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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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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?
This is a test. This is a test of the emergency sig system. This has been only a test.
http://ps2media.ign.com/ps2/image/article/557/5576 37/checking-out-the-pstwo-20041015062407316.jpg
Nuff said.
on my TV???
Sweet! What will they think of next!?
"Ask not what your country can do for you." --John F. Kennedy
'Illegally' Modded XBox with XBox Media Center: $200
XBox with MS XBox Media Adapter: $229
Media Center PC: $1000+
Damn, I thought it was actually going to add some sort of TV tuner to the xbox. This addition is basically what XBMCalready does and has done for over a year now.
http://bit.blkbk.com/
This is a distro set to turn your xbox into a MythTV box. Pretty cool stuff.
Combine that with their online music offerings, and even a subscription service such as an enhanced XBOX live and DVD playback, and youve got the Windows Media Center in homes all across the world on an infrastructure that's already highly controlled.
While Nintendo and Sony have been banking hard on cell technology and other gamer focused add-ons, MS is covering the do it all, in every home aspect, and they will win if allowed to do so.
one of Sony's main driving forces for playstation adoption (1 and 2)... was the inclusion of a cd player or dvd player... an unecesary add-on as far as games go, but a strikingly powerfull one as far as extra features go.
If nintendo/sony dont come up with their own media center functions, they will find themselves eclipised by MS very quickly despite their better game focus.
--Idiots, Every single one of YOU, A flaming mass of conglomerated morons, hey wait a second, isnt that how RAID works?
With XBox 2 around the corner, it seems to me that Microsoft is firing the first salvo in the upcoming Media Center wars. Sony and Microsoft both want to be the entertainment hub of the living room - video games, TV, music, movies... all in one.
I guess M$ has an advantage in that they control the desktop, but I think they're making a mistake by releasing XBox 2 so early. The hype simply isn't there the way it would be if they waited for Sony, and once the PS3 does come out, everyone will be comparing spec's. By releasing now, they're locking in at a lower specification level.
Surprisingly, Sony's answer, the smaller PS2 doesn't even have a hard drive. I guess this means they're not seriously pushing the PS2 as an entertainment appliance.
Nintendo, in contrast, is holding out until the PS3 release date for their next generation system, but pushing their DS handheld now in it's place. Since Nintendo has a reputation for good handhelds, they can gain some foothold here and convert people who want handheld to console compatability (which I suspect isn't that many people).
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?
Getting Media Center Edition no longer requires purchasing a new overpriced system. Some references:
c ription=32-102-311&depa=0
c ription=80-100-851&DEPA=0
... $589 &loc=101&sp=1
9
t =438918&cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&
MCE 2005 OEM (Software) - $140
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?des
MCE 2005 Remote - $40
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?des
Xbox MCE Extender software (includes remote - is what this whole article is about)
http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=1038520
LinkSys MCE Extender (standalone/wireless) -
http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=1038266
HP has one too also can't find it for sale yet
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/product?produc
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.
"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.
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!!
Two words: Fair Use.
Beat up by just four letter... DMCA.
Land of the free, yeah, sure.
Learn something new.
buy a Media Center Extender For Xbox and get:a luation/devices/xboxextenderkit.mspx
2 AA batteries
Networking poster
from http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/mediacenter/ev
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)
If everyone would stop the microsoft bash train and look for a second they would see that if you would update to SP2 and Media Center 10 you can download a update called Media Center Connect, which lets Windows Media Player 10 connect wirelessly to any UPnP device. Why is this cool? Because thats what they are doing to the XBOX. Making it a UPnP Device. Which means I can access my 250 gig hard drive that is full of TV shows legally captured with my ATI card and play them back at random without more wires. Its actually a cool little product. Media Center 10 will play every format you can throw at it but OGG, which no one uses, and AAC, which is the apple standard, but thats like 2% of the total digital media market. Get with the program people. Microsoft isn't that bad. I run Windows XP for weeks at a time, only to turn it off to upgrade a piece of hardware or something like that.