It may have come to late for Ricavision but the Windows Media Center Sideshow gadgets have finally been released. These are the gadgets for Sideshow devices that interact with Media Center, so you can browse guide data, cue music, browse pictures and get the now playing information. What we really need are some Sideshow devices and with the demise of Ricavision there don’t seem to be many on the way. One way you can play with it is with a Windows Mobile device, using the Windows Mobile Develop Preview you can install Sideshow apps on to a Windows Mobile 5 or 6 devices and via Bluetooth you can control Media Center (see this post for more details)
There are 4 gadgets in the download available in 64bit and 32bit versions from Windows Live Gallery which include:
- TV: Browse the program guide, schedule recordings, and browse and play back recorded TV shows
- Music: Browse and play music
- Pictures + Videos: Browse pictures on your device and play slideshows and video
- Now Playing: Provides information on what is playing in Media Center and provides playback controls like those on your Media Center remote
Now all me need is some Sideshow devices, I noticed that Brandon LeBlanc on the Windows Experience Blog said he is using them on a Dell XPS 420 that has a built-in Sideshow display on the top which is very nice but wouldn’t it be nice if there was some kind of USB addon for machines without Sideshow
via (Windows SideShow Team Blog)
UPDATE: It looks like it will not install on TV Pack, as per Britt B’s comment
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this is huge ian. I am surprised that we r not making a bigger deal about this. it is the ultimate remote control when paired with a windows mobile phone. but pairing it to multiple devices will be interesting
I tried installing these on my MCE Machine and receive an error that it is incompatible with this version of Media Center. (I am installing the 32bit version on an x86 box). Are these not compatible with the TV pack?
that could be a problem, I will try it on my test machine
It will not install on my TV Pack machine either
This “would” be huge if there were any sideshow devices to purchase. Does anyone know of any that are worth buying?
I’m in the process of trying to get the windows CE emulator to work as a remote wifi sideshow device. No luck so far.
If sideshow devices and software were available things like whole house audio and home automation could become a trivial thing for DIY’ers. Maybe some day.
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I use this using the Window Mobile sideshow app – works great – I can check the guide, record shows etc while my wife is watching TV. Fantastic….now if only it worked over the web via IP….
IP would be good