Windows Home Theater

Morning TV, Smartphones & Grand Slam Coverage…

Volume 1, Issue 30

Check out exclusive interviews and informative segments from the popular NBC morning news and talk show ‘TODAY.’ Hosts like Matt Lauer and Ann Curry take you through the first three hours of the show, while Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb round out the fourth hour.
Get the latest on legendary pop icon Michael Jackson’s tragic death at the age of 50. See what effects the loss is having on fans worldwide. Plus, take a look back at the singer’s career and life in this gallery devoted to the “King of Pop.”	Death of an Icon
The much anticipated sequel to the ‘Transformers’ franchise, ’Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen’ makes its’ debut in theaters. Visit the ‘Transformers’ gallery for clips and interviews or browse other trailers located on our “Movies” page!	The Battle Begins!
Consumer Reports compares two new smartphones, the iPhone 3G S and the Palm Pre, to see which comes out on top. See more product reviews from Consumer Reports on our “Lifestyles” page!	Smartphones Collide!
The world’s top tennis players hit the grass courts in London for the 2009 Wimbledon Championships at the All England Club. Follow the action on the court with this gallery devoted to this Grand Slam tournament! Visit our “Sports” section for all the latest scores and results!	Wimbledon Tennis

I’m no longer updating this site regularly. I am keeping it around for teh archives, though, which have some useful information in them.

You can read my latest work at either of these two locations:

Ed Bott’s Windows Expertise

Ed Bott’s Microsoft Report (ZDNet)

Windows Social Media team has a very cool new project going on at MySpace that lets folks discover, download (and keep!) new music…and the artists get paid, too.

Above: MySpace.com\Windows: It just doesn’t seem like MySpace unless something is blinking.

Basically, Windows has sponsored 1,000 songs or so that can be freely downloaded. And if you friend Windows on MySpace, you’ll get updates as new sponsored songs are rolled out each week. You can get songs right on MySpace or from the third partner in this deal: ReverbNation.

I’ve been downloading the songs right onto my Media Center PC. Here’s what Windows gets out of the deal (other than a boost to their overall coolness): a Windows banner along the bottom of the album art. Here’s what it looks like in Windows 7 Media Center:

That’s it! And for free tunes that I keep forever, I’ll take that deal every time.

I’ve been in a music rut for a long time. I pretty much checked out of music after Rick Springfield’s “Jesse’s Girl.” I mean, why even try once someone has achieved such perfection, right?

Above: Has anyone topped the master?

Turns out, folks kept right on making music and I’m using this promotion to catch back up. And I’ve asked my music geek friends what they think of the selection. So far, all positive reviews.

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New to Windows Media Center? Start here. or here.Or even here.

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This week Simon Many and I chat with Edwin and Gabe, Program Managers in the Windows Experience team at Microsoft talking about “Play To”, DLNA and streaming media over the internet with Windows Media Player. Windows 7 introduces internet content streaming with WMP and you can even stream Recorded TV over the internet

I also have email and a round up the weeks news

In the interview we refer to a list of Play To compatible devices which you can find HERE

Listen Here (download mp3) -  Subscribe via iTunes - Subscribe via RSS - Subscribe with Zune

Vote for the show on podcast Alley - Join The Media Center Show Group on Facebook - Join the Windows Live Group - Follow me on Twitter

Show Times:

00:23 Coming up this week
01:28 Email: Netflix VMC
01:44 Comments from last weeks show
03:12 Email: DVB-T2
05:21 Windows Media Center to get Freeview HD
06:00 Media Browser Beta 2.1.0.0 Released (updated)
06:20 New Xbox for 2010?
07:10 Archos Windows 7 Tablet PC, great for Media Center on the go
08:00 Video: First look at a Air Mouse GO Plus Mouse for HTPCs
08:50 Video: First Impressions of a HP DV2 Notebook
09:00 First Impressions of a HTC G1, or bye bye Windows Mobile
11:03 Wanted for round table, views on Mobile OS
11:42 Welcome to Gabe, Simon and Edwin
13:37 Feedback on Play To
15:04 Play To devices
21:00 Transcoding and Windows 7 support
28:27 Internet streaming with Windows Media Player
37:00 Sharing content and security issues
41:00 Streaming Media in Windows 7 - network settings
43:10 Streaming Recorded TV
48:12 Multiple user accounts and Windows Live ID
1:00:01 Play To in Windows Media Center?
1:03:00 Multi-room support in Windows Media Player?
1:07:00 Microsoft Blog: Media Streaming with Windows 7

Music by Ian Dixon

Technorati tags: Windows Media Center, podcasts

Clubhouse tags: clubhouse, media center, windows media center, how-to

On the Links, In the Theater & Beyond the Clouds…

Volume 1, Issue 29

Former rap icon MC Hammer returns to the spotlight and this time he will be bringing his family along. Get a glimpse of the new A&E reality series ‘Hammertime’ by visiting the “TV” section and stopping by our “Channels” page.
After ‘great success’ with the movie ‘Borat’ in 2006, comedian Sacha Baron Cohen returns to the big screen with ‘Brüno.’ In his latest comedy, Baron Cohen will again shock audiences with sociopolitical satire. And stop by the “Movies” page for more new previews and current releases.	Baron Cohen is ‘Brüno’
Follow NBC Sports’ coverage during the 2009 U.S. Open Golf Tournament being held on the Black Course at Bethpage State Park on Long Island. View aerials of the course and get the latest on players like Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.  Be sure to check out the “Sports” section for more news from NBC Sports!	U.S. Open Golf
Known as ‘Earth’s evil twin’ and considered a hostile locale for life, Venus has recently revealed secrets that could change everything. Join National Geographic as they look into the possibility of life on a planet that orbits so close to the sun. Visit the “Channels” page for more from National Geographic, plus new content additions from Bravo and The Disney Channel.	Life on Venus?
Get sneak peeks and watch clips of the shows on your favorite stations, plus new programs yet to air. Check out the newest Internet TV ’Channels,’ Bravo and Disney, and see what’s on!	More ‘Channels’ on TV!

This week I am talking to David McCabe from The Home Server Show, Richard Miller and Adam Thursby about streaming content around the home, including how to stream downloaded content. We also debate the future of Extenders and what we would like to see in the Zune HD

I also have a roundup of the weeks news

Listen Here (download mp3) -  Subscribe via iTunes - Subscribe via RSS - Subscribe with Zune

Vote for the show on podcast Alley - Join The Media Center Show Group on Facebook - Join the Windows Live Group - Follow me on Twitter

Show Times:

00:23 Coming up this week
01:12 Big Screen EPG - ‘by Remote’ (2 Foot PVR Client for Media Center)
02:10 Trouble with the DTV transition and Windows Media Center
02:45 Windows Media Center users on Xbox 360/Windows 7 down for 24 hours
03:30 Members blog
03:35 The Custom Integrator Show Installment 011
05:16 Catch up with David
06:39 Catching up with Adam and Richard
08:02 Downloading content
09:46 Streaming with Windows Home Server
15:00 Extenders
17:30 Xbox 360 and a dedicated Microsoft Extender?
22:46 Zune HD as a portable extender, yes please!
28:21 Combined experience
31:20 MKV support
38:40 Streaming VOBs
40:17 Converting videos
43:39 Netflix in Windows Media Center
48:00 PlayOn
52:12 Tunerfree MCE
59:40 See you next week

Music by Ian Dixon

Technorati tags: Windows Media Center, podcasts

Clubhouse tags: clubhouse, media center, windows media center, how-to

Lots of great posts on TDL this week, from Media Center Alerts to the June update and the new applications. This week on The Media Center Show I talked to Paul Thomas from Mediavue and if your missing The Custom Integrator Show it should be out later today! 

Here are some posts from the last 7 days:

• Build a DIY Windows Home Server…
• Big Screen EPG - ‘by Remote’ (2 Foot PVR Client for Media Center)
• Finally installed Windows7 - good/ok and oh well
• Blu-ray gets Managed Copy next year, requires new hardware
• Media Browser alpha testing started
• June 2009 Updates for Media Center (Updated)
• Quick Headsup - DVBLINK for HDPVR RC is up in DVBLogic Forums
• Plugin developers wanted for TuneFreeMCE
• Playing Ripped DVDs on Media Center Extenders without conversion or playlists
• Windows Media Center - Service Alert
• Converting and Streaming Home Movies with the HP MediaSmart Server

Reports suggest that the Digital TV switch in the US went by
with little confusion or problems.  Of
course, if you rely on Windows Media Center your experience likely wasn’t in line
with those reports.  Ben
said the transition is causing grief for Media Center users, but for most
that might be an understatement. 

Microsoft seemed to think they were prepared; after all they
deployed a nice Service
Alert tile in Media Center on the 9^th that explained the issue.  What they didn’t do is update their servers
and other online components to reflect the frequency changes that came with the
switch.  Unlike most setups, Media Center
replies on online data instead of communication with the ATSC
broadcasters.  Microsoft is aware of the
issue and seems
to be making progress in various places, however this is one of those key
updates that Microsoft had loads of time to prepare for and when the switch
came it caused mass confusion among users.

The interim fix for the issue in Windows Media Center is to
edit the atscchannels.xml file in C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\eHome\EPG\prefs with
the updated frequencies.  You can find
those frequencies at various websites including TV Fool
(just input your zip code) and the FCCs own database.  You can also delete the atscchannels.xml and
manually create the channels within Media Center.  To do this navigate to Settings > TV >
Guide > Add Missing Channels.  The
frequency is the same as the “real” number shown in the TV Fool website.  Doing this manually requires you to assign
the EPG listings to the channel through Settings > TV > Guide > Add
Listings to Channel.

This week I am talking to Paul Thomas from MediaVue a UK based Media Center systems reseller, we talk about about their products, the issues effecting Media Center sales and the implications of Windows 7

I also have a round up of the weeks news and details of how to stream DVDs to Extenders without transcoding

Listen Here (download mp3) -  Subscribe via iTunes - Subscribe via RSS - Subscribe with Zune

Vote for the show on podcast Alley - Join The Media Center Show Group on Facebook - Join the Windows Live Group - Follow me on Twitter

Show Times:

00:23 Coming up this week
01:20 Download the free TDL Reader
01:58 TwitterMCE - Twitter from Windows Media Center
02:42 TouchRC - Control Media Center from Windows Mobile
03:24 Windows Media Center guide to surviving the switch to digital TV in the United States
03:50 Windows Media Center - Service Alert
04:06 Converting and Streaming Home Movies with the HP MediaSmart Server
04:52 Windows 7 General Availability Announced
05:24 Playing Ripped DVDs on Media Center Extenders without conversion or playlists
06:50 Plugin developers wanted for TuneFreeMCE
07:28 June 2009 Updates for Media Center
08:47 Welcome to Paul
09:02 Background on MediaVue
11:00 Media Center in the home
12:00 The product range
13:29 Customers
16:50 Case design
17:07 HTPC or Xbox 360?
19:00 Graphics cards
21:07 Components
22:01 TV Tuners
23:11 Sky or internal tuners
23:41 Windows 7
26:49 Windows 7 performance improvements
32:00 Thanks to Paul

Music by Ian Dixon

Technorati tags: Windows Media Center, podcasts

Clubhouse tags: clubhouse, media center, windows media center, how-to

The transition to digital over-the-air broadcasting in the US is set for June 12, and the Windows Media Center has been busy making sure Media Center users who still use an analog antenna and analog TV tuner know what they need to do to keep getting TV.

Yesterday, a Service Alert Tile appeared in Media Center for US users. It provides several pages of overview information to help you determine if you will be affected by the switchover.

Then, over on Windows Help and How-To is a much  more detailed article on the switchover and how it may affect you.

And, if blogs and user-communities are your thing, head over to www.thegreenbutton.com. There I have posted a step-by-step tutorial for analog antenna and tuner users that’s less formal than yer run o’ the mill Knowledge Base article.

Also, if you have cable TV, you may not be out of the woods yet. Although technically not subject to the OTA transition requirements, many cable companies are using this opportunity to convert many of their analog signals to digital ones as well.

If your cable company does this, they should provide you with a converter box or set-top box of some sort to ensure that you still receive service. Media Center MVP Barb B has written a detailed step-by-step on this situation as well.

And finally, if you’re still not sure if you will be affected or what to do if you are, post a question on www.thegreenbutton.com. Few user communities are as knowledgeable or as helpful as TGB.

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New to Windows Media Center? Start here. or here.Or even here.

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