Three years ago I wrote a feature for RedHanded titled, "The
Future's Here". It was about the cool developments taking place in home
entertainment. I explained how Bill Gates had forked out $97 million on his
future house back in the 90s to have everything automated. Sounds, movies and
games were available anywhere in the house. It was the stuff of sci-fi that
only the world's richest man could afford. When I wrote that first feature
several years ago, Microsoft Media Center entertainment systems were just beginning
to hit the market. Finally you could tool up your flat with a single device
that held your movies, pictures and music. Watch live TV through it and download
on-demand movies when connected to the internet. And, whilst it ran on a Windows
platform and had the insides of a PC, on the outside it started to look like
a sleek piece of hi-fi.
But there was a catch. It didn't cost $97 million, but you did need to fork
out a good grand or two. Right now, however, costs have come down, lots more
companies are supporting the Media Centers making it possible to hook up all
sorts of other kit to it. Unlike the old solid state kit that we've been buying
all these years, DVD players and recorders, these systems are PC-based so they
are upgradeable. If you want you can have Blu-Ray, more internal storage, faster
speeds and extra menu options. Just a handful of manufacturers were producing
Media Center system back then; now everyone from Acer to Zalman have been competing
to make them elegant enough for your living room. And if you own a PC running
the higher spec versions of Vista – Premium or Ultimate - the Media Center
software is already on it for you to preview.
These days, most of us have bits and pieces scattered around the place that
do some of this stuff already. Already got a Sky+, FreeSat or Virgin media
box? Already shooting the shenanigans out of your mates on your Xbox? Got your
iTunes loaded up on your new PC? Well, there's no need to chuck them out. Work
with a specialist installer and you can hook the whole lot up together and
control it through your TV without spending very much at all. You may even
find that if you have a good spec PC you can use this as the hub for your media
center - it's just a case of sending it all to your TV using a device called
an extender.
And the net has advanced in leaps and bounds recently too. TV options have
increased exponentially with the advent of the BBC's iPlayer, Channel 4's 4oD
and new free internet TV services like Joost. Again, these integrate seamlessly
into your media center TV menu. And whilst we're talking internet services
- think about all the other cool stuff that you can muck around with online.
There’s Ebay, YouTube videos, Skype for calling your mates for free,
social media stuff like Facebook - the list is pretty endless.
Whatsmore, instead of being hunched over your laptop, the interface for all
these has been redesigned from a website, to applications that you can add
to your TV’s Media Center menu, allowing you to access them in your living
room in HD. Finally, free online media comes to your living room. Even the
wireless keyboard and media center remotes are being re-designed to belong
on your coffee table. Some of them are seriously cool looking pieces of kit
in their own right. Manufacturers like Ricavision and Logitech are just a couple
of examples.
And if you want the all-singing-and-dancing option then the extender system,
which was only available in the US when I was writing for Issue Nine in 2005,
is now widely available across the UK. You usually buy what looks like a set-top
box for less than £100 and it streams your content from your media center
to wherever else you have another screen and speakers. So halfway through watching
that downloaded movie and you need to start cooking dinner? No problem, just
switch it through to the kitchen TV. Netgear and Niveus are examples of different
makes of media center extenders emerging into our homes. One of the coolest
things about the Xbox that few people appreciate is that Microsoft has made
it able to work as an extender too. As well as using it to play games in the
spare room, enable it to talk to your media center and it will stream all your
media too, with the same stylish blue on-screen menus. For Microsoft, that's
an incredibly joined up-piece of thinking.
With all this different kit, hooking it up to work as one seamless system can
be cheap, but quite complicated. I'd serious recommend investing in some expert
help to make it all sing and dance properly. Similarly, if something goes wrong,
the level of skill required to repair and support it is something your average
retail store Tech Guy will struggle to deal with. There is now a huge range
of designer media center systems to choose from and some clever tweaks available – particularly
in the context of optimising HDTV viewing – that experts can offer. Start
with a free consultation from the UK’s first media center specialists
Media Receive, who are based just outside Cardiff. Speaking to them should
get you heading in the right direction.
Old Bill predicted many years ago that the PC would eventually be at the centre
of the living room rather than hidden away in the spare room. Whatever you think
of Microsoft and the man who made his billions from it, you have to admit it:
he was right.
Useful links:
www.media-receive.co.uk
www.microsoft.com/mediacenter
www.logitech.com
www.ricavision.com
www.netgear.com
www.niveusmedia.com
UK Dealers:
Media Receive’s digital lifestyle services: www.mediarx.co.uk
Xbox, PS3, Sky+, iPod and more… it’s time you got all your kit to work in perfect harmony, says Chris Apput
The New Media Lifestyle