I had been meaning to take a look at the Windows Media Center sideshow gadgets for some time now and since Windows Mobile can host Sideshow gadgets I thought I would give it a try on my HP Mobile.
The first part of the installations is to download and install the release version of the Sideshow gadgets for Media Center (64bit and 32bit), when I ran the install it told me I needed the Sideshow Managed Runtime 1.0 which can be download from Microsoft. Once I had the Runtime installed I could install the sideshow gadgets
Then I install the Sideshow Developer Preview on my phone by downloading the update from here and copying WindowsSideShowForWindowsMobile.CAB to my phone and running the install, then I had to pair up the phone with the PC via Bluetooth. I could then go to the Sideshow control panel in Windows and enable the Media Center gadgets.
Once everything was installed I ran the Sideshow application and connect to the host PC. On the Media Center gadgets I could choose whether to connect to my log in on the Media Center machine or an Extender session.
I did have some trouble with the running of the gadgets, sometimes the gadgets would not pull the information back from the host machine and occasionally it would restart Media Center so I would say it’s not 100% stable yet but once I had it all up and running I found the gadgets were usefu
In this video I take a look at some of the features of the gadgets including Now Playing, browsing the guide data, playing music and selecting pictures
Note: This was done with the standard version of Media Center and not the TV Pack version which may not work with Sideshow
- Watch via Direct Download (WMV)
- Watch via Youtube
A extra long show for you this week as Garry ... 
I recorded this quick chat with Boxee at CES ... 
Samsung Smart TVs have a range of apps and one ... 
Welcome to Show 100!
Well, we made it! We got together ...
It about time
. It is one thing to write about it and it is a whole other thing to show it… Thanks! Are you running 64 bit in the demo? Are you all set up for CES this year? Give me a call.
Ray
Hey buddy… Love the “media center is restarting
”… is that 64 bit running on the touch? My guess is no… are you actually running the 64 bit anywhere? if not let me know as I would like to start to over up stories, reviews, performance test, etc.. on 64 bit for ya as a feature/series
I am running 64bit on the touch, in fact 64bit is working well
hey buddy… Do you have lighting automation and camera control in that room yet? It would make these sessions that much cooler if you could show control from the one screen control on the HP touch. Better get your sponsor over at Mcontrol to get you hooked up… Make it happen or i will have to one up ya
Pingback from Video Demo: Windows Media Center SideShow Gadget on Windows Mobile | eHomeUpgrade
In your video, when you play music, then go to “Now Playing” it was displaying text saying “nothing is currently playing” Is this normal or is it related to the mediacenter crashing in the background before you started playing the music? Just curious.
Thank you for the video
@jbworks I think it was. I am going to keep playing with it
Pingback from ” + title + “
This week I have been playing with the Media Center sideshow gadgets on my Windows Mobile phone and Windows…
Ian, anyluck getting your HP to work with an extender (e.g. DMA 2100)? In the fourth paragraph above you mention being able to select an extender session. As I understand it, Windows Mobile SideShow can’t do this because the extender session is configurable in the Control Panel of your VMC. I have this working so far on my MotoQ and VMC, but no extender. Any word to when extender Windows Mobile Sideshow support might me coming in the future?
Pingback from This weeks Post Roundup | Windows Home Theater
Does this work with the Broadcom BT stack? I bought an Iogear USB BT dongle and can connect to my Samsung Omnia via activesync or FTP but cant get the Sideshow app on the phone to connect. What profile does it need or is it only compatible with the MS BT stack? Thanks
i think it should work with any stack, it did take a few boots to get it working
The problem I have is that Vista doesnt recognise that a Sideshow compatible device has been paired, and unless I make an active connection using the Broadcom software I cant establish a BT connection that Vista recognises. Can you tell me what service you are using to connect the service?
I just enjoyed watching the video and then followed the procedures to set it up between my Lenovo W500 laptop running Vista Ultimate x64 and my Sprint PPC6700 (Windows Mobile 5). It worked perfectly without requiring any reboots for either device! The W500 came with Ultimate 32-bit, but I reformatted with the 64-bit version and used the nifty System Update utility from Lenovo to install all the necessary drivers.
HI i can’t find the “Sideshow Developer Preview” file the link no longer seems to work.