Chris Lanier

Updated: Get $100 Off Linksys Extenders (Expired, or Not?)

Amazon and Microsoft apparently have a special deal going that will give you $100 off either a DMA2100 or DMA2200 (Via The Green Button).  Enter the code “MSFTDEAL” at checkout and you can pickup a DMA2100 for $150 (the magic price!) or a DMA2200 for $200.  Both of them also have free shipping offers to boot.

Amazon | Linksys DMA2100 - $150 after MSFTDEAL

Amazon | Linksys DMA2200 - $200 after MSFTDEAL

Update: Well thats crap, it's now expired!

Update: Some are reporting it still working, so give it a try.

Short Bits: EHX

CE Pro has the latest news from EHX and among the top stories is that Mike Seamons who has been known for Life|ware is leaving Exceptional Innovation and joining Microsoft to “drive Media Center into all markets worldwide.”  Microsoft needed something like this, so I’m looking forward to Media Center finally making another push.

In addition Microsoft announced that they are holding another Ultimate Media Center Install Contest.  Submissions are due August 1, 2008, and the winner will be announced at the CEDIA Expo in September.  If you are a custom installer working with Media Center send in a submission.

The Niveus Entertainment Experience at EHX Spring

Multi-zone demo highlights Extender capabilities, new Storage Servers, latest software developments, and Blu-ray!

Orlando, FL – EHX Spring 2008 – March 13-15th – Demo Room 231B – At EHX Spring 2008, Niveus Media and a number of industry-leading audio/video companies, will embark on Demo Alley to create a first-class, whole-home entertainment environment based on Niveus' awardwinning digital entertainment solutions. Witness a compelling demonstration of the Niveus Pro Series Media Server powering a multi-zone HD entertainment solution, including components from AIX Records, KEF, Krell, Intel, MusicGiants, Monster, Stewart Filmscreen, Velodyne, and Vidikron!

Featuring a centrally located home theater and four separate EDGE Extender zones, Niveus will simulate a five zone home entertainment scenario, all powered by the rack mountable Niveus Pro Series Media Server. With robust multi-zone performance in mind, the Pro Series features an Intel® Core™ 2 Quad processor which provides four independent cores with dedicated threads, to efficiently off-load tasks and more readily serve up media including HD video to multiple rooms of the home.

Additionally, Niveus will demonstrate the new Niveus Media Center Companion™ software which enables full remote control of an unlimited number of Windows Vista Media Center zones (including Extender zones) via any network attached Windows XP or Vista-based UMPC, laptop, desktop, or Tablet PC.

Promising a captivating EHX demo, Niveus will utilize unique selections from premium content providers AIX Records, MusicGiants, and, for the very first time, Blu-ray Disc! Exclusive content reserved for the Niveus Demo Room will be provided by recording industry pioneer Mark Waldrep, of AIX Records, who will host a series of guest presentations daily at 10:30am and 2:00pm.

Press Contact: Niveus Media, Inc. at 408.942.2929 or www.niveusmedia.com.

Niveus Media Launching Movie Gallery Plug-in

Niveus Media is moving from My Movies to a new plug-in called Movie Gallery to catalog and display DVDs, HD DVDs, and Blu-ray Discs in Media Center.  The UI looks fantastic and basically mimics Kaleidescape from the photo posted on CE Pro.

According to Tim Cutting, Niveus wanted to differentiate themselves from other Media Center manufacturers.  Developing an in-house plug-in like this is sure to do just that.

Microsoft: “Not currently in talks with Sony or the Blu-ray Association”

After all of my ramblings, and so many people saying that Microsoft already said they are supporting Blu-ray (despite it being true at all) Microsoft has finally made a statement about Blu-ray and the Xbox 360.  Anyone care to guess how it goes?

Aaron Greenberg (Group product manager for Xbox 360) said: "Xbox is not currently in talks with Sony or the Blu-ray Association to integrate Blu-ray into the Xbox experience.”

Greenberg points to furthering digital distribution through the Xbox 360, another topic I have covered.  "We're the only console offering digital distribution of entertainment content.”

Comments?  I hate to say I told you so, but I think a lot of people were inclided to tell me no more than a week ago.

(Hat tip to Engadget HD)

Embedded Automation Announces mPanel

Integrated Touch Screen is a Portal for Accessing Digital Music and Home Control

Surrey, BC – March 12, 2008

Today, Embedded Automation, launched mPanel, the newest member of the mHome product family. mPanel is a wall-mountable touch screen, which acts as a unified control portal for your “digital home”. With mPanel, homeowners can control digital music within the room, manage the home’s lighting and climate settings, or view and adjust security and surveillance systems.

Embedded Automation will be providing live demonstrations of the mPanel in the Demo Alley (Room 240A) at Electronic House Expo (EHX), running from March 13-15, 2008 in Orlando, Florida.

mPanel’s breakthrough design fits seamlessly in homes with an IP infrastructure. mPanel integrates easily in to homes using or considering Microsoft Windows Media Center or Windows Home Server technologies.

• mPanel provides a single user interface for digital media and home control – mPanel’s Digital Media Interface allows it to stream music from any computer or storage on your local area network and plays it through the on-board amplifier to attached speakers. mPanel’s Digital Home Interface can connect to any mControl installation to allow live status and control of lighting, climate control, security system, surveillance cameras, audio/visual components and custom macros.

• mPanel is simple and inexpensive to install- unlike other whole-home audio systems which require control and audio cables to be wired to a central source and then distributed to each room, mPanel requires a single Ethernet cable to network hub. The Ethernet cable provides the access to digital media and, optionally, can act as the main source of power for the unit. In-room or ceiling speakers connect directly to the mPanel. Furthermore, mPanel’s quick and robust 4-point dog-leg mounting system and magnetic front-panel, make installation a snap.

• mPanel is easy to use and configure - mPanel features a large 7” (800x480) touch screen display, integrated networking and an on-board amplification system. Using a standard Ethernet cable and Power over Ethernet (PoE), mPanel’s on-board amplification system provides up to 20 Watts per channel at 4 Ohms - additional wattage is available with an add-on module. mPanel’s tiny wall footprint (5.5” x 7.75”) and low-profile faceplate allow it to be mounted in virtually any location within a home. While a single mPanel is a great addition to condos or small homes, multiple mPanels can be installed in larger homes.

“We’ve seen a tremendous need from our customer base for an integrated digital home user interface platform. This demand is being fueled by customers centralizing both their digital media and their home control functions, but looking for a straight-forward and inexpensive way of accessing this infrastructure,” said Ted S. Singh, CEO of Embedded Automation. “mPanel solves this problem by integrating a control interface (for communicating to the digital media and automation servers) with a Power over Ethernet (PoE) backbone and an audio amplification system. With these items together in one convenient platform, mPanel becomes a perfect solution for main entrances, kitchens, recreation rooms and covered outdoor decks needing a method to access digital music and home control.”

“As part of this solution, we’ve now ported mControl to run on Windows CE platforms,” said Ted S. Singh. “This now lets us extend mControl to other embedded touch panels.”

mPanel will be available in limited quantities in Q2 2008, with full availability in Q3 2008. Customized front-panels are available under OEM agreements.

About Embedded Automation
Founded in 1998, Embedded Automation designs, manufactures, and markets solutions for “Digital Home” under the mHome product family. mHome products allow consumers to easily and affordably add control and media management capabilities to their homes. mHome products are available from Embedded Automation and through the mHome Authorized Dealer Network.

Listen to me Live on The Media Center Show

Mark your calendars for next Monday, the 17^th at 1PM PDT because you will be able to catch a live edition of The Media Center Show with Ian Dixon with yours truly as his guest.

It will be live on Ustream.tv, and if you want to participate in the live chat to ask questions or comment then you are going to need to register for a free account (no account needed just to watch/ hear the stream).

Hope to see you there!

Inteset Offers Blu-ray on its Media Server Extender Devices

Hanover MA, March 11, 2008 - Inteset, LLC is now offering Blu-ray movie playback capabilities on its Vana VA6420-Si Advanced Extender product. The extender unit will play back Blu-ray content at a full 1080p resolution over DVI and HDMI interfaces. The Blu-ray drive will also be available in Inteset's Vana VA6420-Sx Single Room solution.

"This is exciting news for our dealers," explains David Hirsh, Director of Business Development. "We offer HD-DVD and Blu-ray playback capability on our media servers. It's a natural progression to offer Blu-ray on our extender units now that we know the format war is over. Users can now play back virtually any content they want, in any room they want," continues Hirsh.

In the coming months, Inteset will be releasing a new version of its Movie Collection Vista Media Center module that will incorporate the new format.

For detailed specification and dealer pricing information, visit http://www.inteset.com or contact Inteset Sales at 781-826-1560 ext: 203. Inteset will be exhibiting the new technology at the EHX show in Orlando, March 13th-15th, booth 1817.

Short Bits: Omaura, HP MediaSmart

Chris Morley let the world know that Omaura cases are finally available online through their new partner Dell.  These are by far the best looking HTPC cases around, and competitively priced as well.  For more information on Omaura in general, visit their website.

HP is looking for owners of HP MediaSmart Servers to take an online survey about their experience so far.  If you own one, let HP know what they can do better and you will get a $20 gift certificate for hpshopping.com.  You can find the survey here, and yes it is an official HP survey.

HomeSeer Gets Vista Sidebar Gadget

tenWare Software has developed a HomeSeer Sidebar Gadget to display information about Devices that also allows running of Events (macros) from a HomeSeer server.  For those who don’t know, HomeSeer is PC-based home automation software that also has a Media Center plug-in available.

While the UI leaves a bit to be desired, the basic functionality is there.  If you are running Vista on multiple machines in your home, this Gadget will give you control over your home without opening Media Center or a web-based UI.

More Ramblings About Blu-ray & Xbox 360

At this point I’m either setting myself my for a huge fall or I’m exactly right, I’ll still let you be the judge of that but the more I think about Microsoft doing Blu-ray for the Xbox 360 (internal, external, new SKU, etc) the more it still doesn’t make any sense.

If you haven’t already, read some of my other posts where I have said that a Blu-Xbox 360 isn’t going to happen.  However, it seems that more reports are coming out that are attempting to hint that it will happen.  I’ve already covered the post by the The Financial Times, but now the Seattle Post has a quote from Steve Ballmer that people might be taking too far.

"We've already been working on, for example, in Windows, device driver support for Blu-ray drives and the like, and I think the world moves on. Toshiba has moved on. We've moved on, and we'll support Blu-ray in ways that make sense." - SB

A device driver has nothing to do with playback nor does it really fall under the category of “support” like most people are thinking.  This simply means that Windows will now recognize the file structure on a Blu-ray Disc and display a BD icon in Windows Explorer (Matt pointed this out in the comments of my post last month).

“We'll support Blu-ray in ways that make sense” is the key statement.  I’ve previously run down my reasons why I don’t think it makes sense, but since several people don’t seem to be happy with those here are a few more.

Microsoft sold 300,000 HD DVD add-ons to a potential 18 million Xbox 360 owners.  Assuming my math is right, this is less than 2% of owners.  People might be “demanding” Blu-ray because it’s a buzzword, but it just doesn’t make sense for Microsoft to support it in the Xbox 360 with such a small market following.  As I’ve said before a price cut would most likely be more beneficial here, along with fixing the rising RROD issues (more popular buzzword then Blu-ray).

Another issue is building such a player to spec, something Microsoft will have a hard, or rather near impossible time doing.  Unlike HD DVD’s hardware specs (PL1), Blu-ray requires that all players support multichannel PCM out.  The Xbox 360 can’t do this with current hardware (no software update fixes that), nor does it have HDMI 1.3 to directly output the bitstream of advanced codec’s like TrueHD.  Would the BDA let Microsoft make a player that is not built to spec just because they are Microsoft?

Edit: I've been offered the question if Blu-ray requires players to decode and output LPCM, or just decode (and then say convert to another format).  I'm trying to think it through, but I'm really not sure so I might be completely wrong on that point.  If decoding is the only required part, then it would work link the current Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on.  I mistakingly used output and decoding as one.

I still don’t get it, for those telling me that Microsoft needs Blu-ray to "compete" with the PS3, are you going to buy such a unit at its high price when it can’t output anything better than DTS, when it isn’t built to the latest Blu-ray Profile (or any of them) when the PS3 is still cheaper and can do almost all the above?

D-Link Finally Gearing Up DSM-750 Extender Launch

Months after they were supposed to ship, it appears that D-Link is finally letting loose with their DSM-750 Extender.  The key advantage of the DSM-750 is that it features both D-Link's MediaLounge software as well as Media Center Extender software.

This will work nearly the same as the Xbox 360 Dashboard.  You will be able to enter the local MediaLounge-based UI that offers features including video and audio playback from networked sources as well as local sources connected via USB.  There is an option on that same UI to launch a Media Center Extender session. 

This means that the DSM-750 has the advantage of working with Windows XP clients that can’t host v2 Extender sessions.  The DSM-750 also features Wireless-N and HDMI, but no DVD player like the Linksys DMA2200.

An exact date for retailers getting stock is unknown at this point, but it definitely should be this month.  You can expect to pay around $265 depending where you shop.

Short Bits: Xbox 360 Blu, Cables

The Financial Times is reporting that Sony is in talks with Microsoft for Blu-ray on the Xbox 360.  I still don’t see the point, and Microsoft is still saying “We have made no such announcement.”  Blu-ray on the Xbox 720 makes so much more sense.  By the time you develop for the Xbox 360 you’re only going to have a year or so until the next console hits.  At this point, I wouldn't buy an Xbox 360 with Blu-ray simply because I might be repaying if the Xbox 720 ships with it too.  There are additional reports out that the Xbox 360 will be getting a price drop.  A price drop and Blu-ray?

Brent Evans has a good post on where to pickup inexpensive cables online, I strongly agree with his recommendation for Monoprice.com.  I’ve ordered from them around a dozen times and will never buy cables retail again.

VidaBox Media Servers Now Provide HD DVD & Blu-ray Storage and Streaming Capabilities

WESTBURY, NY – March 5th – VidaBox LLC is proud to announce new HD DVD & Blu-ray storage and streaming abilities on their line of premium media center systems. Unencrypted titles can be copied onto a VidaBox server, and then streamed to VidaBox extenders. These capabilities will be debuted in Demo Alley Room 240A at the Electronic House Expo (EHX), running from March 13th through the 15th in Orlando, Florida.

“We’re excited to include yet another ground-breaking feature in our line of media center systems,” comments Steven Cheung, President of the company. “With HD discs becoming more prevalent in movie collections, there is a growing need to store, manage, and distribute HD DVD & Blu-ray content throughout the house. Our VidaBox systems will be able to meet and exceed those needs, allowing dealers and integrators to offer their customers something truly unique.”

The addition of HD DVD & Blu-ray streaming compliments the other integrator friendly features already available on VidaBox, such as multi-zone audio streaming, RS-232 & TCP/IP control with vCommand™, and newer additions like vAutomation™ – the custom home automation GUI software w. mControl™ – which will also be debuting at EHX.

“With VidaBox, end users can now enjoy a solution that covers the entire breadth of AV needs.” Cheung continues, “For example, a RACK16™ server can be installed, and as the stored collection of music, pictures, DVD, HD DVD, & Blu-ray grows, additional space can be purchased at any time. Meanwhile, up to 10 additional ROOMCLIENT v2, RACKCLIENT™ or SLIM™ v2 extenders can be added throughout the home for 10 simultaneous AV streams.  Combined with our multizone audio & home automation integration capabilities, VidaBox truly offers a complete, high definition home solution.”

For more details and specifications on VidaBox™ & their Blu-ray & HD DVD streaming capabilities, please visit their company website at http://www.vidabox.com, or see a live demonstration of their products in Demo Alley Room 240A at EHX Spring from March 13th through the 15th.

About VidaBox LLC

VidaBox LLC is a systems integration company focused on manufacturing premium Media Center systems. VidaBox is on a mission to create user-friendly, and stable high-performance Media Center systems that work right out of the box.

For more information, visit www.vidabox.com or call 1-516-730-7500.

Short Bits: Advertising, MAINGEAR, Ultimate PC

Microsoft has started another round of Media Center/Extender online advertising on sites like The Green Button, AVS Forum, and more.  It is nice to see Microsoft advertising more, but the point still stands that the people who need to know about these technologies are not being informed.  Microsoft needs to wrap up Xbox 360, Zune, Media Center, Extenders, and Vista into a huge advertising campaign directed at people who are not already visiting informed web sources.

I posted last night about MAINGEAR’s new Media Center PC that uses the beautiful Omaura TF8 chassis.  What is interesting about this is that it has a very low price (~$1400) while still offering integrated features like Blu-ray.  Wallace from MAINGEAR says that CableCARD is coming, so this might be a company to watch out for.

Microsoft launched a new website dedicated to showing off “Ultimate” PC setups with Vista as the center.  Derek Flickinger shows off his Ultimate Home Theater Blueprints (Alt) on the new site, showcasing everything from Extenders to a McIntosh MX119.

MAINGEAR Releases Powerful, High Definition, Low-profile Media Centers

Based on AMD’s Innovative 780G chipset with ATI Radeon HD Graphics

Union, NJ – MAINGEAR Computers, the premier high performance boutique integrator in North America is proud to announce the immediate availability of their new Axess HD Home Theater media center.  Featuring 1080p Full HD graphics courtesy of the AMD ATI Radeon HD 3200 GPU, the included Universal Video Decoder provides for a stunning high definition experience with advanced post processing and superior up-scaling capabilities.

“Whether you want to watch high definition over the air television, Blu-ray movies at 1080p, or just listen to music or look at family pictures, our Axess HD Home Theater media center is the perfect solution,” says Wallace Santos, CEO of MAINGEAR Computers.  “And with Microsoft Windows Vista media center extender technology you can distribute content throughout the house.  Furthermore, with Hybrid CrossFire support with the optional AMD ATI Radeon HD 3450 graphics adapter, 3D performance gets a tremendous boost enabling you to game from the couch.”

The Axess HD Home Theater media center features a sleek and luxurious new HTPC enclosure design utilizing up to 10mm thick aluminum construction, acrylic trim, and an optional OLED front panel display.  Elegant aesthetics and functionality make it right at home next to premium A/V equipment from the most prestigious manufacturers.  At just 100m high and 401mm deep, the Axess HD is an unobtrusive yet powerful media hub for your digital home.  Acoustically tuned fans and hard drives minimize noise yet maintain air flow for cool operation.   Featuring the new Athlon 4850 45 watt dual core CPU, multimedia is served up hot, and the Axess HD stays cool.  Upgrade options include Phenom Quad Core processors, enough storage for 960 hours of HD recordings, 802.11n wireless, and a variety of premium input devices.  And while it comes standard with Blu-ray, the Axess HD can be upgraded to a Blu-ray/HD-DVD combo drive, or customers can opt for a regular DVD drive instead.  Each Axess HD Home Theater media center comes equipped with a six foot HDMI cable at no charge.

“At just under $1400 equipped with Blu-ray playback, we feel we’re providing tremendous value to the living room form-factor home theater PC,” says Santos.  “Combined with our award-winning system engineering and customer support, we know the Axess HD is going to resonate with the home theater market that demands the best of the best.”

About  MAINGEAR: 

MAINGEAR is the premier high performance systems integrator in North America. MAINGEAR custom builds gaming, home office, mobile, multimedia, small business and 3D workstation solutions of the highest quality, which have won them many editors choice awards in every major computer publication such as C-Net, [H.]ard|OCP, Maximum PC, CPU Magazine, etc. In 2006 MAINGEAR bested 26 boutiques for Best Boutique Integrator and Best Technical Support awards from [H.]ard|OCP’s Best of the Best of 2006 round-up.  For more information on MAINGEAR, please visit http://maingear.com/press.html or call, toll-free, (888)624-6432.

Short Bits: Blu-MCX, Lighting Control

Sigma Designs, providers of SoC based solutions for Blu-ray player (and Media Center Extenders) expects that “Blu-ray players from China and Taiwan will be in stores at prices near $200 in time for Christmas.”  These Blu-ray players will likely be based off of Sigma’s SMP8630 which I’ve talked before.  I’m really interested to see what this same processor could bring to Extenders, or better yet Blu-ray/Extender combos.

 I wrote an article for Missing Remote’s HTPC Tip of Day, and today I covered basic X10 lighting control for your theater.  For under $40 you can control a few lamps in your theater from the couch.  Check out the article for more.

Squeezebox Comes to Media Center

mceSoftsqueeze makes it possible to use a Media Center PC as a client to control your Squeezebox.  This HTML plug-in should work with MCE 2005 and Vista, but sadly it doesn't appear to be Media Center Extender friendly.

The Green Button member Ricibob is wondering if it would be possible to create such a plug-in that would run on Extenders, while I’m not sure myself I do see that the plug-in ships with a GPL license so others might want to take a look.

The plug-in developer, Rory already has a todo list going with such items as a settings page to allow configuration from within MCE, a Vista style skin, and stopping Media Center from entering standby when playing.

I’d love to see mceSoftsqueeze as a MCML plug-in that runs on Extenders.  This would allow multi-zone audio capability (with a “Party Mode” type sync) between all connected clients (when paired with a Squeezebox of course).