Ian Dixon's Blog - All Comments

re: Microsoft to offer Family Pack for Windows 7 Home Premium?

starfurysr — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:33:34 GMT

I hope they figure it out soon, and I hope it's under $150, and add an option for the new WHS v2.

re: Extenders are dead, long live DLNA?

Niall — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:22:37 GMT

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.

re: Extenders are dead, long live DLNA?

mabrown — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:48:24 GMT

@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.

re: Extenders are dead, long live DLNA?

babgvant — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:07:30 GMT

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 :)

re: Extenders are dead, long live DLNA?

peterfnet — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:54:58 GMT

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

re: Extenders are dead, long live DLNA?

kingtone — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:47:43 GMT

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

re: Is a Consumer targeted Microsoft Phone on the way?

peterfnet — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:29:14 GMT

The zune always looked good. If they were to pipe out a phone, it would probably resuscitate winmo a bit

re: Mobile Media Center for Windows Mobile

Ian Dixon — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:38:59 GMT

yep thats what I was saying, it looks like XP Media Center

re: Mobile Media Center for Windows Mobile

peterfnet — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:35:45 GMT

Ian's got me curious too. Just looks like XP media center.

Thriller!!!!

re: Mobile Media Center for Windows Mobile

cw-kid — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 02:21:45 GMT

Why is it familiar? What is it based on?

re: Tranquil’s little T3N

Garry [WMA] — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:33:39 GMT

They just need to throw an ion chipset in there and it would be perfect

re: Media Browser to go commercial?

Patriarken — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:36:52 GMT

Think the Media Browser has great potential as a free open source piece of software. But it's configuration is a pain in the rear. What the program provides is bells an whistles. While most HTPC enthusiasts are willing to go a long way to get this functionality, I for one think this is the kind of stuff people just wont pay for.

re: Microsoft reveals Windows 7 pricing details

Ian Dixon — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 07:40:47 GMT

EU users can get the upgrade price and do a full install so its not that bad

re: Freeview HD starting in the UK December 2nd

Ian Dixon — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 07:39:24 GMT

maybe but its a good start

re: Freeview HD starting in the UK December 2nd

gadget — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 12:22:10 GMT

hmm , looks to be slow going to start with

" Freeview HD will, for some time, only feature four channels (a fifth is planned for after 2015). In a return to pre-satellite days, those will be BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5. And the HD channels will broadcast in 720p resolution "

re: Microsoft reveals Windows 7 pricing details

gadget — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 11:11:19 GMT

if we cant get it at a fair price, regardless of reasons coz as a consumer i personaly dont care, then we wont bother with the change of O/s or we will waite for our Pc`s to expire and get Windows7 bundled

as much as i like W7 .... its Vista on steroids and the user experience is much the same , being charged full price is NOT a twisted arm behind the back cost my family is willing or able to afford , with 6 Pcs in the house the cost is far to prohibitive

The Eu is not the only ones to blame here ... Msoft are a multi million dollar campany with the best minds in the world at there finger tips and thats the best they can do to for Beta testers and users who solely use there software outside the US ..... disgraceful

re: Silverlight 3 coming to the Xbox 360 (updated)

DrFlick — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 22:17:25 GMT

I am not sure that a “native mode” development platform like Silverlight within the Xbox “Dashboard-level OS” is accessible from within the Extender for Windows Media Center environment. I believe that even the Windows 7 Extender architecture still limits that environment from accessing resources available on specific platforms, especially when it comes to interactive application-level services like those Silverlight provides. Although different, it relates to the same reason you cannot play DVDs locally on the 360 when in the Extender experience. The playback software needs to reside on the Host PC, not on the local box. Where would the Silverlight code actually run – on the Host or on the Extender? It is not like just adding a codec, it is a full runtime environment, much like WPF on steroids.

I am sure Microsoft took this into account when designing the implementation, but I am doubtful that, just because they bring out Silverlight support for the Dashboard environment, it will be available on Extenders. Maybe there is something available with the new Extender SDK that changes the architecture, but I have seen nothing that indicates this is true. I doubt that they could take advantage of the code they developed and optimized for the 360’s hardware architecture and processors and implement it on multiple platforms. Time will tell, but I am not too hopeful that we are going to see Silverlight as part of the Extender for Windows Media Center experience anytime soon.

=D-

re: Silverlight 3 coming to the Xbox 360 (updated)

mmillmor — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:36:43 GMT

The only silverlight internet TV provider I know if is ITV, and since they also use wmv, which plays much better than silverlight video, I haven't got any silverlight video sources on there.

It would be good if Microsoft would be a bit more agnostic and support flash too though.

re: Silverlight 3 coming to the Xbox 360 (updated)

cw-kid — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 09:28:36 GMT

None of the channels in TunerFree MCE use Silverlight? I hope we get Netflix on the XBOX 360 Media Center Extender however!

re: Microsoft reveals Windows 7 pricing details

mmillmor — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 08:05:32 GMT

And now engadget are claiming it's £80 ($143) in the UK;

www.engadget.com/.../windows-7-pre-orders-begin-now

I wonder if they got confused with the dollar price and the pounds price.

re: Windows Media Center to get Freeview HD

gadget — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 23:13:31 GMT

with freesat HD and freeview HD things are looking decidedly iffy for my continuation of a sky subscription .... i`m glad i have held off going freesat HD so far ... the future looks bright ...ish

re: Microsoft reveals Windows 7 pricing details

gadget — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 23:07:47 GMT

and no mention of family pricing ??? again !!!

re: Microsoft reveals Windows 7 pricing details

mmillmor — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:03:19 GMT

And it's not $50 for UK, it's $50 ($82). Even taking in to account tax, that's quite a hike for the privilege of a mandatory fresh install!

re: Microsoft reveals Windows 7 pricing details

ddunipace — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:41:15 GMT

No Windows 7 upgrade path for Europe. See blogs.zdnet.com/Bott

re: Engadget hands on Zune HD video

peterfnet — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:34:40 GMT

I'm certainly tempted to. But I feel somewhat uneasy. Why should I pay for a portable music player with a touch screen when I already have a nice touch screen phone?

I wouldn't expect an Iphone customer to purchase an extra Ipod touch. WinMo still needs a lot of help in the media player app, but I'd rather keep everything on 1 device.

re: Windows 7 branded HTPC

jonathand — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 11:37:32 GMT

Doies that belong to you Ian, I noticed the Monaco GP on the screen :)

re: Windows 7 branded HTPC

Kojak71 — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 09:01:08 GMT

The logo on the front say's it's an OriginAE and not a Silverstone case. More precisely it's an OriginAE S21T case which has been on the market for quite some time now, costing close to £1000.

re: Crestron announce Windows CE based Sideshow WIFI remote control

cw-kid — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 09:47:02 GMT

The MS Sideshow team need to fix the Media Center sideshow gadgets first as they don't work on Vista TV Pack or Windows 7 !

re: Belkin Launch Gigabit Powerline

peterfnet — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:56:49 GMT

Not bad. The ones I've used always had horrible bandwidth.

But I only used them to complete projects that would not allow for drilling to run wires.

re: Video: First look at a Air Mouse GO Plus Mouse for HTPCs

Ian Dixon — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:16:13 GMT

The TV is a 50" Sony, I haven't tried the remote but I did see it a CES a couple of years ago

re: Video: First look at a Air Mouse GO Plus Mouse for HTPCs

mmillmor — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 09:50:13 GMT

What size TV have you got? Massive!

Have you tried the gyration media center remote? Looks interesting, but I am wondering how good it is.

re: Archos Windows 7 Tablet PC, great for Media Center on the go

ddunipace — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 09:14:12 GMT

There is a corporate video presentation on the Archos website:www.archos.com/.../event_062009.html

It goes through all of their products but the Archos 9 is mentioned.

re: Archos Windows 7 Tablet PC, great for Media Center on the go

Dangelus — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 18:58:24 GMT

Very nice!

re: First Impressions of a HTC G1, or bye bye Windows Mobile

TheChief — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:23:24 GMT

Interesting to read. Strange that I find Opera Mobile 9.7 as good as mobile safari on the iPhone/Touch. Am I the only one then? :)

re: Archos Windows 7 Tablet PC, great for Media Center on the go

Garry [WMA] — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:52:43 GMT

cool kitchen pc

re: First Impressions of a HTC G1, or bye bye Windows Mobile

peterfnet — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:05:30 GMT

Don't you hate that HTC likes to leave out the headphones plug??!! My HTC Kaiser go into the gym with me if it supported headphones.

WinMo has been rather depressing lately. The largest improvements have been from HTC! WM7 had better rock the house.

re: Media Browser Beta 2.1.0.0 Released (updated)

cw-kid — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 04:39:28 GMT

How do I add the Digital Lifestyle RSS feeds ? I tried this URL feeds.feedburner.com/TheDigitalLifestyleVideoShow but Media Browser throw up an error.

re: First Impressions of a HTC G1, or bye bye Windows Mobile

smicale — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 01:02:17 GMT

Very interesting that you made a switch away from WinMo. I too am really hating winMo as i have been using it for many years as well hoping that someday it too would be a great OS. I was given a iPod Touch a few months ago and I absolutely love it. It is so smooth and has so much bulit into. I was not a iTunes lover, but it is starting to grow on me. I never used a Zune, because it just seemed like it was made so cheap. I love how easy iTunes gives you podcasts, movies, and music so easily. I was about to jump the MS ship and head over to Mac, but with Windows 7 being such a huge improvement I am excited to see what happens with WinMo7. If that is a good OS I will then old off on jumping over to the iPhone.

re: Podcast: The Custom Integrator Show Installment 00F

DrFlick — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 10:07:08 GMT

Thanks for the encouragement. We are glad you are getting a lot out of them, which is why we do them. They have been a little off-schedule lately, but we are trying to keep them coming to you every week, so keep on listening and enjoy!

=D-

re: Playing Ripped DVDs on Media Center Extenders without conversion or playlists

vader504 — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 00:49:42 GMT

Have you ever tried my product - hi-techhabitats.com/transcoder21.aspx It let's you stream anything in your Dvd Library to your extenders - ripped discs, discs in dvd changers, even a disc in the dvd drive on the media center pc, with no loss of quality in sound or video. And it does all of this using the same Dvd Library interface that's on the PC.