Microsoft Bringing TV to Xbox

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Microsoft Bringing TV to Xbox

Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday October 18, 2004 @07:40AM from the it's-about-time dept.

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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MS is getting back at the hackers by bigjnsa500 · 2004-10-18 07:42 · Score: 5, Insightful

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?

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Still not excited by Sean80 · 2004-10-18 07:44 · Score: 3, Insightful

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?
1. Re:Still not excited by mog007 · 2004-10-18 08:00 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Two words: Fair Use.
  
  Beat up by just four letter... DMCA.
  
  Land of the free, yeah, sure.
  
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Its about time by visionsofmcskill · 2004-10-18 07:47 · Score: 5, Insightful

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.

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MS catching on? by AssProphet · 2004-10-18 07:49 · Score: 4, Insightful

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.
Requires a Media Center PC by GweeDo · 2004-10-18 07:55 · Score: 3, Insightful

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.

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Rube Goldberg-ish by MooseByte · 2004-10-18 07:57 · Score: 5, Insightful

"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.
Re:I'd rather... by PPGMD · 2004-10-18 08:19 · Score: 4, Insightful

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 by Matey-O · 2004-10-18 08:29 · Score: 4, Insightful

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.

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