Microsoft vs. Tivo futures?

I read this post about Microsoft filing against TiVo on my fave El Reg:

http://bit.ly/gLsXII

And then saw a similar post from MaryJo Foley:

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft/more-codenames-provide-clues-to-planned-microsoft-mediaroom-iptv-blitz/8520?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+zdnet/microsoft+(ZDNet+All+About+Microsoft)

Combined with Windows Embedded:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsembedded/en-us/default.mspx

...I think the future of Media Center is looking interesting.

Ian Dixon at TDL had an install going of this:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsembedded/en-us/downloads/default.mspx

I think it looks pretty good:

http://thedigitallifestyle.com/cs/tdl/b/ian/archive/2011/01/26/building-a-windows-media-center-set-top-box-install-with-windows-embedded.aspx

Broken graphics card on Media Centre

Over the last few days, the Media Centre has been 'playing up'. In particular, the screen would freeze and what can only be described as 'pixellated artifacts' would appear on the screen.

So, we've just ordered a replacement GPU:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sapphire-HD5450-DDR3-Graphics-Card/dp/B0036DD4CO

Hopefully, it'll extend the life of the Sony Vaio XL201, as it's clearly into it's twilight years now.

Tivo vs 7MC

Even though this looks like an exceptional product, I won't be swapping my Media Center PC for it.

http://tivo.virginmedia.com/

7MC might seem a bit rough around the edges in some places, compared to this, but it's still preferable.

Remote Potato Update

I've been fortunate enough to be selected by Carlos Remote Potato to be amongst some of the early users to download the brand new Remote Potato iPhone App! (search remote potato on App Store)

It's great to see it out of Beta testing so quickly, seems like Fattitude really have got their tech skills dialled. Over the course of the Beta test, it's been a pleasure to see this develop (backgrounds, artwork etc) and flourish to the finished article, which is flawless and definitely worth £3.99

The Remote Potato iPhone App purposes the content available that is published to your dyndns address via your favourite browser by your media center PC and allows you to access / manage just about every part of your Windows Media Center PC, from an iOS 4 device (there's a bit of jiggery pokery to do on your media centre PC first, but it's really simple):

• Browse the live EPG


• Schedule recordings at anytime (no Sky+ 30 min buffer requirement here, you're directly connected to your PC!)


• Stream films


• Stream recorded TV


• Stream music


• Stream pictures


• Download music

...amongst other stuff.

It is definitely one of the missing parts of media center, plus it's been made by a highly skilled team from the UK (no doubt in their spare time), which makes me want to give them the 3 thumbs up even more than I would do usually.

Here's my App Store review:

Remote Potato is the missing part of Windows Media Centre 7 and is an awesome app, definitely worth £3.99!It's great being able to schedule from my iPhone. It's brilliant for those times when you're out and you realise that you've forgotten to set something to record - you can just connect in and tap record (recording starts instantly, no delays).
The server side takes a few minutes to set up, but it is straight forward - the forums give really detailed instructions too, if you get stuck.
Streaming your recorded TV & other content to your iPhone is great - all the stuff I can't get in 16 GB, can just be streamed on-demand - the wow factor is pretty high.
Everything works great - if you use Windows 7 Media Center, you need this. 5 stars

Good skills, dudes.