Picture 5 of 8: Microsoft's new Media Center push
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Software maker heads to LA to show off a host of gadgets that use one or another Microsoft technology to access movies, music and video.
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Striving to reignite interest in Windows XP, Microsoft plans to unveil the latest version of its Windows XP Media Center Edition operating system today.
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One of the challenges Microsoft and computer makers face in marketing Media Center PCs is persuading consumers that it&#39;s worth putting them in their living room, supplanting the normal setup of TV, VCR, DVD player and/or personal video recorder.
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Microsoft has finally announced that it will start shipping itâs Portable Media Center addition which will allow players like the Creative Zen to go on sale in the coming weeks.
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Windows XP Media Center 2005 connects smoothly with video and audio equipment.
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Microsoft began the latest phase of its big push for consumers&#39; digital lives by unveiling Windows XP Media Centre Edition 2005 (MCE) and a host of products designed to work alongside it.
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Microsoft has released its newest media-centric version of Windows XP -- Windows XP Media Center Edition (MCE) 2005. Running on a Media Center PC, MCE provides a means for recording, playing, maintaining, and
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Media Center PCs allow users to record live television, burn DVDs and organize their digital media files.
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The Xbox 360 is well-positioned to take over the connected living room. So why isn't Microsoft doing a better job promoting it?
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Maybe the third time will be the charm for Microsoft&#39;s Windows XP Media Center Edition. Previous versions, released in 2002 and 2003, appealed to the early adopters among us.
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LOS ANGELES - On Tuesday, Bill Gates launched a new version of the Media Centre PC, a personal computer that Microsoft wants to be the hub of everyone&#39;s home entertainment system.
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft is increasing the range of video formats that PCs running its Windows software can pipe to televisions around the home, with support for a new range of Extenders for Windows Media Center devices from hardware manufacturers. It expects companies such as Cisco Systems, D-Link, and Niveus Media to reveal new set-top boxes next month that can play videos or music stored on a PC running the Home Premium or Ultimate editions of Windows Vista. Microsoft's software will stream video in previously unsupported formats such as DivX and Xvid, delivering it to devices around the home over wired or wireless networks. The new Extender devices could even be capable of streaming "protected" high-definition (HD) video over the latest 802.11n wireless networks, Microsoft said Thursday. Vendors or broadcasters of HD content can protect it from piracy by using DRM (digital rights management) software to restrict the devices on which it can be displayed or stored. Microsoft's reasoning in developing these capabilities is that customers want to access the content on their multimedia PCs when they're not in front of the PC. AppleÂ realized this in 2004, when it released the diminutive AirPort Express Wi-Fi router with an audio-out socket for streaming music over a Wi-Fi or Ethernet connection from a Macintosh or PC running its iTunes jukebox software, but the following year Microsoft went one better with an add-on pack called Windows Media Center Extender allowing its Xbox game consoles to stream music and video from a Windows Media Center PC. Manufacturers and buyers have been slow to take an interest in Microsoft's Windows Media Center Extender platform. The best-known Extender is Microsoft's own Xbox 360 game console, of which market-watchers estimate Microsoft has sold around 10 million since its November 2005 launch. By comparison, D-Link said in June 2006 that it had sold just 100,000 of its MediaLounge wireless media players in the first 18 months they were on sale. But Microsoft is still pushing the idea, now rebranded Extenders for Windows Media Center, collaborating with Cisco, D-Link, and Niveus to link their set-top boxes to Vista PCs. In the future, the company plans to work with a broader range of vendors to incorporate the same capabilities directly into other devices such as DVD players and televisions. There's more to it than a change of name, though: in its Windows Media Center Extender FAQ, Microsoft warns that devices based on the old specification, developed to work with Windows XP, will no longer work with the new system for Windows Vista.
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Comcast is giving Microsoft something the software giant has struggled to get on its own: an easy way to expand from the desktop computer to the home-entertainment center.
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The Seattle P-I has an interesting look at Redmond's program that has 'Softies taking home the latest in home gear in an effort to better understand how the company's digital living room products perform in actual living rooms.
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NEW YORK -- Microsoft Corp. and its hardware partners are trying to bridge the divide between home computers and TV sets this holiday season with the release of several "media extenders."
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Microsoft's Media Center edition of Windows XP -- a special layer of software designed to let people enjoy their digital photos, music and videos from across the room -- has to rank as one of the company's bigger disappointments in a while. All the money Microsoft has thrown into promoting Media Center has yet to lend it any momentum in the market.
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Microsoft Corp. plans to introduce several new consumer products on Oct. 12 at an event in Los Angeles. The announcements are expected to include an update to Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004 and the first devices using Media Center Extender technology.