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The Media Center Show V2.07 - Widevine Technologies

Mike — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 19:14:04 +0000

For any of you who are looking for an overview of Digital Rights Management and content protection, this is a great show. This week’s guest if Brian Baker, the CEO of Widevine Technologies. Brian gives us some background on his company, which is multi-platform and network content protection provider. Mike Wolf of ABI Research asks Brian about the differences around the traditional conditional access market and DRM, as well as how the music DRM market differs from that of the premium video market. Some highlights:

-Brian talks about his discussions with music labels who are interested in using non-player and digital marketplace specific DRM

- Brian talks about how studios are looking not only to protect their premium digital video assets, but also looking to content protection to protect the integrity of the embedded advertising in the video

-Brian talks about efforts around in-home distribution and protecting content as it moves from device to device

Overall its a very interesting call.

download link

The Media Center Show v2.06 - Sonos

Mike — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 15:44:10 +0000

Great call this week, as Mike Wolf of ABI Research talks to Tom Cullen, the VP of Sales and Marketing for Sonos. Sonos is a manufacturer of wireless multi-room audio systems, and Tom tells us about how Sonos went through an intense period of useability testing - as they tap the expertise of the woman who helped with useability for Philips’ Streamium products - to put useability “in the bones of the device”.
Some interesting info Tom reveals about the typical Sonos user:

-typically male

-have thousands of tracks

-typical income is over $100 thousand

-users are generally not in their 20s, but typically 30-45

-Average of 3 rooms supported per customer, up from 2 rooms just a couple years ago

-The average user say their music listening has doubled since buying their Sonos system.

Take a listen:

download link

The Media Center Show v2.05 - BitTorrent President Ashwin Navin

Mike — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 16:25:27 +0000

Fascinating call this week as Mike Wolf of ABI Research talks to Ashwin Navin, the President and cofounder of BitTorrent. Ashwin gives some of the background on the founding of the company with Bram Cohen and goes on to talk about some of the company’s initiatives with its BitTorrent DNA, efforts to put the BitTorrent client in consumer electronics devices, as well as talking about the company’s efforts to work with media companies to overcome the long-held perception that P2P is a dirty word.

Take a listen:

download link

The Media Center Show V2.04 - Archos COO Larry Smith

Mike — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 13:26:41 +0000

For those of you interested in networked entertainment - specifically portable networked entertainment - this is a show you can’t miss. We spend some time with the Chief Operating Officer of Archos, Larry Smith. Archos is a pioneering portable media player vendor, being one of the first to deliver Wi-Fi connected portable media players. My discussion with Larry is pretty wide ranging, as we talk about how the new Generation 5 of Archos media players differs from previous generations, what Archos can do against the Apple freight train, and the likelihood of mobile broadband in the next generation of Archos PMPs.

Some interesting take-aways:

-55% of those who bought Archos PMPs in the U.S. last year bought the DVR Station add-on, effectively allowing themselves to make their portable media device a PVR

-25% of those who buy a PMP from Archos buy software add-on modules from Archos for new functionality. Archos is looking to take a more modular approach going forward as it allows them to reduce cost for their overall customer base while giving options to those who want to buy the modules

-They are looking at adding 3G connectivity such as WiMax in the sixth generation devices, as well as VOIP. My feeling is that the 3G is a potential, but that it may slip to later generations.

Anyway, lots of great info in this one as as Mike Wolf of ABI Research talks to Larry about the future of connected portable entertainment.
Take a listen :

download link

Media Center Show V2.03 - Ronen Mizrahi of TVersity

Mike — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 22:21:34 +0000

Welcome back from (in the U.S, at least) a holiday week. This week’s show features an interview with Ronen Mizrahi, the founder of TVersity. TVersity is a media server, content management and entertainment guide application that can be downloaded for free at Tversity.com.

Ronen founded the company in 2004 and the company’s application has been available in beta since 2005. The product features a number of interesting capabilities, including a DLNA server, on the fly transcoding of a number of different media formats as well as a entertainment guide. The app works with all three consoles and can also be used with Nokia’s 770/N800 web tablets.

Mike Wolf of ABI Research talks to Ronen about his reason for founding the company and discussing the various iterations as TVersity marches towards release 1.0.

Its a good show, so take a listen!

download link

Media Center Show V2.02 - Ian McCarthy of Orb Networks

Mike — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 13:23:07 +0000

We have a great show with Ian McCarthy of Orb Networks. Ian and I chat about all things iPhone, as well as look at how Orb is doing now that it has been launched for all three of the big game consoles. Ian touches on the new Realplayer as well as his own digital home set up.

Enjoy the show!

Show Outline
2:00 – Show structure and format
2:30 – Digital Media Happenings
10:10 – Hello to Ian
11:30 – Three game consoles and Orb adoption
15:15 – Wii vs. 360 vs. PS3 as network extenders
21:20 – the Apple iPhone
23:15 – Apple positioning of iPhone
27:15 – openness of iPhone platform
29:00 - YouTube on iPhone
30:30 – Apple vs. Sony
32:21 – Apple TV and Media Center Extenders
35:45 – PSP phone and Walkman phone
40:01 – DRM on iPod
41:35 – new Real Player
46: 02 – remote vs. local storage of media and should you download media?
49:20 – renting vs. owning music
53:05 – Archos Wi-Fi players
58:20 – Ian’s digital home setup
1:00:01 – Ian’s final thoughts
1:02:44 – Goodbye

download link

Media Center Show 2.01 - Joe Belfiore

Mike — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 13:07:36 +0000

Welcome Back.

The first show back and its a great one. Joe Belfiore is our guest and gives us a great update on all things media center. We talk about CableCard, the launch of Media Center in Vista and the online features of Media Center in Vista.

Take a listen.

(Note: having trouble with this post in Wordpress - will repost showtimes hopefully later today or tomorrow…)

download link

Microsoft Debuts Mediaroom

Mike — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 21:55:04 +0000

I was a little confused by the name of the product, which half-sounded like a virtual press area (they were announcing it from a trade show after all) and also somewhat Media-Center-ish. The new platform is really just the next iteration of their Microsoft IPTV software, and the new features include the ability to share home photos, video and content on your PC with your IPTV set top box. Sound familiar? Details are scant at this point, but I am curious if there are any of the same underlying pieces of code powering media center extender with the new Mediaroom. I have a feeling there is. I’ll try and get a Microsoft TV person on the show sometime soon.

Will the New Real Player Actually Make Me Use It Again?

Mike — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 17:46:03 +0000

I imagine that many of you gave up on Real Player quite a while ago, and I can’t blame you. I have a copy one of my machines, but I hardly use it anymore, except for the not-so-common chance I come across a site streaming in Real format. But with the new Real Player 11, I have a feeling after talking to Real today that I (and a few others) might give it a look.

The reason for this is its the easiest way I’ve seen to download web video. There are, of course, tools out there to download web video today, but none in such an easy way across formats (Real Player 11 supports Flash, Windows Media, Real and Quicktime). And while you can’t use the forthcoming version to send the content to another device (that feature is coming), you can do it in Windows Media Center as well as through the normal Windows of Mac file system.

Another interesting feature is the ability to burn DVDs. Now I probably wouldn’t pay the $30 they want for the ability to burn the videos onto a DVD since I already have good DVD burning software, but I imagine some who want an all in one solution would.

Another thing that turned me and many others off of Real Player a while ago was the annoying upsell to Real services like Rhapsody and others. They told me they’ve stripped the new player of this, and if what they say is true, this is another reason to give Real Player another try.

I’m curious - is anyone else looking to give the new Real Player a try?

Windows Home Server Hits RC1

Mike — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 21:09:16 +0000

Just got the email about Windows Home Server going RC1.

I think the list of features sounds pretty solid. Overall, I think the majority of those who use it will be using their for backup and restore functions, which is the main reason I would use it in the long term, though things like using it as a file server would be pretty cool. Ars Technica has a pretty good run down on the move to RC1 and when gold code should come out.
I’m sure many more of you will get this as well. The details are as follows:

The RC (Release Candidate) release is a feature complete build of Windows Home Server.

Here are the details:

Install options

As we stated in a mail earlier in May, we are only supporting one installation option with this RC release: New Installation. Server Reinstallation is not supported. Server Reinstallation will be supported from RC to RTM.

The New Installation option will wipe out all drives including drives where your backups and shares reside. Please be sure to backup any critical data off of your Windows Home Server installations prior to installing the RC build.

Enable Customer Feedback

We ask that you enable providing customer feedback information to Microsoft when you go through setup (or enable it later in Server Settings). We received VERY valuable data from Beta 2 and CTP via this mechanism and it is extremely important that any crash or failure you encounter get reported to us. For privacy reasons we cannot enable this feature by default now that we are this far along in our release schedule.

Things we want you to test:

Run every app you can think of on your client machines accessing files on the server via SMB.
Copy stuff on, copy stuff off, delete stuff, move stuff.
Run lots of backups.
Do single file/folder restores.
Restore full PCs.
Remote Access configuration
Password policy
Password reset
OOBE from a home PC (the OEM experience)
Full system restore of a home PC (test on a spare box)
Adding and removing hard drives through the Windows Home Server Console

Again, we thank you for all the great testing and feedback you’ve given us so far, and look forward to you helping us insure this RC is really ready for release!

(Note - Let me know what features you plan on or have been using most, as well as how your experience with Windows Home Server beta has been going, and I’ll read them on the show. I can be reached at mediacentershow (at) gmail.com )

Cheaper Media Center Extenders (Read Xbox 360) Coming Soon?

Mike — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 16:14:33 +0000

Looks like despite all the speculation about an impending price drop on the Xbox 360, it may not be happening soon. I suspect it is still very likely before Christmas (Halo 3 combined with a price drop = Sony-Killer). That being said, Microsoft is keeping things close to the vest.

With the Xbox 360 being the only Pika Media Center Extenders out there, I imagine there’s some pent up demand among those looking to distribute media around the home. However - I’ve had some good discussions with Microsoft folks in the last week or so, and despite the lack of Pika based MCX’s today, they all but assure me they’ll be out by Christmas.

Just a Quick Hello

Mike — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 16:48:36 +0000

Hey folks, its Mike Wolf, the new host of the Media Center Show here at TPN. I’m just moving in and unpacking my boxes right now, getting some guests lined up (we’ve got some great ones coming!). I’ll start posting here occasionally and increasing the frequency as we get closer to the first show (with me, that is).

And as for my first guest, it’s a good one! I’ll let you in on who it is in about a week. Stay tuned!

Feel free to drop me a line at mediacentershow (at) gmail.com

Details on my new Vista Media Center Book

Ian Dixon — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 20:08:55 +0000

For a while now I have been working on a Vista Media Center book with Tony Campbell co-author of Using Windows XP Media Center 2005. The writing process is going well and I am really enjoying doing it, its amazing the hidden features you learn!

You can now pre-order the book on Amazon, it’s a fantastic feeling to see you name on Amazon.

Checkout the link

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Using-Microsoft-Center-Babani-Computer/dp/0859345823/sr=1-71/qid=1170617545/ref=sr_1_71/202-0069664-0789410?ie=UTF8&s=books

I am not sure when I will start the world book tour ;)

Pictures from CES

Ian Dixon — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 15:45:34 +0000

The CES picture gallery is online on the Media Center Show Community site, see Windows Home Server, Cablecard, Sideshow, Bill Gates and lots of Media Center

If you have a Media Center releated CES picture you want hosting, just send it to me.

CES Photo Gallery

The Media Center Show Extra #5 Music,mceBackup and RSS

Ian Dixon — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 07:06:01 +0000

Welcome to Show #5.

On this on the all Vista show I will be taking a look at mceBackup 2.0 my backup tool for Media Center, Big Screen Headlines a RSS reader for Vista Media Center and a look at Music in Vista Media Center.

The extra shows are great fun to do and I appreciate your feedback and suggestions.

Media Center Show Extra #5 in Normal (28mb) HD (167mb)
Media Center Show Extra #5 on MSN Soapbox
Media Center Show Extra #5 part 1 and part 2 on Youtube

This week show

Have A Great Christmas and New Year

Ian Dixon — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 11:52:31 +0000

Just wanted to say to all readers of this blog and listeners of the Media Center Center Show have a great Christmas. I have really enjoyed doing the show over the last year and hope to continue and make the show better in 2007. As ever I do appreciate your suggestions and comments so please keep them coming in

There will be no show next week but there will be a new Media Center Show Extra out next Thursday, see you in 2007!

Media Center Show Awards 2007 Nominations Closes Monday

Ian Dixon — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 13:35:09 +0000

The Media Center Show Awards 2007 will be closing Monday.

The aim of the awards is to highlight and give some recognition to the great work done in the Media Center community and I will be putting the vote page up on Monday.

So if you have a favorite Media Center related blog, addon or web site or anything else worth including let me know at isdixon at gmail dotcom and i will add it to the nominations list.

Fantastic New Media Center Sample Application Shows the Power of Media Center Markup Language

Ian Dixon — Sat, 18 Nov 2006 07:45:49 +0000

Microsoft have a new sample application with that really shows the power of Media Center Markup Language. The application called Z shows virtually a whole new UI for Media Center highlighting how developers can use this technology to make there own apps.

The potential for fantastic new applications is amazing.

The slickness and visual eye candy is wonderful, the developers have done an amazing job of highlighting the possibilities of Media Center, including a Folder viewer for music files (something lots of people have asked for), and a download manager (with complete source code!)

The application is a fictional company called Z that offers Movies, TV and Music, and it really shows you what could be done. See the screen shots bellow, its amazing and I really hope that some content companies see this and wake up to the fact that Media Center presents a real opportunity to get content in to the digital home via the TV and the 10 foot interface.

Not only is it a great looking application, Microsoft have given away the source code, so you can look over the code and see how its done.

I must really commend the team at Microsoft for doing this application, it serves the purpose of showing the capacities of MCML, show developers how its done with the source code and inspiring developers and users a like.

I must also compliment Thomas Hawk and the wonderful pictures included in the application.

Download it with the rest of the SDK HERE and more details on the Media Center Sandbox blog

Look out for Z in a Media Center Show Extra

The Media Center Show Extra #2

Ian Dixon — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 07:53:10 +0000

This week on the Media Center Show Extra I am showing off mceAuction the ebay application for Media Center as well as Media Center Markup Language samples and the Q application that Aaron Stebner talks about on the Media Center Show this week.

View via Youtube, MSN Soapbox or direct download

Links from the show

The Media Center Show Extra #2

Re-awarded an MVP

Ian Dixon — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 09:08:33 +0000

I have just got notice that I have been re-awarded an MVP (Microsoft’s Most Valuable Professional) award for Windows Media Center. I am really please to get the award as its recognition for the Media Center Show and the valuable time that the guest put in to coming on the show.

So thanks to all that have supported the show at Microsoft, especial in the eHome team (you know who you are! ) and the guests, sponsors and Cameron at TPN.

The reason I keep doing the show (apart from loving talking about Media Center) is that its being part of the Media Center community, so if you have something you want to say on the show drop me an email at isdixon at gmail dot com

Vista Media Center video walkthrough

Ian Dixon — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 09:39:02 +0000

Charlie Owen has posted a video walkthrough for Vista Media Center

It shows how to setup the TV options in Vista Media Center and he explains what is happening during the setup (and why its going it!)

He also shows the new views for recorded TV,DVD’s, music and pictures

Checkout the video at Windows Media Center ‘Diamond’ Walkthrough

And if you want to see how it looks on an extender checkout my video of Vista on a XBOX 360

Apples iTV - What is in it for developers?

Ian Dixon — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 09:11:43 +0000

Looking at reaction to the announcement of Apples new extender type device called iTV (I bet ITV the UK TV company will love the name!) there is one thing that hasn’t been talked about and that is the opportunity for 3rd party developers.

The thing I love about the XBOX 360 as an extender is that I can write a 10′ application for Media Center in HTML and have that work on my TV via my XBOX. My RSS reader is a good example I can check the latest news from my sofa, so while my wife is making a coffee I can get all the latest motor sport news without moving :)

With Vista the development story gets better with WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation) applications and MCML (Media Center Markup Language). Developers will be able to get the full power of Media Center on the XBOX 360.

I don’t see that being an option for the iTV box, so it misses much of the benefits of a Media Center extender.

I do hope that we will get to see more Media Center Extenders for people that don’t want a XBOX 360 (built in to a HD TV would be great) but for me the 360 is the best part of my Media Center setup.

For more reaction to iTV on Charlie Owen’s blog

New Version Of Yougle for Media Center

Ian Dixon — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 14:24:54 +0000

As I have said before I love Youtube and Yougle is a Media Center UI for Youtube and Google Videos

Hear more about Yougle from the developer on a future show and check the new features on the update. Download it fro free from HERE

New features:

Added Grouper Compatibility
Added a ‘Fullscreen Only’ option that allows you to jump straight from the video list to full-screen display. Use the ‘*’ key to save/remove movies from favourites.
Added Adobe Flash detection, to warn users if they have not installed Flash on their Media Center (or on IE)
More ‘Media Center Like’ behaviours and appearance, including fading of control groups that are not active.
Rescaled the layout to be more reasonable on widescreen displays - it scales in a similar way to other Media Center menus
Repositioned and rescaled the Flash window in non-fullscreen playback to center it properly in unusual resolutions and widescreen TV’s.
Adding a favourite or renaming a video now refreshes the movie properly when pressing ‘Back’
Minor issues resolved when searching all video sources
A number of text input control changes…
- -Change to upper and lowercase when editng text using the channel buttons
- -Help text under all search controls
- -Text controls do not attempt to start the search when they are clicked with the mouse
- -New text input contols now support non-alpha keys and punctuation, as well as being more attractive graphically.
Made changes to improve performance, particularly in searches.
Removed an error message that could appear when pressing ‘Back’ in fullscreen mode.
‘Back’ no longer possible when you delete a video from Favourites (avoids confusion)
Made changes to ensure adding new video sources and adding new interface control types is very simple.

Download Vista RC1 and get playing with Media Center!

Ian Dixon — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 08:26:02 +0000

You can now download Vista RC1 from Microsoft. So get playing with Vista Media Center.

This weeks show has more info on developing apps for Media Center with WPF

Windows Vista RC1, English 32-Bit Edition
• Windows Vista RC1, English 64-Bit Edition
To download with akamai downoad manager use:
• Windows Vista RC1, English 32-Bit Edition
• Windows Vista RC1, English 64-Bit Edition

Update: Windows Vista Release Candidate 1 (RC1) is now available for Customer Preview Program (CPP) participants only. If you are not registered but would like to receive RC1, the CPP will open to new participants in the coming weeks. Please check back periodically for updates

Running Vista Media Center on my XBOX 360 (with Video)

Ian Dixon — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 08:03:33 +0000

Last night I played with the extender function of Windows Vista. This is the first time I have got my XBOX 360 working as an extender with Vista.

Using the latest build of Vista (5472) I setup up the XBOX 360 as an extender. The setup was very simple, it seems slicker that the XP version and maybe a little quicker.

Once up and running it looks exactly like Media Center running on Vista, with the new UI and sounds.

I made a little video of Vista Media Center running on my XBOX 360, check out the new mini guide in action as well as the the new sounds

Video of Vista on XBOX 360

Vote for the Media Center Show

Ian Dixon — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 07:44:01 +0000

If you like the show why not vote for it at the 2006 Podcast Awards!

Paul Thurrott has trouble with Vista Media Center, I want your thoughts

Ian Dixon — Thu, 29 Jun 2006 07:41:41 +0000

I don’t normally comment on Paul Thurrott’s posts thought I would on this one. Paul posted a article called “Windows Vista’s Media Center Not Ready for Prime Time” (hasn’t he used this already?) He talks of how slow Vista Media Center is and how some of the UI is still XP based. Well as its a beta I am sure its not 100% ready, thats why its still beta software. From my experience I found the performance OK but the stability not quite there. Thats why I haven’t upgraded my main machine to Vista yet. He does say how he likes the right to left menus and the thumbnail based TV section. I would like to hear how other listeners / readers are getting on with Vista and will do an update on the show

Media Center Show #55 out Friday

Ian Dixon — Thu, 27 Apr 2006 08:45:05 +0000

This weeks show will be out Friday due to me getting back from Germany late last night.

This weeks I am talking to Brian Binnerup about My Movies and what is new in My Movies 2.0 which should also be out soon.

As even I have email in to the show and some of the Media Center news headlines

Want a Windows Live Messenger Beta invite?

Ian Dixon — Wed, 11 Jan 2006 15:53:20 +0000

Anybody want a Windows Live Messenger Beta invite?

I have 2 invites left to give away just send leave me a Skype message on the show line “MediaCenterShow“

Looking for a new TV

Ian Dixon — Fri, 30 Dec 2005 08:30:31 +0000

In the new year I am looking to buy a new TV. I want a 37 to 40 inch screen HDMI input (to hook it up to an XBox 360) it must have freeview built in (the standard for UK over air digital TV)

So far this Sony looks good and best of all my wife likes it

Sony KDLS40A12 40″ High Definition Digital LCD

Pixel resolution

1366×768

-	High Definition Ready
-	Receive up to 30 digital channels
-	New BRAVIA styling
-	Virtual Dolby Surround Sound (20W)
-	HDMI Connectivity
-	PAL 3D Comb Filter
-	Wall Mountable
-	Component Input
-	16ms Panel Response Time
-	7 day Electronic Programme Guide

I am going to be wall mounting it connecting it to an XBOX 360 as an extender. The process has involved complex negotiations with my wife so we have a new sofa on the way

Has anybody got any recommendation?

Maybe I will see something at CES!

The Media Center Show #31 - Update Roll Up 2 Help

Ian Dixon — Thu, 03 Nov 2005 12:02:07 +0000

The Media Center Show #31 (MP3 - 21.4MB - 1 hour 2mins 24secs)
LISTEN HERE

On this weeks show I have Aaron Stebner from the Media Center team at Microsoft talking about issues installing Roll Up 2 on Media Center and some background on setup and the .net framework

Download Orb

I have the Media Center news with Orb and I read out email sent in to the show

Don’t forget so send in your suggestions for the Media Center awards coming soon

Send your questions and feedback to isdixon@gmail.com (feel free to send your questions in mp3)
or you can send your questions and comments in to the show Skype Line “MediaCenterShow”

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:
00:00 Show Ident
01:01 Coming up this week
01:20 Email from Gabe - File server question
02:38 Email from Ian - Space Manager
03:16 Email from Simon - Ipod’s with Media Center
04:51 The Media Center Show News with Orb Networks
05:09 PCI-E Dual TV Card (from the forums)
06:54 Media Center Diagnostic Kit
06:39 TweakMCE Update
07:20 BBC on Online Spotlight
08:30 Hotmail for Media Center
09:20 Sony’s DRM protection
10:04 Media Center Show Awards
10:29 A Message from the Grand Prix Show
10:59 Welcome to Aaron
11:47 Aaron’s role
14:11 .Net Framework
16:45 Wixs
18:00 Planning installations
19:00 Media Center Update Roll Up 2 errors
22:30 What to do if you get an error
24:50 Un-installing v System Restore
28:20 Causes of install errors
29:33 Link to .net Framework 1.1 Service Pack
29:53 .Net Framework checker
34:07 MCE Repair tool
36:28 Update to Roll Up 2
38:10 What to do if you still have a problem
41:00 Media Center team blogging
45:10 Media Center as a example of .net programming
46:58 Vista Media Center
51:10 Advice for developers rolling out applications
54:55 Thanks to Aaron
58:55 Next week DRM!
Music by Ian Dixon

What is your favorite add in for Windows Media Center?

Ian Dixon — Sun, 09 Oct 2005 07:40:04 +0000

l am doing some research for the Media Center Show. What is your favorite add in for Windows Media Center?

it can be free or paid beta or release, what one application does it for you?

Either email me, call the Skype line or comment here

I will compile the list and give out the results on a future Show

We’re back baby…

Mick Stanic — Fri, 07 Oct 2005 09:31:41 +0000

You don’t have to wait any longer…our new system is all setup…all of our technology problems have been fixed (fingers crossed) and The Podcast Network is ready to re-enter the world of podcasting…bigger…better…and stronger than ever.

Stay tuned for some really exciting news next week as we kick this thing back into gear, and I know that all of our excellent hosts along with Cam and myself hope that you have enjoyed the great podcasts that we have been providing for your listening pleasure since February 2005…the ride has just started folks.

:)
Mick Stanic
Co-Founder, The Podcast Network

Don’t panic

Administrator — Thu, 29 Sep 2005 01:19:40 +0000

Hi TPN listeners and fans,

Between the 29th of September and the 3rd of October, The Podcast Network web site will be undergoing some major server work that will increase (fingers crossed) both the speed and the reliability of the service you have come to love and cherish ;)

Access to the web site and the functionality of the RSS feed will at best experience a small blip of down time… and at worst…well..it could vanish into the bermuda triangle that is tech land for upto four days. I have also had to switch of the ability to post comments on all the sites till we are fully operational as well.

Stick with us through this little hick-up and I promise we will return to normal transmission as quick as possible.

Thanks guys and gals…

Mick Stanic
Co-Founder of The Podcast Network

Almost a week off

Ian Dixon — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 19:53:28 +0000

No show this week as I am having a week off, but I have just recorded an extra interview to go out on next week show
You will have to wait and see who but developers watch out for next weeks show

I also have some great and varied guests scheduled for future shows so keep listening

and to all listeners a big thanks for listening and please keep the comments coming
email isdixon@gmail.com

News items on the show

Ian Dixon — Mon, 22 Aug 2005 12:08:29 +0000

In the last few shows I have been talking about things in the Media Center news for that week before going to the interviews and I wondered whether this is something you like or you prefer me to go straight to the interview?

I like doing the news items but I was curious to know what you the listeners want.

So have your say either by comments here or email isdixon@gmail.com or the show Skype Line - MediaCentershow

Send in your developer Questions

Ian Dixon — Mon, 04 Jul 2005 11:33:16 +0000

Just thought I would post with a reminder that you can send in your developer questions for a future show.
Michael Creasy from Microsoft is going to answer your development questions, so if you have any question about Media Center development now is the time to ask it!

Send you questions to isdixon@gmail.com or call you show Skype line “mediacentershow”

I also take questions in mp3 format via the email.

So use this chance to get your questions answered

Hmmm….its green….but what is it?

Ian Dixon — Wed, 25 May 2005 09:57:28 +0000

Remote Record on Channel 9

Ian Dixon — Sat, 07 May 2005 07:45:50 +0000

Charlie Owen(guest on show 3) points out a Channel 9 video of how the MSN team built MSN Remote Record for Windows Media Center.

Charlie points out how they used the SDK click to record function that is available to anyone

http://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=65967

When can we have it in the UK and the rest of the world

XBOX 360 to have Media Centers UI - Bill Gates

Ian Dixon — Tue, 03 May 2005 09:43:06 +0000

Just reading an interview with Bill Gates here and one of the things he says is how the next Xbox’s UI will look like Media Center’s UI

“If you’re used that menu, when you use this Xenon, you’ll see a menu a lot like that, that lets you get photos, TV, music and all those different things.”

Will it need a Media Center PC to feed it the photo’s TV etc or will it be standalone? My guess it that it will link in with Media Center as an advanced extender. So I would keep my media center pc and have a xbox too. I did see a Media Center UI on a PVR at CES, so it looks like the Media Center UI is spreading beyond the XP PC

My Visit to the Microsoft Home

Ian Dixon — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 10:10:22 +0000

Just posted this on my blog about an up coming show:

On Monday I got an email from Microsoft giving me the chance to visit the Microsoft Home in London. So at 7am I left home (near Manchester) and took the train to London then a tube across London to the Microsoft Home.

The idea of the home is to show case what Microsoft technologies can do for the home now. So rather than show of products coming in years from now they are showing products you can go out and buy now.

In the living room there was a Media Center PC, XBOX and Pocket PC’s (and Portable Media Centers). In the kitchen there was a tablet PC and a touch screen Media Center PC.

The kids rooms had a secured tablet pc and mp3 player. The bedroom had a very nice mirror that was actually a PC (with Media Center of course!)

There was voice controlled pocket pc’s and streaming media all around the house.

It really showcased how integrated and easy to use Microsoft’s products and Media Center in particular is to use. We were taken around the house by a friendly (but non IT guy) and he had only a couple of days training on the products and could navigate round them with no problems

I think it’s a really great idea showing off what these products can do, Microsoft should do more like this to show what is out there now and what can be done.

I also got to talk to Cynthia Crossley (Director of Windows Client Group, Microsoft Limited) who was very helpful and we did a podcast for the Media Center Show from the house (so look out for that soon), she was great to talk to and very keen on podcasting.

So thanks to Nicola Spear (from Red Consultancy) , Paul Randle and Jonathan Hutchinson (from Microsoft) for the chance to visit the house and Joel Davies for the chance to talk about Online Spotlight

More details on the Podcast will be in the podcast soon

Fix for burning TV Files

Ian Dixon — Wed, 20 Apr 2005 20:25:55 +0000

Just posted on my blog a note about a fix from Microsoft for burning TV files from Media Center to DVD’s
It’s a must for PAL users and recomended for all users.

More details on my blog here

(Spotted by Chris Lainer, a great MCE blog)

Up coming shows

Ian Dixon — Sat, 16 Apr 2005 08:08:27 +0000

I thought I would give you some details of up coming shows

We have:
Dean Weber CEO of One Voice Technologies developers of Media Center Communicator on the next show

Then Michael Sprague of Wavexpress makers of TVTonic for Windows Media Center

Also coming up soon; Thomas Hawk, Orb and other great guest.
Thanks for you support!

Thomas Hawk has some details about future Media Center versions

Ian Dixon — Sat, 16 Apr 2005 08:00:16 +0000

Thomas Hawk had a bloggers dinner with Jim Allchin, Microsoft’s Group Vice President for Platforms and on his blog post about it he talked about what we could expect to see in a future versions of Windows Media Center.

Read the post and find out more

Its look like Longhorn Media Center will be a very big step forward for Media Center. It also looks like the update for Windows Media Center 2005 out later this year (I talked about it in show 2) will have HDTV support

MCE is going to get bigger!

Lookout for a show with Thomas soon :)

A Better way to record Skype for Podcasts

Ian Dixon — Fri, 08 Apr 2005 07:44:39 +0000

You may have seen (on my blog) I have been recording Skype calls for my podcast using a Bluetooth headset and a standard headset (you can’t use one headset as you have to keep the In coming sound and outgoing sound on separate channels or you get massive feedback)

Well at last I found a better way. I got a Plantronics DPS-400 USB headset. So no for recording the call I can use the USB headset for my voice and the sound card for the callers voice so I get 2 clear audio channels enabling me to mix them in post production.

So the next interview I do will be so much better quality that the previous ones I have done. I can’t wait!

(I have 3 interviews recorded already so you won’t notice the change until a around show 7)

MTV comes to Media Center

Ian Dixon — Thu, 07 Apr 2005 08:46:24 +0000

Just posted this on my spaces blog

From Thomas Hawk

MTV Launches Into Overdrive With New Interactive Hybrid Network Delivered Via Broadband

MTV is targeting Media Center for there new Interactive service. This space is really growing. Two out of the last 3 show interviews lined up (for the Medai Center Show podcast) we have looked at Online Spotlight and new services coming out for that area.
So I can’t wait to see MTV’s service

This is from the article
“MTV Overdrive” is delivered via Windows Media Video and Windows Media DRM. MTV will soon release a version of “MTV Overdrive” optimized for Microsoft Media Center Edition PCs, as part of an overarching strategic partnership announced in January by Microsoft and MTVN at the 2005 Consumer Electronic Show.

Call the Show

Ian Dixon — Mon, 04 Apr 2005 08:51:08 +0000

I have setup a Skype line for calling the show. So call MediaCenterShow via Skype and leave your comment and feedback. If you like I can play your comments out on the show.

Don’t forget you can also send email to isdixon at gmail.com either text or mp3

Big thanks to the techAddition podcast for the idea

Tips on developing for Media Center

Ian Dixon — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 20:55:11 +0000

If your after tips on developing for Media Center then you should start with Charlie Owen’s blog. Charlie is a developer at Microsoft on the eHome team and guest on the next show.
He has posted some info on how to workout what mode Media Center is in (PC, Extender or Remote desktop) so check out Charlie’s blog for more info.

Welcome to The Media Center Show

Ian Dixon — Sun, 27 Mar 2005 07:11:54 +0000

Welcome to the Windows Media Center Show.

This podcast is for enthusiasts of the Windows Media Center, whether you have a Media Center pc or are interested in the technology this show is for you.

We are going to be talking to people from the Media Center world, developers, manufacturers and other enthusiasts and looking at Media Center news and blogs. I will also be playing some music on each show.

Please send your suggestions, feedback and comments to isdixon@gmail.com and if you send your comments in mp3 format I will play then on the show. If you have written some music why not send that in and I can play out the show with it

Ian