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The news at CEDIA that CableCARD will now be open to all has got everyone worked up about Microsoft getting things right and that the platform is back where it needs to be.  However, while the news of CableCARD getting unlocked from OEM only machines is fantastic I’m not sure it chances much in the marketplace. First of all, AMD appears to be out of the marketplace which is actually a much bigger deal than people might think.  While this hasn’t been confirmed, reports out of CEDIA showed that AMD didn’t have a lot to say about CableCARD in general.  … Continue reading CableCARD Opens Up, but Does the Marketplace?

Customers get new capabilities, more options, and a better digital cable experience in Windows Media Center. ATLANTA, Sept. 9 — Today at CEDIA EXPO 2009, Microsoft Corp. discussed key Windows Media Center features for Windows 7 and announced a series of initiatives that enhance the digital cable experience in Windows Media Center. With the addition of native support for additional international broadcast TV standards, including QAM and ATSC, there will now be support for switched digital video (SDV), a new tool that will make it possible for end customers to add a digital cable tuner with CableCARD to their PC, … Continue reading Microsoft Enhances the Digital Cable Experience and Names 2009 Windows Media Center Ultimate Install Winner

Reports suggest that the Digital TV switch in the US went by with little confusion or problems.  Of course, if you rely on Windows Media Center your experience likely wasn’t in line with those reports.  Ben said the transition is causing grief for Media Center users, but for most that might be an understatement.  Microsoft seemed to think they were prepared; after all they deployed a nice Service Alert tile in Media Center on the 9th that explained the issue.  What they didn’t do is update their servers and other online components to reflect the frequency changes that came with … Continue reading Microsoft Unprepared for Digital TV Switch

Now that we are fairly certain that DIRECTV will not ship with Windows 7, the big question remains to be will DISH Network?  Around the time the TV Pack started beta testing, I did hear that some testers had been contacted about testing DISH Network Tuners, and that talk has popped back up in the past few weeks. Going under my theory that Microsoft has all the plumbing in-place for DIRECTV support, there is no reason that same framework can’t work for DISH Network.  If DISH Network wants to make a Media Center tuner, they can using this framework, and … Continue reading Can DISH Network One-Up DIRECTV?

Now that DIRECTV has suspended development on their HDPC-20 Tuner where does that leave us?  There are a lot of differing opinions going around about why DIRECTV canned the tuner, whose fault it is, and where do we go from here.  Most people are pointing the finger at Microsoft, and with their history of releases how could you not?  This doesn’t mean however that Microsoft is totally at fault, but let’s look at the whole situation to see how we got here.  Timeline January 2006 – Microsoft and DIRECTV announce partnership to “develop new ways to expand the reach of … Continue reading DIRECTV and Microsoft: What Went Wrong

DIRECTV has informed several bloggers and journalists in the Media Center community that they suspended development of the HDCP-20 Media Center Tuner.  Windows 7 will not include native DIRECTV support, which will servely impact the Media Center platform as a whole. I’ll have more on this later tonight, but I wanted to go ahead and get it out there.

Leading tuner and chipset providers announce support for new Microsoft platform. AMSTERDAM, Netherlands — Sept. 12, 2008 — Today at IBC2008, Microsoft Corp. announced it has delivered in the marketplace Protected Broadcast Driver Architecture (PBDA), Microsoft’s new worldwide platform for broadcast TV on the PC. Made possible by the recent release of Windows Media Center TV Pack, the platform for the first time enables the PC-TV hardware ecosystem to integrate virtually any free or premium TV service into Windows Media Center, while satisfying the TV industry’s requirements for strong content protection in the case of pay TV. Among the leading … Continue reading Microsoft Launches New Worldwide Platform for Broadcast TV on the PC

Windows Media Center meets requirements for Freeview certification to deliver enhanced TV content to the PC. READING, U.K. — Sept. 10, 2008 — Microsoft Corp., working with tuner manufacturer Hauppauge Computer Works Inc., today announced the launch of the first Freeview-certified, PC-based TV solution. With Windows Media Center, found on all PCs running Windows Vista Home Premium and Windows Vista Ultimate, and Windows Media Center TV Pack, Microsoft will now be able to offer U.K. consumers best-in-class interactive and enhanced TV paired with some of the best personal video recorder (PVR) features available on the market today. Freeview support is … Continue reading Microsoft and Hauppauge First to Bring Freeview-Certified PC Solution to U.K. Viewers

A few months ago I said that Microsoft was planning on finally taking TV signal support in Media Center global, but little did I know that Japan would be the first to see the improved support.  This past Friday Microsoft announced several new broadcast and hardware partners for Media Center in Japan that will be coming later this year. New content providers including TV Asahi, NHK, NTV, TBS and Fuji TV will provide interactive features new to Media Center, and Fujitsu will bring new hardware to the market as well.  Future support for ISDB-T, improved playback options for PCs connected … Continue reading Microsoft Expands TV Signal Support in Japan

Brent Evans has (almost) all your answers on the HD PVR that finally has started shipping.  And remember, it doesn’t work with Media Center (yet?). Joe Wilcox has Eight Things About Windows 7 following Microsoft’s first public demo of the OS at All Things D.  Overall I think Windows 7 is going to be more like Vista Second Edition.  It really isn’t a “whole new OS” as Vista was from XP.  Nonetheless I’m excited about it, and I hope Microsoft is planning to make the transition away from the Vista name that has become a horrible brand. Ian Dixon has … Continue reading Short Bits: HD PVR, Windows 7, Media Center Show, Akimbo