Chris Lanier's Blog : Remotes

VidaBox Unveils new Products at CES 2009

chrisl — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:57:00 GMT

VidaBox Releases New vPad8, an Enhanced Ultra-Mobile Tablet Designed for Automation

VidaBox LLC, a manufacturer of digital entertainment and control solutions, is proud to present the vPad8™, a thin and light ultra-mobile tablet PC. Running on Windows XP embedded, it features a full-color touch screen with 800x600 resolution and comes standard with WiFi connectivity, making it an ideal control interface device.

"We're excited to release the new vPad8™ panel," exclaims Steven Cheung, President of VidaBox. "This is a smaller, less bulky version of our original vPad10™. We've also added some improvements like a brighter screen for easier legibility in direct light, and optional protective rubber bumpers, making it extremely durable."

Read Full Press Release

New VidaBox Touch3.6 Touch Pad Provides Truly Customizable Controls

VidaBox, a manufacturer of digital entertainment and control solutions, is proud to debut the Touch3.6™, a full-color touchpad capable of presenting an interactive, fully-customizable interface. This 320x234 resolution screen will allow control of any device via RS-232, TCP/IP, IR, and other control protocols through the vAutomation™ platform.

"We're absolutely thrilled to offer our dealers the new Touch3.6 panel," exclaims Steven Cheung, President of VidaBox LLC. "Integrators can finally install a double-gang sized panel to control anything in the house - lighting, security, climate, shades, whole house AV, and more. This is all possible because of vAutomation's support for customizable interfaces."

Read Full Press Release

VidaBox Now Offers Pre-packaged Whole House Audio Solutions with Multi-room Distribution Systems‏

VidaBox LLC, a manufacturer of digital entertainment and control solutions, is proud to offer complete whole house audio packages. Based on the VidaBox line of multiroom audio servers, these packages include NuVo® multiroom distribution and amplification equipment.

"These new packages are a natural progression of delivering new features and better value for our dealer base," states Steven Cheung, President of VidaBox LLC. "Most of our integrators are already using NuVo® and Russound® in their multiroom audio installs. However, many of them shy away from adding a VidaBox audio server into the mix because of the learning curve, even if it means having new features like internet radio, sleep/wake functions, or whole house audio control from a single TouchClient™ or vPad™ touch panel. By marrying the two as a complete solution, dealers can get a single package that eliminates setup and installation headaches, since VidaBox takes care of all of the configuration work at the factory."

Read Full Press Release

VidaBox Releases new TouchClient8 In-wall PC Touch Panel‏

VidaBox LLC, a manufacturer of digital entertainment and control solutions, is excited to announce the availability of the TouchClient8™, a full-color, 8.4" in-wall touch panel with an XP embedded computer.

"From the first day of offering the TouchClient12™, we kept getting asked, 'Do you have a smaller version?'" says Steven Cheung, President of VidaBox LLC. "As always, we listen intently to our integrators, and created this new, smaller version called TouchClient8™. It has the same great features & connectivity options of the original design without any sacrifices, just with a smaller, 800x600 native resolution touch screen."

Like its larger cousin, the TouchClient8™ runs on XP embedded, and has stereo speakers, dual USB, dual Ethernet, and dual RS-232 ports - allowing the possibility of local automation directly from the TouchClient8™. It only requires a 12V power source & a network connection, or a WiFi network using its built-in 802.11b/g wireless card. There are no moving parts like fans or hard drives, allowing every TouchClient8™ to enjoy long life and high-reliability.

Read Full Press Release

VidaBox Releases new TouchClient8 In-wall PC Touch Panel‏

chrisl — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 14:55:00 GMT

Las Vegas, NV - CES 2009 - January 9-11 - Hilton Suite H22-121 - VidaBox LLC, a manufacturer of digital entertainment and control solutions, is excited to announce the availability of the TouchClient8™, a full-color, 8.4" in-wall touch panel with an XP embedded computer.

"Installing the TouchClient8™ is quite simple," continues Cheung, "Every TouchClient8™ comes with its own pre-assembled rough-in box that installs into the wall. From here, the screen assembly mounts in magnetically, allowing complete installations to take minutes, not hours."

Another feature carried over from the original design is write-protection of the entire operating system. When enabled, the solid state drive on the TouchClient becomes impervious to viruses, spyware, and other malware. Any program installed is automatically wiped upon a restart. Protection can be disabled by an installer looking to add additional software or tweak the panel's configuration. Once complete, it can be re-enabled for full protection.

The TouchClient8™ in-wall panels are available now. For more details and specifications on the entire touch panel line from VidaBox™ and other digital entertainment and control solutions, please visit the company website at http://www.vidabox.com, or see them at International CES in the North Tower Suite H22-121!

About VidaBox LLC

VidaBox LLC is a digital entertainment and controls solutions company focused on manufacturing premium media centers, integrated home control & automation solutions. VidaBox is on a mission to create user-friendly, stable high-performance Media Center systems that work right out of the box and integrate seamlessly with multizone audio and smart home technologies. For more information, visit www.vidabox.com or call 1-516-730-7500.

VidaBox Now Offers Pre-packaged Whole House Audio Solutions with Multi-room Distribution Systems‏

chrisl — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 14:54:00 GMT

VidaBox now offers pre-packaged whole house audio solutions complete with multi-room distribution systems

Las Vegas, NV - CES 2009 - January 9-11 - Hilton Suite H22-121 - VidaBox LLC, a manufacturer of digital entertainment and control solutions, is proud to offer complete whole house audio packages. Based on the VidaBox line of multiroom audio servers, these packages include NuVo® multiroom distribution and amplification equipment.

A typical package consists of a pre-configured RoomClient™ or SLIM™ VidaBox audio server, and a NuVo® Grand Concerto® with six keypads. Options for touch panel controls, additional keypads, dual AM/FM/XM tuners, or using an Essentia® or Simplese® in place of the Concerto® are available as well. Working with an integrator, VidaBox can custom design a complete audio package based on the number of sources, zones, and the type of controls desired.

"By ordering everything from VidaBox," continues Cheung, "dealers enjoy a significant savings in time and effort, leading to higher profit. To make things even easier, we'll also configure, group, and add in the names of zones appropriately, as requested by the dealer. With the entire configuration and proper pre-wire done ahead of time, everything from the first touch panel to the last keypad is ready to go - out-of-the-box. Complete installations with a VidaBox solution take a fraction of the time, plus all of the added features and benefits not available elsewhere."

Complete VidaBox audio packages are available now. For more details and specifications on their audio server solutions and other digital entertainment and control solutions, please visit the company website at http://www.vidabox.com, or see them at International CES in the North Tower Suite H22-121!

About VidaBox LLC

New VidaBox Touch3.6 Touch Pad Provides Truly Customizable Controls

chrisl — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 14:53:00 GMT

New VidaBox Touch3.6™ touch pad provides truly customizable controls in a full color double-gang sized touch screen

Las Vegas, NV - CES 2009 - January 8-11 - Hilton Suite H22-121 - VidaBox, a manufacturer of digital entertainment and control solutions, is proud to debut the Touch3.6™, a full-color touchpad capable of presenting an interactive, fully-customizable interface. This 320x234 resolution screen will allow control of any device via RS-232, TCP/IP, IR, and other control protocols through the vAutomation™ platform.

Unlike traditional setups where there is one keypad for lights, one for music, and another for climate control, integrators can install a single control to replace them all. Only a single CAT cable & power-over-Ethernet is needed for connectivity, making it extremely easy to install. A vController™, as the brains of the vAutomation platform, processes user selections on each Touch3.6™ and changes its interface to present new options and information. For example, when lighting is selected, on/off switches, dimmer controls, and current status for that zone immediately pop up. On the same interface, clicking on 'music' will present album art of the song currently playing, along with playback controls.

"Many customers enjoy the simplicity of having smaller, neater controls that the Touch3.6™ offers," continues Cheung. "Combined with the interface customization and control capabilities of vAutomation, ease of installation into new or retrofit projects, and relative low cost, the Touch3.6™ becomes the smart choice for in-room controls in any whole house AV and integration project.

The Touch3.6™ will be available in February to dealers who have attended and completed vAutomation training. For more details and specifications on the Touch3.6™ and other VidaBox digital entertainment and control solutions, please visit the company website at http://www.vidabox.com, or see them at International CES in the North Tower Suite H22-121!

About VidaBox LLC

VidaBox Releases New vPad8, an Enhanced Ultra-Mobile Tablet Designed for Automation

chrisl — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 14:52:00 GMT

VidaBox releases new vPad8™, an enhanced ultra-mobile tablet designed for automation & customizable controls

Las Vegas, NV - CES 2009 - January 8-11 - Hilton Suite H22-121 - VidaBox LLC, a manufacturer of digital entertainment and control solutions, is proud to present the vPad8™, a thin and light ultra-mobile tablet PC. Running on Windows XP embedded, it features a full-color touch screen with 800x600 resolution and comes standard with WiFi connectivity, making it an ideal control interface device.

vPad8™ still keeps many of its larger cousin's features, such as built-in 802.11b/g for wireless connectivity, a docking station that doubles as a charging cradle, and solid state storage w. fanless operation, providing long life and reliable performance. Running on XP embedded, integrators can install a myriad of automation & control programs, such as CQC, which allows the vPad8™ to be used a control interface.

"When combined with CQC & vAutomation, the vPad8™ becomes a great choice for mobile controls," continues Cheung. "The panel presents a customized interface, allowing any user to tap buttons to control lights, monitor security, change climate settings, choose AV sources, turn devices on or off in each room - from any location. CQC processes the user's selections, and sends out the appropriate commands via RS-232, TCP/IP, IR, and other control protocols, making the vPad8™ an ultra powerful, all-in-one remote. The end user control experience doesn't get easier with this level of seamless integration."

The vPad8™ is available now. For more details and specifications on the vPad8™ and other VidaBox digital entertainment and control solutions, please visit the company website at http://www.vidabox.com, or see them at International CES in Hilton Suite H22-121!

About VidaBox LLC

Short Bits: SideShow Remote, Big Screen Savings, Video Testimonial Program, More

chrisl — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 03:44:00 GMT

Ricavision is officially dead now, but Phillips is sort-of taking their place with the SRM7500 SideShow Remote. Hardly the eye candy that the Ricavision was, but at least it is shipping with a much lower price tag. Clear downside here is the screen which will limit functionality.

The Holidays are here and that means deals for you on Media Center plug-ins. Up until January 15 you can save up to 40% off on Big Screen applications.

Speaking of deals, how about getting a free DV cam? Microsoft has launched their Media Center Consumer Video Testimonial Program at The Green Button (you need to be logged into your TGB account to see this). Microsoft will send you a $140 Flip Camera (not sure about model, but my guess is this one) for you to make a quick 2 minute video about your life using Media Center. You send them the video on CD/DVD along with the camera back, and they send you a brand new Flip Camera for you to keep!

NCTA says there are officially 374,000 CableCARDs deployed in third party devices (eg. TiVo, Media Center, HDTVs, etc). You can compare that to the 9.76 million CableCARDs deployed in the boxes leased by Cable Providers.

Review: Vidabox Premium Wireless Keyboard with Laser Trackball

chrisl — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 00:20:00 GMT

Just about a year ago I reviewed Vidabox’s Premium Wireless Keyboard with Optical Trackball and came to a pretty simple conclusion; great inexpensive wireless keyboard that didn’t have a Green Button for Media Center use. The fact that it didn’t include a Green Button came as a downer to me as it is the central way to navigate the Media Center experience. The lack of a Green Button has been on Vidabox’s radar and they recently released a newer model using a laser trackball.

The Vidabox Premium Wireless HTPC Media Center Keyboard with Laser Trackball includes a 2000dpi laser trackball, a Green Button hotkey at the top of the keyboard, improved battery life (6+ months), and redesigned internals to help with better reception via RF. Throughout my testing I found that the quoted 30-foot wireless range held up pretty well without any major drops that can become frustrating.

Back when I reviewed the optical version my big complaints where the lack of a Green Button and a trackball that moved with the slightest touch (kills batteries over the long haul and puts a mouse pointer on your screen). Both of these issues have been fixed with the laser trackball version and it is still a solid keyboard that I would recommend highly.

Buy here

Included in the box:

Premium Wireless Keyboard with Optical Trackball

Three AA batteries

USB Receiver

Pros:

Inexpensive ($69.99)

Designed for your lap

Laser Trackball/Mouse works very well

Cons:

Control takes getting use to

Photos (Click for larger view)

Microsoft Releases Media Center SideShow Gadgets

chrisl — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 11:51:00 GMT

Microsoft has officially released their Media Center SideShow Gadgets for public download. The Gadgets, previously in beta, allow you to use a SideShow device to browse the EPG, schedule recordings, start playback of content (TV, music, videos, pictures) and more.

I’ve yet to test it, but the only thing Microsoft didn’t specifically mention was Extender support which I hope is still present. Of course, testing the Gadgets is pretty hard to do given the lack of SideShow devices. Ricavision had promise, until they went out of business (website is now dead). Other than that, the built-in SideShow display on the Dell XPS 420 and then Windows Mobile are pretty much the only options.

One day SideShow will actually be worth the wait.

Update: Ricavision Misses SideShow Remote Ship Date, Again

chrisl — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 01:36:00 GMT

It sure has been a long wait to get a SideShow enabled remote control. The once cool feature of Windows Vista was going to allow inexpensive devices with external displays to grab content from the PC and control it remotely. This technology still has a lot of potential, but considering we are just a few weeks away from at least a pre-beta of Windows 7, it looks like SideShow for Vista has basically been a flop.

This is especially evident with Ricavision’s SideShow remote which still hasn’t shipped even after a nearly two year delay. They have just missing their Summer 2008 ship date that was just way at the first of the year. I’m hoping at this point Ricavision is waiting for Microsoft to finish their Media Center SideShow Gadgets, but it sure would be nice to get some good two-way SideShow devices on the market.

Update: CE Pro is reporting that Ricavision is now out of business.

Media Center SideShow Gadgets RC Gets Extender Support

chrisl — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 19:25:00 GMT

Early this year it was confirmed that the Media Center SideShow gadgets would support control of Extenders. However when the first public beta for the gadgets came out Extender support was missing (along with good SideShow devices). We still really don’t have any good SideShow devices, but Extender support has been made official (hat tip Stuart) for the first time in the Media Center Gadgets for SideShow Release Candidate (RC).

The lack of true Media Center Gadgets is likely the reason Ricavision has slipped shipping their SideShow remote. Summer 2008 has been noted as their intended release date for months, so it looks like whenever Microsoft finishes the Gadgets then Ricavision will ship.

Embedded Automation Announces Commercial Release of mPanel

chrisl — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 01:58:00 GMT

Newest Product in the mHome Family Integrates Digital Media and Digital Home Control

Surrey, BC – September 2, 2008

Today, Embedded Automation announced commercial availability of mPanel, the newest member of the mHome Product Family. mPanel will be available for pre-order on September 10, 2008, with shipments commencing on October 13, 2008.

mPanel provides a integrated user interface for digital media and digital home control: mPanel’s Digital Media Interface, which implements UPnP AV Control Point technology, can select music, with rich meta data, from any computer or storage on your local area network and play it through the on-board amplifier. 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. When idle, mPanel, using a measly 6W of power, automatically converts into a digital photo frame for your favorite pictures.

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 “iPod white” 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.

“The mPanel represents a breakthrough in two respects: functionality and affordability. First, the mPanel integrates the capability of controlling both Digital Media and Digital Home devices. From a single mPanel screen, you can play music or view photos from any networked server but you can also control and view status for all of your digital home components,” said Ted Singh, C.E.O. of Embedded Automation.

“But perhaps more significantly, mPanel is a solution within the reach of all home owners. Now, being able to select the music of your choice for a zone, setting a lighting mood for a room, verifying if your home is operating within a power consumption range (using the mHome Power Management Module) or even checking an outdoor camera view are capabilities that can be added affordably to each room.”

Embedded Automation, for a limited time only, and exclusively from the company’s website, is bundling mPanel with a package of mControl for USD$999.99. This introductory price includes free software updates for mPanel software for one year.

For dealer enquiries, please contact sales@embeddedautomation.com.

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.

VidaBox's vAutomation Platform Tightly Integrates Media Center & Automation Technologies

chrisl — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 01:51:00 GMT

VidaBox Partners with Charmed Quark Systems to create vAutomation™: Complete Media Management & Automation Solutions for the Mid-to-High-End AV Market

Westbury, NY - September 2nd - VidaBox LLC proudly presents its new line of automation and media management packaged solutions called vAutomation™, powered by Charmed Quark Controller (CQC), the popular control and automation system from Charmed Quark Systems, Ltd. As an extremely powerful, professional-level software package, CQC allows mid-to-high-end custom integrators to offer automation solutions with the features, flexibility, and extensibility formerly found only on more expensive and proprietary systems.

"One of our goals has always been to simplify every AV project as much as possible for the custom installer & integrator," says Steven Cheung, President of VidaBox. "By preinstalling CQC with our VidaBox systems, our dealers can now offer complete solutions where users can access their entire AV media library while controlling any automatable system in the home - right at their fingertips - through a single, easy-to-use, customized touch screen interface. CQC can control or accept feedback from devices via TCP/IP, RS-232, IR, and other standard communication protocols, making it compatible with a myriad of AV and automation hardware - not just VidaBox equipment."

CQC can come preinstalled on VidaBox hardware, and includes a set of pre-defined templates that can be used as-is to control music, pictures, videos, movies, and TV playback on any VidaBox server or extender. Very powerful solutions can be created in a purely point-and-click environment starting with these pre-defined templates, without the need to do any coding. However, a trained integrator can customize these templates and add control of other equipment by using a WYSIWYG interface editor to add/remove buttons, change graphics, backgrounds, what each press action does, etc. Completely customized solutions can be created and designed using CQC's extensive customization capabilities.

"We are very happy to join forces with VidaBox," said Dean Roddey, Chairman and CTO of Charmed Quark Systems, Ltd. "Their experience with delivering solid media systems and high quality hardware, combined with the powerful automation and media management capabilities of CQC, will make for a very robust, cost-effective, and flexible solution for custom installers and their clients."

"By choosing our pre-designed vAutomation packages with CQC," Cheung continues, "dealers can take advantage and offer comprehensive AV solutions from a single manufacturer. Every standard package we offer can be tailored slightly and customized for each individual job to cover any unique needs, providing tremendous time savings by eliminating tons of design work, compatibility problems, and other potential headaches."

For more details on Charmed Quark Controller, please visit Charmed Quark Systems website at charmedquark.com. For more details on VidaBox's vAutomation™ and their comprehensive line of media servers and extenders, please visit the company website at vidabox.com, or visit them in Sound Room 17 at CEDIA Expo 2008!

About VidaBox LLC

VidaBox LLC is a digital entertainment and control systems integration company focused on manufacturing premium Media Center systems & complete home control solutions. VidaBox is on a mission to create user-friendly, stable high-performance entertainment that work right out of the box. For more information, visit www.vidabox.com or call 1-516-730-7500.

About Charmed Quark Systems

Charmed Quark Systems, Ltd was founded to address looming changes in the automation industry, a move towards the use of standard computing hardware and a greater emphasis on software as the differentiating factor in automation solutions. The massive economies of scale of the computer industry, the ubiquity of home networks, and the fast growing power of PCs, operating systems, and hand-held computing products, allows CQC to provide very powerful, robust and scalable automation solutions for a reasonable price.

Short Bits: Media Center U, Media Center Show, SideShow, More

chrisl — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:40:00 GMT

I’ve been extra busy the past week and have kind of skipped covering everything that I wanted too, but now I’m back!

Check out part 4 and part 4 of the Media Center University sessions at EHX. In these two sessions Todd Rutherford from Microsoft covers everything from online streaming and downloading of content to controlling Media Center in a whole home environment.

In last week Media Center Show Ian Dixon and Ted Singh covered Embedded Automations upcoming mPanel touchscreen.

I’ve got a post coming on SideShow later, but to get a glimpse of that you just have to see some of the new SideShow gadgets just released by Ikanos Consulting. AccuWeather, Live Messenger and System Health. Now yet again if we could get some more SideShow hardware this stuff would really take off.

Now so much Media Center related, but TechCrunch has a great post about building the perfect web tablet. Their idea is for the community to develop a target $200 touchscreen tablet and then they are going to get some prototypes made up. I’ve been waiting for the exact same thing, but I’m not sure they are going to meet their $200 price point just yet. Nonetheless, it is something to watch out for and maybe participate in.

VidaBox Releases the vController - Hardware Solution Integratable with Software Automation

chrisl — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 00:28:00 GMT

VidaBox Releases the vController - a Solid, Feature-Rich Hardware Solution Integratable with Software-Based Automation packages‏

Westbury, NY – July 17th – VidaBox is excited to offer the vController, a powerful rack-mountable automation solution. Designed for heavy-duty automation, it comes standard with four USB ports, dual Ethernet Ports, VGA video out, and two standard RS-232 ports. Optionally, it can be configured with up to nine RS-232 ports for the most demanding of integration projects.

“With the growing popularity of PC-based automation platforms, integrators have been looking for a solid, pre-built hardware solution where they can reliably run their software,” explains Steven Cheung, President of VidaBox LLC. “The vController is specifically designed to meet that need. It comes in a rack-mountable form factor at only 1U tall, yet sports a wide array of connectivity options. When used in conjunction with software packages such as Charmed Quark System’s CQC platform, it can replace proprietary solutions and provide similar functionality at a fraction of the cost.”

Based on the XP operating system, the vController is compatible with a wide range of automation solutions, allowing an integrator to combine it with their favorite software package to control a myriad of devices via TCP/IP, RS-232, IR, and other communication protocols.

“While the vController is available as a standalone product,” continues Cheung, “it’s ideally used with CQC as a part of a predesigned vAutomation package, serving as its automation & control backbone. By choosing a vAutomation package, integrators can save hours of design work and product testing that traditionally needs to go into every new project, reaping tremendous time savings.”

The vController is available now, and ships with 2 RS-232 ports with options for 6 or 9 ports total. For more details and specifications on the VidaBox vController and their comprehensive line of media servers and extenders, please visit the company website at http://www.vidabox.com, or visit them in Sound Room 17 at CEDIA Expo 2008!

About VidaBox LLC
VidaBox LLC is a premium manufacturer & designer of AV and integration hardware. Specializing in multiroom audio-video distribution and automation equipment, VidaBox is focused on providing professional installers and integrators with complete solutions that include media servers & extenders, touchpanel hardware and interface software, as well as predesigned, customizable AV packages that are scalable to meet the needs of a wide range of projects & installations.

Microsoft Starts Media Center SideShow Gadget Beta

chrisl — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 00:46:00 GMT

Microsoft has finally unwrapped a beta of the long rumored Vista Media Center SideShow control gadget. First spotted by Stuart, you can apply for the beta on Microsoft Connect and get started starting, but so far it looks pretty much like basic in terms of functionality.

The key component currently missing is Media Center Extender control, something we knew Microsoft has said it will be able to do. Current features include the ability to browse the Guide and schedule recordings, list recorded TV and start playback, browse the music, picture and video libraries, and show “Now Playing” information.

Read more and see all the screenshots at The Media Center Blog.

Short Bits: Sideshow, Netflix, Media Manager

chrisl — Tue, 13 May 2008 21:09:00 GMT

Mike did a great comparison of all of the different Netflix plug-ins for Media Center, and Alan seems to be doing good with his semi-recent CableCARD purchase.

Ricavision looks like they are getting ready (again) to release their Sideshow remote. While I love the concept, I can’t suggest anyone do business with Ricavision right now. First it was delaying the remote well over a year, then raising their pre-sale prices, then running their beta program by asking for $350 retail price upfront (plus shipping) from testers, then posting them up on Amazon for pre-order (with free shipping) just days about the beta invites started! Sorry Ricavision, I’m not biting. I guess the one good thing is Amazon.com is actually selling them direct, so if something goes wrong at least you know Amazon can handle it correctly. I look forward to a v2 model that doesn’t come at a crazy price tag and baggage that v1 clearly does.

Another day, another open source Media Center plug-in (loving being able to say that). Today it is MCE Media Manager, which is an MCML plug-in for managing different types of media. Currently, it is sort of a torrent plug-in, syncing with uTorrent to display the status of downloading torrents. Besides that, the developer hopes to use the project as a learning experience for MCML.

mControl Gains iPhone/iPod Touch Control Interface

chrisl — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 13:26:00 GMT

Embedded Automation is on the urge of releasing mControl v2.1 which already adds several new features and improvements, but it looks like one last feature it sneaking its way in, an iPhone/iPod Touch UI!

I will have more about mControl later this week. I have read several comments about people being interested in getting started with lighting control and home automation, so with the help of Embedded Automation’s mControl I’m going to see if we can help everyone get started.

Thanks Dan!

Short Bits: Managed Copy, Media Center University, Sideshow

chrisl — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 16:17:00 GMT

The dream of legally copying a Blu-ray Disc to your hard drive and streaming it to other devices might be over before it starts. Managed Copy, the cornerstone of the AACS content protection system might never actually get off the ground, reports Consumer Electronics Daily (CED).

While the finalized AACS specifications could be done as early as summer (well over a year late), it is not likely to include Managed Copy according to the report. The issue appears to be content licensing, with studios having not always having the content rights to allow for a Managed Copy. Such a good idea that might never be....

Update: I've heard conflicting reports about this, CED has yet to publish anything to the contrary however.

Sideshow remotes and devices are not coming fast enough in the consumer market, but it looks like the high end guys are getting into the market. Crestron now has Sideshow support in their ZigBee-compatible MLX-2 handheld remote and the APAD keypad. Sure would be nice if we could get some Sideshow love in the consumer market.

CE Pro also has a collection of articles and guides for their Media Center University geared toward integrators and installers. You need a CE Pro account to download them, but lots of good stuff in there especially if you’re a CI looking to get started with Media Center.

Short Bits: Life|ware, Harmony, MyNetflix

chrisl — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:37:00 GMT

Interesting how Mike Seamons leaves Exceptional Innovation and their focus turns to everything but Media Center. Life|ware now runs on a RTI T-2C RF remotes, so you can have an XPe Life|controller and not even use Media Center as a part of Life|ware.

This is actually a great move, the advantages of home automation and lighting control comes in the various control form factors. I don’t want to turn on a display everytime I want to control my lights, and in fact the one thing I hate about the light control that I’ve adopted (INSTEON) is a lack of controllers (though it is now improving over the past month or two). This is also one of the key advantages behind Sideshow remotes (which have never shipped).

Missing Remote has an article on Harmony remotes, by far the best remote to improve the ease of use of any HT equipment.

Anthony just released a new version of his MyNetflix plug-in. Version 2.2 (beta) brings search functionality with a virtual on-screen keyboard and the ability to select the streaming bitrate.

ThinkRemote To Bring SideShow To Everyday Devices

chrisl — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 15:23:00 GMT

As first spotted this morning on The Green Button, ThinkRemote is an upcoming application that aims to bring SideShow to “everyday devices” like your Windows Mobile phone, iPhone, Wii, Nintendo DS, PSP, web browser, and more.

The application is Media Center ready, and also focuses on home control with the ability to support IR bridging, Z-Wave, WiFi, and Bluetooth.

Check out the beta sign-up at controlthink’s website.