Mike's Blog

With the new features of the 2008 TV Pack, I couldn't resist buying a new media center from a cutting edge OEM like S1Digital who was the first to ship systems with the new update, and according to Paul I was the first to get one.  I plan on writing (at least) a couple posts on this system, in this one I won't be going into any details on the new TV Pack update.  This is a kind of a sticky situation, Microsoft OEM is saying it's OK for me to discuss all the new features since I've purchased a machine with it loaded but the Media Center Beta Team (I am on the beta) has asked that I not until my NDA expires on 9/3, so I've decided that I like testing Media Center and wish to remain on the beta's I'm on so I'll wait until my NDA is released before going into any details.

So lets start with the system specs.  Paul was great to work with and let me customize some of the components of their Platinum Edition Media Center.  In addition to the default specs (which are quite good to begin with), I went with a Quad Core 9300 CPU, added 2GB of RAM for a total of 4 and got Vista Ultimate instead of Home Premium.  Disk wise I went with 2 500GB drives in a Raid 0 (striped disks) for a total of 1TB.  For the tuners I got 2 internal Digital Cable Tuners, I'll go into more detail on my tuner setup in a later post.  I just went with the default DVDRW drive as all of our Blu-ray and HD-DVD viewing is done on standalone players in our home theater, this machine is in the living room.  The system has an e-SATA port so I could easily add a SATA HD-DVD/Blu-ray combo drive later on if needed.

The system took about a week and a half to get to me after I ordered it, I did the cheap ground shipping which was 4 days of that time.  The system arrived in perfect condition.  I hooked the system up in my office to get everything configured, the first time you boot the system it runs through the final steps of the image deployment and the Vista OOBE wizard which took about 15 minutes.  I'll detail out my setup in a later post, but I've had the system in the living room replacing my Velocity Micro CineMagix Grand Theater system since Saturday and it's been solid as a rock.

Look for my next post after 9/3 where I'll get into all the details of my setup and the TV Pack update.

More unboxing pictures are available here.

As a poster at thegreenbutton.com pointed out Dell is selling the Linksys DMA-2100 for $199 right now.  But you can get it even cheaper.  If your company has an employee purchase program with Dell you get an extra $50 off select network hardware right now and that does include the DMA-2100, on top of that if you pay with your Dell credit account you'll get an extra 4% off.  So after taxes and shipping the unit cost me $129.  If you've been waiting, I'd say now is the time to go pick one up.

I just received an email from VidaBox about a a new product they're releasing.  Before I go any further I must say that I think VidaBox is a great company and are doing great things for the Media Center community.  The new product is called the PicoPC.  It's a small PC running XPe (embedded XP) on solid state disks so there are no moving parts.  They're marketing as a PC for your HDTV to use to surf the net and check email.  I thought that phase (webtv anyone?) was over but I guess I was wrong.  Also the box is almost a grand, $929.

I'm sorry guys, but I'm just not seeing the value.  I hope this new area doesn't distract them from their true talent of building very nice Media Centers.

Ted from Embedded Automation posted some info on their Vista SideShow client that will be a part of mControl version 2.1.  Check it out at http://www.embeddedautomation.com/forum/showthread.php?t=670

I love stories like this.  Big Apple fan who never thought they'd be running Windows ends up having their entire house powered by Media Center.  Good read:

http://www.electronichouse.com/article/media_center_convert_wins_microsoft_ultimate_install_contest/

I'm a little surprised that this house won Microsoft's ultimate install contest though given that they're using Tivos for recorded TV, can't win them all I guess.

Just wanted to put up a quick post, yes I'm still alive.  My son was born about a month ago so I've not had much time for blogging or Media Center in general.  Before he was born my Velocity Micro CableCard system came in so I'm planning a post on my experiences with it over the last 6 weeks or so, so look for that in the not so distant future.

The folks over at Ricavision have updated their Sideshow remote and given it a release date of August 2007.  I must say it looks pretty sweet!

http://ricavision.com/ricavision_webupdate/rica100.html

This is the first time I wish I didn't have a Prius wish (almost) all of this built in (and also non-replaceable) as I would be all over this.

http://www.hipepc.com/store/pc/viewCategories.asp?idCategory=102

Meet Driv-N: The future of automotive connectivity and entertainment
Brings all of the functionality of a high powered PC where it's never been before - your car. Watch DVD movies, listen to CDs, MP3s, enjoy XM online satellite radio, Internet Radio and browse the web, while remaining connected to to your home or office PC in ways you've never imagined. Seamlessly access all of your home media files and documents without the clumsiness and risk of balancing a notebook on the passenger seat. Best of all, Driv-N can be controlled entirely by voice! Simply speak the song/movie title, artist, album or genre and Driv-N will play your selection, whether it's on your car PC, home PC or notebook.

Like a traditional car amplifier, Driv-N's rugged extruded aluminum chassis may be installed under the seat or in the trunk, with a plethora of touchscreen options ranging from a motorized in-dash solution with AM/FM radio that slides down to reveal a DVD-ROM drive, to roof mounted or headrest mounted solutions that can either compliment or replace an existing car stereo or DVD Player. Driv-N's smart car power supply survives engine cranks and shuts your PC down properly when you turn your vehicle off, keeping your data safe.

Mobile Internet Browsing - Surf the web from your car
Fancy yourself a Wardriver?  Browse the Internet at high speed from thousands of hot spots or through your mobile phone provider's high speed connection.  Look up movie times, restaurant guides and check your email without exiting your vehicle.

Transfer over your scheduled appointments, favorites, contacts, email and have them read aloud to you while you're driving, courtesy of One Voice's advanced speech recognition engine, allowing you to keep your eyes on the road.

Absolute Media Playback - CD, DVD, MP3, MPG and more
If your home PC can play it, Driv-N can play it too; without the file type or encoding limitations found in standard head units. Best of all, there's no files to transfer. Driv-N can play back all standard CDs, DVD movies, Internet video or you can remotely network with your home PC for unlimited access to all of the music in your shared media folders.

Media Center Communicator Speech Recognition by One Voice Technologies: Just say it to play it
Hands free operation has never been easier! Simply speak the name of the song, artist, album, genre or movie title you want to play and Media Center Communicator will play it instantly.

And unlike most voice recognition packages, Media Center Communicator requires no voice training and can even understand most common accents with outstanding clarity. With the powerful networking capabilities in Windows Vista, Media Center Communicator can play all of the video and audio files on your home computers or Xbox 360 as well.

AM/FM radio, Internet Radio and XM Satellite Radio
Expand your music options like never before with full access to familiar AM and FM radio stations, optional 170+ XM Satellite Radio stations and hundreds more Internet radio stations from around the world. Driv-N is also compatible with all external XM Radio FM Modulators.

Driv-N features an integrated reverse switch compatible with all composite rearview CCD Cameras that activates when you're backing up for provides additional safety, day or night.

OBD II In-Vehicle diagnostics
Ever wonder what the 'check engine light' means? Driv-N's optional OBD II Vehicle Diagnostics will tell you and also allow you to clear codes without a trip to the mechanic.

OBD II diagnostics also allow you to monitor vehicle speed, engine rpm, temperature, performance, sensors and more via real time onscreen graphs.

Now this is cool, but I wish it was available to users of other media centers.

NIVEUS MEDIA CENTERS NOW SHIPPING WITH HD MEDIA STORE, FEATURING MUSICGIANTS’ HD MUSIC

MusicGiants and Niveus Media become the first to deliver CD lossless quality and multi-channel music downloads directly into the Media Center experience.

Milpitas, CA – April 11, 2007 – Niveus Media, Inc. the award-winning manufacturer of hardware and software digital media entertainment solutions, and MusicGiants™, the leader in HD music downloads, are pleased to announce the availability of high definition 2.0 stereo and 5.1 surround sound music downloadable on Niveus’ 2007 Windows Vista-based media centers!

Niveus’ new HD Media Store provides an intuitive media center interface to access MusicGiants’ extensive network of digital downloads from major and independent labels. Niveus’ exclusively designed media store is the first high definition media portal that enables downloads and purchases through Windows Media Center via MusicGiants. The HD Media Store enables customers to easily browse, purchase, and download music from MusicGiants in the Windows Media Audio Lossless (WMA) format store, and seamlessly access this content from within the Windows Media Center ‘Music’ menu, providing a single location for one’s entire music collection.

“Niveus is excited to bring our dealers and customers into the world of HD Media downloads,” states Tim Cutting, CEO of Niveus Media. “By working closely with MusicGiants, Niveus is the first to launch an integrated music shopping experience that delivers the best in high quality music downloads from the MusicGiants catalog.”

Purchasing uncompromised HD music has never been easier. Niveus’ 2007 Vista-based media servers, including the Summit Series, Rainier and Denali Editions, as well as the Pro Series, n7 and n9, are now shipping [and are a great option for those dealers and custom integrators looking to fill the void from HP’s recent decision to discontinue development of its Media Center Edition (MCE)-based Digital Entertainment Center (DEC)] and incorporate the live HD Media Store software application.

MusicGiants, which launched in 2005, is the only music download service to offer high-definition, digital recordings from the top music companies such as EMI Music, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group. Their downloads deliver full resolution music at up to 1100 kbps for “true CD quality” sound. This WMA format boasts up to four times the sound quality of any other download service, including those expected to be available in May 2007 from EMI through Apple. MusicGiants also offers Super HD downloads (as in re-mastered DVD Audio or SACDs available in either 5.1 surround sound or 2.0 stereo) which play at sample rates up to 11,000 kbps.

“We’re pleased to have Niveus be our first hardware partner to deliver MusicGiants’ integrated premium HD entertainment to their media centers,” said Scott Bahneman, CEO of MusicGiants. “The combination of Niveus and the Vista platform now allows consumers to purchase their entertainment at the highest quality available for home use and also transcode it down for all of their portable devices.”

Niveus customers with Windows XP-based media centers can visit the website for the latest product and software updates, product information, and software downloads, including the MusicGiants portal. Niveus’ 2007 media centers are amongst the first Windows Vista Ultimate-based Media Center systems to incorporate Intel’s Viiv™ technology including Core 2 Duo processors, HD DVD and CableCARD compatibility for premium HD television viewing and recording.

For more information on Niveus Media, please visit www.niveusmedia.com.
For more information on MusicGiants, please visit www.musicgiants.com.

Press Contact: Caster Communications, Inc. at 401.792.7080
Katie Short - kshort@castercomm.com
Kimberly Lancaster - klancaster@castercomm.com
For digital images log on to www.castercomm.com

Other product or service names mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners. ###

http://www.niveusmedia.com/collateral/PR041107_HDMediaStore_NowShipping.htm

You can read the full review here.  There are a couple things I'd like to point out about it though. 

The first, listed as a con, is "CableCARD incompatible with satellite TV" I'm not sure what to even say about that other than duh! 

The next thing that caught my eye is the price they're quoting, $3699.  While you can certainly customize the system to get to that price you can also get it for $2649 with dual digital cable tuners. 

They reviewed the system using Verizon's FiOS, which I think is great.  I know if FiOS service was available in Houston I'd switch over to it, so I'm glad Verizon is supporting CableCard customers. 

I'm not sure how this happened or if it really did, but they claim that what they recorded using the digital cable tuners with CableCards inserted wasn't copy protected.  This is technically impossible.  Anything recorded with a digital cable tuner with a CableCard inserted will only be playable on the machine that recorded it, and only in Media Center.  I'm not sure how they came to the conclusion the shows weren't protected but I'm going to bet that they didn't try playing them back on another system, or even in WMP on the same system.

Now this is a great concept.  It doesn't fix the fact that you'll still need extenders (and not these sets) in other rooms to use the content, but it's cool none the less.

From: http://www.gearlog.com/2007/03/ctia_2007_vista_tv_with_window.php

Welcome to Bill Gates' dream world: a Windows Vista TV with a Windows Mobile 6 remote control. That's i-Mate's vision here at CTIA, where they're showing off their XStream, a line of 37", 46" and 60" LCD TVs with full-fledged Windows Vista PCs built into them. The idea behind these $2500+ devices is to streamline the living-room PC by eliminating cable connections to TVs, and the associated loss of quality. They're working on CableLabs certification so they can get a CableCard in there; they're also looking at integrating an HD-DVD player and bringing the existing 720p resolution sets up to 1080p for the ultimate (Vista Ultimate?) media experience. Mad BitTorrenters should probably be thrilled by this: now you can download your HD XVID files and immediately play them on your living-room "TV." The XStream is destined to come out by the end of the year, i-Mate says.

Along with the XStream, i-Mate was showing Windows Vista Sideshow running on several of their Windows Mobile PDA/phones, including both the upcoming Ultimate line and the existing JAQ4 and PDA-L. If you're within Wi-Fi or Bluetooth range of your Vista PC, you'll be able to use your PDA/phone to browse or stream content from your PC, view documents and manipulate the PC's media player. I'm surprised I haven't seen more Sideshow action from other vendors, because it's a neat trick that gives your PDA/phone another thing to do when it's at home. The Sideshow software will come this summer as an upgrade for the JAQ4 and PDA-L, i-Mate said.

Looks like the folks over at Slysoft have taken advantage of the newly discovered HD DVD processing key to enable AnyDVD to now be able to backup HD DVD.  I've not tried this personally but use their regular AnyDVD software and it works quite well, if this works as good I think they just hit a big home run for anyone looking to rip HD DVD to their hard drives.  Check this post on their forum for all the details and how to snag a beta copy.  http://forum.slysoft.com/showthread.php?t=1281