Month: January 2008

I just finished hooking up an HDMI switch because of a growing number of HDMI devices.  If anyone is looking for an inexpensive HDMI switch the place to look is at Monoprice.com (also for inexpensive cables).  I got the 4×1 HDMI Switch (1.3b Certified HDMI, Equalizer and IR Remote, REV.3.0) for just $40 and it works great. It also works perfectly with a Toshiba HD-A3 HD DVD player (with latest firmware).  This was a problem as there are reports all over the web of the Monoprice switches not working with the A3.  This switch works perfectly for all you Googlers, … Continue reading Short Bits: HDMI Switch, Plug-ins, More

Two part post here, first of all Olcay has released a new version (beta 4) of his 10-foot MCML DVR-MS editor.  The release is mainly because of a timebomb in the last release, so if you currently have it installed you should grab the new release if you wish to continue using it. On a related topic, it appears that TV Toolbox is able to edit content recorded from CableCARDs.  This according to a user at The Green Button who says it works for all his recorded CableCARD content including HBO HD. I’m personally shocked at this, but don’t have … Continue reading New TV Toolbox Beta Released; Somehow Edits CableCARD Content

Taipei, Taiwan—-Jan. 31st, 2008—-CyberLink Corp. (5203.TW), today announced it is participating in the formation of a joint HD DVD patent license based on its ownership of a patent determined to be essential to the HD DVD standard. CyberLink’s patent relates to the specifications for interactive content over a network for prerecorded HD-DVD Discs, for playback according to the DVD Specifications for High Definition VIDEO (HD DVD-Video). “Innovation is the key to CyberLink delivering leading products to our customers as well as sustaining long-term business success,” said Alice H. Chang, CEO of CyberLink. “We’re extremely proud be a part of a … Continue reading CyberLink Patent Included in HD DVD Essential Patent Portfolio

Missing Remote has published a few great CableCARD articles, including some steps to take if your cable company doesn’t want to install a CableCARD in your PC.  A Vista PC with Digital Cable Tuners are CableLabs certified, so all US cable companies must provide CableCARDs to go with it.  A question has come up about the difference of your cable company installing vs. providing CableCARDs.  I’m not sure what the official wording is, but I’ll try and do a post later on exactly what the FCC statements say. Missing Remote also published a CableCARD Resources article, of course I’d also … Continue reading Short Bits: CableCARD, Beta Testing

Important: For anyone commenting, Community Server seems to randomly be moderating every single comment!  Comment moderation is not turned on on my end, so I’ll have to see what is up.  If you don’t see your comment it’s ok.  It just needs to be approved by me. Via Missing Remote a few new plug-ins that I haven’t covered, but a third party Netflix Watch Now Plug-in might be coming to Media Center.  I’ve talked about this in the past, but Netflix hasn’t done anything officially yet. In addition a plug-in called MCE Organizer interfaces with Movie Collector (I think it’s … Continue reading Short Bits: Plug-ins, Media Center Show, Linksys Video

Ben at Engadget HD picked up my post about the lack of native HD DVD/Blu-ray in Media Center today.  I’ve been reading some of the comments the post is getting and wanted to add a few thoughts. First, I’m talking about native support.  This means that it works without launching an external application, just like playing a DVD or any other video within Media Center.  PowerDVD and ArcSoft TotalMedia currently launch external applications for playback, so you don’t have native support for either HD DVD or Blu-ray at this point.  Media Foundation would be used to do this, much like … Continue reading More Thoughts on Native Blu-ray/HD DVD

I’ve been fairly critical of Microsoft’s Zune since it was released, so I decided that I should get a Zune and give it a try.  Over the past two weeks I’ve been playing with it giving my plenty of time to sum up all of the features. User Interface (UI) Say what you like about Microsoft and user unfriendly of their applications and features, but they almost always get digital media UIs right.  From the first version of Media Center to the first Zune, the UI has always been amazing.  Anyone can pick up a Zune and figure out how … Continue reading In-Depth Zune Review

I’m sorry for those of you who have pre-ordered Ricavision’s VAVE100, but after delay after delay, price raise after price raise, the VAVE100 Sideshow remote is now said to have a ship timeframe of “Summer 2008.” If you have pre-ordered the remote, I’d highly suggested cancelling your order at this point.  It is sad that one of the best features of Vista has yet to really take shape in third party devices. I’ll now be turning my attention to DnC Multimedia’s Sideshow-enabled portable media player as well as Ikanos Consulting Sideshow software for Windows Mobile devices and iPod/iPhones (in private … Continue reading Ricavision Sideshow Remote Slips Again; Now Summer 2008

Trying to catch up on some interesting stuff that I have missed over the past week. Vidabox created an extension for mControl that allows you to control other Media Center PC’s via mControl.  It uses MCE Controller to do the work on the backend, and I’m waiting to find time to try it out myself. Inteset is now offering a 24hr/7day/365yr server monitoring service called “Inteset Heartbeat Monitoring Service” that can remotely monitor all hardware and software of their media servers/extenders.  Very neat for the high end install. Missing Remote has a review of MCE Weather and the news of … Continue reading Short Bits: mControl Extension, Inteset Monitoring, More

Have you picked up a Linksys v2 Extender yet?  If so, how do you like?  At The Green Button we have two threads where several people have shared their experience, one for the Linksys DMA2100 and another for the recently released DMA2200.  Let everyone know what you think either on the comments here or at The Green Button.