Gates Shows Off Xbox Media Center, Discusses Consoles

Thanks to Reuters for its story reporting on Bill Gates' announcement of an Xbox Media Center Extender kit at the CES show in Las Vegas, discussing the add-on "that will extend the functions of its Windows XP Media Center Edition to the console, turning it into a set-top box that allows the playback of live and recorded video, music and photos." 1UP has a couple more details, noting the add-on "will combine an Xbox DVD title with a dedicated remote control [and] currently carries no release date or price point", and the Reuters interview with Gates has him noting of the Xbox: "We are pushing the boundaries in terms of expanding what people think of as what the device can do." He's also confident but secretive about the next generation of consoles, suggesting: "In terms of the next round, hey, it's a new game. We're not showing our hand and I don't think Sony's showing their hand. We're doing some very cool work, but that's really all we say at this point."

Comments

console wars to the max

[anielsud]

This feels like a knee-jerk reaction to the psx being released. Of course Gates again lost the race, this time for a media center / console hybrid. At least the difference is far less than the last release wars.

It's interesting to note that it's touted as a media center extension -- will it not function without a media center pc already in the household? Along those same lines -- I can't really figure out what the offering is here, besides playing video over a network. This is a very vague announcement indeed.

Re:console wars to the max

[*weasel]

this doesn't sound like any sort of knee-jerk feature competition. the PSX added dtv-tuning and pvr capability. this basically just lets your xbox access data from your home network. Sony doesn't do that (yet), and MS doesn't do PVR (yet).

though, i'm fairly certain MS is going to have a bigger HD and PVR in the nextbox. Sony will probably make market and sell two seperate products, the ps3, and a pricier ps3+pvr. i'd also be surprised if they don't have a firmward update for the PSX, to allow them some sort of 'access your network' capability in short order.

and yes, going on the info from the announcement, the extender kit will not function unless xp media center is installed on some pc on the network (i'm guessing xp: mce includes a data streaming server the extender kit taps into - it wouldn't be long before an open-source option is available).

competition, sure - but not kneejerk. you could see this coming from miles away. particularly following the slap-dash hacked-together method you can transfer mp3s/jpgs from pc->xbox with that xbox karaoke title. they see the demand - and they have to realize that the current methodology -sucks-.

i'll still either download the devkit version of the server or wait for the OS flavor though. i would like to stream mp3s, mpgs, and pics to my tv. but i will not have my OS dictated.

Sony Has Buz and More

[saden1]

PS 3 will have all the bells and whistles everyone wants. On top of that they'll have a ton of games and developer support. I'm sure PS 3 will be DVR capable too.

Honestly, if XBox and PS 3 came out at the same time and have similar features which would you buy?

Re:X-Box Media Player

[bigman2003]

Microsoft is giving a lot of their customers what they want. The customers they find valuable at least.

If you are looking for DivX, XviD, RealPlayer, Quicktime, OGG/Vorbis, AAC, OGM, Matroska, SRT/VobSub subtitles etc etc etc, are you really one of their valued customers- or did you maybe just buy some of their stuff and mod it?

In a way that many people here might find stomach churning, I'm a Microsoft customers. I own an Xbox, and about 30 legitimate games. 2 Windows computers, with XP/Office (one Media Center edition). I use SQL Server at work...etc, etc, blah blah blah.

I also don't give a flying fuck about a single media format you mentioned, other than Quicktime. I've got my music on Windows Media Player, my videos (movies) are all stored on their original DVDs- my home movies are stored in a .wmv format.

I don't mind at all if their products don't support those other format- because I don't use them. I would guess that the average person who stores their media in an OGG/Vorbis format does NOT purchase Microsoft products, and therefore, Microsoft would be wasting their time trying to support those people. (I don't think there would be a big rush to buy the products if they were available either)

This was not meant to be a rant- I just think that Microsoft IS supporting their customers here. They make my life easier by making all this crap work together as easily as possible. Most of us don't need it to support everything under the sun- just what WE use.

'Bout time Microsoft figured it out

[IntergalacticWalrus]

So Microsoft FINALLY got a clue. They actually realized that an important fraction of their user base WANTS to use the XBox as something else than just for games and DVD movies. So instead of modding their XBox, people might actually buy that WinXP.

However, one wonders if this WinXP Media Center will allow for more than just MP3s, photos and video files. That's not much, considering what a properly modded XBox can do.