TPN :: The Media Center Show

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.
[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20070827_103.mp3]

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:
[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20070814_102.mp3]

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:[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20070731_101.mp3]

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 :

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20070722_100.mp3]

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!

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20070709_099.mp3]

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 â€“ Show structure and format
2:30 â€“ Digital Media Happenings
10:10 â€“ Hello to Ian
11:30 â€“ Three game consoles and Orb adoption
15:15 â€“ Wii vs. 360 vs. PS3 as network extenders
21:20 â€“ the Apple iPhone
23:15 â€“ Apple positioning of iPhone
27:15 â€“ openness of iPhone platform
29:00 - YouTube on iPhone
30:30 â€“ Apple vs. Sony
32:21 â€“ Apple TV and Media Center Extenders
35:45 â€“ PSP phone and Walkman phone
40:01 â€“ DRM on iPod
41:35 â€“ new Real Player
46: 02 â€“ remote vs. local storage of media and should you download media?
49:20 â€“ renting vs. owning music
53:05 â€“ Archos Wi-Fi players
58:20 â€“ Ianâ€™s digital home setup
1:00:01 â€“ Ianâ€™s final thoughts
1:02:44 â€“ Goodbye
[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20070629_098.mp3]

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…)
[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20070720_097.mp3]

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?Â 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?

Wi-Fi on SD Card: How Compelling is Instant Photo Transfer?

Mike — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 18:08:04 +0000

A new company called Eye-Fi has developed an SD card with Wi-Fi to allow legacy digicams to transfer photos. I know the likes of Canon, Nikon (especially Nikon) and others have pushed out integrated Wi-Fi cameras, but this company would argue that there are tens of millions of cameras out there that need Wi-Fi. The card combines the memory with Wi-Fi (most cameras only have one SD slot).

My question to you, the Media Center community, is how appealing is Wi-Fi connected cameras?Â I think being able to replace the USB cable is great, but I actually usually just pop my SD card into my PC to transfer. Am I like everyone else, or are you looking to use the network for photo uploading and display?

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 )

Apple Now Doing Rental, Competing with Video Marketplace

Mike — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 16:21:04 +0000

I’ve long believe it was only a matter of time before Apple moved to offer rental of movies on iTunes (up until now its only been purchase), and looks like they’re going to soon. In this respect, it gives the Video Marketplace as well as other rental servies available through Media Center’s online partners competition, but I think the market is growing enough that everyone will benefit at this point from Apple’s moves.
I had a few comments on this at my day-job’s blog (more about my day-job to come with first podcast).

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).Â 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

Announcement: Media Center Show Host Auditions Now Open!

Administrator — Thu, 10 May 2007 02:34:17 +0000

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/mediacenteradvertisement.mp3]

DOWNLOADÂ

The Media Center Show #96 - Doug Berrett - Webguide 4.0

Ian Dixon — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 13:42:27 +0000

The Media Center Show #96 (MP3 - 19.5mb-Â 56mins 46secs)
by Ian Dixon

LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20070222_096.mp3]

This week on the show is Doug Berrett author of Webguide the remote scheduler application for media center, well I say remote scheduler but it does a lot more that that. Doug will be joining me to talk about version 4.0

I have Email and news plus another mcePhone + Pamela bundle winner

Go to the Media Center Show Community site thereÂ are aÂ whole range of forums,Â blogs and other resources

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

Send your email to Ian @ thedigitallifestyle.com

Show Times

00:34 Coming up this week
01:10 Mpeg 4 in DVB-T
01:30 Problem with DVB-S channel scanning in MCE2005 (forum post)
04:22 Windows Media Center Tips
04:54 Tip of the week and the winner of Pamela + mcePhone
05:29 Problem with HP Pavilion M7775 and Media Center Extenders
06:40 Webguide Sidebar Gadget for Windows Media Center
07:13 Windows Home Server Beta and it working well for me
08:30 Windows Live for TV
09:47 The pros and cons of upgrading to Vista from MCE2005
11:11 A Message from Onevoice
11:53 Welcome to Doug Berrett
13:00 What is Webguide
16:00 Getting integrated
18:00 Features
22:00 Sporting Events in Media Center
23:10 Search
24:30 Internationalization
26:50 New features of 4.0
30:17 Streaming
31:19 Live TV
37:33 Mobile devices
42:44 Recommendation Service
47:00 Installing Webguide 4.0
49:20 Vista support
51:15 Download link
52:00 New Vista Media Center books
See you on TheDigitalLifestyle.com

Technorati tags: Windows Media Center, Podcast, Webguide

The Media Center Show #95 Rathe Hollingum (Microsoft European Development Center)

Ian Dixon — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 08:18:39 +0000

The Media Center Show #95 (MP3 - 18.4mb-Â 53mins 36secs)
by Ian Dixon

LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20070215_095.mp3]

This week on the show I am taking to Rathe Hollingum a Microsoft developer from the European development center in Ireland. We are going to be talking about the center and what they are adding to Media Center to make it a more global product. I have email, a winner of forum post of the week and details of a new competition

Checkout the new Media Center Show Community site thereÂ are aÂ whole range of forums,Â blogs and other resources

Watch The Media Center Show Extra with 4 shows from CES (the show now has its own RSS feed)

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

Send your email to Ian @ thedigitallifestyle.com

Show Times

00:32 Coming up this week
01:02 Questions regarding Show #94
03:13 Winner of Forum thread of the week
03:48 Next weeks winner gets Pamaela Pro + mcePhone Bundle
04:10 New Forums, The Lounge, Video Cards and Tips and Tricks
05:29 Windows Home Server Beta 2 - register for the beta
06:40 Aufero -BitTorrent client use with Windows Vista Media Center
07:28 Where are the Media Center Sidebar gadgets?
09:00 Links to my blog and TheDigitallifestyle.com
09:40 A message from Onevoice
10:07 Welcome to Rathe Hollingum
10:30 What is Microsoft’s European Development Center
13:00 Tuning changes in Vista
14:40 Telex improvement
15:21 Digital Text is coming to Media Center!
17:40 Subtitles in DVB
18:12 European Standards
20:10 DVB-S cards in Media Center
22:06 Guide data inÂ the DVB-T signal
29:10 Working with Microsoft Redmond
31:00 TV differences around Europe
33:33 New counties joining Europe
35:00 Cable support
36:00 Australian Support
38:58 Future developments
44:50 Extender support
46:22 Don’t forget the new email , forums and blogs

Music by Ian Dixon

Technorati tags: Windows Media Center, Podcast

First Windows Media Center Tip - How to transfer Series recording from one PC to another

Ian Dixon — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 08:21:43 +0000

To kick of the tips forum I have posted details on how to use mceBackup 2.0 to transfer Media Center TV series recording from one PC to another. This is the method I used when reinstalling my main Media Center PC with Windows Vista a couple of weeks ago.

How to get your Scheduled / Series Recordings from one PC to another

Technorati tags: Windows Media Center, Windows Vista, Tips

Share you top Windows Media Center tips

Ian Dixon — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 07:42:57 +0000

As there are going to be lots people using Media Center for the first time when they get Windows Vista I thought it would be a good idea to share our top tips with the new users.

It could be anything, from how to share recorded TV to picture settings. Anything that you find useful others will find it useful too.
So get posting and the tip of the week will win some free software

Post the tips on the Tips Forum over my my TheDigitalLifestyle.com site

Technorati tags: Windows Media Center, Windows Vista, Tips

The Media Center Show #94 - Mark Pendergrast on Extenders

Ian Dixon — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 16:57:30 +0000

The Media Center Show #94 (MP3 - 21.7mb- 1hour 03mins 19secs)
by Ian Dixon

LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20070209_094.mp3]

This week on the show I talk Media Center Extenders with Mark Pendergrast from Microsoft, we talk about the progress from the V1 extenders and what is coming in the future. Mark also has some great tips on getting the most out of your Xbox 360 Extender.

Checkout The Media Center Show Extra and see my CES videos Part 1, Part 2, Part 3Â and Part 4
The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

Send your email to ian @ thedigitallifestyle.com
Donâ€™t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

Checkout the new Media Center Show Community site

Show Times:
00:30 Coming up this week
01:02 Email on Codecs
02:37 New Email address
03:09 When will we see v2 Extenders and noise levels of the Xbox 360
04:36 My new book on the Vista version Windows Media Center (pre-order now!)
06:00 Onevoice Communicator controls Media Center Extender sessions
06:47 Windows Home Server Forums
07:49 Upgrading a laptop from XP to Vista
10:03 The forums
10:25 A Message from Onevoice
11:28 Welcome to Mark
12:56 Mark’s roll at Microsoft
16:50 Features and how they get implemented
19:00 Cablecard
22:20 What was the success of V1 Extenders
26:31 Getting the Extender in to the Xbox 360 project
30:08 ChallengesÂ in developing the Extender
35:00 Why can’t we have Divx on Extenders?
38:00 Transcode 360
40:10 What is new in Vista for Extenders?
49:01 V2 Extenders
51:10 Media Center Extender Tips and Tricks
58:46 Thanks to Mark

Music by Ian Dixon

The Media Center Show Extra #9 CES Part 4

Ian Dixon — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 08:59:02 +0000

Over on The Media Center Show Extra site I have posted Show #9.

This is the final Extra show from CES 2007, and on this show I talked to Jonathan Sass from Simplifi Digital. We look at their Media Center Expander card that enables you to have AV devices going directly in to Media Center and one of there USB audio amplifiers.

The Media Center Show Extra # 9 CES Part 4

Please subscribe to the RSS feed and if you have any suggestions for future shows got to the forums and have your say

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 ;)

The Windows Home Server Forums open

Ian Dixon — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 10:00:12 +0000

I am really excited about Windows Home Server, I think its going to be a great product for people like me with multiple PCs in the home. I am going to be talking about it on The Media Center Show in the future and have opened a new set of forums to discuss Home Server.

There is a forum for general discussion and a forum for developers to discuss developing for Windows Home Server.

To start things off I have posted a set of useful links about Windows Home Server and if you have any suggestions for additional links please use this thread. I have also created a thread for posting questions to ask on the show about Home Server.

There is also a Poll on whether you will be buying or building a Home Server

So please take a look and get posting, I will be adding more content as more details come out.

The Media Center Show #93 - The Awards Show

Ian Dixon — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 09:16:04 +0000

The Media Center Show #92 (MP3 - 24.5mb- 1hour 11mins 21secs)
by Ian Dixon

LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20070201_093.mp3]

Welcome to The Media Center Show Awards. Joining me to talk about the results is Windows expert Ed Bott,Â we also catch up with a few of the winners.
There is a major new competition coming to the show theÂ My Movies Contribution Competition 2007. This is a great competition that My Movies is running where you get rewarded for your contribution to the My Movies database, it has some great prizes and I will be drawing winners on future shows, so check that out in the show.

Thanks to everybody that votedÂ I couldn’t do the award show without you!Â

Checkout The Media Center Show Extra, and see my CES videos Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

Send your questions and feedback to isdixon at gmail dot com
Donâ€™t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

Checkout the new Media Center Show Community site

Show Times:
00:39 Coming this week
01:00 Windows Vista is here, find out how I got on upgrading
01:30 My Movies Contribution Competition 2007
05:07 Welcome to Ed Bott
05:50 Windows Vista
10:17 Best Commercial Application 3rd -Â mceTunes, - 2nd Orb, 1st - mControl
11:27 Ted Singh from Embedded Automation talks about mControl
16:57 Best Communication Tool - 3rd Onevoice ,2nd Skype, 1st Windows Messenger
19:50 Extender Usage
22:30 Best Community Resource - 3rd mce-community.de, 2nd xpMediacenter.com.au, 1st The Green Button
23:34 Best Enthusiast Media Center Blog - 3rd Big Screen Blog, 2nd Ed Bott’s Media Center Blog, 1st Chris Lanier
28:32 A Message from Onevoice
29:11 TV Card stats
31:24 CableCard
36:32 Best nonÂ commercial application 3rd - mceWeather, 2nd Webguide 4.0, 1st - MyMovies
39:06 Brian Binnerup talks about MyMovies
48:41 Should developers have access to the look and feel of Media Center?
51:49 Best Online Spotlight Application - mceWeather
55:21 Best Hardware Manufacturer 3rd Cannon, 2nd Niveus, 1st Shuttle
58:50 Best Media Center Utility - 3rd MyRemoteMouse, 2nd DVD-WMV, 1st DVR-MS Toolbox
1:00:00 Best Microsoft Blog, 3rd Matt Goyer (ex Microsoft), 2nd - Charlie Owen, 1st - Aaron Stebner
1:05:00 Best Vista Media Center Application - Big Screen Headlines
1:06:00 Stats on Vista upgrades
1:09:00 Onevoice winner
1:10:00 Go to The Media Center Show community site

Music by Ian Dixon

Win Pamela Pro and mcePhone with The Media Center Show Community Forums

Ian Dixon — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 16:03:11 +0000

I have a new give away on The Media Center Show community forums. Each week I will be giving away a copy ofÂ Pamaela Pro + mcePhone Bundle worth â‚¬29,95

I will be awarding the software to the post of the week. It could be for helping someone out orÂ posting info of a your TV card config. So get posting!

Pamela for Skype adds some nice features to Skype: Call Recording,Video Recording,Answering Machine, Skype PodcastingÂ (see for HERE more details)

mcePhone for Skype allows you to seamlessly integrate Skype and Pamela in Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005.
Once mcePhone is installed, you will be able to navigate and use Skype and Pamela seamlessly within the Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 environment.

The Media Center Show Extra #8 - CES Part 3

Ian Dixon — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 12:57:44 +0000

This week on the Extra show I continue my CES coverage. First is a look at the Gyration Remote Control that was on show at CES which is a great motion controlled remote control, it was the first chance I had to play with one and I must say I am impressed.
Then Ted Singh from Embedded Automation showed me around his booth at the show, including a demo of the Vista version of mControl, the home automation software for Windows Media Center.
I have one more CES show planned. If you have an suggestions for items I should feature on the show please head over to the community forum and let me know.

Watch on Youtube
Watch on MSN Soapbox
Watch via WMV in HD

The Extra show has its own RSS feed and site now, so don’t forget to subscribe

The Media Center Show #92 - CES Part 3

Ian Dixon — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 12:42:31 +0000

The Media Center Show #92 (MP3 - 11.5mb- 33mins 27secs)
by Ian Dixon

LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20070125_092.mp3]

This is my finalÂ set of interviews from CES. This week on the show I interview StevenÂ Cheung from Vidabox talking HD-DVD. Christoph BuengerÂ author of mceWeather explains what he was doing at CES, Ted Singh from Embedded Automation talks home automation and about the winner of their Digital Home contest and finally Jonathan Sass from Simplifi Digital talks about their digital audio solutions.

Checkout The Media Center Show Extra, and see my CES videos Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

Send your questions and feedback to isdixon at gmail dot com
Donâ€™t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

Checkout the new Media Center Show Community site

Show Times:
00:36 Coming up this week
01:21 Email - How to fix up your tags - Album Art fixer
02:44 Email - GPRocks.Net
04:02 List of TV Cards that work well or not so well with XP and Vista
05:20 The Media Center Show Extra CES Part 1, 2, and 3 , leave suggestion here
05:45 Vidabox Cablecard
06:07 A Message from Onevoice
07:02 A Chat with StevenÂ Cheung from Vidabox
10:00Â HD-DVD and upscaling
10:50 Christoph BuengerÂ author of mceWeather
14:29 Ted Singh from Embedded Automation
15:00 mCentral
18:00 Vista version of mControl
21:40 Jonathan Sass from Simplifi Digital
22:20 AV Expander card
24:00 Media Center amplifier
25:57 Ted Singh returns to talk about the Digital Home contest
29:11Â Visit the community site http://iandixon.co.uk/cs
29:28 Music by Ian Dixon

Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

List of TV Cards building up

Ian Dixon — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 12:07:58 +0000

As I mentioned on the blog last week I am trying to build a list of TV cards that work or don’t work well with Media Center. I have done this by creating a forum on the Media Center Show community site and I am asking readers / listeners to post your experiences with TV cards. Rather than going off manufactures specs I want real world experiences so if you haven’t posted details of your TV card please head over to the forums and post your comments.

TV Card Forum

The Media Center Shoe Extra #7 CES Part 2

Ian Dixon — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 11:19:14 +0000

The Media Center Show Extra #7

ThisÂ Extra show looks at Vidabox’s HD-DVD Media Center Server with StevenÂ Cheung, its the first time I have seen HD-DVD close us and I was impressed. Then in theÂ 2nd part of the show I look atÂ the newÂ VistaÂ version of TVTonic with Michael Sprague, it really makes good use of the new development platform of Vista Media Center. More from CES soon

Note the new RSS feed for The Media Center Show Extra

Links from the show

The Media Center Show #91 CES Part 2 (Home Server and TVTonic)

Ian Dixon — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 09:33:02 +0000

The Media Center Show #91(MP3 - 10.2mb- 20mins 52secs)
by Ian Dixon

LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20070118_091.mp3]

As you may have seen Microsoft are launching a new product called Windows Home Server and while at CES I got chance to interview Todd Headrick Product Planner from the Windows Home Server team. We chat about what Windows Home Server and what it can do for you, its especially interesting for anybody with more than one PC at home. I also interviewed Michael Sprague from TVTonic talking about the new Vista version of TVTonic.
Oh an I need your help with the a community list of hardware that works well with Media Center, starting with TV cards

Checkout The Media Center Show Extra, and see my CES videos Part 1 and Part 2 (coming soon)

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

Send your questions and feedback to isdixon at gmail dot com
Donâ€™t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

Checkout the new Media Center Show Community site

Checkout the newShow Times:

00:40 Coming up this week
01:40 See CES in the Media Center Show Extra , HP Touchsmart, HD-DVD, Sideshow
02:50 Community list of TV card hardware, I need your help
04:58 Big Screen Headlines update
05:20 New build of mceBackup 2.0
05:56 A message from Onevoice
06:46 Todd Headrick on Windows Home Server
07:51 What is Windows Home Server
10:00 Hardware designs
10:56 Free domain names
12:42 What you need at home
14:28 Backup and Restores
16:05 Pooled storage and folder duplication
17:45 Windows Media Connect
20:00 What is it based on?
22:10 Developer story
23:00 Time Frame
23:20 Michael Sprague from TVTonic
24:00 Streaming v downloading
24:51 Expected Content
25:10 Adding new feeds and the guide
25:38 Availability
25:57 Visit the community site http://iandixon.co.uk/cs

Music by Ian Dixon

Lets build up a list of devices that play well with Media Center

Ian Dixon — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 13:10:55 +0000

As you may have seen on my post “What TV Card should I get” I have been searching for a new TV card as my current config is not support on Vista, and the number of email I get asking “What card should I get” has prompted me in to creating a directory of hardware for Media Center.

First setup I have done is a section for TV cards. I want people to post there experiences good or bad in the TV Card Forums.

I would like you to post what model of TV card you have and whether it works well for you or not. Also what the install experience was like and if you know of any Vista compatibility issues.

That way when someone is searching for a new TV card they can go through the forum and look at real world experiences of the cards, which is going to be so helpful given a lot of people will be in my situation and looking for a Vista supported card.

I have posted my thoughts on the Blackgold DVB-T card I use please post your experience, and tell others. Let build up a useful resource!

http://iandixon.co.uk/cs/forums/26/ShowForum.aspx

The Media Center Show Extra #6 CES Part 1

Ian Dixon — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 16:51:26 +0000

Over on The Media Center Show Extra blog I have posted the first CES video, please Subscribe to the new RSS feed for the ExtraÂ show

The Media Center Show ExtraÂ #6 CES Part 1

This is my first video from CES. Tim Cutting from Niveus and I walked around the Microsoft and Intel booths with the video camera. We saw HP’s new touch screen PC “HP TouchSmart” with a Media Center photo application, we looked at HD-DVD on a Niveus Media Center Server and theÂ played with theÂ new Sideshow devices including remote controls and a phone.

Note the new RSS feed for The Media Center Show Extra

Links from the show

The Media Center Show Extra #6 WMV

The Media Center Show #90 CES Part 1

Ian Dixon — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 12:48:48 +0000

The Media Center Show #89(MP3 - 14.3mb- 41mins 39secs)
by Ian Dixon

LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20070110_90.mp3]

Well I made it back from CES, and what a week it has been. From seeing all the great Media Center content, to meeting Bill Gates and seeing 107″ 1080p displays
I got plenty of interviews both video and audio. This week on the show are my first thoughts from CES, an interview about the new Sports Lounge in the Vista edition of Media Center and a chat with Tim Cutting from Niveus about their display at CES including their CableCard products.

Have you watched The Media Center Show Extra yet? Its my new video accompaniment to the show, new show about CES coming soon

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

Send your questions and feedback to isdixon at gmail dot com
Donâ€™t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

Checkout the new Media Center Show Community site

Show Times:
00:40 Coming up this week
01:36 Pictures from CES
02:00 What I saw and did at CES (see the updates on my blog)
03:00 Cablecard
04:00 Sideshow
05:00 Phototouch
06:43 Windows Home Server
07:48 Lots of video content, so Media Center Extra Shows cominng out soon
09:00 I met Bill Gates
11:10 Bill Gates CES keynote
12:45 Interview - Sports Lounge
15:10 Interview - Fox Sport Portal
21:28 Interview - Vongo
23:05 A Message from Onevoice
24:13 Interview - Tim Cutting from Niveus on Cablecard
29:53Â Pro Exenters
32:47 Next week more interviews including Windows Home Server
33:28 Checkout the new RSS feed for the Media Center Show Extra
34:02 Mike’s Digital Home Blog
34:36 Update on the Media Center Show Awards
35:03 Music by Ian Dixon

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

Digital Cable Tuners

Ian Dixon — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 21:13:47 +0000

Robert McLaws over on windows-now has posted info on the renaming of the OCUR cable card boxes to Digital Cable Tuners

He got sent a review unit and has a great set of pictures of the new units

I will be getting some interviews on this while at CES, listen to my interview with Tim Cutting from Niveus Media for more details

I Just Met Bill Gates

Ian Dixon — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 19:09:01 +0000

Just met Bill Gates! Yes it true, as part of the Vista labs I am on at CES with Microsoft we whent on a trip to the Microsoft partner paviloin showing partner invovation. While we were there Bill Gates turned up and got to chat with him for a while. There was a wide range of questions from Operating systems to 64bit and Bill was total on the ball with all the off the cuff questions.

It was a great experince and something I have always wanted to do

The Media Center Show #89 - Catch Up

Ian Dixon — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 13:01:07 +0000

The Media Center Show #89(MP3 - 4.83.0mb- 14mins 07secs)
by Ian Dixon

LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20070104_089.mp3]

This is a short catch upÂ show before I leave for CES in Las Vegas,Â I round up some of the news items from the Christmas break and talk about the new Media Center Show Communitiy site.Â There is no interview this weekÂ so its nice and short.

Have you watched The Media Center Show Extra yet? Its my new video accompaniment to the show, new show coming soon

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

Send your questions and feedback to isdixon at gmail dot com
Donâ€™t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

Checkout the new Media Center Show Community site

Show Times:
00:34 Coming up this week
01:09 New Media Center Remotes
02:00 Update on mceBackup 2.0 now with ATSC support
02:40 Media Center Show Extra #5, new RSS feed
03:30 The Media Center Show Community
04:30 Do you want your own Media Center Blog
04:38 Mike’s Digital Home Blog
05:34 Software give away
06:00 Microsoft review modal laptop
07:53 Photo’s of the laptop
08:40 See you at CES, back next week
09:01 Music by Ian DixonÂ

Welcome to the new Media Center Show Community

Ian Dixon — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 16:11:03 +0000

I have updated my forums to the latest version of the Community Server and decided to put some effort in improving the content and the interaction with the community.

So first off is a new RSS feed and blog for The Media Center Show Extra, I will be updating this with new content soon.
The forums have been updated with polls, rss and email support and there is a new download section, starting with mceBackup 2.0

I will be adding more content too and I am looking for anyone interesting in starting there own Media Center Blog, (email me at isdixon at gmail dot com if your interested)

Also checkout the new Technical Support section for the community to help with Media Center related technical problems.

Please head over to the forums, I need the community to support the forums to help them grow and be of benefit to all Media Center users, and by way of encouragement if you register and post I will be giving away a copy of mNewsCenter for the post of the week for the next 4 weeks

Any suggestions or comments, post them on the Community forum

New RSS Feeds:

Community Blog

The Media Center Show Extra

Community forum

Tech Support

General Media Center

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 2Â 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!

The Media Center Show #88 - Mike Newell (Microsoft)

Ian Dixon — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 09:06:01 +0000

The Media Center Show #87(MP3 - 23.0mb- 67mins 07secs)
by Ian Dixon

LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20061221_088.mp3]

This week on the final show of 2006, Mark Newell a Program Manager from the eHome team at Microsoft joins me to talk about the history of Media Center, the new look and feel of Vista Media Center and what happens when you submit an error report in Windows.

The Vote page is up for The Media Center Show Awards, so get voting now and enter the prize draw

Have you watched The Media Center Show Extra yet? Its my new video accompaniment to the show, new show coming soon

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

Send your questions and feedback to isdixon at gmail dot com
Donâ€™t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:

00:34 Coming up this week
01:30 mceBackup 2.0
02:34 Please leave feedback for mceBackup 2.0 here
04:17 Still time to vote in the Media Center Show Awards
04:29 A new Media Center Extra show out soon
04:51 A message from Onevoice
05:45 Welcome to Mark
06:00 Mark’s background
06:32 The Vision of the Media Center
09:09 In the early days
11:40 Features v ease of use
15:20 How the UI has changed
17:50 The new left to right UI of Vista Media Center
25:30 The new Start Menu in Media Center
28:34 My Music in Vista Media Center
33:00 Albums v Singles
35:09 Viewing music by year
38:33 Most used functions in Media Center
44:00 Tags on Photos
50:00 Mark’s favorite feature of Vista
52:18 What happens when you Send an error report
59:09 What is coming now Vista is complete
01:02 Get your questions in to the show
1:03:00 See you in the New Year
Music by Ian DixonÂ

The Media Center Show #87 - Tim Cutting

Ian Dixon — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 12:01:54 +0000

The Media Center Show #87(MP3 - 23.0mb- 67mins 07secs)
by Ian Dixon

LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20061214_087.mp3]

This week on the show Tim Cutting CEO and founder of Niveus Media joins me on the show to talk about Niveus’s latests products including their Cablecard,HD-DVD and rack products. It great to get Tim back on the show they have some great products and Tim has some good information on Cablecard and HD-DVD

The Vote page is up for The Media Center Show Awards, so get voting now and enter the prize draw

Have you watched The Media Center Show Extra yet? Its my new video accompaniment to the show.

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

Send your questions and feedback to isdixon at gmail dot com
Donâ€™t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:
00:41 Coming up this week
01:16 Vista XBOX 360 ExtenderÂ screen saver problems, see HERE
02:09 Media Center Extender’s and PCÂ spec
03:59 Question on Sky from the forums
05:10 Charlie Owen on Why Our Look & Feel Isn’t Available To Applications 06:30Â Big Screen TV- The weekly NialÂ spot!
07:50 My Movies update
08:15 Vote in the Media Center Show awards
08:40 New Media Center Show Extra out soon
08:45 New Version of mceBackup out soon
10:00 A message from Onevoice
10:50 Welcome back to Tim
11:15 Recap on Niveus
12:40 Media Server not a PC
16:58 Certification
18:00 Connections and back panel
21:55 what is new?
23:00 Rack version
26:00 DVD server
30:25 Managed Copy on HD-DVD
31:40 Info on HD-DVD
36:00Â State of the next gen DVD war
38:00Â Cablecard
41:00 Cablelab Certification process
44:00 How it works
48:00 No more irblasters!
52:00 Niveus Cablecard Readiness
54:30 Vista
56:30 Companion Software
1:00:00 Thanks to Tim
1:01:00Â Words and Music by Ian Dixon

The Media Center Show #86 - Brian Frost

Ian Dixon — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 08:47:27 +0000

The Media Center Show #86(MP3 - 17.1mb- 50mins 00secs)
by Ian Dixon

LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20061207_086.mp3]

This week on the show Brian Frost joins me to explain how to get the best out of your existing Media Center investment including looking at how to connect Media Center to your existing HIFI, plus how to connect Media Center to your 5.1 surround sound systems

The Vote page is up for The Media Center Show Awards, so get voting now and enter the prize draw

Have you watched The Media Center Show Extra yet? Its my new video accompaniment to the show.

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

Send your questions and feedback to isdixon at gmail dot com
Donâ€™t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:
00:22 Coming up this week
00:57 Update on XBOX 360 Extender problem
01:49 Podcast client for Media Center
03:40 The Media Center Show Awards 2006
04:40 CE Pro shows Home Automation on Vista
05:14 Mobilewares Online Showcase (MCPL Web Application)
06:00 CES 2007
07:00 Onevoice
07:53 Welcome to Brian Frost
08:41 Brian’s background
11:00 Connecting your hifi to Media Center
15:00 Speakers
18:00 2 Channel Audio
24:50 Cables
26:44 Surround Sound connections
33:00 Switching on digital connections
43:30 Thanks to Brian
44:06 Music by Ian Dixon

The Media Center Show #85 - Gregg Cannon

Ian Dixon — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 15:30:28 +0000

The Media Center Show #85(MP3 - 18.9mb- 55mins 01secs)
by Ian Dixon

LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20061130_085.mp3]

This week on the show Gregg Cannon of Cannon PC joins me to talk about Cannon PC’s range of Media Center PC’s and building Media Center Servers
I have email in to the show and items from around the web.

The Vote page is up for The Media Center Show Awards, so get voting now and enter the prize draw

Have you watched The Media Center Show Extra yet? Its my new video accompaniment to the show.

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

So go and vote now please!!

Send your questions and feedback to isdixon at gmail dot com
Donâ€™t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:
00:43 Coming up this week
01:07 Email - MyTVtoGo
02:36 Email - Vista XBOX 360 problems
04:23 Big Screen Contacts for Vista Media Center
04:50 Webguide 4.0 adds live TV streaming
06:19 The Media Center Show Awards 2006
07:58 CES 2007
08:24 A Message from Onevoice
09:14 Welcome to Gregg
10:07 Cannon’s background
12:50 Picking Media Center components
18:00 Building a PC for the home
21:09 Cannon PC’s products
23:00 Hot Swap drives
24:00 Rack Designs
30:00 Client and Servers
31:30 Microsoft Remote Keyboard
33:00 Onevoice’s Media Center Remote
35:10 Case Displays
38:10 Why do Media Center PC cost more?
42:00 Vista Media Center demand
44:37 Future plans
50:00 Thanks to Greg
50:29Â Music by Ian Dixon

The Media Center Show Awards 2006 are go!

Ian Dixon — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 13:52:13 +0000

I have posted the vote page for the Media Center Show Awards 2006.

The aim of the awards is to highlight and give some recognition to the great work done by the Media Center community.

There are category’s for:

Best Media Center Utility
Best Online Spotlight Applications
Best Communication Tool
Best Community Resource
Best Hardware Manufacturer
Best Enthusiast Blog
Best Microsoft Media Center Blog
Best Free application (non-commercial) application
Best Commercial Application
Outstanding Design Award
Best Vista Media Center Application

If you enter your email address when completing the form you will be entered in a prize draw for some free software including mNewsCenter and Media Center Communicator.

So go and vote now please!!

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.

The Media Center Show #84 - Joe Costello

Ian Dixon — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 08:34:11 +0000

The Media Center Show #84(MP3 - 18.3mb- 53mins 21secs)
by Ian Dixon

LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20061122_084.mp3]

This week on the show, a slight deviation from Media Center as I talk to Orb co-founder Joe Costello about Orb 2.0, mycasting, the explosion of digital media and taking your Media Center content with you on the go.

Checkout The Media Center Show Extra #4, also tell me what you think of the â€œextraâ€ shows on the survey page
Donâ€™t forget the Media Center Show Award nominations, voting starts soon

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

Send your questions and feedback to isdixon at gmail dot com (feel free to send your questions in mp3)
or you can send your questions and comments in to the show Skype Line â€œMediaCenterShowâ€

Donâ€™t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:
00:41 Coming up this week
00:57 The Media Center Show Extra #4 - Z Sample Application
02:00 Windows Media Center SDK (v5.0), Details on Media Center Sandbox
02:41 OABsoftware Vista Media Center ApplicationÂ (from Aaron Stebners blog)
03:24 The Media Center Show Extra Survey
03:50 The Nominations for the Media Center Show Awards 2006 close soon
04:32 New Media Center Book
04:58 A Message from Onevoice
05:55 Welcome to Joe
06:10 What is Orb and how was it founded
12:50 Digital Media growth
14:57 What is new in 2.0?
21:00 A new UI
24:09 New Flash Player
27:27 Content on to mobile devices
28:05 Orb this
33:33 Sharing content
37:00 Skinning
39:00 A 10 foot UI?
42:00 Availability
42:36 Future developments
48:23 Thanks to Joe
48:55 Music by Ian Dixon

The Media Center Show Extra #4 - Z

Ian Dixon — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 15:52:02 +0000

This week on the show I look at the “Z” sample application in the Windows Media Center SDK (v5.0)

Z is a complete end-to-end sample application that really shows off the power of Media Center Markup lanungage. You get the source code to the whole application in the SDK. I hope it not only inspires developers to get developing with Media Center but content companies too, they will be able to see the potential for getting there brand to the TV

For more info checkout Charlie Owen’s blog post and you can download the SDK from HERE

Download 640×480 (43mb)
Download 320×240 (17mb)
Watch via YoutubeÂ (Edited to fit the 10 minute YouTube limit)

Have a look at the Media Center Show Extra Survey and let me know when you think of the show

This weeks show

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 #83 - Kevin Shields (Microsoft)

Ian Dixon — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 09:37:05 +0000

The Media Center Show #83(MP3 - 21.9mb- 1hour 03mins 53secs)
by Ian Dixon

LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20061116_083.mp3]

I have a great interview this week. Kevin Shields, General Manager of the TV team at Microsoft talks about TV support in Media Center. From the original analog only support to digital standards and Cablecard. We talk about TV in Vista and TV support in future editions of Media Center.

I also have email in to the show and some items from around the web.Â

Checkout The Media Center Show Extra #3, also tell me what you think of the â€œextraâ€ shows on the survey page
Donâ€™t forget the Media Center Show Award nominations, voting starts soon

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

Donâ€™t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:
00:50 Coming up this week
01:05 Email - Buying a Media Center PC
02:38 Email - Media Center Show Extra - Windows Media Encoder
03:15 Charlie Owen asks “What keeps you from using Media Center”
04:05 mControl v2
04:34 New Media Center Forums
04:57 Chris Lanier’s Home Automation Review
05:28 New Media Center Development Blog
05:56 Media Center Show Award Nominations closing soon
06:21 A Message from Onevoice
07:30 Welcome to Kevin Shields
07:40 How Important is TV in Media Center?
12:00 BDA Architecture
14:00 Supporting Digital Standards
17:45 ATSC
22:10 Japanese TV Support
23:50 How happy are you with TV support in Media Center?
28:00 Recommendation services
29:34 Social and Community features in Media Center
30:35 Cablecard and how its going to work with Vista
35:09 Cablecard Certification - How its going to work
41:50 DVB-S support in Vista
42:30 DVB-T Update in Vista?
43:17 Vista update for Media Center
45:00 IPTV
47:22 User Created Content
54:11 Internet and broadcast TV content together
55:34 Future Plans for Media Center
58:20Â Music by Ian Dixon

The Media Center Show #82 - BuildMediaCenter.com

Ian Dixon — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 17:44:07 +0000

The Media Center Show #82(MP3 - 20.4mb- 59mins 30secs)
by Ian Dixon

LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20061107_082.mp3]

This week on the show I talk to Andy Zhulenev from BuildMediaCenter.Com, weÂ talk about this experiences building a Media Center PC and how he got the idea of building a Media Center resource web site. We also talk aboutÂ his other project, building a HTPC that is small and quietÂ

I also have email in to the show and some items from around the web.Â

Checkout The Media Center Show Extra #3, also tell me what you think of the â€œextraâ€ shows on the survey page
Donâ€™t forget the Media Center Show Award nominations, voting starts soon

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

Donâ€™t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:

00:37 Coming up this week
01:04 Email - ICETV
02:37 Email - Wake from Standby
03:30 The Media Center Show Extra #3 TV in Vista in HD!
04:02 You like your HD (The Media Center Extra Show Survey)
04:26 Chris Lanier writes about Home Automation Part1 and Part2
05:03 A Message from Onevoice
05:51 Welcome to Andy
06:06 What is BuildMediaCenter.Com
09:00 Hardware
11:00 Mini Media Center PC Project
16:00 Storage
18:20 Live TV usage
21:11 Downloading content
23:00 Home Automation
24:44 Finding Information
33:59 Picking components
43:00 Touch Screens
37:30 Hardware Reviews
53:10 Send your feedback to Andy
54:55 Thanks to Andy
55:20Â Music by Ian Dixon

The Media Center Show Extra #3 - now in HD!

Ian Dixon — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 15:32:22 +0000

Well almost HD (640 x 480)Â

This edition of the Extra show focuses on TV in Vista Media Center.
Media Center’s TV function have been updated in Vista, so I take a look at it’s new UI including the new mini-guide.Â If your new to Media Center you will be impressed by how easy it is to use, if you familiar with XP Media Center you will be please by the progress made in Vista

Download 640×480 (43mb)
Download 320×240 (17mb)
Watch via Youtube

Have a look at the Media Center Show Extra Survey and let me know when you think of the show

The Media Center Show #81 - Uguide

Ian Dixon — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 08:38:17 +0000

The Media Center Show #81(MP3 - 15.8mb- 46mins 12secs)
by Ian Dixon

LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20061102_081.mp3]

This week on the show I will be chatting with Jim Cantalini CEO of Uguidetv, Uguide is a mobile utility that enables you to view TV program guides, receive personalized recommendations and remotely control the scheduling of recordings on Media Center.

I also have email in to the show and some items from around the web.Â

Checkout The Media Center Show Extra #2, also tell me what you think of the “extra” shows on the survey page
Don’t forget the Media Center Show Award nominations!

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

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

Don’t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:
00:43 Coming up this week
01:21 Survey on The Media Center Show Extra
02:10 Email - downloading the shows,mNewsCenter
03:31 Email - updating guide data when programs run late
07:00 Email - XBOX 360 and new PC specs
09:19 Ed Bott’s Media Center Platform chart
10:09 Happy birthday Media Center
10:35 Windows Media Player 11
11:10 A message from Onevoice
12:08 What is Uguide?
15:30 Recommendations
18:00 Working with channels
19:17 Searching
22:14 Devices
26:20 How it works with Media Center
29:29 Beta availability
32:38 Worldwide availability
34:00 Business Modal
38:15 Uguide as a remote
39:48 How to download
40:51 Forum
41:33 See you next week
41:58Â Music by Ian Dixon

Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

Your feedback on The Media Center Show Extra

Ian Dixon — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 15:44:24 +0000

So I have done two episodes of The Media Center Show Extra and wanted to get your feedback.

First off do you like the idea of an extra show? If so what would you like to see on the show.

What format should it be in? (Youtube, direct download etc)

Go to this survey page and let me know what you think

The Media Center Show Extra Survey

The Media Center Show #80 - Media Center Development (Part 2)

Ian Dixon — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 05:53:07 +0000

The Media Center Show #80(MP3 - 15.4mb- 44mins 55secs)
LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20061026_80.mp3]

This week I have part two of a the interview with Aaron Stebner from the eHome team at Microsoft. We are talking about Media Center Markup Language the new way of developing applications for Media Center. In part two we talk about code, the tools for developing MCML application and how to deploy the applications.

To see the sample application Aaron talked about checkout The Media Center Show Extra #2, also tell me what you think of the “extra” shows

Don’t forget the Media Center Show Award nominations!

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

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

Don’t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:

0:40 Coming up this week
01:04 Checkout the Media Center Show Extra, #1,#2
01:35 Email - DVB-T Signal Issues
03:31 Email - Missing program ends
04:35 Forums Question - The Green Button does not work
05:17 Linksys DVD Media Center Extender
06:25 Onevoice’s new voice control remote
06:49 Big Screen Headlines
07:28 Big Screen Contacts
07:42 MCETunes - itunes tracks on Media Center
08:31 Vidabox Dual Blu-ray and HD-DVD Media Center PC
09:07 A Message from Onevoice
09:52 Part 2 of Aaron’s interviews
10:00 Getting .net Assembly’s in to MCML applications
14:40 Working with the assembly - Rules
16:16 Why is there not a GUI tool for MCML?
18:00 Advanced UI without code
21:00 Time lines
24:00 Media Center Web Applications (code free)
28:00 Delivering the application
30:00 Registering the application on the start menu
32:50 Availability
34:00 SDK
35:59 The Media Center Sandbox
37:30 Why use MCML over HTML or WPF?
40:18 Thanks to Aaron Stebner
40:37 Don’t forget the Media Center Show Awards and the “extra” show
41:17 Music by Ian Dixon

Â Â Â Â Â Â

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

Â
The Media Center Show Extra #2

The Media Center Show #79 - Media Center Development (Part 1)

Ian Dixon — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 07:51:26 +0000

The Media Center Show #79(MP3 - 19.9mb- 57mins 69secs)
LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20061019_079.mp3]

This week I have part one of a great interview with Aaron Stebner from the eHome team at Microsoft. We are going to be talking about Media Center Markup Language the new way of developing applications for Media Center. It was such an in depth interview I have decided to split the interview over two weeks. If you thinking of or are developing for Media Center this is going to be a great interview.

So this week on the Media Center Show Extra I will be showing off the sample applications that Aaron talks about in the interviews including the Q applications, I will also be showing off mceAuction the ebay application I have talked about on the show before

Don’t forget the Media Center Show Award nominations!

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

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

Don’t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:

0:40 Coming up this week
01:30 The Media Center Show Extra #2
02:00 Email - TV overruns
03:26 Email - Vista RC2 Media Center
05:40 Email - TV card recommendations
05:45 Items from Matt Goyers blog
06:50 Why Chris Lanier will not be rushing to upgrade
08:00 Why people aren’t talking about Media Center
08:34 Media Center sold 20 million
09:00 Media Center Show Awards
09:22 A Message from Onevoice
10:10 Welcome to Aaron Stebner
11:30 What is Media Center Markup Language
14:00 How it works
18:10 Getting started
20:00 Samples (see The Media Center Show Extra #2)
22:00 UI elements
26:22 Q application (see The Media Center Show Extra #2)
29:22 Controls Library
31:03 Locals
32:00 Laying out pages
38:00 Screen modes
42:28 Properties
46:30 Actions
53:49 Next week part 2
Music by Ian Dixon

Â Â Â

The Media Center Show Extra #1

Ian Dixon — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 07:37:10 +0000

Welcome to something new on the show. The Media Center Show Extra is a video accompaniment to the Media Center Show.

This week I look at some of the new applications talked about on the Media Center Show #78.

FlickrMCE is a Flickr applications for Media Center and Big Screen Weather is a Weather application written in MCML for Vista. More details on this week show

Find out more on this weeks Media Center Show #78

Download (large WMV) from HERE or watch on Youtube

Watch via MSN Soapbox
Video: The Media Center Show Extra #1

The Media Center Show #78 - Orb and Home Automation

Ian Dixon — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 07:36:16 +0000

The Media Center Show #78(MP3 - 13.4mb- 39mins 11secs)
LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20061011_078.mp3]

A different show this week, I have two guests both answering questions sent in by listeners. Orb’s Ian McCarthy answers questions on Orb and Embedded Automation’s Ted Singh answers questions on Home Automation

I have an new video accompaniment to the show this week called The Media Center Show Extra, it shows off two of the new applications talked about on the show this week, so have a watch and send me your feedback.

Don’t forget the Media Center Show Award nominations!

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

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

Don’t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:

00:38 Coming up this week
01:06 The Media Center Show Extra
01:45 FlickrMCE a Flickr app for Media Center
02:21 Big Screen Weather MCML application
03:37 Webguide 4
05:16 Orb 2.0 Beta
06:00 Email
08:00 Media Center Show Awards 2007
09:00 A Message from Onevoice
09:50 Question to Ted Singh - Home Automation Standards
16:53 Starting out with Home Automation
18:23 Question to Ian McCarthy - Orb
19:24 Getting on the beta
21:56 TV Tuner recommendations
27:27 Apple’s iTV
30:33 See you next week, download my music from iandixon.co.uk/music

The Media Center Show #77 - Yougle

Ian Dixon — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 17:49:44 +0000

The Media Center Show #77(MP3 - 13.1mb- 38mins 06secs)
LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20061005_077.mp3]

This week on the show we will be looking at a fun application for Media Center called Yougle, a youtube and Google Video addin for Media Center. Steven Harding the developer of Yougle will be on the show to talk about the plug in and developing fun applications for Media Center.

I have email in to the show, some news items and I want your help with the Media Center Show Awards 2006

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

See the variety of equipment and setups that Media Center users have posted,the pictures are on my site HERE and there is an RSS feed for the pictures

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

Don’t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:

00:35 Coming up this week
01:00 Email - Away mode on non VIIV PC’s
02:33 Email - XBOX 360 locking up problems
04:00 Re-awarded an MVP for 2007
04:45 Media Center Show Awards 2007
06:39 Nemo - Windows Live meets Media Center
09:40 Embedded Automation release v1.6 of mControl
10:53 Vista MCML version mControl
11:22 A Message from Onevoice
12:04 Welcome to Steven
14:00 Youtube and Google Video on Media Center
18:50 Yahoo Video on Yougle
20:00 How the project got started
21:00 Steven’s other applications
23:45 Extender support
27:00 fun applications on Media Center
28:04 Developing for Vista
31:29 Download from here
32:23 Yougle on Youtube
34:14 Thanks to Steven
34:38 Music All Over You, download my music for free

mControl v2.0 for Vista

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 (Microsoftâ€™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

The Media Center Show #76 - Okoro Media Systems

Ian Dixon — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 12:19:47 +0000

The Media Center Show #76(MP3 - 18.4mb- 53mins 40secs)
LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20060928_076.mp3]

This week on the show is Isidore Okoro ,President of Okoro Media Systems.
Manufactures of some great Media Center systems, we will be talking about the philosophy of media center designs and issues like Blue ray,HD DVD and HDMI
I also have a message from Brian Frost and email in to the show
The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

See the variety of equipment and setups that Media Center users have posted,the pictures are on my site HERE and there is an RSS feed for the pictures

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

Don’t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:

00:36 Coming up this week
01:08 Email - MSN Radio on XBOX 360
02:00 Email - Folder View for music
04:30 Email - Extenders with Vista and XP (sorry about the sound problem)
06:42 XBOX 360 Extender fan noise
08:02 Stream radio stations with Vista Media Center
08:40 HD DVD Blog
09:00 more tuners on media center
09:30 A Message from Brian Frost about cables
13:08 A Message from Onevoice
13:55 Welcome to Isidore Okoro
15:10 Background on Okoro
16:30 OS Options
18:00 Out of box experience
21:00 Upgrading
21:53 AMD v Intel
25:00 PC as a CE device
27:00 Protected Storage
31:20 HDMI on Media Center
33:20 HDCP
37:00 HD DVD and Blue Ray PC
39:50 Blue Ray v HD DVD
42:00 Touchscreen Media Center PC
46:00 Distributors
49:30 Thanks to Isidore
50:11 New music I am working on, download my music for free

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

The Media Center Show #75 -Simplifi Digital

Ian Dixon — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 08:34:43 +0000

The Media Center Show #75(MP3 - 15.6mb- 45mins 31secs)
LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20060914_075.mp3]

Returning to the show this week is Marty Holloway,President of Simplifi Digital. We will be taking a look at there range of amplifiers designed for Media Center plus there other Media Center accessories (including a way of playing games consoles with Media Center). I have email in to the show and a tip on SPDIF output.
The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

See the variety of equipment and setups that Media Center users have posted,the pictures are on my site HERE and there is an RSS feed for the pictures

Send your questions and feedback to mailto: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”

Don’t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:
00:46 Coming up this week
01:01 Email - Youtube Media Center Show?
01:50 Email - Plug in requests
03:35 Email - Update on Digital OutputsÂ Chaintech av710
04:01 Skype Message from Brian Frost on Digital Output
07:41 Email - Inteset new touch screen Media Center PC
08:30 Apples iTV BoxÂ
10:22 EQ in Media Center
10:53 Update on Yoogle
11:14 A message from Onevoice
11:52 Welcome to Marty
12:40 A background on Simplifi Digital
16:00 Digital Amplifiers
20:00 DTS v Dobly Digital
23:37 Which amplifier to pick
25:40 7.1 or 5.1
27:49 AV Expander Card
36:50 Distributors: UK, Germany and the US
41:40 Thanks to Marty
42:11 Music - “All Over You” by Ian Dixon (download for free)
A week off next week, so see you September 28th

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.

The Media Center Show #74 - WPF Development

Ian Dixon — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 08:49:46 +0000

The Media Center Show #74(MP3 - 19.4mb- 56mins 28secs)
LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20060907_074.mp3]

This week on the show we will be looking at developing application for Vista Media Center with WPF, Windows Presentation Foundation (formally knows as Avalon) with Microsoft’sÂ Jossef GoldbergÂ andÂ Unni Ravindranathan. We will be looking at what WPF can do and how to get started developing for Media Center.

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

See the variety of equipment and setups that Media Center users have posted,the pictures are on my site HERE and there is an RSS feed for the pictures

Send your questions and feedback to mailto: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”

Don’t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:

00:30 Coming up this week
01:36 Email - dual screen setup
02:41 Email - Tuner problems
03:50 Email - Extender questions
04:59 Email - DVD streaming to an XBOX (see this thread)
06:20 System Monitor for Media Center
06:50 A Message from Onevoice
07:54 Welcome to Jossef and Unni
08:56 Background on WPF
10:50 Channel9 Video on WPF
12:00 WPF Tools
16:24 Working with designers
23:50 Browser based XBAB applications
28:20 WPF Applications
31:54 Where to go to get started
33:50 Download Vista, Visual Studio, Media Center SDK, Expression Tool
38:40 Media Center tips
41:00 Testing WPF Media Center apps in IE
43:08 Deploying WPF applications
46:10 Media Center Sandbox
47:00 Big Screen Photo WPF application
47:40 MCML development (full 2 part show coming up on this!)
49:37 XBOX 360 use
52:36 See you next week
53:00 Music - Wedding day from my new CD

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 VistaÂ RC1, English 32-Bit Edition
â€¢ Windows VistaÂ RC1, English 64-Bit Edition
To download with akamai downoad manager use:
â€¢ Windows VistaÂ RC1, English 32-Bit Edition
â€¢ Windows VistaÂ 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

The Media Center Show #73 - Tony Campbell and Andrew Edney

Ian Dixon — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 08:33:54 +0000

The Media Center Show #73(MP3 - 23.7mb- 1 Hour 9mins 03secs)
LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20060831_073.mp3]

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

This week on the show Tony Campbell and Andrew Edney authors of a new book on Media Center called “Using Microsoft Windows XP Media Center 2005“Â will be joining me to take a step by step look at setting Media Center up and how to become a Media Center guru.

If you have a Media Center application, service or blog let me know and you could come on the show and talk about it. Drop me a line at the show email address

Send your questions and feedback to mailto: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 â€œMediaCenterShowâ€

Donâ€™t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:

00:40 Coming up this week on the show
01:10 Email - Problem with SPDIF
02:23 Media Center Youtube Video discussion
02:25 Media Center Thin Client
03:48 Features still to come for Media Center
04:40 What would you like to see David Fleischman
04:50 Big Screen Business Vista Application
06:07 A Message from Onevoice
07:04 Welcome to Andrew and Tony
10:30 Why write the book
11:30 Roll Up 2
12:50 TV Formats
13:18 What surprised Andrew and Tony while writing the book
16:00 Purchasing a Media Center PC
20:06 Finding a Media Center PC
21:05 TV Cards
23:30 Connecting Media Center to Sky or cable box
25:19 Ir blaster problems
27:00 Connecting Media Center to a TV
31:15 Connecting the audio up
33:10 Connecting Media Center to your home network
34:00 Firewall issues
35:46 Wireless connections
37:40 TV tips
42:30 mceBackup (works with Vista)
43:38 DVD Playback
49:49 Music in Media Center
53:22 Pictures in Media Center
56:00 Radio in Media Center
57:07 Vista Update
59:38 More info on the book, buy from Amazon
1:00:00 Download my music at iandixon.co.uk/music

The Media Center Show #72 - Bryan Socha

Ian Dixon — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 08:21:03 +0000

The Media Center Show #72(MP3 - 16.7mb- 48mins 47secs)
LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20060824_072.mp3]

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

This been on the show Bryan Socha Media Center MVP joins me to talk about the state of Media Center,optimizing your network for streaming video and his thoughts on Vista. I have email in to the show including a link to a new Media Center video on Youtube

If you have a Media Center application, service or blog let me know and you could come on the show and talk about it. Drop me a line at the show email address

Send your questions and feedback to mailto: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”

Don’t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:

00:45 Coming up this week
01:03 Email - Vista Media Center
02:29 Email - Links in the show notes
03:03 Email - Freeview in New Zealand
03:32 ffdShow
04:48 Media Center Video on Youtube
05:24 BuzzedUK portal for Media Center
05:42 BuildMediaCenter.com
07:33 Interview with Christoph Buenger on on10
07:59 A Message from Onevoice
08:43 Welcome to Bryan
13:10 Setting up a new Media Center PC
14:30 Building your own Media Center PC v buying a pre-built box
17:00 PVR use
20:11 Recommendation Service
20:52 Cablecard
24:50 Away mode
26:40 Network Streaming
30:36 Music on Media Center
35:18 Music in Vista
38:25 Australian Media Center Community
41:00 Being an MVP
42:00 Posting problems
43:29 What is next
46:00 Download my music at iandixon.co.uk/music

The Media Center Show #71 - Christoph Buenger

Ian Dixon — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 12:30:07 +0000

The Media Center Show #71(MP3 - 15.9mb- 46mins 18secs)
LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20060817_071.mp3]

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

This week on the show is Christoph Buenger CEO and Founder of Scendix Software developers of applications like mceWeather,mcePhone and the award winning application mceAuction

If you have a Media Center application, service or blog let me know and you could come on the show and talk about it. Drop me a line at the show email address

Send your questions and feedback to mailto: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”

Don’t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:
00:47 Coming up on the show this week
01:00 New Media Center Blog
01:16 Getting HD DVD and Blueray in to Media Center
02:24 Do you have a Media Center app, hardware or service let me know
02:53 A message from OneVoice
03:40 Welcome to Christoph
04:14 Christoph’s background
04:30 mceWeather
07:10 mceContacts
08:30 Server based applications
10:35 mcePhone for Skype
16:00 TapiRex and mceTapiRex
24:44 mceAuction wins an ebay award
34:50 New development
37:50 Getting started with Media Center Development, MSDN
39:00 Development tools
40:44 MyMovies
42:00 Thanks to Christoph
42:13 Music by Ian Dixon - download for free from Iandixon.co.uk/music

Christoph Buenger (on the left) with Greg Isaacs (right, Director of eBay Developer Program) at the eBay Developer Conference in Las Vegas

The Media Center Show #70 - Home Automation

Ian Dixon — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 11:45:34 +0000

The Media Center Show #70(MP3 - 19.0mb- 55mins 23secs)
LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20060810_070.mp3]

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

This week on the show Ted Singh from Embedded Automation returns to the show to update us on the latest news in home automation and home theater pc’s. I have email in the show and the blog of week is Aaron Stebner’s developer blog

Send your questions and feedback to mailto: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”

Don’t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:
00:30 Coming up this week
01:00 V2 Extenders, AV Forums thread, SDK docs
02:12 DVD Streaming
04:16 New MCE Blog
04:37 Media Center Keyboards
06:52 Blog of the week - Aaron Stebner
07:10 Adding Titles and Strips to Vista Media Center
08:44 Big Screen Business WPF Media Center Application - Video on Youtube or HD Video
09:00 My Vista Video on Youtube
09:40 A Message from Onevoice
10:25 Welcome to back to Ted Singh
13:12 EHX Show
16:37 mControl update
20:00 Home Automation Protocols
24:00 Automation events
26:00 Extender support
27:27 UMPC support
28:35 Working with Onevoice
29:00 Vista Support
32:54 mTheater
38:00 Cablecard and HDMI
40:00 Instant On
44:00 mServer
48:00 The future for Media Center
52:16 Music by Ian Dixon - Download for free

The Media Center Show #69 - Michael Wolf

Ian Dixon — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 08:03:38 +0000

The Media Center Show #69(MP3 - 16.0mb- 46mins 39secs)
LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20060703_069.mp3]

This weekÂ Principal Analyst from ABI Research,Â Michael Wolf will be joining me to talk about the digital home, home networks and industry trends I will also be doing an update on my Vista XBOX 360 extender video

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

See the variety of equipment and setups that Media Center users have posted,the pictures are on my site HERE and there is an RSS feed for the pictures

Send your questions and feedback to mailto: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”

Don’t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:
00:44 Coming up this week
00:55 Email about my Vista XBOX 360 Extender
03:04 The video was been watch 40,000 times!
04:00 Blog of the week Matt Goyer, photo tags in Vista
04:56 A list of new features for Vista Media Center
05:27 S1Digital’s new show room
06:03 Waterproof outdoor MCE PC
06:43 A Message from OneVoice
07:30 Welcome to Michael Wolf
07:40 Michael’s background
09:02 Changes in the last 6 years
10:40 Content providers v Carriers
13:00 CableCard on Media Center
15:28 Media Center in the home
16:44 Extender Devices, Media Center Partner Program
20:00 VIIV and AMD Live!
26:00 Effects on the Gaming
28:00 Sony PS3
28:58 Blueray v HD-DVD
32:10 Home Theater rooms
34:34 Vista
37:40 Longtail content on the TV
38:38 Online Spotlight, TVTonic
42:47 Play out with my music at iandixon.co.uk

The Media Center Show #68 - S1Digital

Ian Dixon — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 07:46:42 +0000

The Media Center Show #68(MP3 - 15.4mb- 44mins 47secs)
LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20060726_068.mp3]

This week joining me on the show isÂ Paul Heitlinger from S1Digital. We will be looking at there Media Center PC range, servers and extenders. We will also be talking about there Media Center show room.

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

See the variety of equipment and setups that Media Center users have posted,the pictures are on my site HERE and there is an RSS feed for the pictures

Send your questions and feedback to mailto: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”

Don’t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:
00:45 Coming up this week
01:02 New Dual DVB-T cards in the UK, AV forums
01:50 Windows Media Player development
03:24 Using the XBOX 360 as an extender for Vista, see my video
05:39Â A Message from Onevoice
06:26 Welcome to Paul from S1Digital
08:28 Simplifidigital , My Movies
09:00 Home Automation
11:00 Products
14:00 PMC
15:09 Media Center Server Edition
18:44 Touch Screen with Media Center
22:02 Squeezebox
25:20 Vista
30:59 Media Center Show Room, Channel 9 Video
37:20 CEDIA
41:19 Download my music at iandixon.co.uk

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

The Media Center Show #67 - Ian McCarthy

Ian Dixon — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 08:26:52 +0000

The Media Center Show #65(MP3 - 21.6mb- 63mins 00secs)
LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20060720_067.mp3]

This week on the show is Orb’s Ian McCarthy, we will be talking about place shifting with mobile devices and video services like YouTube. Also if you want to beta test the new version of Orb keep listening. I also have a Skype message and email in to the show

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

See the variety of equipment and setups that Media Center users have posted,the pictures are on my site HERE and there is an RSS feed for the pictures

Send your questions and feedback to mailto: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”

Don’t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:
00:34 Coming up this week
01:00 Email - Streaming over wifi
03:50 Sky Radio and the EPG
05:28 Skype Message from Rob Finney
07:08Â Media Center Expert Blog
07:53 Update for mControl
08:25 Youtube on Media Center
08:55 A Message from OneVoice
09:43 Welcome to Ian
10:11 Hauppauge bundle Orb with TV Cards
13:03 How it works
14:10 Client devices
15:39 Orb and VodafoneÂ on the Register
27:04 Web 2.0 innervation
29:09 Media Center as the connection for the home
30:51 Changes at Microsoft
35:23 YouTube
41:31 Apple Video downloads
47:36 Get on Orb’s 2.0Â beta
50:00Â Plug insÂ for Orb
55:00 Thanks to Ian
56:00 Music - Over and Over from my new CD

The Media Center Show #66 -Inteset

Ian Dixon — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 15:12:29 +0000

The Media Center Show #66(MP3 - 14.6mb- 42mins 43secs)
LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20060713_066.mp3]

This week on the show is Jeff Lloyd, president and CEO from Inteset a company specialising in Media Center products for AV installers.

I also have a tip on building Caller ID in to Media Center

Send your questions and feedback to mailto: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”

Don’t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Sorry no times for the show this week I ran out of time before I had to leave for a short holiday :) , so here are the links talked about on the show this week. Oh and checkout download some of my music from HERE

Caller ID on Media CenterÂ
Media Center Book
Dual Monitor Display Solution
Onevoice
Inteset

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!

The Media Center Show #65 -Dean Weber

Ian Dixon — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 07:22:20 +0000

The Media Center Show #65(MP3 - 16.9mb- 49mins 29secs)
LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20060706_065.mp3]

This week on the show Dean WeberÂ CEO of Onevoice joins me to talk about the updated version of Media Center Communicator and voice controlÂ in Media CenterÂ and Vista

I have a great Skype message about setting up your TV withÂ Media Center and your thoughts on Vista Media CenterÂ

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

See the variety of equipment and setups that Media Center users have posted,the pictures are on my site HERE and there is an RSS feed for the pictures

Send your questions and feedback to mailto: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”

Don’t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:
00:37 Coming up thisÂ week
01:06 Paul Thurrott’sÂ on Vista Media Center
02:26 Comments on Vista Media Center
04:25 Skype Message about screen problems with Media Center
11:16 mcBackup 2.0 for Vista using MCML
13:18 Update for Big Screen Photos
12:48 KMS Calender for Media Center
14:40 A Message from Onevoice
15:30 Welcome to Dean
15:49 What is Media Center Communicator
18:00 Does it need training
19:31 Media Center Remote with Voice Control
27:11 Home Automation with Voice Control
31:23 World wide usage
32:21 Communicator and accessibility
33:48 Developer API
36:00 2.1 Update and support for DVD Changes and iTunes
38:50 Availability
39:01Â Media Center running on Mac Mini
41:25 Voice Control with XBOX 360
43:44 See you next week and keep the email coming
Music by Ian Dixon (new CD very coming soon!!)

The Media Center Show #64 - Chris Anderson

Ian Dixon — Thu, 29 Jun 2006 07:42:37 +0000

The Media Center Show #64(MP3 - 11.5mb- 33mins 29secs)
LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20060628_064.mp3]

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

This week on the show Chris Anderson editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine and author of the Long Tail Blog. Chris will be explaining what the Long Tail is and how if effects Media Center users.

Plus your email

See the variety of equipment and setups that Media Center users have posted,the pictures are on my site HERE and there is an RSS feed for the pictures

Send your questions and feedback to mailto: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”

Don’t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:
00:40 Coming up this week
01:00 HDMI connections to Media Center
03:00 Troubleshooting XBOX 360 PC Setup issues
03:46 A Message from Onevoice
04:31 Welcome to Chris
05:05 What is the Long tail
06:53 What drives the Long tail
08:50 An example of the Long tail
12:50 Rights
15:40 The Long tail and Windows Media Center
19:00 YouTube.com
20:30 “The end of the monopoly of the hit”
23:29 Filtering and searchin
25:15 The Long tail book
28:17 Pre-order the book
29:00 See you next week, send in your email
Music by Ian Dixon (new CD very coming soon!!)

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

The Media Center Show #63 - Niall Ginsbourg

Ian Dixon — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 08:37:01 +0000

The Media Center Show #63(MP3 - 14.1mb- 40mins 59secs)
LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20060621_063.mp3]

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

This week on the show is Niall Ginsbourg talking about his Big Screen Photos application. A Flickr application for Windows Media Center, developed using the latest .net 3.0 technologies (with a great Vista Media Center style UI)
We will be talking about the application and how using XAML has made for a rich application UI.
You can download a beta from HERE

Plus your email

See the variety of equipment and setups that Media Center users have posted,the pictures are on my site HERE and there is an RSS feed for the pictures

Send your questions and feedback to mailto: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”

Don’t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:

00:39 Coming up this week on the show
01:15 Dual Monitor fixes
03:47 TV Quality Issues - Microsoft DVD Decoder Checkup tool
05:48 Developing with PHP and Media Center - The Green Button, interviews with Casey Chesnut,Stephen Toub,Charlie Owen
07:25Â mceAuction 2.0 wins an award
08:10 A Message from Onevoice
08:53 Welcome to Niall
09:13 Background on the application, viewing Flickr photos on Media Center
11:01 The development technologies, WPF .NET 3.0
12:34 XAML
15:00 What is Flickr
17:21 The UI
20:00 Features
21:50 Keyboard access
23:00 Supported platforms
24:00 Extenders
25:29 Picture Resolution
26:00 Why use WPF over Media Center Markup
29:37 Beta version is ready for download
30:19 Lite and Pro versions
31:33 Release dates
32:00 Media Center Sandbox
33:35 The PVR Project Update (See this interview)
36:55 Thanks ton Niall - Please send Niall your feedback
37:48 See you next week

Music by Ian Dixon (new CD coming soon!!)

The Media Center Show #62 - Eric Voetberg (Microsoft)

Ian Dixon — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 13:22:11 +0000

The Media Center Show #62(MP3 - 16.4mb- 47mins 4secs)
LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20060615_062.mp3]

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

This week on the show is Eric Voetberg a Program Manager from the eHome team at Microsoft. We will be talking about the development process for Vista and Eric’s area of expertise in Media Center Online Spotlight and More Programs.

Plus a whole host of tips via the email

See the variety of equipment and setups that Media Center users have posted,the pictures are on my site HERE and there is an RSS feed for the pictures

Send your questions and feedback to mailto: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”

Don’t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:

00:45 Coming up this week
01:10 PMC Question
02:09 Update on clock syncing
02:36 Alternative to XP’s clock syncing clientÂ http://nettime.sourceforge.net/
03:23 Dual Monitors with Media Center
04:41 Upcoming shows
05:37 A message from Onevoice
06:29 Welcome to Eric
06:47 Eric’s background
09:03 Application prototyping
11:00 Picking features
14:00 Developing with Vista Media Center
14:50 The Full Fidelity ExperienceÂ (c) Charlie Owen
15:48 Online Spotlight
18:00 Online Spotlight redesign
21:20 More Programs
24:00 Re-design of the Vista Media Center start menu
26:50 Balancing the end user experience
31:50 Dogfooding Media Center
35:00 New Online Spotlight applications
37:02 WPF Applications
39:58 Vista timetable
41:35 CES
42:34 Thanks to Eric
42:50 See you next week

Music by Ian Dixon (new CD coming soon!!)

The Media Center Show #61 - AMD Live!

Ian Dixon — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 08:25:47 +0000

The Media Center Show #61(MP3 - 15.8mb- 46mins 12secs)
LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20060608_061.mp3]

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

This week on the show I am very excited to be talking to Teresa de Onis, AMD brand Manager and Orb’s Ian McCarthy about AMD Live! and what it means for Media Center users.

I also have your email in to the show, please keep it coming!
See the variety of equipment and setups that Media Center users have posted,the pictures are on my site HERE and there is an RSS feed for the pictures

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”

Don’t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:
00:41 Coming up this week
01:09 - Email PMC Questions
03:20 HD Satellite on Media Center
04:48 Net Time - net time /SETSNTP:address, Time Servers
05:30 XBOX 360 Extender tips
06:30 Big Screen Photos (XAML Browser Application) for WindowsÂ® XP and WindowsÂ® VistaÂ® Media Center (Beta 2)
07:35 Favorites for Vista Media Center
08:27 A Message from One Voice
09:14 Welcome to Teresa de Onis
09:50 What is AMD Live!
10:37 AMD Live! Entertainment Suite
13:36 Ian McCarthy’s take on AMD Live!
15:00 How AMD picked there software partners
18:55 What you need to get the software
22:36 Cool and Quite
26:00 Hardware requirements for AMD Live!
26:52 Away Mode
29:57 Software Requirements
31:09 TV Cards
33:40 Future plans
34:24 Set Top Boxes
40:16 Availability
42:00 Thanks to AMD and Orb

Music by Ian Dixon (new CD coming soon!!)

The Media Center Show #60 - Julie Jacobson

Ian Dixon — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 14:20:09 +0000

The Media Center Show #60(MP3 - 21.3mb- 1hour 2mins 10secs)
LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20060601_060.mp3]

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

This week on the show is Julie Jacobson from CE Pro. We will be talking about the the impact Windows Media Center has had on the pro AV installer industry and the new Media Center Pro magazine.

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”

Command line for syncing your PC clock: “w32tm /resync”

Don’t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:
00:44 Coming up this week
00:56 Email - Caller ID
02:01 A fix for the tip problems reported last week
03:09 Dual monitors on Media Center
04:50 From the forums - PSP as a portable Media Center
05:55 Vista Media Center SDK for Beta 2
06:23 Vista does not need a NTSC tuner
06:55 Praise for Media Center from Bill Gates
07:46 A Message from Onevoice
08:37 Welcome to Julie
09:00 CE Pro background
10:50 Changes to the traditional AV industry
14:00 Keypad and hardware options
15:00 Sideshow
16:37 Media Center Boot camp
19:20 AV guys perception of Media Center
21:00 ISF Certification
22:30 Multi-room audio
23:55 Media Center misconceptions
26:30 Matching TV cards with displays
27:49 Universal Remotes
31:00 Extenders v Media Center PC
35:00 Home Automation
38:45 Waiting for Vista
40:20 HD DVD v Blueray
43:00 DVD streaming
45:42 1394b Media Streaming
48:17 HD TV
50:57 Cable card options
52:30 Media Center Pro Magazine
55:58 Thanks to Julie

Music by Ian Dixon (new CD coming soon!!)

The Media Center Show #59 -Steven Hughes

Ian Dixon — Thu, 25 May 2006 08:26:58 +0000

The Media Center Show #59(MP3 - 16.2mb- 47mins 08secs)
LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20060524_059.mp3]

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

Joining me this week is Steven Hughes of BostonPocketPC.com to talk about mobile devices and how to take your content out with you on the go. We will be looking at Portable Media Center devices, Pocket PC’s and the new Ultra Mobile Devices.

As ever I have your email in to the show

Some links sent over by Steven:

Tatung V620 Portable Media Center
Toshiba Gigabeat S Series Portable Media Center
LG PM70 Portable Media Center

Using Windows Mobile-based Portable Media Centers and Windows Media Player 10
Tips and Tricks for Using a Portable Media Center
Mobile Media Without Limits
UltraMobile PC site from Microsoft
UMPC Interview with Otto Berkes
How to Develop for the UMPC
UMPC site by Intel

See the variety of equipment and setups that Media Center users have posted,the pictures are on my site HERE and there is an RSS feed for the pictures

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”

Don’t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:

00:45 Coming up this week
01:12 Email - update on Webguide, Syncing PMC’s
02:33 Email - update on XBOX 360 music problems
04:19 Time problems
05:40 Frontrow opinions
07:00 Still having problems with Roll up2? Aaron Stebner’s help
07:29 Media Center Pro Magazine (more next week)
08:20 New Media Center PC’s from Embedded Automation
08:55 Orb VideoMail
09:53 A Message from One Voice
10:43 Welcome to Steven Hughes
11:00 Mobility Guys Podcast
11:39 Boston Pocket PC
12:30 The state of the Pocket PC now
14:22 Windows Mobile 5
15:00 Portable Media Centers
18:20 New PMC’s
19:27 URGE
28:00 UMPC
31:00 Uses for UMPC
31:20 Logmein
33:00 Niveus Pocket PC Remote Control
36:00 More on UMPC
40:05 Mobility Guy’s Podcast
42:19 Thanks to Steven
42:55 Coming up next week

Music by Ian Dixon (new CD coming soon!!)

The Media Center Show #58 -Kevin Hartin (Altech)

Ian Dixon — Thu, 18 May 2006 08:47:20 +0000

The Media Center Show #58(MP3 - 16.2mb- 47mins 08secs)
LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20060518_058.mp3]

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

This week on the show is Kevin Hartin from Altech Computers in Australia, we will be talking about there new Blueray Media Center PC, the state of Media Center in Australia and the HD format war.

I have a listener software offer and email in to the show

See the variety of equipment and setups that Media Center users have posted,the pictures are on my site HERE and there is an RSS feed for the pictures

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”

Don’t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:
00:35 Coming up this week
01:00 email - music problems with extenders
02:47 My Remote Mouse software offer
03:55 Enable My TV if you don’t have a TV card
04:55 A Message from One Voice
05:48 Welcome to Kevin
08:00 Altech’s background
13:00 Extenders
14:55 Guide data for Australia
19:19 TV formats
24:00 HD content
32:22 Managed copy
34:19 PC v CE
35:35 Connecting Blueray to a TV
38:00 Streaming v disks
42:15 Release of the Blueray product
43:33 See you next week talking mobile devices

Music by Ian Dixon

The Media Center Show #57 -Mike Seamons (Lifeware)

Ian Dixon — Fri, 12 May 2006 09:08:28 +0000

The Media Center Show #56(MP3 - 17.8mb- 51mins 50secs)
LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20060512_57.mp3]

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

This week on the show is Mike Seamons (Vice President, Marketing ) from Exceptional Innovation makers of Life|ware - software for controlling home automation devices and multi room audio. We will be talking about Lifeware and what it can do and how developers can use its web services interface.

As ever I have email in to the show

See the variety of equipment and setups that Media Center users have posted,the pictures are on my site HERE and there is an RSS feed for the pictures

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”

Don’t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:
00:40 Coming up this week
01:08 Email - getting Media Center working thanks to the show http://www.jrodblog.com
02:14 Webguide Find out more on show 22
03:22 Email from Paul
03:48 Screen clocks
04:53 A Message from Onevoice
05:28 Welcome to Mike
06:30 Who are Exceptional Innovation
09:00 Lifeware
13:43 Working with Ovens and Media Center!
15:00 Working with other devices
19:00 Touch screens
26:30 Audio config
32:50 Developer options
40:00 Open systems
44:20 How to find out more
46:00 Training and certification
48:00 See you next week
Music by Ian Dixon

The Media Center Show #56 - Jason Alinen

Ian Dixon — Thu, 04 May 2006 09:25:14 +0000

The Media Center Show #56(MP3 - 16.3mb- 47mins 26secs)
LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20060504_056.mp3]

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

This week on the show Jason Alinen from MCE Integration talks about installing Media Center in custom AV installations and has tips and tricks for getting the most out of Media Center

I have email in to the show and a winner in the One Voice competition

See the variety of equipment and setups that Media Center users have posted,the pictures are on my site HERE and there is an RSS feed for the pictures

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”

Don’t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:
00:30 Coming up this week
00:59 Winner of the One Voice Competition
01:32 The Gallery
01:48 Email - multiple guide data
03:34 The youngest Media Center Show listener
04:09 Show Time Interactive Media Center application
05:08 New Sample app from Casey Chesnut MCEDirectShow
05:52 Registry changes for Media Center
06:18 A Message from One Voice07:33 Welcome to Jason
08:03 PowerStrip - working with displays
11:51 Audio connections
13:40 Multi room audio
20:11 Home installations
21:37 Get rid of your boxes!
28:14 The Sony XL1
32:18 VIIV
35:15 Sound output
36:30 TV Standards 1080i/720p
38:28 What is needed to get Media Center in to more homes
43:26 Playing out with some more music

The Media Center Show #55 - My Movies

Ian Dixon — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 07:19:41 +0000

The Media Center Show #55(MP3 - 20.5mb- 59mins 59secs)
LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20060427_055.mp3]

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

This week on the show is Brian Binnerup, Brian is the developer behind My Movies. We will be talking about how the project started, what it does and what is new in Version 2.0 that launches today.
I also have email and Media Center news

See the variety of equipment and setups that Media Center users have posted,the pictures are on my site HERE and there is an RSS feed for the pictures

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”

Don’t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:
00:44 Coming up on the show
01:10 Email - Media Center Remote problems
02:30 Email - XBOX 360 and Windows logon
03:31 Email - Guide Problems
04:39 April 2006 Update Rollup for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
05:33 OneVoice on the Mac Mini
06:36 OneVoice draw later today
06:56 The Green Button gets updated
07:34 A Message from One Voice
08:26 Welcome to Brian - My Movies
15:00 Off Line DVD’s
17:00 My Movies 2.0
20:31 Searching
21:41 Working with extenders
24:30 Local copies of DVD’s
26:00 Managed Copies
33:51 What is new in My Movies 2.0
34:00 Box Set support
36:20 DVD Changer support
41:55 System Builders
44:00 Language Support
45:15 Future developments
47:03 Developing with Vista
51:51 How to get My Movies 2.0
52:00 Download from Download.com
56:52 Thanks to Brian
57:18 Music “In the Warm Evening” by Ian Dixon

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

The Media Center Show #54 - Nigel Barker

Ian Dixon — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 08:48:37 +0000

The Media Center Show #54(MP3 - 13.2mb- 38mins 32secs)
LISTEN HERE

[audio:http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_mediacenter_20060420_054.mp3]

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

This week on the show we are talking digital satellite with MVP Nigel Barker. So if you have satellite and want to get rid of set top boxes and IR Blasters listen on.
I also talk about my weekend running Vista Media Center and read out your email.
More info on Nigel’s findings can be found at AVforums

See the variety of equipment and setups that Media Center users have posted,the pictures are on my site HERE and there is an RSS feed for the pictures

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”

Don’t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:
00:36 Coming up this week
01:14 One Voice competition update
01:32 MSAS Media Center Stater Project
02:30 Let me know if you developing MCE applications
02:51 Extenders in the UK
03:44 Sky with Media Center
04:20 Red Button with Media Center
05:27 mceSpeach tools
06:13 My weekend with Vista Media Center
09:25 Media Center rendering engine
09:51 A Message from OneVoice
10:40 Welcome to Nigel
11:00 AVforums link
12:23 DVB Standards
13:24 Technotrend TT-budget S-1500 DVB-S card
17:17 Using Sky with Media Center
22:00 Video quality of satellite over DVB-T
27:30 Working 100’s of channels in Media Center
31:00 HDTV
36:00 Thanks to Nigel
36:32 Music “Information Overload” by Ian Dixon

The Media Center Show #53 - Casey Chesnut

Ian Dixon — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 08:49:24 +0000

The Media Center Show #53(MP3 - 21.5mb- 1Hour 2mins 42secs)
LISTEN HERE

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

This week on the show is Casey Chesnut, new Media Center MVP and developer of some great Media Center application.
As ever I have your email and Media Center news

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”

Don’t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:
00:43 Coming up this week
01:13 Email from Mark, my new laptop
03:16 Email - new Media Center User
04:12 Origamis to get Softlead! (ie Extender)
04:46 Watch Joe Belfiore keynote from Mix06
05:16 Charlie Owen on Channel9
05:44 Discus at Media Center Sandbox
06:00 Update on the competition
06:35 A Message from One Voice
07:25 Welcome to Casey
08:00 Casey’s background
10:06 mceSAPI
16:26 mceSTATE
22:23 Direct Show
28:00 mceSALT
33:05 Backrow
43:10 mceDIVX360
47:00 www.runtime360.com
48:40 mceWorldWind
53:00 mceVideoSearch
58:00 What is next for Casey
59:00 Casey’s blog www.brains-N-brawn.com
59:40 See you next week
Music “In The Ward Evening” by Ian Dixon

Music by Ian Dixon

Origamis to get Softlead! (ie Extender)

Ian Dixon — Thu, 06 Apr 2006 15:52:27 +0000

DIV>When the Origami project was announced I immediately thought they would be great if they could operate as a Extender for Windows Media Center, so you could watch your recorded TV on it, live tv, music etc.

Well it looks like that wish is coming true and suddenly I am thinking about getting one.

CE Pro have the details:

The especially good news for Media Center Edition aficionados is that Microsoft will enable Origami to serve as a Media Center Extender (MCX). Microsoft is coming out with a software version of MCX expressly for Origami, meaning these little touchscreens can serve as a slave to any MCE in the house, so users can play recorded content, exploit Online Spotlight, use the electronic programming guide — anything they can do with other MCXs (and most things they can do with an MCE).

If you have automation software for MCE, you can use the Origami touchscreen to control the house.

This is great news and I really hope that Vista gets the same extender treatment too

The Media Center Show #52 - Akimbo

Ian Dixon — Thu, 06 Apr 2006 10:29:58 +0000

The Media Center Show #52(MP3 - 16.3mb- 47mins 36secs)
LISTEN HERE

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

This week on the show Josh Goldman CES of Akimbo joins me to talk about the Akimbo server and the future of internet delivered content.

I have the latest Media Center news and your email.

Plus a chance to win One Voices’ Media Center Communicator

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”

Don’t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:
00:47 Coming up this week
01:12 Email about Media Center backups AVforums link
02:31 HD DVD for Media Center
03:10 Sideshow for Media Center remotes
04:42 Touch screen Media Center PC
05:40 FAQ for XBOX 360
05:59 Recorded TV Manager
06:43 Win Media Center Communicator, link to the pictures
07:52 A Message from Media Center Communicator
08:42 Welcome to Josh
09:00 What is Akimbo
10:40 Hardware version
12:00 Media Center Version
13:00 Download times
15:30 The Download model
16:40 Encoding rates
17:50 HD Content
20:00 New Content types
21:00 Type of content
23:00 Long Tail content
24:00 Content discovery
26:50 Working with Extender
28:00 HD Content
28:22 DRM
31:50 System requirements
33:30 Location Issues
35:00 Spreading the word on Media Center
39:41 Costs
42:28 See you next week
42:40 My Blog

Music by Ian Dixon

The Media Center Show #51 - Mark Weinberg (Microsoft)

Ian Dixon — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 07:23:57 +0000

The Media Center Show #51(MP3 - 10.6mb- 30mins 49secs)
LISTEN HERE

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

A shorter show this week and even thought my hard disk crashed and burned I still managed to get the show out :)
This week on the show is Mark Weinberg, General Manager at Microsoftâ€™s eHome group, responsible for the Media Center core features team.
I have the Media Center Show news and email in to the show.

Plus a chance to win One Voices’ Media Center Communicator

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”

Don’t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:

00:36 Coming up this week
01:09 Update on Sky with Media Center
02:05 Email on 10 Foot World
02:35 Vista code needs re-writing???
04:02 MCE Video Encoder
05:02 Multi room audio
05:58 Sony DVD changer
07:07 Win Media Center Commentator
07:22 Users Setup’s pictures
07:53 A Message from One Voice
08:42 Welcome to Mark
09:34 CTP builds
11:00 Look and feel of Vista Media Center
14:00 Mark’s favorite feature of Vista Media Center
15:00 Media Center as a platform
17:00 Home Automation
18:30 Setting up a AV system
21:00 Media Center Server
23:00 Home testing
26:18 Media Center bloggers
27:10 Thanks to Mark
27:26 Coming up next week Akimbo
Music by Ian Dixon

Coming up this week

Ian Dixon — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 08:26:44 +0000

Coming up this week on the Media Center Show

Why Media Center does not need a 60% re-write
Windows Media Center Presentation Layer
Email in to the show
Other Media Center news

And special guest Mark Weinberg - General Manager at Microsoft’s eHome group, responsible for the Media Center core features team

The Media Center Show #50 - Media Center MVP’s

Ian Dixon — Thu, 23 Mar 2006 10:33:41 +0000

The Media Center Show #50(MP3 - 23mb- 1 Hour 14mins 1secs)
LISTEN HERE

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

Welcome to show 50!
This week on the show I have two Media Center MVP’s (Microsoft Most Valued Professionals) talking about Media Center and Vista.
Orb’s Ian McCarthy reports from MIX06 and I have email and skype messages in to the show

Plus a chance to win One Voices’ Media Center Communicator

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”

Don’t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:
00:50 Welcome to Show 50!
01:30 Email MCE with Sky
02:59 a Skype message from Brian Frost
05:03 Media Center Presentation Application over the web
06:47 MIX06 Keynote
07:20 MIX06 Report from Orb’s Ian McCarthy
12:09 Vista Delay
13:15 A Message from One Voice
14:04 Welcome to the Media Center MVP’s
19:00 How has Media Center progressed
20:48 Supporting Vista
23:45 Common support issues
26:00 Stability
27:50 Extenders
30:00 Windows Media Connect devices
31:22 Corey’s Media Library size
35:00 Content delivery methods
37:45 YouTube.com
40:00 DRM (again!)
44:08 Blueray and HD-DVD
46:00 More on DRM
54:51 XM Passport
58:00 Cable Card
1:03:00 Vista Beta
1:07:35 Thanks to Corey and Andy
1:08:00 Email the show
Music by Ian Dixon

Win Media Center Communicator and show 50

Ian Dixon — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 11:43:51 +0000

In case it was missed on the show last week I have a copy of One Voices Media Center Communicator to give away. With MMC you can use your voice to control Media Center so you can order your PC about!

All you have to do to win is to send me a picture of your Media Center setup, no matter how good or bad, big or small and I will post it in the galleries on my site (iandixon.co.uk).

So send them in isdixon at gmail dot com and I will post them up here.

Also if you want a copy of either mNewsCenter (my RSS reader for Media Center) or mceSuduko send me in a tip via the show Skype Line (MediaCenterShow)

This weeks show should be good, show 50 and a year of the Media Center Show, I have two Media Center MVP’s joining me Andy Vanosdale and Corey Gouker

The Media Center Show #49 - 10 Foot World

Ian Dixon — Thu, 16 Mar 2006 02:52:38 +0000

The Media Center Show #49(MP3 - 23mb- 1 Hour 07mins 4secs)
LISTEN HERE

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

On this weeks show I have Jury Balta from 10 Foot World talking about there Online Spotlight application, and other Media Center topics

I have email in to the show, no news this week, to busy at work!

Don’t forget the Media Center Show Survey!

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”

Don’t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:
00:44 Coming up this week
01:22 Email - Vista Media Center
02:40 Win One Voice Media Center Communicator
03:26 A Message from One Voice
04:18 Welcome to Jury Balta from 10 Foot World
05:23 What is 10 Foot World
09:46 How it looks
10:48 How long has it been going?
11:55 HD
14:00 OEM Versions
15:30 Works on Extenders
16:23 Content
17:38 Spanish Version
20:00 Get your own site on 10 Foot World
22:51 Turning a desktop site to 10 Foot
25:58 Using RSS
26:44 Screen Formats
30:00 Home Automation
33:44 Media Center in Hotels
47:18 Home Shopping on Media Center
52:38 Future plans
1:00:00 Next week Media Center MVP’s and Show 50
Music by Ian Dixon

One Voice Technologies joins the show

Ian Dixon — Thu, 09 Mar 2006 09:52:29 +0000

I am really pleased to announce that One Voice Technologies has joined the Media Center Show as a sponsor.
Starting next week we will have a competition to win Media Center Communicator, the voice control software for Windows Media Center.

I want Softsled for Origami

Ian Dixon — Thu, 09 Mar 2006 05:53:24 +0000

I have just been watching the Origami channel 9 video, they look great devices not unlike my HP TC1100 just slightly smaller.

I really hope that the the eHome team look at getting some of there applications on to the Origmai devices.

At the end of the day they are small form factor Tablet PC’s so there is no reason why Media Center could not be included in it.

I would love to use it to control my Media Center PC and browse the guide data from the sofa (like I do now with Webguide) and use it as a portable extender (softsled)

Also in the interview they talked about transferring recorded TV files from Media Center on to the device and how it should just work. What they don’t say is if you will still need DVD decoder software installing on it

Check out the video and Microsoft’s site for the devices

The Media Center Show #48 - Stephen Toub (MSDN)

Ian Dixon — Thu, 09 Mar 2006 04:48:56 +0000

The Media Center Show #48 (MP3 - 17.9MB - 1 Hour 04mins 36secs)
LISTEN HERE

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

On this weeks show I have Stephen Toub editor of MSDN magazine and author of some great articles on Media Center, a great show for developers and anyone interested in how Media Center works with TV files.

Find out how to edit DVR-MS files with Stephens editor and download the source to see how it works

I have email in to the show and the latest Media Center news
Don’t forget the Media Center Show Survey!

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”

Don’t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:
00:50 Coming up this week
01:30 Email - No Apple DVR
02:36 Email - XBOX 360
04:04 Email - PSP Media Server
05:08 Email - Vista Media Center
05:53 Email from the USAF!
06:56 Pictures of my home setup
07:38 Update for DRM
07:53 New Online Spotlight apps from Yahoo
08:26 Media Center Show Survey
08:52 A message from the Grand Prix Show
09:20 Welcome to Stephen
10:09 Stephen’s background
11:10 Send in your articles to MSDN magazine
14:00 XBOX 360
14:44 Time Traveller application
16:15 Roll Up 2 fixes
17:58 Types of applications
19:30 Background addins
22:45 Roll Up 2 - Out of Process apps
24:00 Windows Hooks
33:20 Custom UI
35:27 Bookmarking TV files
36:48 Direct Show
38:22 Using Graph Edit
43:33 Fun with DVR-MS files
45:00 What is a DVR-MS file
51:28 Editing DVR-MS files
53:48 Joining TV files - the complete app is included on the MSDN page
55:16 Accessing the meta-data
57:00 Thanks to Stephen
58:18 Coming up next week 10 Foot World, a big prize next week
58:55 Get in touch with the show
Music “Train of Thought” by Ian Dixon
Thanks to Orb!!

Coming up this week….Stephen Toub

Ian Dixon — Mon, 06 Mar 2006 03:39:04 +0000

Coming up this week on the Media Center Show with Orb Networks is Stephen Toub of MSDN Magazine.

Stephen has written some great articles on Media Center development including Time Travel with Media Center

and Fun with DVR-MS

A great show for developers and even if your not a developer you should find it interesting to know how Media Center works.

Don’t forget to take the Media Center Show survey and check out the Media Center Show gear

The show will be out Thursday

The Media Center Show #47 - David Fleischman

Ian Dixon — Fri, 03 Mar 2006 15:39:18 +0000

The Media Center Show #47 (MP3 - 17.9MB - 52mins 18secs)
LISTEN HERE

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

On this weeks show I have David Fleischman, blogger and Program Manager on the eHome team.

I have email in to the show and the latest Media Center news
Don’t forget the Media Center Show Survey!

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”

Don’t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:
00:46 Coming up this week
01:07 Email - Tranquil PC , HDTV in the UK
03:39 Vista Product Line Up
04:39 Media Center at Retail
05:01 /mceWorldWind
05:40 Get developing for Vista Media Center
06:30 ATSC guid data problems
06:52 Build your own DIY Cablecard PC
07:10 Smart Home Show, to many MCE clones
09:09 A message from TPN
09:50 Welcome to David
10:36 What a program manager does at Microsoft
11:17 Now a program manager
11:55 CTP builds
12:03 David’s Blog
13:09 Why blog?
14:21 Features or Stability
15:11 DIVX
18:00 Adding features
20:32 Working on Update Roll Up 2
24:50 Video on Demand
26:31 IPTV
28:48 Cablecard
31:40 Timebomb blog post
32:45 Platform programming
36:29 Extender support
40:53 Communicating with the team
43:19 Blog comments
45:07 Dogfooding Media Center
46:33 Next Week Stephen Toub
Music by Ian Dixon

Coming up this week on the show

Ian Dixon — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 11:03:15 +0000

Coming up this week on the show is David Fleshman, blogger and Program Manager at Microsoft on the eHome team.

David has a great blog and has some great incites in to the development process of Media Center.

Plus the Media Center Show news and email in to the show

Don’t forget to take the Media Center Show Survey

The show will be out Friday this week as I will be at the Smart Home Show at the NEC (UK) on Thursday

Start developing with the new Windows Media Center Presentation Layer

Ian Dixon — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 02:00:11 +0000

Something I have been waiting for since I found about the new Media Center mark up language in Vista

Charlie Owen has posted details about the new Windows Media Center Presentation Layer , this enables you to write Media Center apps that use the core Media Center display engine, so no more HTML fudges!

Charlie has posted on how to get started with Authoring Tool

Read it on the Media Center Sandbox blog

The Media Center Show #46 - The Green Button

Ian Dixon — Fri, 24 Feb 2006 14:22:02 +0000

The Media Center Show #46 (MP3 - 18.6MB - 54mins 16secs)
LISTEN HERE

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

On this weeks show I have Daniel Sterling from The Green Button, one of the first and most popular community sites for Media Center. Daniel talks about the history of the site and the redesign that is coming very soon.

I have a Skype message in to the show about Photoshop Elements for Media Center, email in to the show and the latest Media Center news

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”

Don’t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:
00:48 Coming up this week
01:10 Email - PMC with Helmet cam?
02:10 Automated Tag fixing http://musicbrainz.org/
03:55 PhotoShop Elements working with MCE - Skype Message
06:38 Send a tip in to the show and get free software!
07:03 Media Center Show Survey
07:51 Media Center Server?
09:45 Where is VIIV 2.0 (eHomeUpgrade)
10:10 Caption Support
11:02 More info for System Builders
11:52 Top 10 reasons to upgrade to Vista, Media Center is not in it!
12:23 MIX06 Project Update
13:05 Transfering guide data from one PC to another
13:25 The Smart homes Show in the UK
14:00 A message from TPN
14:40 Welcome to Daniel from The Green Button
15:40 How it got started
15:50 The TGB Team
23:00 The community contributers
25:03 What is coming for the site
26:40 Search and RSS!
28:37 Blogs and galleries
30:00 Downloads
31:16 10 foot version of the site
32:55 Performance boost!
34:00 Future plans
35:50 Daniel’s Media Center PC setup
41:06 Vista
41:50 Tablet PC integration
45:38 Using other apps on Media Center
47:00 Interactive Content
49:00 Thanks to The Green Button users
50:15 Get in touch
50:28 Coming up next week
Music by Ian Dixon

Media Center Show Survey

Ian Dixon — Fri, 17 Feb 2006 08:20:07 +0000

The Media Center Show is nearly a year old so I thought it would be a good time to put together a survey about the show. So you can tell me what you like and dislike and any topics or guest you would like to see on the show.

No registration or email address is needed just go The Survey Page and vote for your favourite show and have your say about the show

Thanks!

The Media Center Show #45 - Dave Alles

Ian Dixon — Thu, 16 Feb 2006 06:34:25 +0000

The Media Center Show #45 (MP3 - 21.8MB - 1 Hour 3mins 39secs)
LISTEN HERE

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

On this weeks show I have Dave Alles, Product Unit Manager on the eHome team at Microsoft talking about Extenders, including how the idea for the original XBOX extender came about in a Redmond Brewery

I also have an update from Charlie Owen about the MIX06 conference where Media Center is featuring.
I have the latest news, email in to the show and a chance to win mcePhone thanks to Christoph Buenger Software

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”

Don’t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:
00:47 Coming up this week
01:00 CES all done, thanks HTPC news!
01:42 Quiet PC
02:21 DVR-MS audio to mp3
03:04 Extender UI in Vista
03:49 mcePhone winners
04:25 2nd Tuner Card problems
05:26 Photoshop with Media Center
06:00 Media Center Show News
06:08 CE Pro talk to Intel about Viiv
06:23 XBOX killing Media Center, no
07:50 Charlie Owen talks about MIX06
11:00 For Designers
12:19 MIX06 Demo Project
13:40 Media Center and Web 2.0
14:00 New ways to develop for Media Center
16:30 Media Center Markup Language
20:21 Thanks to Charlie
21:00 Spec for the MIX06 project
21:04 A message from TPN
21:48 Welcome to Dave Alles
22:02 Dave’s role
23:19 The background of Extenders
29:50 Owning 16 XBOX 360’s
31:18 Programming for the XBOX 360
33:00 How the XBOX Extender came about
39:34 XBOX 360 Media Center use
40:44 Switching out a PC for a XBOX 360
42:20 “Dogfooding” Media Center
43:12 Dave is using Cablecard
49:30 Making Windows more consistent
51:45 “Piyka” devices - new Extender devices
53:50 LG DVR
55:00 Integrated EPG
58:45 Thanks to Dave
59:20 Win mcePhone
Music by Ian Dixon

The Media Center Column: #4 - Vista

Ian Dixon — Wed, 15 Feb 2006 07:52:34 +0000

Just noticed my article on Media Center in Vista on Digital Home Magazines web site has been posted.

I guess I should check there web site more often as it was posted last week!

This time I focused on Media Center in Vista

http://www.digitalhomemag.com/news/default.asp?pagetypeid=2&articleid=43179&subsectionid=1308

Coming up this week…Extenders and MIX06

Ian Dixon — Mon, 13 Feb 2006 07:49:44 +0000

Coming up this week on the Media Center Show:

Dave Alles, Product Unit Manager on the eHome team at Microsoft talking about Extenders, including how the idea for the original XBOX extender came about in a Seattle Brewery

I also have an update from Charlie Owen about the MIX06 conference where Media Center is featuring as well as all the Media Center news and email in to the show

The Media Center Show #44 - CES Round Up

Ian Dixon — Thu, 09 Feb 2006 06:22:03 +0000

The Media Center Show #44 (MP3 - 20.0MB - 58mins 24secs)
LISTEN HERE

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

This week on the show the final interviews from CES.
Joe Harris from Digital Deck tells us about there updated product range and then to round CES off I sat down with Ian McCarthy from Orb and we discussed the highlights and trends at CES.

I have the latest news, email in to the show and a chance to win mcePhone thanks to Christoph Buenger Software

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”

Don’t forget your to check out Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

00:50 Coming up this week
01:25 Email - Intelligent Recording
02:53 Audio problems
04:20 Keeping the PC quiet
06:14 Play DivX on XBOX 360
07:03 Roll Up 2 issues - from Aaron Stebner
07:28 Microsoft Ignoring small OEMs? Chris’s post, Matt’s reply
08:53 A great guide to Cable Card
09:50 A fix for my RSS reader on the XBOX 360
10:50 Onevoice Media Center Communicator
11:41 Send my your product reviews
12:00 Win mcePhone for Skype (link to the award show)
13:32 Interview with Joe Harris of Digital Deck
15:16 Use a PC as a Server
18:55 Networked DVR
19:41 Thanks to Joe
19:54 A Message from TPN
20:45 Ian interviews Ian!
23:33 What caught my eye
26:10 Ian’s thoughts on Media Center
33:00 What is holding back Media Center
35:50 Get rid of boxes!
39:16 Networked Media
43:00 Was this the year of Media Center at CES?
46:40 Have Apple got it wrong with Frontrow?
47:23 New Vista Media Center remote
49:54 Where were the other Media Center type apps?
52:45 Thanks to Ian
52:57 Coming up next week
53:30 Catch you on XBOX live

Cable card will not be available to DIY MCE

Ian Dixon — Tue, 07 Feb 2006 14:21:20 +0000

Cable card will not be available to DIY MCE well according to a great article on Cable Card by arstechnica.com

If you actually want to see that protected high resolution content, you’ll also have the opportunity to buy a new monitor that will work with Windows Vista, and a brand-new PC. That’s rightâ€”only new PCs from certified vendors will accept a CableCARD. You can forget about buying a copy of Vista and an OCUR to roll your own solutionâ€”as ATI told us, their product will only be available in OEM systems, no doubt because of the certification issue.

well worth reading if your interested in Cable Card , note its a certification issue that will hold back DIY builds

Get NASA TV on Media Center

Ian Dixon — Mon, 06 Feb 2006 10:59:29 +0000

Great tip from the Green Button forums.

goto http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/

goto the watch with windows media, it is an ASX file (look at IE status bar) right click and do a ‘Save Target As…’ and save into your My Videos folder.

You now have NASA TV on media center.

This week on the Media Center Show

Ian Dixon — Mon, 06 Feb 2006 05:10:12 +0000

Coming up this week on the Media Center Show, I have the final part of the CES coverage I recorded.

Joe Harris from Digital Deck tells us about there updated product range and then to round CES off I sat down with Ian McCarthy from Orb and we discussed the trends at CES, Ian kept asking me questions so you get to hear more of me than i would like :)

As ever I have the latest Media Center news, email in to the show and a chance to win mcePhone thanks to Christoph Buenger Software

A Brief History of ATSC in Media Center

Ian Dixon — Fri, 03 Feb 2006 06:06:42 +0000

Peter Rosser has a great post about the history of ATSC in Media Center.

He also give a glimps of what is coming in terms of TV support for Diamond, the Vista version of Media Center and Fiji (the release after Diamond).

A very intestesting read.

Link:

http://blogs.msdn.com/peterrosser/archive/2006/02/03/AtscInMce.aspx

Live Podcast?

Ian Dixon — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 11:20:58 +0000

I have been thinking about doing a live podcast for a while and was reminded about the idea while reading Sean Alexander’s blog about SightMax

First off would anybody listen to a one off live show? It would have to be around 8pm UK (12pm PST), we could take live questions from a chat room etc, so making it a more interactive show.

Secondly the technical bit, I thought I could use Windows Media Encoder to publish the live audio, but have been told that it is limited to 5 concurrent connections. If I was going to do a live show I would like more that 5 listeners!

Has anybody and suggestion on the best way of hosting the audio stream? Essentially I would be broadcasting a Skype conference call.

So would you listen or is the whole benefit of podcasting being that you can listen to it when you want?

Are there any tips on how I could do it?

Acoustic Magicâ€™s Voice Trackerâ„¢ Array Microphone and One Voiceâ€™s Media Center Communicator

Ian Dixon — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 09:25:32 +0000

I am playing with One Voice Technologies’ Media Center Communicator, finding it great but it needs a good microphone.
One voice announced today they they are marketing Acoustic Magic’s Voice Tracker Array Microphone.

More details on my blog

The Media Center Show #43 -CES Interviews

Ian Dixon — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 06:02:17 +0000

The Media Center Show #43 (MP3 - 21.0MB - 1 Hour 01mins 21secs)
LISTEN HERE

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks

This week on the show I have some more interviews from CES.
Intel talking about the new VIIV platform, Simplifi Digital updating us on there products and I took the Tablet PC around the Media Center Show Party and got some great interviews
I have the latest news and email in to the show

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”

Get your Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:
00:55 Orb Networks sponsors the show
01:05 Coming up this week
01:49 Video Podcasts on Windows Media Center - mNewscenter and NewsGator
02:20 Sonic Encoder problems
03:04 Multiple Guide Providers for Media Center
04:36 BDA driver problems
05:45 Photoshop Elements does have MCE plug in
07:06 Call the show Skypeline
07:15 I got my XBOX 360!
09:00 Cablecard confusion, Thomas Hawk,Sean Alexander,Chris Lanier
11:32 Home Security with Media Center
12:00 Charlie Owen on Media Center Wiki
12:45 Scott’s New Media Center Wiki
13:09 MCEBrowser - Browse the web with Media Center
14:14 Intel VIIV interview
17:00 VIIV Media Server
19:07 What VIIV means to Media Center Users
20:33 Simplifi Digital Interview (see some pictures here)
21:14 Digital Input Amp
21:43 Amp with ipod dock
22:19 Connecting a game console to Media Center with no lag!
25:00 Message from TPN
26:00 Media Center Show party interviews
26:26 Thomas Hawk
30:45 John Hicks and Dean Evens from Future Publishing
40:39 Jason Alinen
43:30 Ian Siemer
44:51 Ed Bott
47:54 Jonathon Sass Simplifi Digital
51:00 Ted Singh Embedded Automation
54:00 Coming up next week
Music “Train of Thought” by Ian Dixon

Microsoft SideShow â€” iPod Killer?

Ian Dixon — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 04:02:44 +0000

Just read an interesting article on Consumer Electronics Stock blog, it talks about SideShow (what used to be called auxiliary displays) and how they could be a route to unseat Apple’s domination of the music player world.

The piece explains that the displays are going to be more that just an extra displays on laptops they could be detachable devices with all your calender and contacts information on them that you can carry with you on the go.

It says the displays can also sync your music and video on the device and is an open platform for development.

This is where it gets interesting, the device does not have to be only on laptops, in fact at CES I saw a Silverstone PC running the display, and on Microsoft’s site it says they can be on “keyboards, LCD display casings, remote controls, and cell phones“, so the components of it could be part of a mp3 player or a cell phone and it could be Microsoft’s way of developing there own hardware personal media players (PMP) as has been rumoured

The article goes on to say

“If this platform brought tight integration between Vista and PMPâ€™s, that would be really bad news for Apple. Apple has been selling iPods to legions of Windows users who buy the iPod for its slick design and ease of use and are willing to accept Appleâ€™s closed system as a tradeoff. Users will no longer need to make that tradeoff if the integration between Vista and the PMP is well done using SideShow.”

The combination of Vista, Windows Media Player 11 and these devices could really unseat the ipod and its closed system

Interestingly they say that the guts of the SideShow are based on the same guts of the ipod (Portalplayerâ€™s (PLAY) â€˜Prefaceâ€™ chipset.)

LINK

http://cestockblog.com/article/6307

Cablecard Certification, What gets certified?

Ian Dixon — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 03:19:53 +0000

Ok, I am confused now.

I know that the operating system must be certified, so Vista is ok.

Now for the confusing part. Some people told me that the PC got certified, e.g Sony send there Vista Media Center PC off for certification and once thats done it will work. Other people told me that the individual components must be certified, e.g the Video card must be certified.

There is a lot of concern from DIY Media Center builders and small OEMS that they will get pushed out of the Media Center building market as they can’t or if they could its to expensive to get certified.

My guess is that there will be a minimum specification for cable card to work, eg Vista, the certified graphics card from ATI etc and then the certified cable card unit

Some OEM’s told be that they are cable card ready, and once the spec is ready they will put out cards for there PC’s

Chris Lanier has a comment on his blog from AnandTech, Inc

â€œAccording to my contacts at ATI, the OCUR device will be included as part of a “kit” that will be the box and a new PC. The PC is not certified by CableLabs in any way, instead MS publishes a minimum system configuration and the system has to meet these specs in order to be sold with the OCUR device. The OCUR device itself is the only thing that is actually certified by CableLabs.“

This implys that OCUR units are only sold with new PC’s but any OEM could sell the OCUR unit

Any thoughts?

Coming up this week….CES Part 2

Ian Dixon — Mon, 30 Jan 2006 07:54:56 +0000

This week on the Media Center Show I have a collection of interviews I recorded at CES.

I interviewed Intel to get the details on the VIIV platform, I got an update Simplifi Audio about there new audio amps and I interviewed a bunch of people at the Media Center Show Party including Thomas Hawk, Ed Bott, Ted Singh (guest from the first show) and many others

I will also have my first thoughts on the XBOX 360 as an extender

XBOX 360 Extender - it just works

Ian Dixon — Fri, 27 Jan 2006 02:43:46 +0000

Last night I finally got my XBOX 360. While most people would be dieing to get it connected up and shoot the enemy solders or race around the streets in a Ferrari I wanted to get mine connected as a Media Center Extender.

I got the unit plugged in to my TV (my new Sony TV is still on order), got it on to my LAN and selected Media Center from the dash board. The experience was amazingly simple. My PC prompted me to connect the 360, when I accepted the connection it downloaded the components from XBOX.COM ran the update and then prompted me to enter the code number that was displayed on the XBOX.

Within 10 minutes the XBOX was working as an extender complete with all my recorded TV, music and pictures.

I have never used a V1 Extender so have nothing to compare it with but compared to the “real” Media Center UI there are hardly any differences. You can use the standard Media Center remote and do everything you can do in the Media Center UI on the PC

Watching recorded TV was flawless and put very little strain on the host PC.

The whole out of box experience was very simple and straight forward, it just worked.

They tell me that the XBOX 360 also plays games, amazing ;)

The Media Center #42 - Joe Belfiore (Microsoft)

Ian Dixon — Thu, 26 Jan 2006 06:20:54 +0000

The Media Center Show #42 (MP3 - 21.4MB - 1 Hour 02mins 22secs)
LISTEN HERE

On this weeks show I have Joe Belfiore VP of the eHome division at Microsoft. I talked to Joe at CES and we chatted about how Media Center started, where it is now and where its going in the future. Joe is very passionate about Media Center and was good fun to interview.
I also have the Media Center Show News with Orb and email in to the show

Download Orb

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”

Get your Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:

00:00 Show ident
00:46 Coming up this week
01:11 Email from Simon Worth
02:50 Is there a good Karaoke addin for media center
03:20 Photoshop Elements for Media Center?
04:09 Email from Al - HDTV
05:30 Updated URL for the show
05:46 Pictures of Vista
06:18 The Media Center Show news with Orb
06:34 Fix for DVB Radio issues
07:04 Google Earth on Media Center
07:25 Updates for Windows Media Center
08:40 Mix06 session with Windows Media Center
09:15 A message from TPN
10:24 Welcome to Joe Belfiore
11:00 eHome products
11:35 Media Center as part of Vista
12:26 The orgianl vision for Media Center
14:10 How Media Center came to the PC
16:15 Why does Media Center get regular update
17:20 V1 availabitly
18:37 V2 adding software and partners
19:36 Community feedback
21:00 Caller ID
21:38 Instant Messenger
22:47 HDTV in Vista
25:00 What excites Joe about Media Center
26:00 XBOX Extender
27:30 Success of Media Center
28:30 Media Center without TV Cards
31:30 Working with the Media Center community
33:20 3rd Party Apps
34:25 MyTVtoGo
36:55 Application Joe would like to see
38:40 Online Spotlight future
39:47 New ways of developing for Media Center
42:28 Other Media Center project at Microsoft
45:13 Media Center in Vista
47:00 Media Center in more that one SKU in Vista and in all Vista countries
48:18 DVD Decoders in Vista
49:07 Longterm view of Vista
53:26 New hardware
55:19 Thanks to Joe
56:00 Send me your feedback
56:25 Coming up next week
Music “Happy End” by Ian Dixon

Coming up this week… Joe Belfiore

Ian Dixon — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 04:05:43 +0000

Coming up this week on the Media Center Show is Joe Belfiore VP of the eHome division at Microsoft.

I sat down with Joe at CES and we talked about the history of Media Center, where it is now and where its going with Vista.

Joe is so enthusiastic about Media Center and is such a nice guy, he was great to interview.

As ever I have your email and the latest news.

The show should be out Thursday (if I get back from Germany in time!)

The Media Center Show #41 - Niveus at CES

Ian Dixon — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 06:26:29 +0000

The Media Center Show #41 (MP3 - 18.7MB - 54mins 26secs)
LISTEN HERE

This week I have the first two interviews from CES. Lynn McCroskey from Zon Audio talks about there multi-room audio system as shown at the NextGen house at CES. Then Tim Cutting CEO of Niveus talks about there range of Media Center PC’s, DVD changes and products launched at CES

I have lost my voice this week but just managed to read out the email in to the show and the Media Center Show News

Download Orb

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”

Get your Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:
00:45 Coming up this week
02:02 Email from Randy
02:51 Email from Michael
04:21 Email from Sebastian - Stephen Toub’s techniques
05:33 Help with Tuner problems on the forums
06:20 The Media Center Show News with Orb Networks
06:20 Mediapoint is live
06:52 CES Photo Update
07:09 Charlie Owen on SKU of Media Center
07:55 Designed for Media Center Logo
08:50 DIVX on XBOX 360
09:27 Media Center in Vista is looking great
10:22 Lynn McCrosky from Zon Audio at CES
12:40 How it works
17:10 Pricing
19:00 A Message from TPN
20:00 Tim Cutting CEO of Niveus (at CES)
22:00 DVD Changer functions (firewire based)
24:20 Fan-less dual core PC’s
26:11 Connections
29:31 CableCard Upgrades
31:30 New Products
32:50 PC Spec
33:20 ISF Certification
35:20 Storage Server
39:00 Laptop or Tablet PC remote control software (IP remote control)
47:00 Summing up with Tim
48:00 Coming up next week Joe Belfiore VP of the eHome division at Microsoft
Music “Milestone” by Ian Dixon

Coming up this week….CES Part 1

Ian Dixon — Mon, 16 Jan 2006 08:24:03 +0000

Coming up this week on the Media Center Show is part one of my CES coverage.

This week its Lynn McCrosky (Oxmoor CEO) inventor of the ZON Audio technology talking about Zon audio and the NextGen Home at CES and Tim Cutting CEO & Founder of Niveus Media, Inc talking about there range of Media Center PC’s, cablecard and other products they launched at CES

As always I have the Media Center Show News with Orb Networks and email in to the show

This weeks show out Thursday

Stream DivX movies to your XBox 360 using MediaCenter

Ian Dixon — Sat, 14 Jan 2006 16:02:35 +0000

Stream DivX movies to your XBox 360 using MediaCenter

Yes you can!

casey chesnut emailed me about this article he has written on how to watch Divx on an Extender

Casey is coming on the show soon so if you have any questions send them in

this article shows how to stream DivX (and XviD) movies to an XBox 360 using a Media Center. for the picky people, it doesn’t actually stream DivX … it converts to WMV on the fly to stream. the core process for accomplishing this is taken from a thread found on the XBox forums

Link

brains-N-brawn.com

Complete list of products in the â€œDesigned for Media Center Editionâ€ logo program

Ian Dixon — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 15:05:16 +0000

Microsoft have published an updated list of components that are Designed for Media Center Edition compliant.

This includes DVD Decoders, graphics cards, TV tuners, remote controls, and wireless routers.
Microsoft says “The list will be updated monthly”

Download from Microsoft

Do you want a standalone upgrade SKU of Windows Vista containing Media Center?

Ian Dixon — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 02:53:25 +0000

Charlie Owen asks Do you want a standalone upgrade SKU of Windows Vista containing Media Center?

In a response to a post from Ross Rader Charlie is supporting the idea of a SKU for Vista to update XP to Media Center. He says while he doesn’t make these decisions comments on his blog will be read by the powers that be.

So go over to his blog and leave a comment one way of the other

I think any way of getting Media Center available to more users is a good idea, it’s such a great product digital media other than just TV its worth installing for most users.

So your right Charlie, the idea gets my vote

My Media Center Related pictures from CES

Ian Dixon — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 16:17:33 +0000

Here are some Media Center related pictures from CES

The Media Center Show #40 - PVRX

Ian Dixon — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 02:22:37 +0000

The Media Center Show #40 (MP3 - 19.4MB - 56mins 30secs)
LISTEN HERE

This week on the show Niall Ginsbourg talks about PVRX a project to establish a common language for PVR and DVR applications to communicate and I have my first thoughts on CES
See here for some pictures (I will keep updating it)
I also catch up on all the email in to the show and play a V4s Skype messages in to the show

Download Orb

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”

Get your Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:
00:50 Coming up this week
01:00 Back from CES in Vegas
03:39 New ways of developing with Media Center
04:29 Media Center was a hit at CES and Vista looks great (see this pic)
06:26 V4s message from Craig Carrol
08:35 Update for MCEbackup http://www.codeproject.com/csharp/tsnewlib.asp
09:28 MPEG4 in Media Center
10:40 Copy Protection on Media Center
11:29 Watched TV stats, can you get then?
13:01 HDTV on Media Center
14:22 Hello to everybody I met at CES and thanks to Orb
14:46 A message from TPN
15:23 Welcome to Niall
16:37 What is PVRX
23:50 Using Web Services
26:20 Examples of the services
29:00 Linking applications
30:31 Virtual Tuners
32:28 Making you app PVRX compatible
36:33 Communicating with PVRX
40:14 Developer feedback
41:03 Implementing Media Center Support
44:00 How long has the project been going?
46:40 Hardware Systems
49:52 How to find out more information, source code and specs
52:19 Next week CES
Music by Ian Dixon

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“

Upcoming Shows

Ian Dixon — Wed, 11 Jan 2006 04:40:59 +0000

As I am trying to get back in the swing of things I thought I would do an update on some shows planned for the next few weeks

This week Niall Ginsbourg talking about PVRX a project to establish a common language for PVR and DVR applications, very interesting

Then putting out my interviews from CES including Joe Belfiore VP at Microsoft, Tim Cutting CEO of Niveus, Ian McCarthy of Orb and loads of interviews I recorded on the show floor.

Plus highlights of the Media Center Show Party where I grabbed interviews with Thomas Hawk, Ed Bott, Ted Sing, Jason Alinen and may others.

Starting tomorrow

Back Home from CES

Ian Dixon — Wed, 11 Jan 2006 04:26:52 +0000

Well we made it back home today from CES. Leaving Las Vegas at 4am Monday and got home today (Tuesday) to Manchester UK at 10am.

There is so much to talk about, I interviewed lots of interesting people and looked at some great products.

I am way to tired now to talk about it all, so listen out the show this week for some details of what is coming up.

I was going to post some pics, but MSN Spaces (where my pics are) is running soooo slllooowww….

Fixing XBOX 360 connectivity problems

Ian Dixon — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 05:02:51 +0000

Martin over on the Media Center Show forums had a problem connecting his new XBOX 360 to his PC

He was getting “Unable to connect” after putting in his 8 digit code.

After lots of searching he found a reference to rsaenh.dll was missing so he used regsvr32 to register it

1) At a command prompt, run: “regsvr32 %windir%\system32\rsaenh.dll”
2) Reboot
3) Attempt to connect to Xbox 360

rsaenh.dll is a module that implements the Microsoft enhanced cryptographic service provider (CSP) that uses 128-bit encryption

Thanks for the tip Martin

I am still waiting to get hold of an XBOX 360

Off to Vegas!

Ian Dixon — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 14:15:20 +0000

Well this week I am off to Las Vegas to the Consumer Electronics Show

9am I leave Manchester going via Philadelphia. I have got a packed week planned and of course the Media Center Show party with Orb

I will be recording lots of stuff for the show and have some good interviews setup , if your in Vegas make sure you come to the show party on Friday (send me an email IsDixon at gmail.com)

if these is anything you think I should see let me know!

So no show this week, see you in Vegas!

Podcasting Changed My Life

Ian Dixon — Sat, 31 Dec 2005 08:25:45 +0000

On my personal blog I have just written a post on how podcasting has changed my life
I wanted to thank all the listeners to the show
Read it here

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 #39 - The Awards Show!

Ian Dixon — Thu, 29 Dec 2005 07:32:59 +0000

The Media Center Show #39 (MP3 - 27.4MB - 1 hour 19mins 50secs)
LISTEN HERE

A extra special show this week, its the Media Center Award Show. Thomas Hawk joins me to review the winners and we have some special guests joining us. Sorry it’s such a long show but it is a special!

I want to say a big thanks to Orb Networks for supporting the awards and supporting the show in 2005

If you voted you are in with a chance to win a Amazon voucher from Orb Networks so I will be getting Thomas to draw out two winners.

Download Orb

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”
and I am going to create a RSS for the messages soon

Get your Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:
00:53 Coming up this week
01:04 Welcome to Thomas Hawk
01:30 Highlights of the year
02:50 Thomas Hawks Flickr Podcast - FlickrNation
04:40 XBOX 360
05:12 Apple introduce Frontrow
07:01 Best Media Center Utility Award - TweakMCE
07:47 Best Online Spotlight Application - mceWeather
12:20 Best Video Conversion/Editing Tool -Dcut
14:20 Converting Audio from recorded TV to MP3 with Total Recorder
16:25 David Fleischman from Microsoft joins us, link to David’s blog
21:00 Hollywood and downloadable content
24:44 Best Communication Tool - Windows Messenger beats Skype!
27:00 Vista Media Center
30:30 Thanks to David
31:50 Best Hardware Award - Hauppage
35:04 Most innovative application for Windows Media Center - Orb
40:25 Come to the Media Center Show Party at CES
41:08 Best Community Resource - The Green Button
43:00 Chris Lanier joins us
47:31 Best Enthusiasts Media Center Blog - Chris Lanier
54:40 Thanks to Chris
55:40 TV Card stats
56:23 Best Overall Application for Windows Media Center - MyMovies
58:00 Brain Binnerup developer of myMovies joins us
1:02:00 Best Free Non - Commercial Application for Windows Media Center - MyMovies
1:07:28 Extender Stats
1:08:36 Best Microsoft Employee Blog - Matt Goyer
1:12:44 Thomas Picks the winners for the Amazon voucher
01:14:11 Thanks to Thomas Hawk and all the guest, Orb and the listeners
01:15:21 Next week off to CES!

Coming up this week…. The Media Center Awards Show

Ian Dixon — Tue, 27 Dec 2005 08:44:59 +0000

Coming up this week on the Media Center Show is the Media Center Show Awards 2005

Joining me to host the show is Thomas Hawk and we are going to look at the nominations and the winners, plus we have some special guests joining us on Skype

We have the prize winners and a chat about the show party at CES

look out for this weeks show out Thursday

Best Wishes for Christmas!

Ian Dixon — Fri, 23 Dec 2005 11:19:31 +0000

I just wanted to wish all listeners best wishes for Christmas and that Santa brings you lots of gadgets.
Thanks to all of you for listening and hopefully the show will get bigger and better in 2006.

Look out for the Media Center Show Awards 29th December with special co-host Thomas Hawk.

Happy Christmas!

The Media Center Show #38 - Media Center in a Car

Ian Dixon — Thu, 22 Dec 2005 08:50:21 +0000

The Media Center Show #38 (MP3 - 20.8MB - 1 hour 0mins 48secs)
LISTEN HERE

On this weeks show Duncan Rae talks about how he fitted Windows Media Center in a car and I have info on the Media Center Show Party at CES and your invited.

I have another chance to win MCE-Suduko and some winners from last weeks show.

Download Orb

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

Get your Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:
00:00 Coming up this week
01:40 Email about Mediapoint
03:50 Media Center Show Party at CES!
04:35 The Media Center Show News with Orb
04:49 Did Media Center Flop? No!
06:40 DIVX to WMV9
07:09 Vista December CTP Build
08:10 Windows Live Messenger beta invites
08:30 Roku M1000 Soundbridge
09:31 Autoproducer 2.0
10:48 mceBackup update
11:50 Updates for Online Spotlight
12:30 Win MCE-Sudoku
13:08 A message from another podcast!
13:45 Welcome to Ducan
14:10 Why put Windows Media Center in a car
17:50 Screens
20:52 Power
23:49 Costs
24:17 PC Spec
26:28 Starting the PC
28:19 Video connections
29:30 Hard Disk installation
30:49 Sound and sound problems
35:28 USB connections
37:42 Touch Screen
40:20 Network connections
42:50 Media Center Keyboards
43:11 What would you do differently
45:22 Voice Control
48:33 Why use Media Center
49:50 The hardest part of the project
51:21 How long did it take
56:30 Link to Ducan’s blog
57:22 Next week - The Media Center Show Awards
Music by Ian Dixon

Coming up this week…Media Center in a Car

Ian Dixon — Mon, 19 Dec 2005 09:29:21 +0000

Coming up this week on the Windows Media Center Show I have Duncan Rae talking about how he fitted Media Center in to his car, and yes it’s achievable and not to expensive!

So listen to this weeks show to find out more, out Thursday!

Oh and if you going to CES come to the Media Center Show Party, details on this weeks show

Media Center Show Party and Geek get together at CES!

Ian Dixon — Sun, 18 Dec 2005 22:04:16 +0000

If your going to CES your invited to the Media Center Show Party. It is being hosted by my friends at Orb and all listeners and geeks are invited, refreshments will be provided

it’s Friday 6th @ 5pm

More details soon, if your interested please drop me an email (isdixon at gmail.com)

Media Center Servers and Extenders

Ian Dixon — Fri, 16 Dec 2005 15:28:45 +0000

An interesting suggestion was raised in the Media Center Show forums yesterday

The user was asking about whether it’s possible for multiple Media Center PC’s to work together to share resources for extender clients.

Quote from the post

For example: Say you have two dual tuner servers and 3 extenders. Can an extender control either server or can it only be associated with one server? I’d like to be able to go to either extender and watch live tv (different channels) from whichever server has a tuner not being used.. Is something like this possible where the servers share resources so an extender can receive live tv from either?

And wouldn’t it be good if you asked your Media Center PC to record something and if there was a recording conflict the PC could ask another Media Center PC on the network to record it. It’s getting more common for people to have multiple Media Center PC’s in the home and having multiple Extenders not tied to a specific Media Center PC would be very powerful. What do you think?

Also see a discussion on Online music stores for Media Center in the forums

Media Center Show forums are at iandixon.co.uk/forums

96% of Media Center PC’s have TV cards

Ian Dixon — Fri, 16 Dec 2005 15:28:21 +0000

I have started analysing the votes in the Media Center Show Awards (a nice VB application does the work for me)

and I found this fact interesting.

One of the questions I asked was “Do you have a TV card in your Media Center PC?”

The results where:

Yes a single card 53.68%
Yes multiple cards 42.63%
No 3.68%

So thats 96% of owners have one or more TV cards in there PC which I find higher that I would have expected. It been talked about before that a lot of Media Center PC are sold with out TV cards, but this shows that most active users and enthusiasts do have TV cards

Find out all the results in two weeks time, more details on the award show coming soon

The Media Center Show #37 - Simplifi Digital

Ian Dixon — Thu, 15 Dec 2005 11:35:50 +0000

The Media Center Show #37 (MP3 - 21.2MB - 1 hour 1mins 55secs)
LISTEN HERE

On this weeks show is Marty Holloway from simplifidigital.com a company specialising in high quality audio amps for Windows Media Center
I also have an interview with Cathy Page from KMS Software talking about some of there fun products for Media Center including World Trivia and MCE-Sudoku
We also have 10 copies for MCE- Sudoku to give away!
Ian McCarthy from Orb joins me to talk about V4S - free voicemail for Skype and we talk about how I can use it for the show

Download Orb

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

Get your Media Center Show Gear

The forums are at Iandixon.co.uk/forums

Show Times:

00:48 Coming up this week
01:32 Media Center Show Awards
01:48 Email about Danish Media Center Blog
02:47 IPTV in the UK
03:55 Messages from the forums. Playstations on MCE
05:40 Comment about Vista Media Center
08:08 Building a really quiet Media Center PC for the bedroom
09:08 Interview 1 - Cathy Page (KMS Software)
11:09 As seen in Online Spotlight
11:20 Why build MCE applications?
12:49 MCE-Sudoku
14:08 World Trivia for Media Center
16:10 Contacts and Calender
18:11 Welcome to Ian McCarthy - V4s
20:15 How I am going to use it
23:30 Leave a message for the show “mediacentershow”
24:30 Media Center Show news
24:43 Blog.mediacentersandbox.com
26:15 DIVX on XBOX 360 comments by Chris Lanier
26:50 mceBackup update
27:25 A Message from the Dean Serious podcast
27:55 Welcome to Marty
28:20 What they do
30:00 Why use a extra box?
33:00 System Specs
35:08 Speakers
37:10 USB connections
38:00 Digital v Anlaog
39:41 Markets
40:15 Case Design
44:00 New Products
44:41 CES 2006
47:07 Wireless Speakers
48:34 5.1 audio , 7.1 and the future
54:44 Thanks to Marty for more info go to http://www.simplifidigital.com
55:43 See you next week and get in touch!
Music by Ian Dixon

Coming up this week…Simplifi Digital

Ian Dixon — Mon, 12 Dec 2005 09:49:12 +0000

I am off to Germany (Hildon) again this week again but the show will still be out as normal.

Coming up this week on the Windows Media Center Show is Marty Holloway from Simplifi Digital a company specialising in high quality audio amps for Windows Media Center

Also I have an interview with Cathy Page of KMS software talking about some of there fun products for Media Center including World Trivia and MCE-Sudoku, and I have 10 copies of MCE-Sudoku to give away

And you have until Thursday to vote in the Media Center Show Awards, my web site has been down this weekend but it is back up and running now