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.""

Comments

great

[FictionPimp]

FP, finally something I can do with all that drm'ed media.

too bad...

[justforaday]

too bad you'll need to have one of those overpriced Windows Media Center edition machines around your house first...

Re:too bad...

[AstroDrabb]

I agree with you about the cable companies. They all try to hold on to a monopoly. However, I disagree with this statement:

so I can say from my experience that Microsoft is actually trying to introduce innovation and competion into a market

If you really think that, then IMO, you need a CAT scan : )
MS is not trying to "introduce innovation and competion into a market", they are only trying to replace one monopoly with another monopoly. MS is trying to replace the cable company monopoly with the MS monopoly. Do you really think MS will introduce open protocols and specs to the cable industry? Certainly not! They will just try to replace the closed/proprietary stuff of the cable companies with the closed/proprietary stuff of MS. Personally I would rather have the closed/proprietary stuff of the cable company that _I_ pay for service then the closed/proprietary stuff of MS.

MS is getting back at the hackers

[bigjnsa500]

MS is finally getting back at the hackers now by reverse engineering Xbox Media Center and provided it directly from MS. Who says MS never listens?

Re:MS is getting back at the hackers

[thatshortkid]

Uh.... this is an additional piece of hardware. You also need a Media Center PC.

They didn't really 'get back at the hackers'. They just took somebody else's good idea, made a sub-par version, and are selling it to those that don't know any better because of their market position. Not that they've ever done something like that before....

Maybe they are getting a clue

[zealott777]

Maybe they are getting the idea from all the chipped xboxes out there and how nice it is to use the xbox as a media center?

Still not excited

[Sean80]

It seems to me that Microsoft, Creative, and others are getting way ahead of the game here. I myself am still not clear what sort of content I could even play through my XBox in this way, or what content I could download to the latest Creative portable video device.

It seems to me as though everybody needs to back up for a second here, fix the concerns and problems with copyright, and then create the technology. This just seems like an answer looking for a problem. Today, I'm not sure if I can upload my DVD collection to my computer (I wouldn't even have the hard drive space on my computer), and why on earth would I want to do this when I already have a nice simple solution involving DVDs and a DVD player?

Re:Still not excited

[Sean80]

But aren't you overriding the copy protection mechanisms of the DVD by copying them to your hard-drive in the first place?

Alternatively, what commercial software exists that allows you to do this today?

Re:Still not excited

[mog007]

Two words: Fair Use.

Beat up by just four letter... DMCA.

Land of the free, yeah, sure.

Its about time

[visionsofmcskill]

Hardly a surprise here, Microsoft is gearing up to compete directly with the TIVO DVR market with a product that will have a huge market penetration, that onboard harddrive isnt for nothing.

Combine that with their online music offerings, and even a subscription service such as an enhanced XBOX live and DVD playback, and youve got the Windows Media Center in homes all across the world on an infrastructure that's already highly controlled.

While Nintendo and Sony have been banking hard on cell technology and other gamer focused add-ons, MS is covering the do it all, in every home aspect, and they will win if allowed to do so.

one of Sony's main driving forces for playstation adoption (1 and 2)... was the inclusion of a cd player or dvd player... an unecesary add-on as far as games go, but a strikingly powerfull one as far as extra features go.

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.

Re:XBMC

[stratjakt]

However, why make it just for Windows Media Center edition? How many people actually have that?

I don't believe it works with MCE alone, but DRM is definately the issue. You can't just have people backing up the DVDs they own on a hard drive and playing them back on the XBox.

The entire movie industry would collapse, and Comcast would have a hard time selling you "video on demand" if you could do it yourself.

MS catching on?

[AssProphet]

majority of early posts include such titles as:
- MS is getting back at the hackers
- Microsoft finally caught on!

WTF, why would you think MS is catching on?

I'll never say something like that until they start selling xboxes that don't need modchips.
The MOD community isn't just about creating unincluded features, they are about freedom, and this is something Microsoft will never catch on to.

Re:What

[stratjakt]

This was just submitted by an idiot who couldn't link to the correct page.

There are "Media Extender" set top boxes, and it's also available as a software package for XBox. Not a "hardware add-on" though it does include a remote control in case you don't have the DVD package yet.

Requires a Media Center PC

[GweeDo]

The IGN article at the end says you will need a Media Center PC as well. This just made this little device completely worthless! Looks like the $50 modchip is still the best option.

Rube Goldberg-ish

[MooseByte]

"Microsoft is gearing up to compete directly with the TIVO DVR market with a product that will have a huge market penetration"

That is, for those who purchase/own an Xbox, a Windows Media Center edition machine, and this new gadget on top of it all.

Or I can just get a TiVO? Cripes! Who wants three MS boxes chained together (cross your fingers) just to get TiVO functionality?

Smells like another money-losing venture for MS.

No surprise from MS...

[inkdesign]

This is a great example of what companies do when a product nears the end of its life-cycle. Get as much money out of your current client base as you can before moving on to the "next big thing."

Re:I'd rather...

[PPGMD]

The question of the day is how are they making money on it? Because the little known fact is that most of the price to the remote are licensing fees to the DVD forum for DVD playback.

Anyways the Media Center Extender is rather cool, it not only plays recorded TV, but will play live TV (with a delay of course since the MCE computer must encode it send it across Ethernet, and the Xbox must decode it). It's like one of those setup Tivo (you know the ones without a Cable/Sat box built in) boxes on crack. So anywhere you have power and high speed network access you can have a full selection of live TV.

Some thoughts on remote streaming videoness

[Matey-O]

A sub-conscious thought bubbled to the top of the stack while I was reading this article:

So what?

And Not even for the same reasons that are being brought up here.

Right now, I've got a DishPVR that sorts through the TWENTYFIVE THOUSAND hours of programming a week (150x24x7)...of which, I'll see maybe 15 hours that I want to see, the part of the year that the programming isn't a rerun.

Otherwise, I get my entertainment off the net, reading books, RSS feeds, The _occasional_ DVD purchase (LOTR), etc.

But the point is: There's SUCH a HUGE firehose of information vying for my time that a portable PVR, or Xbox remote video viewer, or streamed T.V. to my Cellphone just doesn't light my lucky like they want it to.

I predict this is going to be another 'Tablet PC' marketing push. It's a lot of bells and whistles and will amount to a bunch fo companies losing a lot of money.