Ian Dixon's Blog

Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 to ship November 24th

blog@thedigitallifestyle.com (The Digital Lifestyle (Ian Dixon)) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:47:29 GMT

Microsoft have officially announced that Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 is going to released next Tuesday (24th) via Windows Update. PP3 includes improved Windows 7 support and a great Windows Media Center addin

Details from the Windows Home Server blog

Windows 7 Libraries integration

When you install the Windows Home Server Connector and log on a computer running Windows 7, you can access the Windows Home Server shared folders from the Windows 7 libraries.

Windows 7 Action Center backup warning suppression

After you install the Windows Home Server Connector to enable the home server backup for your computer running Windows 7, you can suppress the Action Center warning reminding you that Windows Backup has not been set up.

Windows 7 power settings

You can configure your computer running Windows 7 to wake up at a scheduled backup time and then go back to sleep after the backup finishes.

 Console support for Windows 7

Windows 7 is properly displayed as the operating system shown in the Computers & Backup tab.

Windows Search

Windows Search 4 is included to improve query search times, indexing times, and reliability. Extended Remote Discovery increases the efficiency of searching across all your libraries running Windows Search 4. Files encrypted with EFS are now supported.

TV archive

Windows Home Server can automatically archive recorded TV by moving your recordings from a Windows Media Center computer to your home server in the format of your choice. This enables playback in the correct format for your home computers and/or portable devices.

Console view

You can view information about your home server’s storage space, hard drives, backup status, and more from Windows Media Center.

Complete details are available in the Power Pack 3 Release Documentation.

Sky Player for Media Center launches today (officially)

blog@thedigitallifestyle.com (The Digital Lifestyle (Ian Dixon)) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:14:37 GMT

I noticed that the Sky Player addin for Windows Media Center launched on Tuesday but apparently the official launch is today. On the Windows Media Center team blog they have the official announcement:

Watch TV from Sky Live and On-Demand with Windows 7

A new world of high quality television programming is now open to Windows Media Centre users in the United Kingdom as Sky Player on Windows 7 launches today. That’s more than 500 movies available anytime from SkyMovies and thousands of programmes from 24 channels – all delivered to your PC, on your schedule. There’s plenty of great live sporting action, including Barclay’s Premier League, UEFA Champion’s League football and loads more.

Windows 7 and Sky makes TV on your PC easy

Sky Player brings Windows 7 users a huge range of entertainment, literally thousands of hours of TV and movies on demand, including live sports, drama, documentaries, kids shows, culture and news. Search for shows using keywords, browse programme galleries or scroll through the familiar on screen guide. SkyPlayer in Windows 7 is compatible with any Media Center remote.

See it in action

Click here for a video demonstration.

Already have Windows 7? You’re ready to go...

If you already have Windows 7, click here to launch Sky Player now.

Upgrading to Windows 7? Check out this Special Offer!

To celebrate the launch of Sky Player on Windows 7, Sky and Microsoft are offering three months of Sky Player for the price of two with any Windows 7 purchase. Those who already have Windows 7 can subscribe to the offer via the Sky Player sign in page in Windows Media Centre.

Notes

Sky Media Player is supported on the final release version of Windows 7. Users running pre-release versions of Windows 7 such as Beta version and Release Candidate 1 version should upgrade to the final release of Windows 7 to access Sky Media Player on Windows 7.
To watch Sky Player with Windows 7 you need an effective broadband connection of 2Mbit/s or more.

For more details or to sign up, visit www.microsoft.com/uk/skyplayer or http://skyplayer.sky.com/watch/windows-media-center/.

Podcast: The Media Center Show #231 – Tagging your photos

blog@thedigitallifestyle.com (The Digital Lifestyle (Ian Dixon)) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:04:00 GMT

This week on the show long term listener Brian Frost talks photo tagging and how to get the most of your photos in Windows Media Center. Brian has some great tips on the methods and the tools needed to make the most of your photo collection. I posted Brian’s tips on the TDL Wiki

I have the weeks news and details of the the new app store for Windows Media Center: MadeforMediaCenter.com

[mp3]http://media.libsyn.com/media/iandixon/TDL_MediaCenter_20091119_231.mp3[/mp3]

Listen Here (download mp3) - Subscribe via iTunes - Subscribe via RSS - Subscribe with Zune

Vote for the show on podcast Alley - Join The Media Center Show Group on Facebook - Join the Windows Live Group - Follow me on Twitter

Listen to TDL Mobile, the show all about the mobile lifestyle!
Links from this weeks show

Music by Ian Dixon

Clubhouse tags: clubhouse, media center, windows media center, how-to

MadeforMediaCenter.com Q&A

blog@thedigitallifestyle.com (The Digital Lifestyle (Ian Dixon)) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:45:40 GMT

Mike Garcen has a Q&A with Andrew Cherry my partner in MadeforMediaCenter.com, Andrew answers Mike questions on subject like where the idea came from and how we test the applications. If your interesting in the new app store its well worth reading and don’t forget their are forums on TDL for discussing MadeforMediaCenter.com

So what better way to get answers to this new product than to ask the creator itself! Andrew took the time out of his busy schedule to answer some Q&A I had for him, and he even promised to check in at our forums if there are more questions!

Good Morning Mr. Cherry (or good evening). Can you tell us a little bit about yourself for starters?

Andrew Cherry: Well, I've been a fan of Media Center since MCE2005 came out, and a developer of Media Center addins almost since then. I run a company called Digital Living Solutions which develops Media Center add-ins and related apps for OEMs and third parties. I'm also a Microsoft MVP for Media Center, based on my contributions to the Media Center development community.

Who thought of the idea and why?
AC: It's an idea I've been kicking around for quite a while - since the end of 2007 in fact (that's when I registered the domain name), but it's something that I'd not done much about other than talk about it to various people until Ian Dixon contacted me about setting up an "app store" for Media Center.

continuing the Q&A at Missing Remote

Sky Player live in Windows Media Center

blog@thedigitallifestyle.com (The Digital Lifestyle (Ian Dixon)) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:29:26 GMT

It looks like Sky and Microsoft have put the Media Center Sky Player service live. I noticed that the coming soon line on the Sky Player had gone and that I could install the application. As well as the TV addin there is also a Sky Movies icon in the Movies strip. You need to register to watch the content, if your a sky subscriber you get automatic access to lots of the content and if your not you can pay a monthly fee or purchase individual shows.

As I don’t pay for Sky and am not about to this is as far as I could test it, so here are a select of screen shots and if you are a subscriber give it a test and let me know how you get on with it

Introducing MadeforMediaCenter – The app store for Windows Media Center

blog@thedigitallifestyle.com (The Digital Lifestyle (Ian Dixon)) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:17:00 GMT

I want to introduce a project that has been consuming a lot of my time over the last few weeks: MadeforMediaCenter.com. Made for Media Center is an app store for Windows Media Center. Developed with fellow MVP Andrew Cherry of Digital Living Solutions the app store aims to brings together the fantastic selection 3rd party Windows Media Center applications and make them available directly in the 10 foot UI.

As well as being available in the Media Center UI there is also a web based version where you can browse, search and download the applications. The site is in private beta at the moment and we are looking for developers to help test the system and start submitting apps, then we will open a public beta.

The first phase of the rollout will focus on free apps and we will look at paid applications at a later date

Here are some of the features:

10 foot native Windows Media Center UI for searching and installing applications
Web based app store with category and full text searching
Notifications of application updates
Community rating and reviews
Featured apps
Application publisher accounts with stats
Social networking features

The site is open for browsing and you can request a user account, we will be approving accounts over a period of time during the beta stage. You can also follow 4MediaCenter on twitter for updates and news

Here are some screenshots

Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 coming next week

blog@thedigitallifestyle.com (The Digital Lifestyle (Ian Dixon)) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:32:26 GMT

According to Phil Churchill Windows Home Server PP3 will be released next week. Power Pack 3 includes much improved Media Center integration including a WHS console view in Media Center and TV archiving. When the beta was launched I posted a video over which you can watch here

Sean Daniel who is the Program Manager for SBS (Small Business Server) at Microsoft has posted that Power Pack 3 will be available next week.

Using his Twitter account, Sean posted:

Ahh… my #WHS is running Power Pack 3 RTM. Look for yours next week!

BBC announces timetable for Freeview HD signal availability

blog@thedigitallifestyle.com (The Digital Lifestyle (Ian Dixon)) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:09:16 GMT

Yesterday the BBC announced the timetable for Freeview HD. Next month my local region Manchester will go live and by the end of March 2010 London, Glasgow, Newcastle, Leeds, Bradford and Birmingham receive HD signals

I have yet to see a Media Center compatible tuner on sale yet but I am keeping my eyes open

New DVB-T2 technology will deliver an increase in capacity of 67% to the BBC's Multiplex B, efficiently creating the space needed for UK public service broadcasters' HD transmissions. The UK will be the first country in the world to launch this new standard, and its successful implementation is the result of pioneering work by the BBC in collaboration with partners including Ofcom, Arqiva, Siemens and receiver manufacturers. To view Freeview HD, audiences will need equipment containing this new technology. Freeview HD receivers (set-top boxes, digital television recorders and integrated televisions) will be available from early 2010.

More details from the BBC

Port your recording schedule from Vista MC (pre-TV Pack) to Windows 7 upgrade

blog@thedigitallifestyle.com (The Digital Lifestyle (Ian Dixon)) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:05:11 GMT

If your ready to move up to Windows 7 but are worried about loosing your recording schedules then worry no more. On the Windows Media Center Team Blog they have a solution for porting your recordings from Vista (pre-TV pack) to Windows 7:

Important note: This method is to port ONLY the schedule entries, and NOT other settings such as the recorded TV location, recording history, NOR the existing recordings themselves.

Back up the recordings.xml found under %programdata%\microsoft\ehome\recording to a flash or backup drive (one whose data will not be destroyed as you install the new Windows 7 OS).

Note: programdata is a hidden folder in the root of the OS drive. One way to get to it is by typing %programdata% into the Start | Search box and then hit Enter.

Do a clean install of Windows 7.
Create a new folder %programdata%\microsoft\ehome\recording and copy to it the recordings.xml backed up in step #1 above
Launch Media Center and go through TV signal setup.

At the end of the setup, all recording scheduled entries found in the recordings.xml will be imported into Media Center.

The indexing of the Guide can take a while, so please give it some time for the scheduled entries to show up under Recorded TV | view scheduled. You can also verify whether the series are imported successfully by checking under Recorded TV | view scheduled | series.

Thanks Danny!

via the Windows Media Center Team Blog

Boxee working on a set top box

blog@thedigitallifestyle.com (The Digital Lifestyle (Ian Dixon)) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:37:56 GMT

I like Boxee as a way of watching internet content and it looks like the platform is going from strength to strength. Today they have announced they are working with a hardware partner on a Boxee set top box. For a long time the Media Center community have wondered if a dedicated Media Center box would be a good idea and Boxee’s idea looks like a good one but for me I love the flexibility of a PC running Boxee and Media Center

I am very happy to announce we have signed our first partnership with a CE company. At this point we can not say more about the partner or the specs of the device, but we can tell you we are working closely with them to make sure we deliver a great Boxee experience on it.

We will show mockups of the box and share more details at our upcoming Boxee Beta Unveiling event in Brooklyn, NY on Dec 7th. RSVP here.

Over the next few years there will be a great change in the way we consume entertainment on our TV. The Internet is (finally) coming to the TV and with it will come a whole new world of content, applications and innovations.

Via engadget and the Boxee blog

Next Week the TV Transforms when Social Networking, Music and Movies Come Alive on Xbox 360

blog@thedigitallifestyle.com (The Digital Lifestyle (Ian Dixon)) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:24:11 GMT

It looks like the update for the Xbox 360 is coming next week. Microsoft seem to be getting more and more features into the Xbox 360, its just a shame both of mine are at Microsoft for repair! Here is Microsoft’s press release:

Next Week the TV Transforms when Social Networking, Music and Movies Come Alive on Xbox 360

Facebook, Twitter, Last.fm and Zune video Launch Nov. 17 on Xbox LIVE

The topic du jour was all about TV, but this morning at NewTeeVee Live – an industry conference that explores the future of television – Xbox LIVE general manager Marc Whitten confirmed the next wave of social entertainment is coming to Xbox LIVE on November 17. Starting next week, Facebook, Twitter, Last.fm and instant on HD video from Zune will be available on Xbox 360 consoles, transforming Xbox LIVE into the largest social network connected to the TV with exclusive features custom-designed for the living room.

“We’re delivering some truly exciting social entertainment experiences to our members,” said Whitten. “Xbox LIVE’s differentiator has always been our community, and we’ve already seen a tremendous response to these features in our public preview. It’s the community that drives us forward and allows us to pioneer new ways of connecting people through the entertainment they love.”

· Facebook*– Update your status to share what movie, game or entertainment you’re enjoying, connect with friends and view their Facebook stream, status updates and photos on the big screen – all seamlessly integrated and custom-built for Xbox 360. You can even compare your Xbox LIVE and Facebook friends lists to see which of your friends are on LIVE.

· Zune – Zune video on Xbox LIVE offers a full fidelity experience with instant on HD in 1080p and 5.1 channel surround sound. No waiting for downloads or buffering, it’s there at the press of a button. You can also share the experience with up to seven friends through voice chat and Avatar integration on the TV screen – it puts a whole new spin on “movie night.”

· Twitter*– Stay in the know by discovering, posting and replying to Tweets right on your Xbox 360. You can even view friend profiles, trends and conversations, or search to see who’s tweeting about your favorite game.

· Last.fm* – Discover more music and explore endless personalized radio stations with Last.fm on Xbox 360. Skip, “ban” or “love” tracks to create your perfect mix—we’ve even built in “Gamer Stations” with game-related types of music selected specifically for the gaming community (Available in the U.S. and UK)

In addition to these social features, Xbox LIVE will also be debuting “News and More,” a new section of the “Inside Xbox” channel, transforming Xbox LIVE into a full-fledged media portal. With a regularly-updated stream of content from MSNBC, The New Yorker and Dilbert, “News and More” brings the latest in current events, arts and entertainment right to your fingertips.

All of these features build on the wild success of Netflix on Xbox LIVE, which quickly established Xbox 360 as the most-used living room device for streaming Netflix content to the home¹. Only on Xbox 360 can you find the best in movies, music, games and social networking all in one place, tailor-made for the TV and connected to more than 20 million people around the globe.

“From the launch of Xbox LIVE nearly seven years ago, to milestones like Video Marketplace, Netflix and the New Xbox Experience, we’ve continued working toward our vision of connected entertainment for everyone,” continued Whitten. “I’m proud to say that next week marks another great stride in fulfilling that promise, and we’re already imagining what the future has in store.”

So what are you waiting for? On November 17, turn on your Xbox 360, log onto Xbox LIVE and enjoy the world of social entertainment at your fingertips. Not an Xbox LIVE Gold member? Starting November 20 (12 pm ET / 9 am PT) until November 23 (12 pm ET / 9 am PT) Xbox LIVE Silver members can enjoy the latest Gold features for FREE – including Facebook, Twitter and Last.fm! There’s tons more to experience with Gold as well. Play the latest game titles like “Halo 3: ODST” online multiplayer, participate in “1 vs. 100,” host an Xbox LIVE Party or even video chat with friends. All of these Gold-only features will be available all weekend long for anyone to try.

* Xbox LIVE Gold adult account required to access these features. Xbox LIVE Gold memberships are just over $4 (U.S.) per month

** Xbox LIVE members under the age of 18 will not be able to access Facebook and Twitter as part of the Free Gold Weekend

¹ Source: One Touch Intelligence (www.onetouchintelligence.com), from October 2009 survey conducted in association with The Praxi Group, Inc.

Podcast:The Media Center Show #230 - Vision Audio

blog@thedigitallifestyle.com (The Digital Lifestyle (Ian Dixon)) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:16:00 GMT

This week on the show I have Dustin Anderson from Vision Audio winners of the 2009 Windows Media Center Ultimate Installer competition. Vision Audio installed a fantastic solution at a home in Texas with over 30 audio zone and 13 displays. Dustin will be explaining why they selected Windows Media Center and how talks about the components used in the installation.I catch up on email and look at the news items making the blogs.

[mp3]http://media.libsyn.com/media/iandixon/TDL_MediaCenter_20091112_230.mp3[/mp3]

Listen Here (download mp3) - Subscribe via iTunes - Subscribe via RSS - Subscribe with Zune

Vote for the show on podcast Alley - Join The Media Center Show Group on Facebook - Join the Windows Live Group - Follow me on Twitter

Listen to TDL Mobile, the show all about the mobile lifestyle!
Links from this weeks show

Music by Ian Dixon

Clubhouse tags: clubhouse, media center, windows media center, how-to

New games for Zune HD

blog@thedigitallifestyle.com (The Digital Lifestyle (Ian Dixon)) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:55:59 GMT

I saw Mary-Jo Foley’s blog about new games for the Zune HD so I checked the Zune store and there were the new apps. There are games like Project Gotham Racing, Audiosurft Tilt, pool and a Piano app. In total there are six free games and some make good use of the Zune hardware with multi-touch and the accelerometer. See Mary-Jo’s post for the details

There is also a Facebook and Twitter app in the works too, I am off to play PGR!

BBC’s DRM Plan blocked

blog@thedigitallifestyle.com (The Digital Lifestyle (Ian Dixon)) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:12:00 GMT

It looks like the BBC’s Freeview DRM plan has been blocked by Ofcom (the UK regulator). With the launch of Freeview HD service due next month the BBC wanted to introduce DRM to the HD channels that would prevent redistribution of its HD content. The plan was to let users freely record HD content in SD and restrict recording of HD, but Ofcom has blocked the move calling saying its trying to "enact a form of encryption through the backdoor."

Its good that when/if Freeview HD comes to Media Center that that we will be able to record and move around files freely but the lack of anti-piracy could see content providers not wanting to put their premium content on the service

via Techradar

Podcast: The Custom Integrator Show Installment 020

blog@thedigitallifestyle.com (The Digital Lifestyle (Ian Dixon)) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:00:22 GMT

The latest edition of The Custom Integrator Show is out:

This time we dive right into how the High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) handshaking works with HDMI. Before we get started, however, we provide an update/correction to some of the statements we made in our previous discussions on HDMI regarding the bandwidth it takes to support different resolutions and frame rates.

Direct Download – Subscribe via RSS - Subscribe via iTunes - Subscribe with Zune

Checkout the rest of the post for Derek’s diagrams

Zune HD 4.3 Firmware details

blog@thedigitallifestyle.com (The Digital Lifestyle (Ian Dixon)) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:23:53 GMT

My Zune HD is still not being offered the 4.3 update but over at zdnet they have a list of the changes:

Faster web browser
Option in browser for desktop or mobile sites
Predictive text in the keyboard
Auto capitalization
Larger landscape keyboard
Toggle between seek or presets for radio
Support for future 3D games

Other minor updates and improvements, not specifically identified

They even have a video too:

Zune HD 4.3 Firmware Update

blog@thedigitallifestyle.com (The Digital Lifestyle (Ian Dixon)) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 09:01:14 GMT

Over at Zune Thoughts Jason Dunn is reporting that the Zune HD is getting a firmware update today. The update takes the Zune HD firmware from 4.1 to 4.3 and Jason says there no details available on what the update fixes. He also says to get the update he had to go to Settings > Device > Player Update, when I checked my Zune this morning there were no updates offered.

Having had the Zune HD for a couple of months now I can say I am really liking the device, the UI is a joy to use and the hardware is great but tt would be nice to see some apps showing up in the app store

Boxee Beta Unveiling December 7

blog@thedigitallifestyle.com (The Digital Lifestyle (Ian Dixon)) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 08:46:46 GMT

After Windows Media Center Boxee is turning out to be one of my favourite applications for watching media on my TV. It works great on the PC connected to my TV and works on my Apple TV too. So I was interested to see that in December they are planning to launch a new look beta at an event in Williamsburg with general availability at CES in January.

I think Microsoft need to keep an eye on Boxee

via EngadgetHD

Digital Cable Advisor Tool has been released

blog@thedigitallifestyle.com (The Digital Lifestyle (Ian Dixon)) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 08:14:34 GMT

It looks like the tool that Microsoft talked about at CEDIA for checking if you system is capable of working with CableCard has been released. The tool called the Digital Cable Advisor should be showing up in the Extras gallery in Windows 7, after you have installed the tool it will run an analysis of your system and it will check things like graphics card performance. If everything passes you know your good to run a DCT

ATI also released the updated firmware for their DCT that enables the less restrictive DRM settings so you will be able to start playing with those commercial skipping applications

Of course non of this is available over here in the UK so checkout the gallery at Missing Remote

Taking a break this week

blog@thedigitallifestyle.com (The Digital Lifestyle (Ian Dixon)) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:26:43 GMT

I have been away this week so The Media Center Show is taking a week off, I will be back next week talking Windows Media Center and the digital lifestyle with email, news and an interview

Don’t forget to keep your emails coming in and don’t forget about the TDL Reader the Windows Media Center addin that enables you to get all of the content from TDL directly in Media Center and its completely free!

Download the 32bit or the 64bit version

MSN UK launch music download service beta

blog@thedigitallifestyle.com (The Digital Lifestyle (Ian Dixon)) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:17:42 GMT

Today MSN UK have launched a new music download service. The service offers around a million DRM fee tracks for download and seems to be focusing on music discovery like the Zune marketplace does. While the paid service looks good I will be interested to see how the free streaming service which will be going in to private beta soon looks.

I wonder why they don’t just brand it as a UK Zune service and get the Zune name out there, maybe it will be once it comes out of beta?

Try the site as http://downloads.music.uk.msn.com and also read Jamie Thomson’s post on it

Details from Microsoft:

MSN Music service will offer a large and competitively priced music library. Offering a rich web-based experience, users can discover, play and download music as well as enjoy features such as personalised playlist creation. The music library will constantly be updated along with artist information such as biographies and discographies. The music store will also integrate with the rich editorial content of the MSN Music channel.
Using a new or existing Windows Live ID, the new site makes it easy to access, browse, connect and purchase music. In addition, all paid for downloaded content will be free of digital rights management (DRM) protection.
MSN Music service will continue negotiating to add more songs, albums and content. The paid for content will allow users to download full tracks or albums (DRM free) and will work on a credit system, which is paid for by credit card.
Pricing Information:
Pack of 10 credits - £7.99
1 credit = 1 standard single
10 credits = 1 standard album

ATI cards "struggling" with HD channels in Windows 7 Media Center

blog@thedigitallifestyle.com (The Digital Lifestyle (Ian Dixon)) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 08:40:29 GMT

I read a report on PC Pro’s web site that some ATI cards are struggling with HD content in Windows Media Center. The post quotes forum members from AMD’s forums complaining that HD content from the BBC recorded via Freesat will not play on certain ATI Radeon cards. ATI told PC Pro that it may not all be down to ATI’s cards:

Despite the numerous complaints, AMD says it's not certain that ATI cards are to blame. "A forum poster on a British enthusiast site has drawn our attention to a possible issue with ATI Radeon graphics cards and HD content broadcast by BBC when used with Windows Media Center (in Windows 7)," the company says in a statement sent to PC Pro.

"We are looking into the matter and first need to determine if the issue mentioned on the forum is in fact related to our hardware, and if so, is it repeatable and persistent, or an isolated case with other hardware or software contributing to the problem. Once we have done so, we will determine next steps."

I don’t have Freesat or a Radion so I have not been able to test it, have any of you readers experienced any issues with HD in Media Center and ATI graphics cards?

Apple TV 3.0 software update

blog@thedigitallifestyle.com (The Digital Lifestyle (Ian Dixon)) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 17:06:44 GMT

I have been playing around with a hacked Apple TV for a few weeks its nice and it can run some extra apps in its hacked form but I found the out of the box Apple software I found a little lacking. Now Apple have updated the Apple TV software to 3.0 and it has a new shiny UI

If your a big iTunes user then the Apple TV could be a good device for you but if looking at integrating it with your own content (like recorded TV) then it may not be the right device

Via Missing Remote

Apple Press Release:

Apple Introduces Apple TV 3.0 Software With Redesigned User Interface
Enjoy iTunes Extras, iTunes LP & Genius Mixes on Your HD TV

CUPERTINO, California-October 29, 2009-Apple® today introduced new Apple TV® 3.0 software featuring a redesigned main menu that makes navigating your favorite content simpler and faster, and makes enjoying the largest selection of on-demand HD movie rentals and purchases, HD TV shows, music and podcasts from the iTunes® Store even better on your TV. You can now enjoy iTunes Extras and iTunes LP in stunning fullscreen with your Apple TV, as well as listen to Genius Mixes and Internet radio through your home theater system. The new Apple TV software is available immediately free of charge to existing Apple TV owners, and Apple TV with 160GB capacity is available for just $229.

"The new software for Apple TV features a simpler and faster interface that gives you instant access to your favorite content," said Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president of Internet Services. "HD movies and HD TV shows from iTunes have been a huge hit with Apple TV customers, and with Apple TV 3.0 they get great new features including iTunes Extras, Genius Mixes and Internet radio."

The redesigned main menu on Apple TV gives you instant access to your favorite content. Recently rented or purchased movies, as well as other content including TV shows, music, podcasts, photos and YouTube, are accessible directly from the new main menu. The new software also allows Apple TV users to enjoy stunning fullscreen iTunes Extras and iTunes LP, including great new movie titles such as "Star Trek" or classics like "The Wizard of Oz" and albums such as Taylor Swift's "Fearless (Platinum Edition)" and Jack Johnson's "En Concert." iTunes Extras gives movie fans great additional content such as deleted scenes, interviews and interactive galleries. iTunes LP is the next evolution of the music album, delivering a rich, immersive experience for select albums on the iTunes Store by combining beautiful design with expanded visual features like live performance videos, lyrics, artwork, liner notes, interviews, photos, album credits and more.

Now Apple TV users can enjoy Genius Mixes through their home theater system and listen to up to 12 endless mixes of songs that go great together, automatically generated from their iTunes library. Customers can also enjoy Internet radio, allowing them to browse and listen to thousands of Internet radio stations, as well as tag favorite stations to listen to later. Apple TV's support of HD photos is enhanced with iPhoto Events, which simplifies finding your favorite photos on Apple TV, as well as iPhoto® Faces, which gives access to photos organized by people identified in iPhoto.

Apple TV users have direct access to a catalog of over 8,000 Hollywood films on iTunes including over 2,000 in stunning HD video available for rent or purchase. Users can also choose from a selection of 11 million songs, 10,000 music videos and over 50,000 TV episodes to purchase directly from their Apple TV or browse and enjoy the iTunes Store podcast directory of over 175,000 free video and audio podcasts. Purchases downloaded to Apple TV are automatically synced back to iTunes on the user's computer for enjoyment on their Mac® or PC or all current generation iPods or iPhones.* iPod touch® or iPhone® users can download the free Remote app from the App Store to control their Apple TV with a simple tap or flick of the finger.

Pricing & Availability
The new Apple TV software is available as a free automatic download to all Apple TV customers. The 160GB Apple TV is available from the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple's retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $229 (US). Apple TV requires an 802.11b/g/n wireless network or 10/100 Base-T Ethernet networking, a broadband Internet connection and a high definition widescreen TV. Video availability varies by country.

Apple TV easily connects to a broad range of widescreen TVs and home theater systems and comes standard with HDMI, component video, analog and optical audio ports. Using high-speed Wi-Fi, Apple TV automatically plays your iTunes content without setup or management.

*Movie rentals work on iPod classic®, iPod nano® with video, iPod touch, iPhone, iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone.

The Media Center Show #229 – Andrew Edney

blog@thedigitallifestyle.com (The Digital Lifestyle (Ian Dixon)) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:56:00 GMT

This week Window author and Windows Home Server MVP Andrew Edney joins me to give us an update on the Windows Home Server world including the latest hardware from HP and Lenovo and an update on Power Pack 3. Plus Andrew talks about Windows 7 and his new Windows 7 book!

I have a roundup of the weeks news and an update on my home Media Center project

[mp3]http://media.libsyn.com/media/iandixon/TDL_MediaCenter_20091029_229.mp3[/mp3]

Listen Here (download mp3) - Subscribe via iTunes - Subscribe via RSS - Subscribe with Zune

Vote for the show on podcast Alley - Join The Media Center Show Group on Facebook - Join the Windows Live Group - Follow me on Twitter

Listen to TDL Mobile, the show all about the mobile lifestyle!

Links from this weeks show:

Music by Ian Dixon

Clubhouse tags: clubhouse, media center, windows media center, how-to

DIY Windows Home Server Build - JukeBox

blog@thedigitallifestyle.com (The Digital Lifestyle (Ian Dixon)) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:56:00 GMT

At Automatedhome they have great guide to building a DIY Windows Home Server. The box is called the JukeBox MKII and has an impressive 8 SATA drives and Mark does an excellent job explaining the components used.

The original version of the Jukebox used Windows XP so its good to see that replaced with Windows Home Server

The old server waiting to be upgraded

Watching TV without a Tuner

blog@thedigitallifestyle.com (The Digital Lifestyle (Ian Dixon)) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 08:09:29 GMT

There are many ways of watching TV in Windows Media Center that don’t require a TV tuner and with new addins like the Sky Player and Internet TV it looks like Microsoft are pushing Media Center in the IPTV direction. However you don’t have to wait for the new addins to watch TV on Windows Media Center, Sarah Perez on Channel 9 has published a guide to some of the many 3rd party TV apps for Media Center. The guide includes TunerFreeMCE, Boxee, SecondrunTV and many others and it really highlights the power of Windows Media Center. If you install all the listed apps you will never run out of content to watch on Media Center!

Media Center without a TV Tuner

Another Commercial Skipping guide and now even with CableCard!

blog@thedigitallifestyle.com (The Digital Lifestyle (Ian Dixon)) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:35:10 GMT

I posted about Engadget HD’s guide and I someone missed Mike’s excellent post on how to do commercial skipping in Windows 7. As Windows 7 will bring a relaxing of CableCard copy protection the guide should work for HD content to, so follow the link to the 4 page guide

When the announcement came that ATI would be releasing a new firmware for its cable card devices which would properly support the Copy Freely protections of shows, I got excited. For the past 2 years, I have been a dedicated cable card user within my Vista Media Center to enjoy high definition recordings via Comcast, even though it meant ditching my favorite (and I do mean favorite) plugin, DVRMSToolbox, commonly referred to as DTB. Seeing people who have used the firmware already got me thinking happy thoughts...

You see, DTB is what gave me the magical power to analyze television recordings, find the commercials, and then skip instantly past them when I watched. And with ShowAnalyzer, I was even able to start this process while the recording was still going on! The original firmwares for the ATI tuners however had a copy protection flag on all recordings--whether the broadcaster flagged the show or not--which prevented the ShowAnalyzer from being able to scan the file. According to reports, with this new firmware anything NOT flagged as Copy Protected should be able to be scanned and thus allow me to use DTB and ShowAnalyzer once again

How to automatically skip commercials in Windows 7 Media Center

blog@thedigitallifestyle.com (The Digital Lifestyle (Ian Dixon)) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:27:47 GMT

Ben Drawbaugh has a great guide on commercials skipping in Windows Media Center and as we all hate commercials its well worth looking at. The guide uses DVRMSToolbox, DVTAddin and ShowAnalyzer and takes you step by step through the setup process

Skipping commercials on a HTPC DVR has been around for a long long time, but it isn't always the easiest thing to setup. And even if you do get it working, there are so many options, it can take some time before you get it working the way you want it. So in the spirt of Windows 7 day, and the fact that the next major version of ShowAnalyzer is being released, we figured we'd write up a how to with a few tips and tricks of our own. We start by downloading and installing the main components; DVRMSToolBox, the DTB Media Center Add-in and ShowAnalyzer, and finish off with some troubleshooting for when things go wrong. So if you use Media Center, click through and never pick up the remote to skip a commercial again.

Good work Ben!

Video: Using a Small Form Factor PC as a Media Center System

blog@thedigitallifestyle.com (The Digital Lifestyle (Ian Dixon)) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:32:00 GMT

For the last few years I have been using my Xbox 360 as an extender connected to my TV and have been really enjoying the Windows Media Center experience. But times are changing and there are more and more services come to the browser so when I got chance to try a Niveus ZONE I hooked it up to my TV.

I really like the flexibility having a PC connected to the TV brings and its just as simple to use as the 360 so the WAF has not suffered.

So I am going to do a series of videos looking at the pros and cons of using a PC and this first one looks at some of the reasons why I moved

(sorry the audio level is so low)

Download WMV – Download M4V – Watch via Youtube

My Movies 3 Released

blog@thedigitallifestyle.com (The Digital Lifestyle (Ian Dixon)) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 20:37:38 GMT

Brian Binnerup has released My Movies 3 in time for the Windows 7 launch, the app has been in beta for a month or so and now here is the release version. Checkout Brian on The Media Center Show from last month talking about My Movies 3

Download from MyMovies.dk

My Movies 3 is now available with a fully redesigned Media Center interface, for Windows Vista Media Center and Windows 7 Media Center.

My Movies 3 is build with focus on reliability, stability and speed. My Movies 3 will easily handle collections up to 5,000 titles, or even larger.

The default functionalities in My Movies 3 is free as they were in My Movies 2, and as in My Movies 2, some advanced features requires a certain amount of points to be unlocked.

You can either purchase points, or contribute data to our service to receive points.

Windows Media Center update for Windows 7 that addresses issues with ISDB broadcasts

blog@thedigitallifestyle.com (The Digital Lifestyle (Ian Dixon)) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:14:00 GMT

There is an update out for Windows 7 Media Center that fixes issues with ISDB (ISDB is a Japanese standard for digital television and for digital radio). More details from Microsoft

Description of the Windows Media Center update for Windows 7 that addresses some output issues with ISDB broadcasts

Install this update to improve the Windows 7 Media Center experience when you are using an ISDB tuner. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer.

Download information

The following files are available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:

Update for Media Center for Windows 7, x86-based versions

Download the update for Windows 7 for x86-based systems package now.

Update for Media Center for Windows 7, x64-based versions

Download the update for Windows 7 for x64-based systems package now.

119591 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/119591/ ) How to obtain Microsoft support files from online services

Microsoft scanned this file for viruses. Microsoft used the most current virus-detection software that was available on the date that the file was posted. The file is stored on security-enhanced servers that help prevent any unauthorized changes to the file. For more information about software update terminology, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

824684 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/824684/ ) Description of the standard terminology that is used to describe Microsoft software updates

Windows Media Center Adds Internet TV Functionality in Window 7

blog@thedigitallifestyle.com (The Digital Lifestyle (Ian Dixon)) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:00:00 GMT

Another press release from Microsoft. This one is from the US about the Internet TV content available today in Windows Media Center in Windows 7:

Today during the keynote at the Windows 7 launch event in New York, Brad Brooks, Corporate Vice President, Windows Consumer Marketing and Product Management, joined CEO Steve Ballmer on stage to demo key Windows 7 features. As part of that demo Brad shared the news that Windows Media Center in Windows 7 will now include Internet TV featuring content from a variety of providers. Now in addition to live and recorded TV, you can also watch TV from the Internet through Windows Media Center in Windows 7 so you can get the shows you want to watch in one place using one easy-to-use guide.

Below are details about the Internet TV content available today in Windows 7, as well as highlights of the Windows Media Center experience in Windows 7 which is available for free in most versions of the operating system (Windows 7 Home Premium, Ultimate, Professional and Enterprise).

Internet TV Content Available TODAY in Windows Media Center in Windows 7:

· CBS Audience Network: Featuring a variety of shows from CBS Primetime, Daytime, Extras, and TV Classics, including full-length episodes of current TV shows, CBS Classics TV shows, short clips, and Web originals.

· Full Zune Video Podcast Library: Thousands of hours of entertainment with full TV episodes, webisodes, clips, and videos from providers including ABC News, CBS News, CNBC, CNET TV, Comedy Central, Current TV, The Discovery Channel, Fox, G4 TV, HBO, MSNBC, NBC, Showtime, and Revision 3, along with some of the best user-generated videos on the Web. Some video podcasts are also available in HD.

· MSN and msnbc.com: Clips as well as full length episodes from TV shows such as Arrested Development, news and weather from MSNBC, editor picks and most popular videos, five day weather forecasts, news, video playlists, music videos, movie trailers and more.

· Netflix: The updated Netflix experience available in Windows 7 lets you instantly watch a growing catalogue of thousands of Movies and TV episodes from Netflix directly in Windows Media Center.

Other Windows Media Center Features in Windows 7:

· Watch Live TV on Your Windows 7 PC: By adding an inexpensive TV tuner to a Windows 7 PC, you can use Windows Media Center to watch, pause, and rewind live TV directly on your PC. There is no additional service charge to watch over-the-air channels in standard or high definition. You can also use your PC as a DVR to schedule recordings of TV shows and movies.

· Stream Digital Media from your Home PC: Never miss your favorite shows. With Windows 7 you can now access your Windows Media Center digital media even when you’re not at home by using Remote Streaming. Simply log in using your Windows Live ID to get your TV shows, movies, music, and pictures streamed to you over the internet - no matter where you are.

· Watch Recorded TV Shows on your Zune or Windows Phone: Watch your Windows Media Center recorded TV on-the-go. Just sync your recorded TV shows with your Zune digital media player or Windows Phone, and watch what you want no matter where you are.

· Access all your Personal Media in One Place: Windows Media Center brings in all digital media stored on the PC – photos, movies, music, and recorded TV shows – into one place. And new with Windows 7 you can use Home Group to access digital media in Windows Media Center from other PCs in your network.

· Digital Cable Enhancements Now Available (announced at CEDIA this September):

· New Digital Cable Advisor tool will soon be available in the “Extras” tab in Windows Media Center, making it possible for you to add a digital cable tuner with CableCARD to your PC by running a test to check whether your PC meets the basic performance requirements.

· Windows Media Center now provides support for switched digital video (SDV).

· Enjoy more portability for your digital cable TV that is marked as “copy freely” using your existing digital cable tuners.

The Media Center Show #228 – Windows 7 Launch and Vidabox

blog@thedigitallifestyle.com (The Digital Lifestyle (Ian Dixon)) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:00:00 GMT

This week is the launch of Windows 7 and a big thanks to everybody that sent in their favourite features. I take a few moments to discus them and my own favourites on the show and I also have an interview with Vidabox’s Steven Cheung, Vidabox make high end system for the custom market and now offer components for the enthusiast market and I talk to Steven about their Windows Home Server solution, touch screens and custom cases.

As ever I have email and a roundup of the weeks news

[mp3]http://media.libsyn.com/media/iandixon/TDL_MediaCenter_20091022_228.mp3[/mp3]

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Links from this weeks show:

Music by Ian Dixon

Clubhouse tags: clubhouse, media center, windows media center, how-to

Microsoft Simplifies the PC with Windows 7

blog@thedigitallifestyle.com (The Digital Lifestyle (Ian Dixon)) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 09:03:30 GMT

As part of the Windows 7 launch Microsoft UK have put out a press release which details some of the Windows 7 features and pricing details:

Microsoft Simplifies the PC with Windows 7

New PC Operating System Available Worldwide

London, UK — 22 October, 2009 — Today Microsoft Corp. announced the worldwide availability of its new Windows 7 operating system. Windows 7 delivers on a simple premise: make it easier for people to do the things they want on a PC. The new operating system offers a streamlined user interface and significant new features that make everyday tasks easier and allow people to get the most out of computers of all styles and sizes.

“The launch of Windows 7 marks the start of an exciting new era for PC users in the UK,” said Ashley Highfield, MD and VP of Consumer and Online, Microsoft UK. “Windows 7 brings to consumers more choice and value than any previous Microsoft operating system. We’ve worked with partners and consumers alike to deliver an improved user experience with enhanced performance and functionality that promote ease and simplicity in everyday tasks.”

Building Windows 7 has been a collaborative process from the beginning, with Microsoft’s engineers and designers working with customers and partners to build an operating system that delivers on the vision of the PC, simplified.

“The development of Windows 7 was a huge collaborative project that involved listening to the feedback from millions of people around the world,” said Leila Martine, Windows Consumer Business Group Lead, Microsoft UK. “We are grateful to all the customers, partners and developers who helped make Windows 7 what we believe is the best Microsoft operating system ever.”

On Sale Worldwide Today

The global availability of Windows 7 is joined by an unprecedented array of new PCs and software programs. With more PC options available for customers today at a wide range of price points starting from under £230, customers can choose the PC that fits their personality, style, and needs: from netbooks and ultra-thin notebooks, to highly interactive multi-touch laptops and all-in-one desktops as well as water-cooled gaming machines. For information on product offers, visit http://www.microsoft.com/uk/win7offers .

Pricing details:

Windows 7 Upgrade version	Price*
Windows 7 Home Premium	£79.99 until 31 December, £99.99 thereafter
Windows 7 Professional	£189.99
Windows 7 Ultimate	£199.99
Windows 7 Full version	Price*
Windows 7 Home Premium	£149.99
Windows 7 Professional	£219.99
Windows 7 Ultimate	£229.99

Windows 7 Family Pack (allowing for installation of the same copy of Windows 7 Home Premium on up to three PCs)	£149.99 (N.B. the Family Pack will be available in limited quantities)
Windows 7 Student offer (Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade OR Windows 7 Professional Upgrade)	£30 each. NB - For those students requiring the full packaged product (FPP) they can opt to receive a boxed version, by post, for an additional cost of £9

Sky Player with Windows 7

Sky’s online TV service, Sky Player, is to be added to Windows Media Center in Windows 7 for UK customers, creating a new and exciting way to watch live and on-demand TV from Sky on a PC. Sky Player currently has 24 live streaming TV channels and provides a comprehensive on-demand library which includes 500 movies to download at anytime from Sky Movies and thousands of programmes spanning entertainment, sport documentaries, kids, culture and news. For existing Sky TV customers, Sky Player in Windows 7 offers another way to view their Sky TV, in addition to their set top box. For new customers, Sky Player in Windows 7 will offer a wide range of live channels and on-demand content via a number of different packages through a monthly subscription. Windows Media Center is included in Windows 7 Home Premium, Ultimate, Professional and Enterprise.

Griff Parry, Director of On Demand, BSkyB comments, “Sky Player in Windows 7 offers yet another innovative and attractive way through which to access a wide range of live and on-demand TV. Whether it’s an existing customer looking to get even more from their Sky subscription, or someone connecting with Sky for the first time through their PC, everyone can enjoy a high-quality online TV experience through Windows 7.”

Simplifying the PC

Over the past 18 months, feedback from more than a billion opt-in customer sessions and eight million beta testers validated Microsoft’s research on how to simplify everyday tasks. Here are a few of the many ways you’ll experience a more simplified PC with Windows 7:

Simplifies everyday tasks

· Taskbar: The go-to spot for launching programs and switching windows. The taskbar has been completely redesigned to help you work smarter, cut clutter, and get more done, with features like thumbnail previews of webpages, documents and—even running video.

· HomeGroup: Easily share your files and printers with other Windows 7 PCs in your home.

· DeviceStage: Shows you the status of all your connected devices such as cameras and mobile phones and makes it easier to synchronise and manage them.

· Photos and Videos: Windows Live Photo Gallery and Windows Live Movie Maker offer customers great free options to edit photos, videos, and easily share with loved ones.

· Snap: Drag an open window to your screen’s border to automatically re-size it. Snap two different windows to the left and right borders for a perfect comparison.

· Shake: Click a window pane and shake your mouse to minimise all other open windows. Shake the pane again to restore the windows to their original sizes.

· Internet Explorer 8: Our fastest, easiest, and safest browser ever. Smart new features like Instant Search, Accelerators, and Web Slices help you get more out of the Web.

Works the way you want

· Faster On, Faster Off: Every Windows 7 user will benefit from the focus on underlying performance, faster startup, resuming and shut down time, and enhanced power management.

· Mobile Made Easier: All your mobile computing settings are in one place with the Windows Mobility Center.

· Protecting your PC: Safeguarding the data on your PC is easier with advanced backup capabilities and the free Microsoft Security Essentials download to protect you against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.

Makes new things possible

· Windows Touch: Interact with your PC with a touch-screen monitor, using your fingers and multi-touch gestures.

· PlayTo: Stream your digital music, videos, and photos to other PCs or devices such as your Xbox 360 connected to your TV.

· Internet TV: New content providers and an improved interface make it even easier to watch TV on your PC.

· Rich Gaming and Graphics: Windows 7 includes performance enhancements that take power gaming and entertainment to a new level, with 64-bit support and DirectX11 graphics.

· Location-Aware Printing – Your documents are sent to the right printer whether it’s at home or at the office. And with Offline Files you can work offline and automatically synchronise between a PC and documents on your office network.

Partners Rally Around Windows 7

Along with increased customer involvement, Microsoft’s partners had a closer, more involved role in the product vision and planning process with Windows 7. The collaborative approach to engaging partners to inform development efforts has resulted in improved performance for PCs as well as compatibility with a broad range of software and hardware across the Windows ecosystem. More than 16,000 software and hardware companies are building solutions on Windows 7 and over 44,000 developers are enrolled in the Windows Ecosystem Readiness Program. Together, these partners are developing hardware, software and services capable of reaching more than a billion PCs around the world.

Video of Sky’s new Windows Media Center Addin for Windows 7

blog@thedigitallifestyle.com (The Digital Lifestyle (Ian Dixon)) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 08:50:40 GMT

Here is a video demo of Skys’s new Media Center application in Windows 7

Via Garry

Sky Player for Windows Media Center Announced

blog@thedigitallifestyle.com (The Digital Lifestyle (Ian Dixon)) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 08:40:00 GMT

I couldn't attend the London Windows 7 launch yesterday as I was busy at work but my friend Andrew Edney did make it and one of the announcements at the launch was a Sky Player addin for Windows Media Center. This isn’t full Sky / Media Center integration but its a step in the right direction, its a Media Center version of Sky’s web player. Garry Whittaker has details on his blog too

Here are some of the details from Mircosoft’s press release I got last night:

Sky Player with Windows 7
Sky’s online TV service, Sky Player, is to be added to Windows Media Center in Windows 7 for UK customers, creating a new and exciting way to watch live and on-demand TV from Sky on a PC. Sky Player currently has 24 live streaming TV channels and provides a comprehensive on-demand library which includes 500 movies to download at anytime from Sky Movies and thousands of programmes spanning entertainment, sport documentaries, kids, culture and news. For existing Sky TV customers, Sky Player in Windows 7 offers another way to view their Sky TV, in addition to their set top box. For new customers, Sky Player in Windows 7 will offer a wide range of live channels and on-demand content via a number of different packages through a monthly subscription. Windows Media Center is included in Windows 7 Home Premium, Ultimate, Professional and Enterprise.
Griff Parry, Director of On Demand, BSkyB comments, “Sky Player in Windows 7 offers yet another innovative and attractive way through which to access a wide range of live and on-demand TV. Whether it’s an existing customer looking to get even more from their Sky subscription, or someone connecting with Sky for the first time through their PC, everyone can enjoy a high-quality online TV experience through Windows 7.”

Pictures from Andrews Blog:

Video of Xbox 1080p Streaming

blog@thedigitallifestyle.com (The Digital Lifestyle (Ian Dixon)) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 11:32:02 GMT

Looks like the new Zune video services for the Xbox 360 is going to be very impressive, it will delivery 1080p streaming content over a 4mb connection with only seconds of buffering. According to Dan Rayburn the new addin checks your bandwidth and then starts streaming 1080p content in about a second, Dan recorded a video of the addin in action and I must admit it looks really impressive:

After downloading a Zune video app, you can browse through movies available in 1080p and new to the movie service, you can choose to stream or download the movies. If you select streaming, the Zune app does a quick check of your connection to tell you if you can get the 1080p content and once you purchase the movie, the buffer time before it starts is less than a second. When Microsoft says that the new Zune video technology allows for "instant-on" streaming, they aren't kidding. (Updated: Limelight is delivering the streams)

via blog.streamingmedia.com

UPnP Forum Celebrates 10th Anniversary

blog@thedigitallifestyle.com (The Digital Lifestyle (Ian Dixon)) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 11:15:23 GMT

Yesterday was the 10th anniversary of the UNPnP forum, the people behind lots of the media streaming features we enjoy today. Technologies like Play To build on the work done by the UPnP forum and without the group we may not have some of the media streaming features we use everyday. For more techinical details on UPPnP and DLNA listen to The Custom Integrator Show Ep 17

via ehomeupgrade

UPnP Forum Celebrates Ten Years of Leading Connectivity Innovation

BEAVERTON, Ore. (USA) – October 19, 2009 –UPnP ForumSM, the industry initiative designed to
provide simple and robust connectivity among consumer electronics, intelligent appliances, computers
and mobile devices from different vendors, today celebrates its tenth anniversary. For the past decade,
UPnP Forum has led the industry in driving the development and adoption of standards for device
interoperability for IP-based networked devices.

Since its formation in 1999, UPnP Forum has developed a device architecture and interoperability
interfaces recognized by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International
Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) as the world’s first comprehensive international standard for device
discovery and control on IP networks (ISO/IEC 29341). The Forum has also implemented a thriving
certification program. There are now more than 3,000 UPnP® Certified product models worldwide.
UPnP Forum marked the anniversary with a member celebration and reunion at its recent member
meeting in Redmond, Wash. At the event, the Forum presented Outstanding Contributor Awards to six
individuals in recognition of their many years of work on UPnP activities: Shivaun Albright (HP), Hans-
Joachim Langels (Siemens), Tom McGee (formerly of Philips), Toby Nixon (Microsoft), John Ritchie
(Intel) and Karen Stash (Microsoft).

“This is an exciting time for our organization,” said Dr. Alan Messer, President and Chair of UPnP
Forum. “UPnP Forum has achieved tremendous industry support during the past ten years, solidifying
the UPnP technology’s position as the leading solution for discovery and control of networked devices.
Moreover, our members have continued to drive the development of new device control protocols
(DCPs). We look forward to another decade of developing and promoting interoperable connectivity
solutions.”

The Forum’s tenth anniversary caps what has been a momentous year for UPnP technology. The number
of UPnP® Certified devices has continued to grow at an accelerated rate, with 124 device
implementations achieving certification in 2009 to date. Additionally, UPnP Forum recently
consolidated with UPnP Implementers Corporation, shifting management of the UPnP certification and logo program to UPnP Forum. This change gives UPnP Forum full responsibility for developing and
promoting continued adoption of UPnP technology, streamlining operations and preparing the UPnP
community to accelerate its activities in the future.
UPnP Forum will continue enhancing its specifications throughout the next year in order to help
members provide products that meet ongoing demand for interoperable networked devices. The
organization plans to update its Audio Visual (AV) DCP and publish new specifications for Remote
Access, Device Protection, Device Management and Telephony control to reflect new user scenarios.
Additionally, the group will focus on additions to its Internet Gateway Device protocol to incorporate
changes to the Internet over the last several years, including IPv6.
UPnP Forum has also established a Smart Grid Task Force to examine opportunities across all of its
activities to enable users of networked devices to monitor and manage electricity consumption
throughout their homes, and to promote UPnP technology as a part of emerging Smart Grid standards
worldwide.

Windows 7 orders arriving early in the UK

blog@thedigitallifestyle.com (The Digital Lifestyle (Ian Dixon)) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:28:00 GMT

Thanks to striking postmen in the UK some users are getting their copies of Windows 7 early, Currys and PC World are trying to avoid the Royal Mail 48 hour strike on Thursday which is the Windows 7 launch day. According to the Register some people that have pre-ordered the OS have had their copies today. So if you get your copy early make sure you get it installed and let me know your favourite feature!

"Microsoft is aware of the planned postal strike and has taken action to minimise impact on those customers who pre-ordered their copies of Windows 7. As a result, some customers may receive their copy of Windows 7 a day or two early."

via databasejase

Podcast: The Custom Integrator Show Installment 01F

blog@thedigitallifestyle.com (The Digital Lifestyle (Ian Dixon)) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:08:00 GMT

The latest edition of The Custom Integrator Show is out, this show continues looking at HDMI:

The Custom Integrator Show Installment 01F is live. We dive a little further into the inner workings of HDMI. We specifically look at the wires inside of the sheath and their usage where timing is of the essence. When we are talking about hundredths and thousandths of an inch, each twist and turn inside of the HDMI cable influences the success of the content delivery. As always, there is a lot more information in the associated Podcast.

[mp3]http://media.libsyn.com/media/iandixon/TDL_Custom_20091019_01f.mp3[/mp3]

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Make sure you checkout Derek’s full post for the technical details and the diagrams