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Ian's digital lifestyle and Windows Media Center Blog
February 2008 - Posts
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Today I will be interviewing Windows expert Ed Bott . We will be talking Vista Service Pack 1, Vista myths and the recent Vista news including today price change announcement It would be great to get the the interview interactive, so go to Live.TheDigitalLifestyle.com Read More...
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Top tip on how to use query based recording with Media Center. As Ewan says in the blog it's a bit obscure and not easy to find but it's well worth highlighting. I won't steal the thunder of the original blog post but you will find the feature under the Read More...
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Listen Here This week on the show I have two interviews. The first interview is with Terry Walsh from WeGotServed.co.uk talking about the data corruption bug that has hit Windows Home Server and pointing out how to avoid it then I have Pasquale DeMaio Read More...
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If you have been following part 1 and part 2 of Chris Lanier's Linksys review you want to read his wrap up in part 3 . He has a nice table of pros and cons of the Extenders. I still think the Xbox 360 makes a great extender if the form factor works for Read More...
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Anthony Park has updated MyNetflix with a new public beta, this adds WatchNow in full screen and a number of bug fixes. Head over to Anthony's blog for more details and a download I have completed development on the next version of MyNetflix (v2.1). This Read More...
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It maybe a few years to late but on the Windows Mobile blog the team are asking how Windows Mobile and Zune can work together. It's great that they are asking but I can't help thinking that this is something that should have been done before the iPhone Read More...
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Chris has posted part 2 of his Extender review and he has a nice table of supported content which is always the first question when looking a media player devices.He also tested out the network performance. When first setup I did have some pixilation Read More...
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According to Mary Jo Foley Windows Home Server is going to get more entertainment features: I’ve tracked down (thanks to sources) a couple of new bits, however. The next major version of Windows Home Server is codenamed “Vail,” I hear. Read More...
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I have been using Sideshow on my i-mate photo frame for a while but there is a real lack of Sideshow devices on the market. Because of the lack of devices developers are not rushing to bring out Sideshow gadgets. So I was pleased to see ThinkRemote promising Read More...
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Chris Lanier has started a review of the Linksys extenders and he walks through the setup process including wireless networking. Part 1 is up now and part 2 and 3 are coming soon. Between Microsoft and Linksys I’ve received a whole package of Media Read More...
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It was good fun recording The Media Center Show Awards live , so I thought I would do another live recording. This Friday (29th) at 8pm UK / 12pm PST I will be interviewing Windows expert Ed Bott . We will be talking Vista Service Pack 1, Vista myths Read More...
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I was reading a CNET post on why digital downloads will overtake Blu-ray and I almost agree. While I don't think it will happen over night, I am sure digital downloads will over take physical disks in the future. The problem Blu-ray has is that for most Read More...
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I am having my kitchen redone at the moment (my wife's idea) and I am thinking of putting Media Center in to it. In the old kitchen I had an old laptop with a broken screen and a monitor, but it was messy and will not do (again my wife's thinking!) for Read More...
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Terry Walsh of We Got Served posts an update on the WHS data corruption bug, while the bug is very rare it can be nasty so I thought it would be good to get Terry on to The Media Center Show to clarify the issue and help make sure avoid the problem. So Read More...
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Listen Here This week Microsoft's Steve Lindsay joins me to chat about his home Media Center setup and the custom developments he has been working on. Steve is involved in a program called the Microsoft Champion program and has volunteered to evangelise Read More...
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Does anybody want to play games on their Zune? Not sure I am that bothered about playing games on my Zune I mainly use it the car for listening to podcasts and music, but I think its great that Microsoft are opening up the platform with XNA Studio Microsoft Read More...
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Friend of the show Derek Flickinger has a interesting post up on CE Pro about Microsoft's position on Blu-ray now that HD-DVD is dead. It centres around the Xbox 360 and the options for adding Blu-ray to it. You can bet you that Microsoft has been following Read More...
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There are a few reports ( most coming from the same source ) that some people are having problems with the latest Media Center update (February Cumulative Update for Media Center for Windows Vista). I have not had any issues, have you? Technorati Tags: Read More...
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Oh more gadget lust. I am a sucker for the small UMPC form factor and a big fan of HP's products (even if the catch broke on HP 2710p) so I was interested to read about HP's new UMPC the 2133. It comes with a 8.9 inch screen (1366x766 WGA resolution), Read More...
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Sad day for HD-DVD owners and for consumers in general as Toshiba kills HD-DVD. While it's good that the format war is over I can't help thinking that HD-DVD was more consumer focused (think Managed Copy). I say forget physical disks and go with digital Read More...
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Microsoft have updated the community page that focuses on Windows Media Center. There are videos on Media Center taken from Channel 10 and links to community site including TheDigitalLifestyle.com . It's a great honour to be including along with The Green Read More...
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S1Digital have been featured on The Media Center Show a few times now with Paul Heitlinger on the show a couple of weeks ago . Channel 10 caught up with Paul at CES and have posted the video interview. As well as a background on S1digital Paul talks about Read More...
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mcePicasa is a open source project (on codeplex ) for viewing Picasa images in Media Center. Written in MCML (Media Center Markup Language) means it's a native Vista Media Center application with all the richness that offers. Plus being open source source Read More...
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Another nail in the HD-DVD coffin? Niveus have added support for Blu-ray Disc playback and to cease production of HD DVD-based servers. BLU-RAY NOW AVAILABLE ON NIVEUS MEDIA SERVERS Customer demand and format war influences Niveus to add support for Blu-ray Read More...
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Maybe if I blog enough about Niveus they will send me a nice new Denali Edition , maybe not. Niveus have added the Niveus Storage Server Pro to their product range, with 4TB of storage. Have a look at my CES video to see the Storage Server. It's a slim Read More...
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LISTEN HERE It's The Media Center Show Awards! Recorded and streamed live last Wednesday, the aim of the awards was to highlight the great work done by the Media Center developer community. Joining me are special guest from the community and listeners Read More...
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I hadn't seen the 50's "Home of the future" at Disney but they are going to create a modern home of future at Disney based on Media Center, HP and Life|Ware. Disney, Microsoft, HP and LifeWare spent over $15 million on hardware and software Read More...
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Microsoft has released the February 2008 Cumulative Update for Media Center for Windows Vista. I would expect the update is included in Service Pack 1 for Vista as well as being on Windows Update Fixes include: Addresses an issue that is introduced in Read More...
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In this video I unbox and give a brief tour of a HP MediaSmart Windows Home Server . It's a very compact unit with plenty of space for adding more storage and it has plenty of expansion options. So have a look at this video and then compare it with Read More...
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As a facebook user and a Media Center user I was thinking of developing some kind of Facebook status update app. Well it looks like Jussi Palo beat me to it. His background application updates Facebook with what you are watching, eg "is watching Read More...
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There is a update for Media Center out on Windows Update, KB947172 is an update to prevent the UI frezzing when watching TV on an Xbox 360. It's not a new update, it looks like it's the October Cumulative Update . The roll up is also included in Service Read More...
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The Windows Home Server Toolkit is a collection of tools that helps you troubleshoot issues with Windows Home Server, it's a nice utility that enables Error Reporting, Connector Troubleshooting and comes with a Windows Home Server Toolkit Add-in Microsoft Read More...
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When I visited Tranquil's office last year one of the cool technologies David showed me was their Server Extender. One of the problems with the small and compact T7 is that adding extra space means extra USB hard disks cluttering up your setup, so the Read More...
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While there is nothing major for Media Center users in Vista SP1 the reliability updates should make it work while. Last week Microsoft announced that Service Pack 1 had RTMed (released to manufacturing) but due to driver issues was being held back till Read More...
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I chatted with Tim cutting of Niveus at CES (plus got the scoop on the Niveus Companion software) and Channel 10 have posted an interview they did with him at CES . In the video Tim talks about the background of Niveus and some of the product ranges Niveus Read More...
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Media Center MVP and the developer behind mceBrowser Anthony Park has a great application for Media Center Netflix users. MyNetflix is a Vista Media Center application that enables you to view your Netflix queue, browse movies and play "watch now" Read More...
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Please welcome to TheDigitalLifestyle.com Microsoft's Steve Lindsay . Steve is to 'Champion' Media Center and Home Server for several communities and TheDigitalLifestyle.com is one of them. Steve is going to be answering questions in the forums and writing Read More...
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Now that I have the video out on Linksys' DMA2100 I thought I would try the DMA2200. This is the big brother of the 2100 and includes an upscaling DVD Player. ( You can read my first impression in here ) This video shows the unboxing of the DMA2200, the Read More...
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Yougle is a great addin for Media Center that enable you to watch user generated content via the 10 foot UI. The developer Steven Harding maintains The Digital Lifestyle.com Developer blog and he has posted details on how to add customer sources to Yougle Read More...
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Over on TheGreenButton.com forums Microsoft Program Manager Charlie Owen ask for you to have your say on the Vista Media Center Start Menu. The thread is already pretty long so if you want to have your opinion heard head over the the forum. It's great Read More...
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I have to admit I have not heard of Lagotek, it looks like a PC based home control / automation system. From looking at the website it seems like they have wall mounted LCD touch screens and they are working with Niveus to show off some pretty high end Read More...
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As I have been using the Extenders (see the the unboxing videos here ) for a few days and I have had loads of questions so I thought I would try and put some of the points down here 5.1 Audio I thought I would try a WMV file with 5.1 audio encoded in Read More...
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I was about to packup the Linksys DMA2100 and unbox the 2200 when I thought it would be interesting to compare the Extender function of the Xbox 360 with the Linksys DMA2100. So with both extenders connected up to my TV I made a side by side comparison Read More...
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LISTEN HERE S1Digital make a great range of high end Media Center Systems, including a quad Cablecard system. In this weeks show Paul Heitlinger from S1Digital joins me to chat about their Media Center systems, Cablecard, their new showroom and the importance Read More...
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So I caved in and joined Twitter , more and more people I talk to use it and find its a great way of keeping in touch. So I created an account and if you have Twitter add me http://twitter.com/isdixon , also let me know if there are any tool or apps I Read More...
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Tonight I had my first play with Linksys's DMA2200 , over the last week I have been using the DMA2100 ( see this video ) and have found it pretty good, not quite up to the Xbox 360 as an Extender but its silent and small. The DMA2200 is the 2100's big Read More...
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I will be recording The Media Center Show and streaming it live today at 8pm GMT / 12pm PST. Joining me will be Media Center developers and enthusiasts. So head to live.thedigitallifestyle.com and listen in, there is a chatroom so you can ask the guest Read More...
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Niall has got the online store for his range of Big Screen application ready to go. You can purchase: Big Screen Photos v2 (USD$24.95 for full/unlimited version) and Big Screen Weather v2 (USD$19.95 for full unlocked version with 2 yr data Read More...
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Derek Flickinger has a great post about the Interactivity layers in HD-DVD and Blu-ray . Derek is a good friend of the site as he tips me off to some great articles. I think his post sums up nicely that the battle is not about the physical disks but the Read More...
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I know it has already been reported that Niveus are releasing Media Center Companion for free but today they formally announced it. So here is the press releases and in case you missed it checkout the video I took at CES with Niveus founder Tim Cutting Read More...
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Interset make high end Media Center systems, I had them on the show a couple of years ago. Channel 10 interviewed them at CES where they talked about their high end AV Media Center systems and how they work with dealers to get them installed From 4TB, Read More...
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One Tablet PC I have been watching since CES is the HPtx2000. While my 2710p is a lightweight business tablet (and great podcasting tool) the tx2000 is more of a consumer device. It has a touch and active digitiser and comes with Vista Home Premium so Read More...
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Over the weekend I played with MiraWorldTV for Media Center. It's a new plugin that brings Internet TV streams in to a 10 foot Media Center UI The install is a nice simple download and then it adds a tile in to Media Center, you then get a grid of Intent Read More...
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The votes are in and have been counted so it's time for the awards show. Don your black tie and join me for The Media Center Show Awards on Wednesday 6th 8pm GMT (12pm PST) live on ustream.tv . You can join in via the chat room on ustream or even Read More...
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In case you didn't watch the CES video I recorded with Niveus founder Tim Cutting (why not!), Niveus are releasing Media Companion Basic edition for free. I really like Companion ( see my review ) and its a great move by Niveus to offer the software for Read More...
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As promised on my "first impressions" post here is the video of the unboxing and setup of the DMA2100. The video shows the unboxing and how I setup the Extender to connect with my Media Center PC. It wasn't all plane sailing, mainly due to the Read More...
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