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XBox (Games) Media Microsoft Television Hardware

Microsoft Bringing TV to Xbox 234

Posted by CmdrTaco from the it's-about-time dept.
grazzy writes "Microsoft is set to release its Windows Media Center Extender for Xbox mid-November. The device will allow you to view recorded and downloaded media content stored on your PC via your Xbox.""
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Microsoft Bringing TV to Xbox More

Microsoft Bringing TV to Xbox

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  • too bad... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by justforaday ( 560408 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:42PM (#10558654)
    too bad you'll need to have one of those overpriced Windows Media Center edition machines around your house first...

    • Re:too bad... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by dabraun ( 626287 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:52PM (#10558776)
      Getting Media Center Edition no longer requires purchasing a new overpriced system. Some references:

      MCE 2005 OEM (Software) - $140
      http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?desc ription=32-102-311&depa=0 [newegg.com]

      MCE 2005 Remote - $40
      http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?desc ription=80-100-851&DEPA=0 [newegg.com]

      Xbox MCE Extender software (includes remote - is what this whole article is about) ... $58
      http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=10385209 &loc=101&sp=1 [buy.com]

      LinkSys MCE Extender (standalone/wireless) -
      http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=10382669 [buy.com]

      HP has one too also can't find it for sale yet
      http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/product?product =438918&cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en& [hp.com]
      • ok.. so $140+50$ ?

        for something that basically a device under 100$ does?

      • Re:too bad... (Score:3, Interesting)

        by superpulpsicle ( 533373 )
        It's not a question of money! Don't you think this is WAY too many pieces to deal with. That's like buying a Tivo box in 7 pieces.

        • Re:too bad... (Score:5, Informative)

          by dabraun ( 626287 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @05:56PM (#10560221)
          I was listing a variety of options - not everything in the list is required to get useful functionality.

          You obviously need a PC with MCE to start with - and yes, that is a significant barrier to entry, to so speak.

          The MCE remote for the PC is not required - and not very interesting (IMO) if you don't plan to hook the PC up directly to a TV.

          The XBox extender software is one option - primarily targeted at current XBOX owners but since it's actually cheaper to buy an XBOX and get the XBox Extender Kit than it is to buy a standalone Extender device - some people will go that way - with some downsides:

          - The XBOX is not silent - the standalone extenders are.
          - The XBOX can't be turned physically on/off with a remote - the standalone devices can be (though I think they technically stay in a sort of standby mode)
          - The XBOX doesn't come with wireless support - the extenders I've seen so far include that in the box.
          - The extenders from what I've seen also come with component out included in the box - whereas you need to buy the HD kit for the XBOX to get that there - but since I don't think that the extenders currently support actual HD resolutions I'm not clear on what the point is (other than to enable a software upgrade with HD support in the future)

          You could add even more to the list of 'required components' - like having a router - and a wireless one if you want to use the extender that way ... and an internet connection for certain functionlity - but these are incremental. Some set of the population already has some of the parts required. For some it's too much to buy all at once.

          For the technically inclined who already have LANs at home - this amounts to MCE for the PC and an extender device (whether XBOX based or not) ... so two things. Of course if you have an MCE PC already you only need to buy one thing.
          • Don't forget. You will also need:

            A residence
            Electricity
            Several 120V wall sockets

            By the looks of it, there sure are a lot of steps involved with getting this running! I will stick to my writing C in sand and running Linux in my head.
      • Xbox-$200, MCE2005-$140, Remote-$40, Downloading all the required software for free from the internet, PRICELESS

    • Or you can... (Score:5, Informative)

      by aztektum ( 170569 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:58PM (#10558820)
      Spend 200 on an Xbox and a mod chip and stream ur files over ethernet or, with a 802.11(a/b/g) access point, over wifi.

      Spend another 50-60 right now on a 80GB hdd and you can store them right on your Xbox.

      • Re:Or you can... (Score:2, Interesting)

        by infinii ( 27811 )
        actually read the article and realize that this gives you TV PVR capabilities which no modchip can do. Unless you are using XBox+Xebian+Mythtv for Xbox PLUS Mythtv running on another computer with tv card.

        • Re:Or you can... (Score:2, Informative)

          by Anonymous Coward
          yes...this thing gives you TV PVR capabilities, a feature which your XP Media Center Edition machine (which is required) already has...As far as I can tell, this just acts as a remote control device for controlling the Media Center PC.
      • Or, you could just get the media extender and not have to crack open your box. The same thing many others will do.

  • I'd rather... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by unfortunateson ( 527551 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:42PM (#10558665) Journal
    have a TV tuner, and PVR software on my XBOX than just playback.

    There are enough media players out there (such as the GoVideo 2730) able to play anything Universal Plug & Play provides, that making my XBOX another player is, frankly, dull.

    • Re:I'd rather... (Score:5, Informative)

      by tomhudson ( 43916 ) <barbara@hudson.barbara-hudson@com> on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:49PM (#10558741) Journal
      Too little too late. You can buy a progressive-scan dvd player + remote control for $30.00 at WalMart. At that price, nobody's going to even bother buying the XBox remote control.

      • Re:I'd rather... (Score:5, Insightful)

        by PPGMD ( 679725 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @03:19PM (#10559021) Journal
        The question of the day is how are they making money on it? Because the little known fact is that most of the price to the remote are licensing fees to the DVD forum for DVD playback.

        Anyways the Media Center Extender is rather cool, it not only plays recorded TV, but will play live TV (with a delay of course since the MCE computer must encode it send it across Ethernet, and the Xbox must decode it). It's like one of those setup Tivo (you know the ones without a Cable/Sat box built in) boxes on crack. So anywhere you have power and high speed network access you can have a full selection of live TV.

        • It's simple. The $30 DVD player at Walmart/Target/Best Buy isn't licensed. They don't pay the licensing fee.
      • Actually, I just purchased an XBox remote. Why? Well, I wanted the HD AV pack for my XBox so I could get 5.1 sound and component out. My interlace scanning 37" Sony Wega only has 1 set of component inputs and my amp doesn't do component switching. The HD AV pack and $30 for the XBox remote allowed me to wire my XBox up to the existing component cables, pipe the 5.1 sound into my amp, and reduce the appliances and cable clutter in my entertainment center by getting rid of my DVD player.
      • Walmart is selling a ProgScan DVD player for $30??? Linky?
        • It was in this weekend's flyer ($38 Can == $30 US).

          I thought it was hilarious because all my friends were dissing me for not buying a progressive scan dvd player a couple of years ago. I bought an apex 1200 that - surprise surprise - plays all regions, plays ntsc and pal, plays vcd/svcd/mpg, plays mp3, plays jpg - in other words, pretty much everything - and their expensive name-brand progressive-scan boxes refuse to play most of these, are locked to 1 region, and 1 video format.

          They've all been bugging

          • Zoran or Mediatek version?

            • Re:I'd rather... (Score:3, Informative)

              by tomhudson ( 43916 )
              My AD1200?

              Mediatek
              Version 00.0B.08.03
              SubVersion AD.12.00.04
              Date: 2002.12.18

              For those who don't know what we're talking about, most DVD players are made with generic parts, including generic software loaded into generic controllers. "Name Brand" dvds, as part of their customization, remove a lot of the features, to "tailor it to a particular market".

              The cheaper dvd manufacturers skip a lot of this. So your el cheapo dvd player may say Region 1 NTSC on the box, but don't be surprised if it can also play

    • Re:I'd rather... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by dabraun ( 626287 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @03:13PM (#10558968)
      The MCE Extenders give you the ability to watch live tv and use the guide, pause/rewind/skip, scedule recordings etc. All of the PVR functionality that is in Media Center on the PC is also available on the extender device. The fact that all the real work is taking place on the PC 'server' is transparent.

      Media Center is basically putting together a client/server model where a single PC may serve multiple client devices at the same time. The devices all have access to the same content on the PC and share the tuners that are installed on the PC.

      For all the XBMC fans here - MCE has moved far beyond what XMBC offers in terms functionality - and knee jerk reactions won't change that. XMBC is itself a pretty blatant rip-off of the MCE interface (I never realized how true this was till I looked at Tivo and ReplayTV and realized that they DON'T look like MCE - but XBMC does.)

      There are definitely downsides to the MCE Extender story at this point - to be honest about it:

      - It will not remote DVD playback - partly because of DRM concerns and partly because remoting the DVD menus is non-trivial. The XBox with the extender software will however play back DVDs locally (think of the XBOX Extender Kit as a superset of the XBOX DVD Kit)

      - It does not output HDTV resolutions (though there have been some rumors that an update might enable this)

      - The slick UI transitions that you see on the local MCE PC do not occur on the remote XBOX Client. I am not sure if this is the case for the non-XBOX extenders.

      • Re:I'd rather... (Score:3, Informative)

        by networkBoy ( 774728 )
        --"For all the XBMC fans here - MCE has moved far beyond what XMBC offers in terms functionality - and knee jerk reactions won't change that. XMBC is itself a pretty blatant rip-off of the MCE interface (I never realized how true this was till I looked at Tivo and ReplayTV and realized that they DON'T look like MCE - but XBMC does.)"

        Just the skin looks like a rip-off I don't think it has the same codebase :-)

        --" The MCE Extenders give you the ability to watch live tv and use the guide, pause/rewind/skip,

        • Re:I'd rather... (Score:5, Informative)

          by dabraun ( 626287 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @03:28PM (#10559106)
          You are factually incorrect. I have the XBOX Media Center software. It DOES:

          - Allow for watching live TV / changing channels / pausing live TV / etc.

          - Allow for scheduling recordings (UI is pretty much identical to what you get on the PC itself)

          Everything that works on XP Media Center Edition works on the extenders with a few exceptions. They are basically remote-desktop'd in to the server (with a seperate protocol/channel tunneling the video through)

          Multiple extenders hosted off the same PC can show different content at the same time (including different live TV channels assuming you have multiple tuners installed)
          • Calling it Xbox Media Center is going to confuse people. Xbox Media Center [proper] has been out for ages, is free, and plays a whole lot of formats. Xbox Media Center Extender (presumably named specifically to take advantage of the former product) will cost money, play fuck-all formats, and probably be DRM'd to hell.
    • If it were a PVR it might be worth it. But then you'd need to install a bigger drive, an analog/digital video input, encoder/decoder, etc. Really that's a lot of work for a cheap box.

      Well, here's hoping the PS3 and XBox2 will be fighting that one out. There's no reason this sort of convergence shouldn't increase in the future. We have too much crap under the TV as is, and don't get me started on the cables.

      The way it should be:
      1) Progressive-scan high resolution Monitor with built in speakers.

      2) The

  • XBMC (Score:2, Informative)

    by bombadillo ( 706765 )
    Cool, now maybe some tivo functionality can be added to XBMC [xboxmediacenter.de]

    • Re:XBMC (Score:4, Informative)

      by cdrudge ( 68377 ) * on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:45PM (#10558704) Homepage
      And why would that be? The Microsoft version looks basically like an $80 knockoff of XBMC. It's just streaming from the PC. The PC still would have to be the device that does the recording a la a DVR.

    • Re:XBMC (Score:5, Informative)

      by bombadillo ( 706765 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:46PM (#10558716)
      Damn, I thought it was actually going to add some sort of TV tuner to the xbox. This addition is basically what XBMC [xboxmediacenter.de]already does and has done for over a year now.
      • "This addition is basically what XBMC already does"BETTER "and has done for"EVER...

        See, you have to add some bias on your comment... we're on Slashdot, mate, have no shame 8p
      • Actually no.

        The extender connects your xbox to your media center. If you already plunked down the $900 for a microsoft media center, hooked it up to your cable box and set some shows to record. You can watch those recorded shows on your xbox.

        The extender will do nothing if you do not have a microsoft media center computer. Actually media center 2005

        Also. This was at CES last year and has been known about for sometime before that.
    • Now this would make XBMC fully complete. Instead of having to youthe xbox controller, if you could you the xbox media center remote to control XMMC, then that would justify getting the xbox media center extender for me....forget the MS software, just the hardware to better enable XBMC

  • MS is finally getting back at the hackers now by reverse engineering Xbox Media Center and provided it directly from MS. Who says MS never listens?
    • Uh.... this is an additional piece of hardware. You also need a Media Center PC.

      They didn't really 'get back at the hackers'. They just took somebody else's good idea, made a sub-par version, and are selling it to those that don't know any better because of their market position. Not that they've ever done something like that before....
      • Xbox media center extenders have been around for a LONG time before xbmc. I just knew people would think they were ripping them off. They were at CES last year and i've seen them along time before that.
        It would piss me off because I hear about xbox media center and think microsoft finally released it.

      • Not hardware at all. (Score:3, Interesting)

        by Otto ( 17870 )
        Uh.... this is an additional piece of hardware. You also need a Media Center PC.

        Yes, you do need a Media Center PC. I'll give you that. However this XBox Extenders is wholly software:

        From http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/mediacenter/ev a luation/devices/xboxextenderkit.mspx :

        Media Center Extender for Xbox is a packaged software product from Microsoft that runs as an Xbox game. With a wired or wireless connection to the Media Center PC, the Xbox console now allows you to enjoy the digital entertainme
  • Maybe they are getting the idea from all the chipped xboxes out there and how nice it is to use the xbox as a media center?

  • Heh... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Cyno01 ( 573917 ) <Cyno01@hotmail.com> on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:42PM (#10558673) Homepage
    Finally catching up to the mod-chip scene...

    • Re:Heh... (Score:3, Informative)

      by Superfreaker ( 581067 )
      Agreed! I think the illegal modders should sue for infringing on their intellectual property rights. The existing xbox media centers are great. Plus, they have built in support for playback of dvds where the unmodded xbox requires you to plunk down $30 for a "dvd playback kit" that is basically just a remote as the system already supports dvd playback, it is just "locked".

  • lol xbox (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:43PM (#10558676)
    http://ps2media.ign.com/ps2/image/article/557/5576 37/checking-out-the-pstwo-20041015062407316.jpg [ign.com]

    Nuff said.

  • Still not excited (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Sean80 ( 567340 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:44PM (#10558696)
    It seems to me that Microsoft, Creative, and others are getting way ahead of the game here. I myself am still not clear what sort of content I could even play through my XBox in this way, or what content I could download to the latest Creative portable video device.

    It seems to me as though everybody needs to back up for a second here, fix the concerns and problems with copyright, and then create the technology. This just seems like an answer looking for a problem. Today, I'm not sure if I can upload my DVD collection to my computer (I wouldn't even have the hard drive space on my computer), and why on earth would I want to do this when I already have a nice simple solution involving DVDs and a DVD player?

    • simple: I have every episode of simpsons, south park, family guy, aqua teen, Star Trek TNG, Star Trek DS9, all at my fingertips. 2 clicks, from the comfort of my recliner, and I can watch any one of hundreds of TV shows, no commercials, pause when I need popcorn, and best of all its awesome quality and will never wear out or get scratches like a DVD.

      Now, to order another 300 gig drive.....
      • I have a TV out on my made-from-parts computer... if I want to watch whatever media I have on my hard-drive on television, all I have to do is take my remote mouse and keyboard over to the recliner, Alt-F5 and transfer my display from the monitor to the TV, and take it from there.

        Why would I need an xbox?

    • Re:Still not excited (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Sean80 ( 567340 )
      But aren't you overriding the copy protection mechanisms of the DVD by copying them to your hard-drive in the first place?

      Alternatively, what commercial software exists that allows you to do this today?

    • Re:Still not excited (Score:3, Interesting)

      by cdrudge ( 68377 ) *
      Well, maybe you don't have the hard drive space, but others do. Many people have ripped their video and/or audio collections to save on their computer. They can the toss the DVD/CD in a cabinet somewhere and forget about them. Want to watch a movie? Just scroll through the list like you were going to watch a PPV movie...just without the $4.99 fee. Want to listen to your favoirte CD? Just hit play.

      With XMBC, you can also download CD information or movie information. Then you can sort by genre, actor,
    • You can buy videos on the system right now, today. And I will be providing your porn in the near future.
    • My guess is that you will be able to subscribe to HBO and other pay channels directly through XBox live within a few years. No more cable packages full of channels you have no interest in.

  • You mean I can watch TV... (Score:5, Funny)

    by goldspider ( 445116 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:44PM (#10558699) Homepage
    on my TV???

    Sweet! What will they think of next!?

    • Re:You mean I can watch TV... (Score:5, Funny)

      by rampant mac ( 561036 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @03:09PM (#10558943)
      "You mean I can watch TV...

      on my TV???

      Sweet! What will they think of next!?"

      Whoa, whoa, WHOA. Slow down there a second. Is your XBMC (XBox Media Center) up to date? If so, yes, you can watch TV.

      Otherwise, you will need to connect to http://xboxupdate.microsoft.com to download the latest patches.

      Afterward, you will need to reboot the XBox by simply holding down the X, Y, right trigger, Select, and Start buttons while simultaneously depressing the Left and Right Thumbsticks.

      Then you will need to open up the XBox, using only a butter-knife, 2 meters of duct tape, and the gentle hands of a neurosurgeon.

      After connecting the XBox to your co-ax TV output cable, you may then watch TV through your XBox Media Center. Easy as pie!

  • Uh yeah. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:45PM (#10558702)
    'Illegally' Modded XBox with XBox Media Center: $200

    XBox with MS XBox Media Adapter: $229
    Media Center PC: $1000+

    • Re:Uh yeah. (Score:3, Informative)

      by mindspenk ( 699417 )
      Illegally? Last time I checked an individual could purchase their xbox and a chip legally.

      Good points no less!
      • I think he means that DMCA thing those yankees have over in their 'land of the free'. Most (All?) mod chips circumvents the DRM which they it has to to allow fair use. People have been busted by the FBI for selling mod chips.

  • XBMC (Score:2)

    by Stevyn ( 691306 )
    It's a good thing for Microsoft that xbmc is an open source project. I guess they're trying to make a product that will allow them to collect some extra revenue but more importantly convince them that there exists an easier solution then modding their xbox. However, why make it just for Windows Media Center edition? How many people actually have that?

    • Re:XBMC (Score:2, Insightful)

      by stratjakt ( 596332 )
      However, why make it just for Windows Media Center edition? How many people actually have that?

      I don't believe it works with MCE alone, but DRM is definately the issue. You can't just have people backing up the DVDs they own on a hard drive and playing them back on the XBox.

      The entire movie industry would collapse, and Comcast would have a hard time selling you "video on demand" if you could do it yourself.

  • MythTV anyone? (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:47PM (#10558724)
    http://bit.blkbk.com/

    This is a distro set to turn your xbox into a MythTV box. Pretty cool stuff.

    • Re:MythTV anyone? (Score:2, Informative)

      by infinii ( 27811 )
      This only turns your XBox into a FRONT-END for your pc running mythvtv that is actually doing the PVR stuff.

      • Re:MythTV anyone? (Score:3, Informative)

        by JVert ( 578547 )
        So does this.
      • Same with the Microsoft solution, AFAIK.

      • Re:MythTV anyone? (Score:4, Informative)

        by AchilleTalon ( 540925 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @04:05PM (#10559372) Homepage
        It does exactly the same thing as the product from Microsoft which turns the Xbox into a front-end to the Windows Media Center PC box.

        In the case of MythTV, there will be no proprietary stuff, including encoded shows, while the Microsoft product will use its own closed codecs.

        Plus, MythTV is having a plug-in architecture which can provide some other services not yet seen with the MS products.

        And for those still wandering what's the point with this, simply use a server PC to serve the TV shows anywhere in your house. Obviously, if you live alone there is not much interest in this product, unless you PC is not located somewhere you will go to watch the recorded shows (or the TV cannot be plugged into the PC).

  • Its about time (Score:5, Insightful)

    by visionsofmcskill ( 556169 ) <(moc.pmteg) (ta) (noisiv)> on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:47PM (#10558728) Homepage Journal
    Hardly a surprise here, Microsoft is gearing up to compete directly with the TIVO DVR market with a product that will have a huge market penetration, that onboard harddrive isnt for nothing.

    Combine that with their online music offerings, and even a subscription service such as an enhanced XBOX live and DVD playback, and youve got the Windows Media Center in homes all across the world on an infrastructure that's already highly controlled.

    While Nintendo and Sony have been banking hard on cell technology and other gamer focused add-ons, MS is covering the do it all, in every home aspect, and they will win if allowed to do so.

    one of Sony's main driving forces for playstation adoption (1 and 2)... was the inclusion of a cd player or dvd player... an unecesary add-on as far as games go, but a strikingly powerfull one as far as extra features go.

    If nintendo/sony dont come up with their own media center functions, they will find themselves eclipised by MS very quickly despite their better game focus.

    • Rube Goldberg-ish (Score:5, Insightful)

      by MooseByte ( 751829 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:57PM (#10558817)

      "Microsoft is gearing up to compete directly with the TIVO DVR market with a product that will have a huge market penetration"

      That is, for those who purchase/own an Xbox, a Windows Media Center edition machine, and this new gadget on top of it all.

      Or I can just get a TiVO? Cripes! Who wants three MS boxes chained together (cross your fingers) just to get TiVO functionality?

      Smells like another money-losing venture for MS.

    • that onboard harddrive isnt for nothing.

      Sure as hell ain't for DVR duties with only 8-10GBs of space.

    • Re:Its about time (Score:5, Informative)

      by SilentChris ( 452960 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @03:15PM (#10558987) Homepage
      "If nintendo/sony dont come up with their own media center functions, they will find themselves eclipised by MS very quickly despite their better game focus."

      Uh, you *have* kept up with gaming tech, right? Heard of the PSX?

      "cell technology and other gamer focused add-ons"

      How is cell technology a "gamer focused add-on"? It's basic parallelism, nothing more. Gamer-focused is more along the lines of better graphics, new ways to control the action, etc. Cell will be used in everything from gaming to making sure your officially-sanctioned DRM'd Sony music downloads quickly to your PS3.

  • With XBox 2 around the corner.... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by marktaw.com ( 816752 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:49PM (#10558740) Homepage
    With XBox 2 around the corner, it seems to me that Microsoft is firing the first salvo in the upcoming Media Center wars. Sony and Microsoft both want to be the entertainment hub of the living room - video games, TV, music, movies... all in one.

    I guess M$ has an advantage in that they control the desktop, but I think they're making a mistake by releasing XBox 2 so early. The hype simply isn't there the way it would be if they waited for Sony, and once the PS3 does come out, everyone will be comparing spec's. By releasing now, they're locking in at a lower specification level.

    Surprisingly, Sony's answer, the smaller PS2 doesn't even have a hard drive. I guess this means they're not seriously pushing the PS2 as an entertainment appliance.

    Nintendo, in contrast, is holding out until the PS3 release date for their next generation system, but pushing their DS handheld now in it's place. Since Nintendo has a reputation for good handhelds, they can gain some foothold here and convert people who want handheld to console compatability (which I suspect isn't that many people).

  • MS catching on? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by AssProphet ( 757870 ) * on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:49PM (#10558746) Homepage Journal
    majority of early posts include such titles as:
    - MS is getting back at the hackers
    - Microsoft finally caught on!

    WTF, why would you think MS is catching on?

    I'll never say something like that until they start selling xboxes that don't need modchips.
    The MOD community isn't just about creating unincluded features, they are about freedom, and this is something Microsoft will never catch on to.

  • TV + MS (Score:4, Funny)

    by Beuno ( 740018 ) <argentina@NosPAm.gmail.com> on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:50PM (#10558763) Homepage
    Great, now I will be able to see the "blue screen of death" during Leno!

  • Finally... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Henk Poley ( 308046 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:50PM (#10558764) Homepage
    ...a use for all those XBOXes running MythTV frontends ;-)

  • Requires a Media Center PC (Score:4, Insightful)

    by GweeDo ( 127172 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:55PM (#10558799) Homepage
    The IGN article at the end says you will need a Media Center PC as well. This just made this little device completely worthless! Looks like the $50 modchip is still the best option.

  • Link is wrong. (Score:5, Informative)

    by 787style ( 816008 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @02:56PM (#10558808)
    You wanted to link to this: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/mediacenter/eva luation/devices/xboxextenderkit.mspx [microsoft.com] That actually discusses the Media Extender for the XBox, rather then the settop box which is causing confusion.

  • Here are just a few of benefits ... (Score:5, Funny)

    by sosuke ( 789685 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @03:00PM (#10558858) Homepage
    buy a Media Center Extender For Xbox and get:
    2 AA batteries
    Networking poster
    from http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/mediacenter/eva luation/devices/xboxextenderkit.mspx [microsoft.com]

  • Limited to Media Center Edition, yes? (Score:3, Informative)

    by nobodyman ( 90587 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @03:02PM (#10558868) Homepage

    As far as I can tell from the articles that I've read, you need to have XP media center edition. So , this doesn't really solve my problem -- which is namely wanting to have my music/pictures/whatever stored on the computer in my den (running xp pro), but be able to access it from the Xbox in my living room.

    I can see the incentive for someone who already has a media center PC. Just not the holy grail i was looking for.

  • Just mod your box (Score:4, Interesting)

    by andymac ( 82298 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @03:02PM (#10558871) Homepage
    If you've modded your box already and hooked it up to your PC, then you can already do this. My sister-in-law was competing at the Hawaii Ironman this past weekend, and IMNorth America has a streaming video feed set-up at the finish line, that most folks would watch on their PC. We watched it on our tv, and saw her finish her race (and recorded it for her).

    I just want the PVR functionality (and more streaming stations with higher quality video). Then I can cancel my cable. Mwahahaha!
  • This is a great example of what companies do when a product nears the end of its life-cycle. Get as much money out of your current client base as you can before moving on to the "next big thing."

  • stroke (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Positive Charge ( 592093 )
    This is a stroke of marketing genius. In retrospect, obvious as hell. Sony and Nintendo can't be far behind -- they'd need a partner, though.
  • The article has the link to the stand-alone Extender boxes by Linksys-Cisco and HP. This page [microsoft.com] details the Xbox based Extender.

    All-in-all an interesting idea... these are sort of the remote "dumb" terminals to connect to your Media Center or Home Theater (file servering/tv recording/music downloading) master PC.

  • Now that the DMCA is warmed up... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by freality ( 324306 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @03:07PM (#10558924) Homepage Journal
    we'll see how it fares on the *major* protected media content: live TV. After all, wouldn't want a hack to block advertisements on TV like we do in Firefox.

    I have a feeling the tests we've seen so far will seem quaint in retrospect.

    "Remember back in the day when you could chip a game console and only get a threatening letter?" said one inmate to the other.
  • How many people actually have Windows Media Center PCs? I don't see why they can't get rid of this hybrid OS, and just release a single application you can download to allow this. I seriously doubt anyone is going to run out and buy the Xbox software and a new OS (Windows Media Center) just to do this. Giving me Xbox software that directly interfaced with a standard XP/XP-Pro machine, however, sounds a little more tempting.
  • A sub-conscious thought bubbled to the top of the stack while I was reading this article:

    So what?

    And Not even for the same reasons that are being brought up here.

    Right now, I've got a DishPVR that sorts through the TWENTYFIVE THOUSAND hours of programming a week (150x24x7)...of which, I'll see maybe 15 hours that I want to see, the part of the year that the programming isn't a rerun.

    Otherwise, I get my entertainment off the net, reading books, RSS feeds, The _occasional_ DVD purchase (LOTR), etc.

    But the point is: There's SUCH a HUGE firehose of information vying for my time that a portable PVR, or Xbox remote video viewer, or streamed T.V. to my Cellphone just doesn't light my lucky like they want it to.

    I predict this is going to be another 'Tablet PC' marketing push. It's a lot of bells and whistles and will amount to a bunch fo companies losing a lot of money.

  • Oh this is just awesome... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 18, 2004 @03:34PM (#10559152)
    Soon I'll be able to take a piss into my Xbox while warming up my Poptart with the integrated toaster. Everyone is talking about extending the market... what ever happened to making a game machine for, hmm, exclusively gaming?

  • So Rich Yet So Poor (Score:3, Interesting)

    by TPoise ( 799382 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @03:40PM (#10559193) Homepage
    To be so rich and "smart" Microsoft is fairly dumb when it comes to this.


    As I suggested before, if MS came out with a media player for Xbox that will function as it does on a PC (allow me to play DiVX/XViDS/Mp3s/etc.) I would run out and buy a copy instantly.


    Instead, Microsoft puts out a Media Player that requires you to have a PC! That's absurd. If you already have a Media Centric-PC why would you want your Xbox to play your movies when your PC can do it just fine without the extra electricity.


    Microsoft has dropped the ball on this one, so people like me who want to view movies from Xbox or over a network share will end up modding the Xbox and then opening ourselves to the new arsenal of games on Torrents and such. Thanks MS!

  • Media center extender functionality is in SP2 (Score:5, Interesting)

    by cualexander ( 576700 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @03:52PM (#10559273)
    If everyone would stop the microsoft bash train and look for a second they would see that if you would update to SP2 and Media Center 10 you can download a update called Media Center Connect, which lets Windows Media Player 10 connect wirelessly to any UPnP device. Why is this cool? Because thats what they are doing to the XBOX. Making it a UPnP Device. Which means I can access my 250 gig hard drive that is full of TV shows legally captured with my ATI card and play them back at random without more wires. Its actually a cool little product. Media Center 10 will play every format you can throw at it but OGG, which no one uses, and AAC, which is the apple standard, but thats like 2% of the total digital media market. Get with the program people. Microsoft isn't that bad. I run Windows XP for weeks at a time, only to turn it off to upgrade a piece of hardware or something like that.
    • Using your exact same point though, why can't they just release sofware for the Xbox that lets it connect to Media Center 10 on a non-Media Center PC? That would be pretty cool. But, nooooo, I gotta be running Windows Media Center, which is a freakin waste of money. Or, even better yet, update the Xbox dashboard to access a PC directly, without the software having to be in the disk tray. We've already got a remote.
  • does... How nice. My "media center" cost me 50 bucks and a little bit of time to solder some wires.
  • They own ComCast, too - how can any company expect to compete with the end-to-end Microsoft media monopoly, except on Microsoft's terms?
  • Not too long ago I had the "perfect" digital home media set up. (2)PIII pc's, networked and broadbanded, one solely dishing out MP3's and playing DVD's. They were windows, with all that entails, and they worked pretty well.

    What bugged me was the code overhead. Still, I got to play Need for Speed just fine on it, which was quite a delight to me. And this is essentially what this pair that M$ is offering really is.

    Having used Linux for a little over a year, and being a one-time (okay, STILL)OS/2 junkie it

  • Bwahhahahaha! The master plan is finally revealed. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Catbeller ( 118204 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @05:43PM (#10560120) Homepage
    Seriously. It is.

    This is why Microsoft was so eager to get X-Boxes into every home they could, regardless of the loss. Games? Pfah. They had the Media Center coming, and the X-Box was the way to get it into houses without having to sell PC's.

    Microsoft's strategy for survival is clear and it is all-encompassing. Screw the OS; they want a piece of the DRM-sweet pie for every song, every film clip, every TV program, every movie played in the world on a digital box. Even if Linux eventually supplants Windows in some fashion, they will own the DRM of media files. They've been moving behind the scenes for years now, arm-twisting the music/movie/cable people into adopting MS DRM. It's in Longhorn, sure, but they aren't just settling for that. Longhorn is just a piece that fits into all the other pieces to come.

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