During the Microsoft Strategic Update Meeting I was listening out for Steve Ballmer talking about the TV strategy and he did briefly mentioned Windows Media Center and there was nothing new to talk about but one interesting thing I did pickup on is that Zune services are coming to the TV, the PC and the Phone. At CES Microsoft did talk about expanding the Zune service but I think this is the first time I have heard them specifically mention the platforms. It will be interesting to see how Microsoft will bring the Zune services to the TV, could it be bringing the Zune software to Windows Media Center or is it Zune coming to the Xbox dashboard? Seeing as the Zune software team now sit with the Media Center team it would be nice to think that Microsoft would be bringing the Zune marketplace to Windows Media Center and the Xbox dashboard. I can’t wait for a unified media experience from the Zune, Media Center, phone, web etc. Will it ever happen? Maybe…
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The Music library in Media Center is pretty weak, while the Zune player is pretty awesome. What would be great is is MS replaced the Music bar in Media Center with a Music and Podcast By Zune bar.
Honestly, the Music bar is unusable in Media Center. The album wall in Media Center (win7) is a drag, and playlist set up is tedious. Zune’s art work is cool and play list setup a breeze. While you can play video podcast from the Pictures & Video bar (by adding the podcast folder to the library, like they do with Amazon UnBox), it won’t even look at audio podcast.
Here’s hoping!
I would love to Microsoft would to bring access to the Zune marketplace to Windows Media Center platform. I wouldn’t mind the music wall visualiztion interface coming to VMC as well…