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Extenders are dead, long live DLNA?

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While I was recording this weeks instalments of The Custom Integrator Show (out Friday) we were talking about UPNP, DLNA and Play To and this got be thinking about the future of digital media in the home and Extenders. First let me say that I love the concept of Windows Media Center extenders, I have an Xbox 360 connected up to my TV and audio equipment, I also have a HP Extender that I use in other rooms around the house. While I am happy with the Xbox 360 I know lots of people can’t put up with the noise and want a simpler device than a games console, the 3rd party Extenders like the Linksys and HP are under powered and don’t deliver the same experience plus they have been over priced. All the extender manufactures seem to have bailed out on the Extender model, at CES Toshiba promised to an Extneder but its not been seen yet. I would love to see TVs and Bluray players with Extender functionality built in but due to the small number active Media Center users there isn’t the demand for this. So my solution is to use the DLNA platform, because DLNA is a self describing protocol and is designed for different vendors and equipment to talk to each other there is no need for manufactures to code for Media Center specifically they can implement DLNA. So my Sony TV could consume Recorded TV from my Media Center box by using my home network and I could use my phone as a remote control, my hifi can play music from my Windows Home Server and the manufactures don’t have to know about each others system as long as the systems talk using standards. While most of this is in place now there are some things missing like scheduling recordings and this is where a Mesh Webguide come be used. I know the overall experiences would not be as good as Extenders, I can’t see the manufactures coming up with as elegant UI as Media Center but at least its achievable. I can see Windows doing all the transcoding and serving the media, recording scheduling and then lightweight DLNA clients around the home.

It isn’t the grand vision of Windows Media Center and Extenders but at least its achievable, Microsoft do seem to be investing in the transcodling / Play To features of Windows where as manufactures don’t seem interested in Extenders and maybe Microsoft isn’t either?

Posted Jul 01 2009, 08:52 PM by Ian Dixon

Filed under: Windows Media Center, DLNA

Comments

kingtone wrote re: Extenders are dead, long live DLNA?

on 07-01-2009 9:47 PM

Extenders are such a mess right now. In this TGB post, Ben Drawbaugh says he thinks they aren't dead: "It should be noted that MS has been telling people on the inside that extenders aren't dead and to wait and see what comes next. So in other words, I don't think are dead."

Why not tell us?? I know I am crazy but I still think it has something to do with ZuneHD.

All that said, small quiet ITX or mini-ATX style systems may be making it to more and more living rooms as people get tired of codec vs convenience trade off. I love my HP extender but I'm starting to lean that way.

@techlifeweb

peterfnet wrote re: Extenders are dead, long live DLNA?

on 07-01-2009 9:54 PM

I haven't played with most of these new features. Do they play well with DRM TV?

babgvant wrote re: Extenders are dead, long live DLNA?

on 07-02-2009 4:07 AM

I don't think DNLA is quite there yet. That said, there's certainly some really slick things that you could build on top of it w/ PlayTo and a control layer (i.e. TCP remoting); if only there were more hours in the day :)

mabrown wrote re: Extenders are dead, long live DLNA?

on 07-02-2009 4:48 AM

@peterfnet, unfortunatly no, no DRM'd TV won't work, so as a cablecard user DNLA is pretty useless to me. My Linksys extenders are doing what I need them to do, so while they may not be manufactured any more, until mine die (and I have 2 extras) or DRM goes away from cablecard recordings I'll be sticking with the extender model.

Niall wrote re: Extenders are dead, long live DLNA?

on 07-02-2009 5:22 AM

DLNA seems to be a complimentry technology to extenders rather than a replacement - as it appears to be all about content and not really about services at all (ie. no real 2-way 'interactivity' - so each and every device needs to reinvent the wheel and provide it's own proprietry extensibility technology and/or UI for accessing content). I can't see how this will enable commonly requested scenarios such as playing a bluray or dvd movie accross a network (as I don't think you'd be able to interact with the dvd/bluray menu - only play prerendered streams).

"Play to" is a nice gimmick - but doesn't really solve any problems for me at all.

rspeed wrote re: Extenders are dead, long live DLNA?

on 07-06-2009 12:12 PM

Here's the thing. What (other than an extender) will allow me to centralise my tuners, have a central guide but still have access to both those resources from around the house as seamlessly?

Codec pain has made me consider a SFF PC instead of an Extender, but the loss of that centralisation seems a backwards step.

Its a shame really - I use the Linksys extenders, and aside from their start-up time and slightly slower interface, they do exactly what I need, and are tiny, silent and low-power as well.

peterfnet wrote re: Extenders are dead, long live DLNA?

on 07-06-2009 5:11 PM

Thanks mabrown. Sad story! I'll have to keep on hugging my extenders

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