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Microsoft Bringing TV to Xbox
grazzy writes "Microsoft is set to release its Windows Media Center Extender for Xbox mid-November. The device will allow you to view recorded and downloaded media content stored on your PC via your Xbox.""
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Cool, now maybe some tivo functionality can be added to XBMC
http://bit.blkbk.com/
This is a distro set to turn your xbox into a MythTV box. Pretty cool stuff.
Too little too late. You can buy a progressive-scan dvd player + remote control for $30.00 at WalMart. At that price, nobody's going to even bother buying the XBox remote control.
If you were to RTFA you'd notice that it was both:
Consumers can purchase Media Center Extender devices in two forms:
As a set-top box from leading manufacturers Hewlett-Packard and Linksys.
As a peripheral kit for the Xbox console from Microsoft.
- ------- There are ten kinds of people in the world. Those who understand binary, and those who... Huh?
You wanted to link to this: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/mediacenter/eva luation/devices/xboxextenderkit.mspx
That actually discusses the Media Extender for the XBox, rather then the settop box which is causing confusion.
Spend 200 on an Xbox and a mod chip and stream ur files over ethernet or, with a 802.11(a/b/g) access point, over wifi.
Spend another 50-60 right now on a 80GB hdd and you can store them right on your Xbox.
No sig for you!!
Agreed! I think the illegal modders should sue for infringing on their intellectual property rights. The existing xbox media centers are great. Plus, they have built in support for playback of dvds where the unmodded xbox requires you to plunk down $30 for a "dvd playback kit" that is basically just a remote as the system already supports dvd playback, it is just "locked".
Illegally? Last time I checked an individual could purchase their xbox and a chip legally.
Good points no less!
As far as I can tell from the articles that I've read, you need to have XP media center edition. So , this doesn't really solve my problem -- which is namely wanting to have my music/pictures/whatever stored on the computer in my den (running xp pro), but be able to access it from the Xbox in my living room.
I can see the incentive for someone who already has a media center PC. Just not the holy grail i was looking for.
"If nintendo/sony dont come up with their own media center functions, they will find themselves eclipised by MS very quickly despite their better game focus."
Uh, you *have* kept up with gaming tech, right? Heard of the PSX?
"cell technology and other gamer focused add-ons"
How is cell technology a "gamer focused add-on"? It's basic parallelism, nothing more. Gamer-focused is more along the lines of better graphics, new ways to control the action, etc. Cell will be used in everything from gaming to making sure your officially-sanctioned DRM'd Sony music downloads quickly to your PS3.
--"For all the XBMC fans here - MCE has moved far beyond what XMBC offers in terms functionality - and knee jerk reactions won't change that. XMBC is itself a pretty blatant rip-off of the MCE interface (I never realized how true this was till I looked at Tivo and ReplayTV and realized that they DON'T look like MCE - but XBMC does.)"
:-)
Just the skin looks like a rip-off I don't think it has the same codebase
--" The MCE Extenders give you the ability to watch live tv and use the guide, pause/rewind/skip, scedule recordings etc. All of the PVR functionality that is in Media Center on the PC is also available on the extender device. The fact that all the real work is taking place on the PC 'server' is transparent."
Not on the Xbox. It's a playback only device.
-nB
whois gawk date unzip strip find touch finger mount join nice man top fsck grep eject more yes exit umount sleep dump
You are factually incorrect. I have the XBOX Media Center software. It DOES:
- Allow for watching live TV / changing channels / pausing live TV / etc.
- Allow for scheduling recordings (UI is pretty much identical to what you get on the PC itself)
Everything that works on XP Media Center Edition works on the extenders with a few exceptions. They are basically remote-desktop'd in to the server (with a seperate protocol/channel tunneling the video through)
Multiple extenders hosted off the same PC can show different content at the same time (including different live TV channels assuming you have multiple tuners installed)
I was listing a variety of options - not everything in the list is required to get useful functionality.
... and an internet connection for certain functionlity - but these are incremental. Some set of the population already has some of the parts required. For some it's too much to buy all at once.
... so two things. Of course if you have an MCE PC already you only need to buy one thing.
You obviously need a PC with MCE to start with - and yes, that is a significant barrier to entry, to so speak.
The MCE remote for the PC is not required - and not very interesting (IMO) if you don't plan to hook the PC up directly to a TV.
The XBox extender software is one option - primarily targeted at current XBOX owners but since it's actually cheaper to buy an XBOX and get the XBox Extender Kit than it is to buy a standalone Extender device - some people will go that way - with some downsides:
- The XBOX is not silent - the standalone extenders are.
- The XBOX can't be turned physically on/off with a remote - the standalone devices can be (though I think they technically stay in a sort of standby mode)
- The XBOX doesn't come with wireless support - the extenders I've seen so far include that in the box.
- The extenders from what I've seen also come with component out included in the box - whereas you need to buy the HD kit for the XBOX to get that there - but since I don't think that the extenders currently support actual HD resolutions I'm not clear on what the point is (other than to enable a software upgrade with HD support in the future)
You could add even more to the list of 'required components' - like having a router - and a wireless one if you want to use the extender that way
For the technically inclined who already have LANs at home - this amounts to MCE for the PC and an extender device (whether XBOX based or not)
The cheaper dvd manufacturers skip a lot of this. So your el cheapo dvd player may say Region 1 NTSC on the box, but don't be surprised if it can also play other regions and/or PAL.
On the Apex 1200, to find out what version of the software you're running, do the following:
A new menu item will appear - go there and read yur software version.I don't know what chipset the el cheapo at WalMart is running, but I know that Rogers video stores carried a rebranded Apex 1200 for a while. Now that some of my friends hve finally decided to shit and get off the pot, and ditch their high-priced units, they're all out again.
I guess you didn't know that Ticketmaster is another Bill Gates monopoly?
Yes, that's right. Bill "antitrust" Gates is getting more of your concert ticket money than the band you went to see!
Tommy
Open Source for Open Minds