The media center software list

October 25, 2005 eirikso114 Comments

A while ago I did a roundup of the different softwares I have been using in my HTPC. The list in that post is not complete, so I it’s time to put together a quick list of links to software alternatives when you want to build your own HTPC.

And if you are interested in HTPCs and media centers in general here is a good collection of links from eirikso.com.

Digg this story here.

Windows

Windows Media Center Edition (Review)

TVedia (Review)

ShowShifter (RIP) (Unfortunately not existing anymore)

Beyond Media / Beyond TV (BeyondTV – Review)

Cyberlink PowerCinema

CQC (screenshots here and here)

Welltonway

Sesam.tv (Free)

Nero Home

Intervideo WinDVD Media Center

Nvidia Purevideo Decoder with nStantMedia

Sceneo TV Central

Yahoo! Go for TV (Formerly Meedio) (Free)
(MeedioTV – Review) (YahooGo – Preview)

Xlobby (Free)

GBPVR (Free)

MediaPortal (Free)

Got All Media (Free)

GameEx (Free)

Tvoon (Free)

Theatre@Home (Free)

myTheatre

DVBViewer

Linux

MythTV (Free)

SageTV

Freevo (Free)

GeexBox (Free)

VDR (Free)

My Media System (Free)

LinuxMCE (Free)

Apple

CenterStage (Free)

iTheatre (Free)

MediaCentral

A very good collection of links for Apple media software (Thanks, Ole)

Xbox

Xbox Media Center (Free)

Cross plattform

SageTV (Review)

OxylBox

Elisa Media Center (Free)

And over here you’ll find a list in Wikipedia comparing features of some of the packages.

Please comment if I forgot something important!

…if you consider buying books or software related to this topic. And if you would like to support eirikso.com when buying them, here are some suggestions:

NRK makes one of the world’s largest Media Center services

October 14, 2005 eirikso36 Comments

The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has just released it’s comprehensive service for media center PCs. First out is Windows Media Center Edition. The service makes NRK’s vast archive of content on the net available from a GUI that is tailored for use on a TV with navigation through a remote.

Users get access to more than 20 000 video clips and 12 radio channels with three weeks of archive on the main channels. This is one of the most comprehensive services ever made for Windows Media Center’s Online Spotlight broadband portal.

Microsoft Media Center Edition was choosen because it is the first media center to be released in a version for the Norwegian market. Based on the experience from this service NRK will explore possibilities for adding support for systems like Apple Front Row, Mediaportal, MythTV, Beyond Media and Meedio.

The TV main menu. Most of NRK’s own productions are available minutes after they have been broadcasted. Many of them are indexed in detail. This gives the user a possibility to jump directly to the most interesting parts.

The radio page gives detailed information on the three main channels. Including playing now / next and information on the current show. For these channels an archive is available with all shows broadcasted for the last three weeks. In addition to this nine more channels are available for streaming. Currently the streaming is done with several different qualities. The best one is 160 kbps Windows Media Audio. This gives better quality than current FM broadcasts and is even better than most DAB broadcasts.

In addition to the streaming media services a small weather service has been added. It gives detailed weather information for all counties in Norway. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will explore more services like this as well. News, sports results and other text / image based services that already exist on NRKs extensive services on the net and for mobile phones will be considered.

A special web page has been set up to give the users information and a possibility to comment and provide suggestions. You can find this page here (Norwegian).

Apple Media Center – At last!

October 13, 2005 eirikso3 Comments

Apple has finally released its 10-feet GUI. They call it the Apple Front Row Media Experience and it looks like a full screen iPod user interface. Of course Apple bundles it with an amazingly stylish remote control. This is wonderful. Give them a year or so, and you will see some fantastic combinations of sexy hardware and software.

What I miss in the Apple Front Row Experience as far as I can judge from the Apple web site at this point are:
– PVR functionallity with an electronic program guide
– A system for including broadband services
(Like Microsoft Online Spotlight or Beyond Media SnapStream Spotlight)
– Extenders (I guess it’s just a question of time before Apple integrates video streaming in their Airport)
– Support for HD content

Well, that was not a second too early! I can’t wait to see what Apple will build around this. Apple is the perfect company to make successful hardware and software for your living room experience.

Update:
Thomas Hawk has some good comments. Basically I agree with most of them.

Why on earth would I want to buy a copy protected 320×240 version of a TV show when I can get it for free (totally legal) by recording it on my Media Center?

And, why on earth release a media computer in 2005 with no TV Funcionallity?

Still, as mentioned earlier in this post: give Apple a year or so.
(Unless Steve Jobs still is in the stupid opinion that “Generally what they want to view on television has to do with turning their mind off”. Steve, welcome to 2005. Television. Computer. What’s the difference? Do you really think my two year old son will be buying anything else than a computer to consume media as he grows up?)

Apple – you have made the world’s most user friendly and sexy portable media player. Why can’t you get the point when it comes to living room entertainment?

I want a HD capable Apple Mac Mini Media Center with PVR-Functionallity now.

A quick update on the home theatre

October 11, 2005 eirikso5 Comments

My new QPVision 37″ LCD is now in place. Things start to look good.

It’s time for a short collection of links:
1. First, build a cabinet
2. Then install a silent fan in the cabinet
3. Silence the parts of the computer that is noisy
4. Choose your frontend
5. Set up your advanced remote
6. Make your content available everywhere
7. Follow the important blogs…

Edit:
The speakers in the picture are Anthony Gallo Nucleus Micro

Promixis release a beta of Netremote for MCE

September 23, 2005 eiriksoLeave a comment

Promixis just released a beta of Netremote with tighter integration for Windows Media Center Edition. I haven’t tried it yet, but it will find its way into a PDA near me soon! And of course I’ll post results of my first tests here.

Chris Anderson on Media Centers

September 17, 2005 eiriksoLeave a comment

Usually I don’t post links on this blog unless I have something to add to what the link is all about. This time I will make an exception. Chris Anderson has a very interesting article about Media Center PCs on his Long Tail blog. And, I can’t add much more than “I totally agree” and “I’ll recommend you to read it“. Chris is the editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine and a very interesting thinker and writer.

From the article:

For us, Media Centers have five big advantages over traditional DVRs, including TiVo.

* No monthly fees.
* Centralized storage means that all TVs around the house have instant access to the same content.
* Unlimited storage capacity.
* Can stream all the other media on your PC to any TV, including music and home videos.
* By DVR standards, it’s a relatively open platform (certainly compared to the DVRs offered by your cable company), and there are an increasing number of plug-ins that expand its features.

Finally, there’s a strong Long Tail angle to the Media Center. It is, at its core, a platform for unlimited-choice TV. It connects the Internet to the TV screens around your house via a simple, TiVo-like interface. Right now, most of the video content comes over the broadcast network, is cached on your PC, and then streamed over your home network. But that content can just as easily come from anywhere on the net, and independent video marketplaces such as Brightcove and Akimbo are planning to release their services as Media Center plug-ins to deliver just that.

Via Ian Dixon

Tivo just made a very stupid move!

September 14, 2005 eiriksoLeave a comment

I just updated my HTPC Frontend Roundup because it is a quite good guide to alternatives if you don’t want a PVR where the content producers can delete whatever they want. From the update:

Tivo has recently made headlines as people have discovered a horrible functionallity that lets content providers delete shows on your box. My god, what a stupid move!

Kind of like:
You can buy this VHS tape, but you’ll hand over the keys to your apartment so that the content producers can come and take it when they decide that you shouldn’t be able to watch your recording anymore.

Original post: HTPC Frontend Roundup

Opera Software has released its Media Software SDK

September 7, 2005 eiriksoLeave a comment

According to the press release the SDK makes it easy to bring the full internet to Linux based consumer electronic devices.

Do we want the full internet on all kinds of devices, or is there a job to be done to adapt the story telling, types of content, systems of advertising and usability in general on these devices as well?

Opera can reformat Slashdot to fit on my TV, but do I want that? The Opera browser works extremely well in my symbian phone, but again and again I miss content that is actually made for that device.

Media Center – A very worn out term

September 7, 2005 eirikso1 Comment

Western Digital, please stop making my work difficult!

I just bought a new external hard drive. It is a USB2/FW 250GIG Western Digital with a built in card reader. I repeat, a hard drive with a card reader.

I am doing lots of presentations and travel around trying to explain new media and technologies for my audience. A Media Center is one of the terms I try to explain these days. Of course it’s difficult to make clear definitions on terms like that, but usually there is a basic explanation somwhere in the simplification of the technology.

For the term “Media Center” that includes something like “…a box that lets you play several different types of media. Usually designed to reside in your living room…”

It’s actually easier to say what types of devices that in no way could be described as a Media Center. And, a hard drive with a card reader is not a Media Center. Still, that’s what Western Digital calls my new hard drive.

Stupid, stupid people. You confuse the consumers. And you make my work difficult.

But – who cares? The biggest newspaper in Norway – “Verdens Gang” has a blog in their printed paper…. Aaaargh!

Still in list-mode: the Media Center Blogs

September 4, 2005 eirikso16 Comments

I just posted my current “10 important blogs” list. Because many of my readers come to this place for information about Media Center Technologies I just have to give them my top 10 Media Center blogs right now as well (please note that the list is sorted alphabetically, not by importance):

1. www.eirikso.com (of course)
2. Sean Alexander: Addicted to digital media
3. Chris Lanier
4. Digital Media Thoughts
5. eHomeUpgrade
6. Ian Dixon
7. Michael Creasy
8. Om Malik’s broadband blog
9. PVRWire
10. PVRBlog

And yes, http://www.eirikso.com is the only blog here that is not placed in the list alphabetically 🙂

(…and where is Thomas Hawk on your media center blogs list? Well, he is already in my top 10 blogs list at the moment, so I haven’t placed him in the media center blogs list…)

Lists, lists, lists… I feel them coming. I have already promised to give you my “10 most important softwares” list. Now, I feel a “10 most important gadgets” list approaching as well… The beauty of a personal blog is the fact that I don’t have any deadlines. 🙂 But, these lists will be there, I promise.