Microsoft releases more Windows Media Extenders
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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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Microsoft is getting ready to take the wraps off of Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005. Formerly known by its code-name "Symphony," the update centers around high-definition satellite and cable television. A well placed industry source told BetaNews that Microsoft may be setting its sights on TiVo by including enhanced digital video recording (DVR) capabilities that support two different TV tuners. Other added improvements are DVD burning, expanded support for portable devices and new user interface elements.
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Microsoft issued its second firmware update for its Zune music device, offering stability and performance improvements. In addition, a version of the software was released that is compatible with Windows Vista.
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Ziff Davis - Microsoft has published a list of nearly 50 software programs that require tweaking in order to work with its most recent Windows update.
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Also: Microsoft plans new BizTalk release for this year. [News.com Extra]
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Microsoft's new Extenders increase the range of video formats that Windows Vista PCs can pipe to TVs around the home.
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft Corp. has rolled out its monthly security updates for December, patching critical flaws in Internet Explorer, Windows Media Format, and the Visual Studio 2005 development software. The seven security patches address 11 bugs, including two in the Windows Media Player software. However, no fixes were provided for two Microsoft Word flaws that have been used in a small number of attacks during the past week. Microsoft had said it would release only six patches on Tuesday, but the company added the Windows Media Format update at the last minute, after reports of attacks based on this vulnerability began surfacing. The Windows Media Format is used by Microsoft's Windows Media Player software. In late November, security vendors warned that a buffer overflow error could occur when the Windows Media Player processed ".asx" (Advanced Stream Redirector) media files, meaning that users would first need to be tricked into opening a malicious media file for the attack to work. In its update Tuesday, Microsoft also patched a similar bug in the way the media player processes ".asf" (Advanced Systems Format) files. The Internet Explorer patch fixes four bugs. It is also rated critical, and is noteworthy because some of these bugs will probably begin to be exploited by hackers by week's end, said Gunter Ollmann, director of IBM Corp.'s Internet Security System's X-Force threat analysis service. Enterprise administrators should also pay close attention to an SNMP (Simple Network Monitoring Protocol) patch issued Tuesday, Ollmann said. Microsoft has rated this patch as "important," rather than critical because SNMP is normally blocked at the firewall and turned off by default on Windows systems. However, it is widely deployed as part of the network monitoring infrastructure in the enterprise, and is often used on critical servers, Ollmann said. Ollmann believes this SNMP patch is the "most important" update for enterprise customers. "Since the service is widely deployed in the enterprise and since it's commonly deployed on servers, we think this would be an important attack vector for enterprises," he said. The remaining updates include a "critical" fix for Visual Studio 2005, and "important" updates for Windows and Outlook Express, Microsoft said. Microsoft defines "critical" flaws as bugs that could allow the propagation of an Internet worm without any action on the part of the victim. The company's next set of security updates are due Jan. 9.
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Hacker forum releases a new version of FairUse4WM, a tool for removing DRM technology from Microsoft Windows Media files.
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Microsoft has included new security-related APIs in soon-to-be-released service packs for Windows Vista and XP to expand the use of Data Execution Prevention, an anti-exploit technology.
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SAN JOSE, California - Microsoft Corp. has strategically nurtured its Windows Media Player, making it by far the world&#39;s most dominant program for playing digital music and video on computers.
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Microsoft plas to release Windows Media Player 10 on Thursday alongside the highly anticipated MSN Music Store. WMP10 will be included in Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 which finalized some time after SP2.
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New hard-drive based devices feature color screens, support for WMP 10.
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Microsoft Tuesday released a handful of software products that are key elements in its drive to develop a comprehensive management platform for Windows.
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Hard-drive based multimedia player will be available later this year.
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Microsoft is set to unveil the latest version of its media playback software on Thursday, giving its partners powerful new tools for selling digital entertainment services even as it launches its own music download store.
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By ELIZABETH M. GILLESPIE  SEATTLE - Microsoft Corp. is scrambling to update its Windows Media software after a hacker released a program that circumvents a safeguard designed to prevent people from freely copying digital movies and songs.
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OS networking buckles under single media file New data documenting quirky networking characteristics in Vista have surfaced courtesy of Windows architecture guru Mark Russinovich, who confirms that simply by playing media files, users can bring throughput in Microsoft's new and improved operating system to a screeching halt.â¦