only are they the two fastest systems on the chart, but they also produced outstanding sound with their high-end Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 cards and their 5.1-channel Logitech speakers (the X-530 and the Z-680, respectively).
Grok Description matches for Media Center PCs rehearse for living room
GrokA matches for Media Center PCs rehearse for living room

Media Center PCs rehearse for living room

The following phrases have been identified by the grok system as matching this entry: