Ben Drawbaugh on EngadgetHD has an interesting take the future of Extenders for Windows Media Center. Ben thinks that Extenders may not be dead and even speculates that a new bread come come out. He also talks about DLNA and play to and maybe that is an option for the future, personally I think the limitations of Extenders combined with the availability of low cost small form factor PCs means that extenders will would only ever have a very limited appeal and certainly not enough for a CE manufacture to invest in the platform. Maybe DLNA is the future but there its still some way to go to make it work for the average consumer.
Anyway checkout Ben’s post and let me know what you think, I would like to have your thoughts for the podcast this week
Many Windows Media Center enthusiasts were very disappointed by the fact that Microsoft didn’t mention Extenders for Media Center at CES 2010. This anxiety started some time ago when both Linksys and HP let it be known that their current Extenders had been discontinued. Of course not every was shocked, as Extenders aren’t as popular as many had hoped — which is expected considering they left so much to be desired. Sure they were quiet, power efficient and easy to setup, but with a few new features in Windows 7 Media Center not being supported, the Extenders looked pretty antiquated. Not only do the existing Extenders not support H.264 in the new WTV container of Windows 7 — commonly used for broadcast TV in the UK and other countries — but even worse, the new internet streaming features included with Windows 7 require Flash and Silverlight, neither of which are supported by Extenders. Now although we understand the Media Center community’s belief that Microsoft has given up on Extenders for Media Center, we think it is a little premature. In fact if you click through you’ll not only find out why, but you’ll also learn when we think new Extenders might make it to market.
One thought on “EngadgetHD speculate on the future of Extenders”
I think Ben has a very good point however I think there is a thrird option in the wings. With the new home server due later this year we might find the ability to have tuners on this with a shared guide. In fact we almost have this with DVB link now the only thing missing is indication of if another pc has requested a recording.
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I think Ben has a very good point however I think there is a thrird option in the wings. With the new home server due later this year we might find the ability to have tuners on this with a shared guide. In fact we almost have this with DVB link now the only thing missing is indication of if another pc has requested a recording.
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