January 23, 2006
XBox 360 Media Extender
If you have Windows Media Center and an XBox 360, you probably want to take a look at using your XBox 360 to play back content stored on the MCE box. Underground Online have had a quick look at setting this up, and conclude
Media Center Extender successfully makes Xbox 360 more than a gaming console in your living room and gives new life to the multimedia OS outside of the computer room. If you're starting from scratch, setting up a Media Center isn't the simplest or cheapest task in the world. But, once you have the hardware in place and the software installed, it's straightforward streaming for all of your multimedia needs.
January 23, 2006 in Windows MCE | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack
November 17, 2005
New Hauppauge MCE tuner packages
Hauppauge Digital has released two new upgrade packages for Windows Media Center Edition 2005 (MCE). The new MCE packages include a TV tuner and a Media Center remote control, providing everything required to add TV capabilities to a Media Center PC.
The two Hauppauge WinTV packages are the PVR-150MCE, an analogue terrestrial TV tuner and remote bundle, and the HVR-1300MCE, a hybrid analogue/digital terrestrial TV tuner and remote bundle. The packages are priced at £79.99 and £99.99 inc VAT respectively.
The packages, available end November will appeal to PC owners who need to upgrade to Microsoft's Windows XP Media Center Edition (MCE) 2005 without buying a new PC.
"Windows XP Media Center Edition continues to increase in popularity, but the upgrade path can be expensive," commented Yehia Oweiss, Managing Director of Hauppauge Digital. "The PVR150-MCE package represents terrific value, including the on-board MPEG encoder and an MCE remote and receiver. An XP upgrade is all that needs to be added."
The PVR150-MCE and HVR1300-MCE TV tuner each have their own hardware MPEG encoder to ensure the best quality TV pictures. The MPEG encoders convert the TV picture into MPEG-2 whilst still on the card, ensuring minimal load on the PC and avoiding dropped frames. The analogue inputs allow the cards to also connect to camcorders and other set-top boxes, such as a Sky box.
The two additions to Hauppauge's MCE package range line up with the £129.99 WinTV PVR500-MCE package, launched in October. The PVR500 includes dual analogue, terrestrial tuners.
Drivers for the Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-150MCE, WinTV-HVR-1300MCE and WinTV-PVR-500-MCE range are Microsoft WHQL (Windows Hardware Quality Lab) certified.
November 17, 2005 in Windows MCE | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 09, 2005
Tweak MCE PowerToy 2.0
Tweak MCE gives you access to systems settings and options not normally
exposed in the Windows XP Media Center Edition user interface,
including remote control settings, Skip and Replay time customizations,
user interface options, and more. It also helps you to optimise Media
Center Extender for plasma and non-CRT displays.
It's a free download and available here.
November 9, 2005 in Windows MCE | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 18, 2005
Windows XP Media Center update
Microsoft have released Windows XP Media Center Edition Rollup 2 (pauses for breath!), which fixes over 500 known bugs and introduces several new features.
I am currently building a Media PC here at PVRUK, so I'll let you know how the upgrade goes.
Support for Windows Media Center Extender for Xbox 360
The Windows Media Center Extender technology built into every Xbox 360 lets you access entertainment from your Media Center PC—whether it’s live and recorded TV and movies, music, photos or Online Spotlight—on any TV in the house.
Support for 4 tuners
You can now have a combined 4 TV tuners on a Media Center PC. Media Center will now support 2 NTSC Standard tuners and 2 ATSC HD TV Tuners.
DVD changer support
MediaCenter now offers integrated support for external DVD changers, enabling consumers to watch movies and manage external 200 disc DVD changers from the Media Center interface. Media Center displays rich movie information and cover art for each movie loaded in the DVD changer. (DVD changer support is available on select new Media Center PCs.)
Away Mode
Away Mode brings the convenience, quiet performance and instant on/off functionality of consumer electronics to the Media Center PC. Away Mode improves upon current PC power-management systems by enabling the system to silently perform unattended tasks, such as record TV shows and stream content to Media Center Extenders, while in a low-power mode that appears off. (Away Mode is available on select new Media Center PCs.)
DVD-burning improvements
Updates to the Sonic DVD burning engine improve the performance and capabilities of DVD burning in Media Center. Now consumers can convert high-definition TV shows to standard definition and burn to a DVD all in one step, as well as burn to a DVD from other locations on the network such as from a Media Center Extender device.
Additional HDTV tuner support
Update Rollup 2 provides support for up to four TV tuners. US customers will now be able to utilize two NTSC (analog) capture boards and two ATSC (digital) capture boards. This enables personal video recording of two shows at the same time, broadcast as either ATSC digital TV (480p) or high-definition TV (720p/1080i).
Rollup 2 is available from Microsoft here.
October 18, 2005 in Windows MCE | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 21, 2005
Windows MCE Vista beta screenshots
It looks like transparency is "in" at MS!
From Chris Lanier's Blog .
September 21, 2005 in Windows MCE | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
