Hewlett-Packard To Offer Linux-based Media Hub

Sammy at Palm Addict writes "According to the New York Times, Hewlett-Packard is to offer a new digital media hub based on Linux," excerpting "Hewlett-Packard will introduce a new device this fall meant to record and play back television as well as organize digital media, including photos, music and video, the company said yesterday. Hewlett already offers similar devices based on Microsoft's Windows Media Center Edition. The device, called the HP Media Hub, will be based on the Linux operating system." Since HP also sells self-branded iPods, it would be great if they'd make such a box iPod friendly.

Comments

Pretty sparse article

[14erCleaner]

No indication whether it'll be DRM-crippled.

Of course, this is the new, evil, HP, so I guess I shouldn't get my hopes up.

Re:Pretty sparse article

[brokencomputer]

Which new evil HP? Did HP used to be good? Has HP always been evil? What makes HP evil now? I might be out of the loop...

Re:Pretty sparse article

[Wesley Felter]

Broadcast flag? Check. It's required by law.

OpenCable DRM? Check. It's built in to the standard.

Re:Pretty sparse article

[Bloater]

It is a different HP, the old godly HP is a brown spicey sauce that British members of parliament enjoy in their bacon and egg sarnies.

Re:Pretty sparse article

[Billly Gates]

You may want to read the comments on this story and past HP stories for all the details.

HP like IBM was a different company in the past. They were once known for their engineering, ingenuity, innovativeness, and big R&D.

Today they are becoming the walmart of the pc industry while still charging high prices. Also they made some questionable business decisions in terms of their superior products. For example killing the alpha processor because they already invested billions in the sinking Itanium to killing off the clustering in the superior Digital Unix and using a vendor to write a lower quality clustering solution for HP-UX, etc.

Also do not get me started on the calculators. They are practically non existent anymore as HP killed them off.

HP has turned into a short sighted company who makes substandard products and does not look at the long term effects.

I for one would never trust an HP printer or server made after 2001 as a result. They are just not good anymore and frankly are still expensive.

Many slashdotters who have a grudge agaisnt HP were probably former HP customers and loyalists.

Re:Pretty sparse article

[prozac79]

Many slashdotters who have a grudge agaisnt HP were probably former HP customers and loyalists

Or they were once employed by HP or Compaq before the dark times... before Carly.

QNX

[Anonymous Coward]

"The device, called the HP Media Hub, will be based on the Linux operating system."

They could have also used QNX for stability and it's sutability for real-time (of which media is).

Wont work

[mboverload]

Of course, this will not let you transfer recorded shows to other computers on the the network. MythTV is currently the only "media hub" that does not have copy protection, or give away freedoms in any way.

Re:Wont work

[GeorgieBoy]

I've run Mythtv for over a year. I've been using:

-Hauppauge PVR-250 hardware mpeg-encoding TV cards (though newer models are coming out to replace these, but driver support probably isn't as good yet). Note that cards without mpeg-encoding in hardware demand a far faster system: and I tried those first, then bought 2 PVR-250s. -various remotes, including Hauppauge black (crappy) and gray (good) -nvidia card with SVideo out -external firewire DVD burner to archive shows

-a couple 120GB Seagate HDs set in LVM as storage Since the PVR-250 is an MPEG2 encoder, it's not too much trouble to export them to DVD. Editing/exporting the streams to remove commericials can be a bit annoying, though I think nuvexport can help with this.

Note this setup is more expensive (in the short run) than just going with a prefab DVR solution with monthly fees associated with it, but you do have a great deal more control over your recorded content. It will probably take a lot for me to be parted with my setup.

Microsoft's probably thrilled

[Jason Earl]

Microsoft is counting on Windows Media Center being the "next big thing" to give it the growth that it needs to justify its price/earnings ratio. A Linux-based contender in the same market developed by one of Microsoft's biggest allies is almost certainly going to be a major setback for Microsoft's plans.

Re:Microsoft's probably thrilled

[Anonymous Coward]

It may be just a ploy:
Dell announces AMD based systems to get a better deal from Intel
HP announces Linux based Media Center PC to get a better deal from Microsoft.

Happens every so often...

Re:Microsoft's probably thrilled

[Jason Earl]

It's not that Media Centers are revolutionary that makes them interesting to Microsoft. It's the fact that there is the potential to sell millions more copies of Windows. Right now almost no one has a computer hooked up to their TV, and those few folks that do have computers hooked up to their TVs aren't generally using any Microsoft software. Instead they are using something like Tivo.

Microsoft sees the Media Center as a potential market nearly as big as the DVD player market, and Microsoft's marketshare in this potentially huge new market is miniscule. Microsoft is desperate for growth opportunities that would justify its price/earnings ratio of over 30, and Windows Media Center is one of the few Microsoft products currently available that has the potential to build new revenue streams.

Personally, I think that the Media Center idea is several years away from being ubiquitous, but then again I don't have cable television either. I know lots of folks that would give up their firstborn son before they gave up their Tivo. It is entirely possible that eventually the home entertainment computer could even be a bigger market than the normal personal computer that we all know and love.

More importantly, the home entertainment computer is very likely to become a very strategic piece of the overall media puzzle. For example, Microsoft is betting that if it can score big with its Media Center that it could sell the ability to do workable DRM to Hollywood. Microsoft understands the power of controlling the platform, and it knows that they could make billions if they could put Microsoft in a position to become the DRM gateway for all of Hollywood.

Not to mention the fact that Linux-based computers hooked up to the television could easily morph into game consoles. All the pieces are there already.

Re:Microsoft's probably thrilled

[cmacb]

Microsoft is desperate for growth opportunities that would justify its price/earnings ratio of over 30, and Windows Media Center is one of the few Microsoft products currently available that has the potential to build new revenue streams.

I think the problem is that in their desperation to duplicate their success with Windows they are forced to make moves riskier than they would really like (Xbox) or safe/easy where the return on investment is zero to low (Slate). I think the media center falls into that latter category. People aren't going to pay a $300 premium just to know that the thing is running Windows. The imagined "ease of use" issue that are applied to Windows don't apply to a device with a remote control. Especially when there isn't a sugar daddy (like IBM) who has already established a market for the hardware and done all the hard design work (not to mention a host of software companies that have all but solved those problems as well).

I'll buy a Linux based solution because I know I am less likely to be locked into a no-choice-but-to-upgrade future. Microsoft can only succeed at this if they convince almost everyone to go along and nominate them as the gatekeeper of everyone else's profitability. I can't see Hollywood or the RIAA going for that. On the other hand, worse things could happen than to see MS beat the crap out of the movie and music industry, they do, in some ways deserve it.

Meanwhile, I expect Linux, which has no market share, share price, or bottom line to protect to continue to nip at the heals of these media bastards, all of them. In the end if it takes, HP, IBM, or mainland China to be the champion of freedom for certain types of intellectual property (IE that not owned by a mega corporation) then so be it.

I'll be in line to buy one of these (although I haven't watched TV in 3 years and still listen to my own MP3s made from my own CDs and records made prior to 1990.)

Linux doesn't matter

[Wesley Felter]

As was mentioned in the Linux-based portable media player thread, it makes no difference to the user whether these devices run Linux or not. You can't install any applications, you probably can't get a shell, and you can bet that HP will release the minimal amount of source that is legally required, so hacking will be frustrating.

And it looks like this device might break a record for the number of different kinds of DRM in one system...

Re:Linux doesn't matter

[jomas1]

You are right that this media player may not be very hackable (although that remains to be seen) but you can't discount the effect of linux becoming commonplace in appliances. Linux as a desktop/server operating system may never mean anything to the average consumer.

Linux as the operating system that powers their media devices, remote controls, cars, video game consoles etc, etc will mean a lot more. This may be one of the key ways that linux gains mainstream consumer acceptance.

Hope its not restricted

[t_allardyce]

All I can say is they better not bother trying any DRM bullshit, if it can't share all media, skip adverts etc etc its a useless pile of crap (actually i think shit even has more uses than a PVR/media center with DRM)

How long

[ifwm]

before the fact that something runs a version of Linux is no longer newsworthy. I like this product, and it's worthy of being posted. But I also think there's something a little sad about making a fuss over that fact. That mentality seems a little backward anymore.

Re:iPod compatibility...?

[Wesley Felter]

What if you could rip directly from CD onto the media hub, and then sync from the media hub onto an iPod? No computer needed, which some people might see as a benefit.

hah! my Sony Grand Wega runs Linux, too!

[Anonymous Coward]

- but i sure as hell can't get into the box!

- Sony must have cleaned up on the Wegas in the last quarter: LCD projection TV w/built-in HDTV tuner, etc. for $2 (the bulb is replaceable)...

- Linux apparently hosts the TV's menu system, built-in slide show app (w/a built-in sound track), and memory stick support...

- the TV also plays .mp3 sound tracks from the memory stick!

HP in the living room

[UWC]

They're apparently introducing TVs and projectors, too. According to a mini-article on Wired, 17 TVs and "TV projectors" in addition to the mentioned media hub. They're just coming a bit late to the wired living room scene, but apparently with a not insubstantial product line. If they integrate the product features well, the line might end up successful. Having an all-in-one HP remote would be a nice incentive, though I guess the one-remote-for-every-device (if you don't want to sacrifice functionality) situation is fairly well accepted at this point.

DRM is not such a bad issue if you consider this

[halfelven]

It is still legal to sell broadcast-flag-noncompliant devices in the US until June 2005. One such device is pcHDTV which works fine with MythTV
Even after June, it will still be legal to use such devices, if they were purchased before the deadline.

Can you put two and two together now? ;-)

Matters to HP

[spud603]

You're probably right that from the user's point of view, this won't make a lick of difference. The only thing I can think of is that folks may manage to hack the system and start using VLC for playback, or something...

But from HP's angle, I can't believe they're only doing this now. If Linux is good for anything, it's for optimized, customized systems. With Linux, HP can build in exactly the functionality they need -- nothing more. Plus it's free.

Yes but what happens in 7995 years?

[texasfight]

Given today's earlier post http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/01/05/021 6220&tid=126&tid=218, is it Y10K ready, or do I lose almost 8000 years of my music downloads when New Year's comes around?

Re:HP = BAD?

[orthogonal]

Hewlett-Packard To Offer Linux-based Media Hub

Don't we hate HP? I thought that we did...

But not if that Media Hub is designed around Carly Fiorina's head on a stick!

You just tweak her nose to adjust the volume.

B-B-But they hire lots of MBAs these days!

[jerryasher]

You're way wrong, no way that HP can have taken so many disastrous steps.

They are way improved over just five years ago. What used to be a company dominated by silly, market-ignorant, idealistic engineers and the HP way has now become the market driven, best practices, outsourcing MBA laden HP we know and the markets love