This year at CES we’re partnering with PodTech to provide ground transportation specifically for bloggers attending CES via the Windows Vista Media Center Express.  This is an executive-class coach with a distinctive, custom exterior design, so you’ll know it when you see it.  We dreamed up the Media Center Express as a way to help bloggers get between the CES BlogHaus at the Bellagio Hotel & Casino and CES 2008 at the Las Vegas Conference Center, while also providing them an entertaining, hands-on experience with cool technology — and of course refreshments — en route.  (If you’ve ever been to CES, then you know how difficult it can be to negotiate the Las Vegas streets while competing with the 150K other people in attendance.)  We’ve equipped the bus with PCs and hardware showcasing some of the best aspects of Windows Vista, namely, Windows Media Center and Certified for Windows Vista devices. 

If you’re coming to CES, register for the BlogHaus so you can take advantage of the Media Center Express.  Meanwhile, check out the set-up of hardware on board:

• Dell XPS 420 with an Intel Core 2 Q6600 Quad-Core (8MB L2 cache,2.4GHz,1066FSB) processor, 3GB (Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz) memory, 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT and 750GB storage (7200RPM SATA 3.0GB/s, 16MB Cache).  The Dell XPS 420 also comes with a built-in Windows SideShow device in the front of the case
• Gateway ONE with an Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T5250 (1.50GHz, 2MB L2 cache, 667MHz FSB) processor, 2GB (667MHz DDR2 SDRAM0 memory, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2600XT Graphics Media Accelerator with 256MB of Discrete Video Memory, and 400GB (7200RPM Serial ATA II hard drive w/ 8MB cache) storage
• Xbox 360 with Halo 3 and serving as a Media Center Extender
• Two

Canon mini320 Compact Photo Printers so you can print your photos from the show floor

While on the Media Center Express, you can play Halo 3, check out two top-notch PCs running Windows Vista Ultimate, view your photos and video within Windows Media Center, print photos and documents, compare notes with your fellow bloggers, and generally relax and recharge on the way between the BlogHaus and the Las Vegas Convention Center.  To ride the bus, all you need to do is show that you’re a registered attendee of the BlogHaus.

But first, we have to get the Media Center Express to Las Vegas.  Leaving tomorrow (Saturday) from the Microsoft Silicon Valley campus, it’ll pack in a few bloggers from the San Francisco area (including Robert Scoble of PodTech) for the ride there.  Among them will be Windows Featured Community members Jason Dunn of Digital Home Thoughts and Robert McLaws of Windows-Now.  Like all Windows Featured Community members, both Jason and Robert are Windows veterans and experts in Microsoft technology.  They’ll have with them a few Certified for Windows Vista devices such as the Canon HV20, as well as Windows Vista in their pockets — courtesy of the Samsung Q1 Ultra UMPC.  Both Jason and Robert will be covering their CES experiences on their sites, so be sure to keep track of their impressions as the week progresses.

As for Brandon and me, we’re off to Las Vegas tomorrow to meet the Media Center Express when it arrives.  Stay tuned for more Windows Vista news from CES 2008, as we’ll be blogging live from Las Vegas starting Sunday…

If your PC is running Windows Vista Home Premium or Windows Vista Ultimate, you have a great feature set you may not even know about: Windows Media Center.

Windows Media Center can turn your PC from a “plain vanilla” computer into something pretty powerful and impressive: the hub of your entertainment system.  Surprised?  Well (if you ask nicely), I’ll tell you more.

Use Windows Media Center to browse your music collection by cover art or year, organize photos and create albums and jazz up custom slide shows with music.  If you’re a sports fan, you’ll definitely want to check out your favorite team’s scores and stats on SportsLounge (U.S. and Canada only).

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And if you like movies and TV, you’ll enjoy Internet TV Beta. This new feature allows you to play free streaming video content on demand, choosing from more than 100 hours of TV entertainment, music concerts, movie trailers, news, and sports content from MSN Video.

Are you a film buff?  If so, you’re in luck.  Windows Media Center, you can watch movies on DVD and stream or download movies from a growing list of content providers through Online Media-an innovative portal that helps you find movies over the Internet.  If you want a quick glimpse of all the movies you’ve recorded or the movies coming up on TV, check out the Movies Guide. You can see movie jackets, search for films by actor, director, genre, or title, and read descriptions and reviews of the films.

TV features are some of the most exciting in Windows Media Center.  You can watch, pause, and rewind live TV shows in standard and high definition (HDTV available only in the U.S.)1. Schedule recordings with the Electronic Programming Guide and find shows in the Windows Media Center Recorded TV library using picture thumbnails from the actual programs. You can also view live TV through Picture-in-Picture or as a background while performing other activities in Windows Media Center.

Want to save what you’ve recorded?  No problem.  Go ahead and burn your favorite shows to DVD.  Windows Media Center will even create a simple DVD menu, which you can navigate using your DVD remote.

Right about now, you’re probably thinking “Hey, this sounds pretty good - but I’ll bet set-up is complicated.”  Not so!  A TV tuner is all you need to start enjoying live TV on your Windows Vista Home Premium or Windows Vista Ultimate PC.2  Just plug your TV antenna, cable, or the video output from your satellite set-top box into your TV tuner, open Windows Media Center, and follow the appropriate set-up instructions.  To find out what else you need to perform specific functions in Windows Media Center, take a look at the handy chart here.

Some Windows Media Center users like to stream their digital media throughout the house.  If that appeals to you, Extenders for Windows Media Center are just the ticket.  And here’s a tip:  If you have an Xbox 360, you already have a first-rate extender available.

1 Enjoying live and recorded HD content may require additional equipment, including but not limited to an HD compatible receiver, tuner, set-top box, and TV or other display.

2 Windows Media Center supports as many as two NTSC Standard tuners and two ATSC HD TV tuners, for a maximum of four TV tuners in a Windows Media Center PC but not limited to an HD compatible receiver, tuner, set-top box, and TV or other display.

Today at Digital Life in NYC the eHome Division and partners together announced new Extenders for Windows Media Center.  In combination with the new Extenders, we’re also releasing a beta of a new feature for Windows Media Center called Internet TV.

Take a look at the new Extenders for Windows Media Center and you’ll see that users are getting sleek and quiet devices that bring content to any room of their house.  Upcoming this holiday season is an impressive line-up of Extenders:

• Linksys Media Center Extender DMA2100:  In a small form factor, the DMA2100 offers dual-band Wireless-N and all the necessary features to take full advantage of Windows Media Center.  Perfect for smaller bedrooms and offices where a small device is needed.  Estimated street price is US$299.99.
• Linksys Media Center Extender DMA2200 with DVD Player:  Bigger than the DMA2100, the DMA2200 offers dual-band Wireless-N with a built-in DVD player on top of its Extender capabilities.  Estimated street price is US$349.99.
• D-Link DSM-750 MediaLounge HD Media Center Extender:  The DSM-750 connects users to their home networks either via Ethernet or dual-band draft Wireless-N.  It also includes a USB 2.0 port for access to music, photos and videos stored on removable USB flash drives or hard drives.  Users of the DSM-750 can also enjoy HD videos at 1080i.  Estimated street price is US$349.99.
• HP MediaSmart LCD HDTV:  The HP MediaSmart LCD HDTV (available in 42-inch and 47-inch sizes) has embedded Extender capabilities allowing the HDTV to tap directly into a Windows Media Center PC on home network via wireless (802.11N) or wired connections.  The HP MediaSmart HDTV supports HD resolutions up to 1080p as well.  The HP MediaSmart LCD HDTV is expected to be available in Best Buys nationwide.
• Niveus Media Extender – EDGE:  Supporting 1080p video, the Niveus Media Extender – EDGE takes in the 3D user interface found on the award-winning Niveus Media Center as well as the proprietary Niveus Glacier Passive Cooling System for quiet and cool operation.  Pricing has not yet been announced for the Niveus Media Extender – EDGE. 

These new Extenders, available to users of Windows Vista Home Premium and Ultimate, allow quick access to premium cable and HDTV and support popular video codecs such as DIVX, XVID and WMV.  Users will be able to pause a recorded TV show and then resume watching that very same show in a different room.

The eHome Division is also launching a beta (currently for U.S. users only) of Internet TV for Windows Media Center users.  On 28 September, users of Windows Media Center on Windows Vista Home Premium and Ultimate will see the addition of Internet TV under the TV + Movies section.  Internet TV will deliver high-quality video content streamed over the internet to Windows Media Center.  Users will be able to watch full episodes of TV shows, concerts from artists, high-quality movie trailers and clips from MSNBC.  Internet TV is designed for both TV and PC screens and is accessible via Media Center Extenders (including the Xbox 360).  Brandon will have a more in-depth look at Internet TV on the Windows Experience blog shortly.

Today at Digital Life in NYC the eHome Division and partners together announced new Extenders for Windows Media Center. In combination with the new Extenders, we’re also releasing a beta of a new feature for Windows Media Center called Internet TV. Take Read More……(read more)

At CEDIA EXPO 2007 in Denver this week, a few of our partners unveiled new Windows Media Extenders that will let customers easily extend the Windows Media Center experience to other rooms in their homes.  Companies involved included Linksys, D-Link and Niveus Media Inc.  Their hardware is the latest attempt to breach the PC-to-TV barrier by way of Windows Media Center.

The new Windows Media Extenders are designed to utilize the Windows Media Center capabilities from PCs running Windows Vista Home Premium and Windows Vista Ultimate.  Now they’ll be sporting some great new features:

• Support for Wireless N high-speed technology
• Extended video codec support to include DivX and Xvid
• Continued support for Windows Media Video HD files
• Ability to send protected HD content to additional rooms, including recorded TV from over-the-air Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) or CableCard tuners
• Ability to send movies and music available from providers such as CinemaNow, MovieLink and Napster
• New Reuters news feeds, National Public Radio broadcasts, up-to-date sports reports from the FOX Sports Lounge and subscription music from XM Radio
• Parental Controls built into Windows Media Center, allowing parents to choose the content their children are/not allowed to view

Also at CEDIA EXPO 2007, Life|ware and Niveus Media have both announced Windows Media Center PCs that support quad-CableCard setups.  This new configuration enables users to enjoy four cable TV channels simultaneously.

We also announced plans to add an IPTV feature (US only) to Windows Media Center in Windows Vista Home Premium and Windows Vista Ultimate.  Expect more information on this new IPTV feature at DigitalLife in New York City on 27 September.

One more thing:  I’d like to welcome Doug Berett to Microsoft.  Doug developed the now free third-party plug-in WebGuide for Windows Media Center.  WebGuide allows users to schedule TV shows and stream recorded TV shows from their Windows Media Center PC over the web to any device with a browser.  Glad to have him aboard!

At CEDIA EXPO 2007 in Denver this week, a few of our partners unveiled new Windows Media Extenders that will let customers easily extend the Windows Media Center experience to other rooms in their homes. Companies involved included Linksys, D-Link and Read More……(read more)