Media Center already does HDTV!

Matt Haughey at PVRBlog ~~gets suckered by~~ misunderstands SnapStream’s Beyond TV 4 announcement:

SnapStream have announced their next major rev will include support for HDTV recording and playback. This is pretty significant, as HDTV support in software PVR applications is still fairly new, with MythTV’s HD playback in early stages. It sounds like Beyond TV will support at least four different HD tuner cards as well.

By all reports, Microsoft’s Windows Media Center is holding off on support for HDTV recording/playback until Longhorn is released next year, so for those running windows-based home theater PCs, BeyondTV may be the only choice for quite a while.

Commenters, including me, have jumped all over Matt for getting this one 100% wrong. Here’s what I posted:

Excuse me? Windows Media Center Edition 2005 has supported over-the-air HDTV since day one. The others are actually playing catch-up.

The missing piece of the puzzle, which no one has yet, is CableCard support. I’ve written about the details here.

Microsoft and all the other companies aren’t “holding off” on anything. The hardware to decode HDTV over cable needs to exist first, and it needs to be approved by CableLabs.

And of course over-the-air HDTV is no big deal. I’ll have a lot more to say on HDTV, cable, and the upcoming update to Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 later today.

Update: Rakesh from Snapstream makes the valid point that their original press release made no comparisons with other software, so it’s unfair to say Matt was “suckered” by the announcement. He’s right. I apologize and have edited this post accordingly. Also, Matt has corrected his post now.

PVRs won’t hit the mainstream for years

If you own a TiVo, or a Media Center PC, or a PVR from your cable company, you’re part of an elite. A new research report from Accenture says that the percentage of U.S. homes with personal video recorders will increase by 500% in the next four years, but even in 2009 more than half of U.S. homes still won’t have the equipment to record, pause, or time-shift TV. This summary is at Smartmoney.com:

Accenture’s research estimates that around 40% of U.S. homes will have personal video recorders, or PVRs, by 2009. The technology in PVRs allows viewers to store and record television programs on a set-top box, skipping through advertising segments easily.

About 8% of U.S. homes now have PVR technology, resulting in around 2% of ads being skipped.

The author of the report, media and entertainment partner Theresa Wise, calculates that up to 10% of ads could be skipped by 2009, with as much as $6 billion lost.

What I find fascinating about this story is the overwhelming emphasis on advertising, with the subtext that the advertising industry needs to find a way to prevent us ungrateful consumers from skipping their ads. It always reminds me of this scene from A Clockwork Orange:

Clockwork_orange

Of course, the reporter does mention that there are other reasons besides PVRs for the projections that growth in TV ad revenues will shrink:

A combination of fragmenting television audiences, loss of market share by the big networks to cable channels, and the growth of the personal video recorder, will all contribute to a slowing in the rate of growth of the advertising industry.

They forgot to mention the little fact that a lot of people feel besieged with advertising that has no respect for us as viewers and insults our intelligence, and the PVR is just one way to route around it.

Anyway, the rate of penetration for PVRs in U.S. homes today is about the same as cable TV had in 1980. In other words, there’s lots of room for growth if greedy corporations don’t try to strangle the market.

The importance of photo sharing sites to Media Center

Thomas Hawk posted some excellent comments to a recent post here and then turned those comments into a post on his own blog. He’s absolutely, 100% right. Digital photography is a killer feature that is getting people excited about PCs again. Managing photos, digitally manipulating them, turning them into slide shows, printing… These are activities that people of all ages and all levels of computer expertise can relate to. Thomas has a great suggestion for Microsoft:

Yahoo! got Flickr on the cheap. Microsoft should be developing something like this right now in order to compete in the future. They also have a natural tie in with Media Center. If Microsoft tied in an online photo sharing service with my picture slide shows you would have instant built in content on a PC. These powerful slide shows would add to the wow factor of the product.

Right! Most people think of Media Center and they think of its TiVo-like features. But the ability to play digital music, tune in Internet radio stations, listen to podcasts, and make easy slide shows out of digital photos are equally important. When I show off my Media Center setup for friends, photo slide shows always get the biggest wow. If you just got back from vacation, do you really want to drag everyone into the den to see the photos from your trip? Wouldn’t you rather show them off in the living room on your big-screen TV?

Microsoft, are you listening?

(Oh, and be sure to follow the links in Thomas’s post, especially this collection of top-rated photos at Flickr. His photography is technically first-rate, and he also has an artist’s eye for composing and framing shots. I wish I had his talent!)

Thomas Hawk wants his HDTV, now!

Thomas Hawk is betting that Chris Lanier is right and I’m wrong in our predictions of when CableCARD HDTV support will arrive in Windows Media Center PCs. (Chris says in the Longhorn timeframe, late 2006, I say a lot sooner.)

In separate comments to my post and to Thomas’s post, Chris says he doesn’t have any inside information, and like me he’s speculating based on publicly available information. Meanwhile, Thomas says Microsoft needs to stop kowtowing to Hollywood:

Microsoft walks a fine line trying to negotiate with it’s Hollywood customers and it’s Media Center customers. It’s a shame because Microsoft certainly has the power, legal prowess and money to tell Hollywood to pound salt — they just have a little more business savvy than this and we will all probably just have to sit tight until the Titans of Media figure it all out.

Microsoft is not waiting for approval from the Forces of Darkness in Hollywood. All of the infrastructure is already in Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 to record and play back HDTV right now. With an over-the-air antenna, you can get many hours of high-definition programming already. The only missing piece – and it’s a really big piece – is a CableLabs-certified device that can plug into the PC to bring in HD programming that is only available over a wire. Those devices can be added to the Hardware Compatibility List as soon as they’re available, which may be before or after the fall update for Media Center (probably after). Drivers for those devices get certified by the Windows Hardware Quality Lab. Outside beta testers don’t need to use external hardware; all of that testing can be done internally, and in fact confidentiality terms in the license agreement with CableLabs probably make it impossible for any third-party tester to get their hands on one of these devices until they’ve been given the CableLabs stamp of approval.

As for the Media Center Update this fall, Thomas says, “Yawn”:

Give me HDTV. Give me Flickr. Give me instant access to my music without having to wait 5 minutes. Give me a PVR and a guide for radio. Etc. etc. and I’ll be thrilled.

HDTV? It’s already in Windows Media Center. The piece you’re waiting for is the hardware, and that has nothing to do with an OS release.
Flickr support? I’m amazed that a third party hasn’t written a Flickr add-in yet. All the hooks are in the operating system already and it should be simple. I don’t really expect Microsoft to build in support for a service that’s owned by Yahoo.
A fix to the problem of slow music libraries? That’s not Media Center, that’s Windows Media Player. As Matt Goyer said last December in a comment to Thomas: “The problem Thomas is experiencing is a problem with the interaction between WMP and MCE. It is being addressed.” Wouldn’t it be nice if that fix made it into this update, so that we don’t have to wait for the rumored beta of WMP 11 in November?
A PVR and a guide for radio? As someone said, “Yawn.” I barely listen to radio anymore. with the exception of NPR, and time-shifted podcast-like NPR programming is already available on Media Center. XM Radio is supported in Media Center too.

Anyway, for Thomas (and for Chris and for me and for lots of other people), HDTV over cable is the #1 item on the wish list. Get that hardware certified and you’re not yawning about Media Center anymore!

When will HDTV over cable come to Media Center?

When will you be able to plug a digital cable into your PC and record HDTV signals? It might be a lot sooner than you think. Maybe before the end of this year.

I realize that’s not the current conventional wisdom. Last month, Chris Lanier speculated that Windows-based Media Center PCs wouldn’t support high-definition TV over cable until Media Center Longhorn Edition arrives at the end of 2006. His remarks got picked up by Thomas Hawk, by Engadget, and by Ernest Miller at Corante, to name just a few. Chris sees Hollywood circling the wagons and refusing to allow Microsoft access to their encrypted signals:

Part of the reason Media Center doesn’t support anything more than OTA is mainly because of the rights management issues. Sure, the hardware support isn’t currently shipped, but I don’t see that as the big holdup. Media Center is not the “closed box” that Hollywood [wants] it to be. The only reason we can purchase a TiVo or other CE device that will record premium content is because it appears to the industry as a “closed box”. It’s too easy for them to say that Media Center is highly contributing to piracy of TV and films on the Internet because of the PC’s open architecture. Microsoft must make changes to Media Center, and the underlying Operating System that is Windows XP, to be a “closed box” when it comes to recording and viewing digital content. … The solution to this problem of the “closed box” is already being developed, but I don’t think it’s going to fall into place until the Longhorn timeframe.

Interesting theory, but flawed, in my opinion. I will quibble with the assertion that “we can purchase a TiVo or other CE device that will record premium content … because it appears to the industry as a ‘closed box.'” TiVos are eminently hackable , as are Replay TV boxes and MythTV. In fact, many, many people (including me) have opened those boxes and modified them. So far there is no DVR device from any third-party company that accepts a CableCARD and records an HDTV signal. [This statement is incorrect. See update at end of item.] The only devices that can do this are true closed boxes – DVRs specifically designed for cable companies to give to their subscribers, like the Scientific Atlanta 8300HD, which I’ve written about many times.

Then, earlier this week, Chris passed along this news item from Multichannel News:

Cable Television Laboratories Inc. is expected to announce that Microsoft Corp. will build a new class of “unidirectional” devices, meaning PCs that can display secure video programming from cable operators.

Copy protection on incoming content could be applied using Windows digital-rights management on a secure connector, but other methods of DRM are not excluded.

To date, Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co. Ltd., Panasonic Consumer Electronics, LG Electronics Inc. and Digeo Inc. have signed the “CHILA” agreement, which stands for “Cable Host Interface Licensing Agreement.”

Chris thinks this proves that the devices won’t be ready until Longhorn. I think it suggests that these devices could be available sooner than anyone thinks.

The Multichannel News article got one detail wrong. The agreement Microsoft signed is the CableCARD-Host Interface Licensing Agreement. (It’s easier to Google when you get the terms just right.) The missing piece in the HDTV-over-cable-to-PC puzzle is the hardware that receives the signal and sends it along to a consumer device. Any device designed to decode a digital cable signal via CableCARD must be certified to meet OpenCable specifications established by the cable industry. Those specifications define compatibility, quality, and robustness – which is a code word for security and, in the present example, means “resisting attempts to modify CableCARDs or Host Devices to defeat the functions of the OpenCable Specifications or the Compliance Rules.” (If you want to geek out, go read the CableCARD Copy Protection System Interface Specification, the Multi-Stream CableCARD Copy Protection System Interface, and the OpenCable™ Host Device 2.0 Core Functional Requirements, paying particular attention to Section 4.6 of that last document, which defines the HD Copy Control specifications.)

CableLabs is currently preparing for a wave of testing of these “unidirectional digital cable products,” or UDCPs. There’s a good overview of the process here. You can see the hardware test schedule for 2005 at the CableLabs site, in a PDF document that lists August 5 as the TestWave end date for UDCPs and August 19 as the end date for OpenCable products. What’s involved in the testing? See for yourself in this Getting Started document (PDF), which is aimed at manufacturers of devices. These devices use encryption (manufacturers have to order 10,000 certificates at a time, with each device having a unique certificate, at a cost of 7 cents apiece). If the production devices submitted for testing pass the OpenCable tests, they get certified within five days and the manufacturer can begin production.

In the past, PC-based devices have failed the robustness test. But I suspect that this time around, Microsoft is pushing aggressively to have its encryption and rights-management certified. The OpenCable specs allow for submission of New Digital Outputs and Content Protection Technologies. The Multichannel News article says Cable Labs is going to announce the approval of “PCs that can display secure video programming” from Microsoft. The developer’s checklist for this fall’s update to Windows XP Media Center Edition refers to “content protection” and “platform security.” When I add that all up, it seems like a pretty good story.

Is it a coincidence that the OpenCable testing ends in August and the Media Center update is also due in August? Hmmm. If Microsoft can push their Media Center update and associated hardware through the certification process, we could see HDTV CableCARD devices, and maybe even full systems like Shuttle’s CableCARD-ready Pentium M design, up to a year sooner than Longhorn. If they fail, well … wait till Longhorn.

Update: In the comments, Bosteve points out that the Sony DHG-HDD series has been on sale at retail for a few months. There are two models, one with a 250GB drive and another with a 500GB drive. One tuner only. Curiously, this device is listed as “self-verified” rather than “certified” on the CableLabs list. Although they were announced in October 2004, I can’t tell when they actually went on sale. It appears to be relatively recently. Is anyone out there using one of these boxes?

Media Center update due in August?

A report by Tom Warren in Neowin says Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 Update Due In August. Details, which appear (based on their geek-speak quotient) to have been snipped from a developer’s checklist, include:

Native digital cable
Content Protection
Improve burning (DRM, network, Hi-def, DVD-RAM)
MCX on WinCE clients (Babylon, TV2 as stretch goal)
Playback reliability
Running 3rd party apps out of proc
Address top usability issues
Platform Security
Additional languages and locales

According to the unverified reports, the update will be released to manufacturing in August for English, French, German, Korean and Japanese versions. Dutch, Italian and Simplified Chinese versions are expected to follow 2 weeks later. That should have this update on new PCs for the holiday season.

Native digital cable support? I’ll have a follow-up post exploring what that might mean later today.

Update: It took a little longer than I thought, but you can read the follow-up post here: When will HDTV over cable come to Media Center? The short answer is, maybe a lot sooner than you think.

Tip of the day: Get the ultimate list of Microsoft keyboard shortcuts

You say you hate to take your hands off the keyboard to click the mouse? Then you’ll love this master list of keyboard shortcuts covering a long, long list of Microsoft products, including Internet Explorer 6 and nearly every program in the Office 2000, Office XP, and Office 2003 families. If you use Windows XP Media Center Edition, be sure to get this one.

Media Center Extender bargains

Tim Coyle posted a review of his HP x5400 Media Center Extender. His conclusions are generally positive, with the exception of some networking issues. (And Microsoft’s Matt Goyer explains that those might have been avoided if Tim had chosen hardware from the compatibility list.)

I’ve been using a Linksys Media Center Extender since last December. It works great and has really changed the way we listen to music and watch TV. I was able to justify the high price tag (SRP $299, discounted to $259) because I write about this technology, but most people can’t use that excuse.

In passing, Tim notes that Hewlett-Packard has discontinued making the extenders. He speculates that this decision was because they aren’t selling well, although Matt says that’s not so. I suspect the real reason is that HP is reorganizing its PC division and wants to concentrate on business machines and notebooks instead of low-margin consumer devices. And as Thomas Hawk points out, the imminent arrival of the xBox 360, which will include Media Center Extender features, has probably dried up the market as well.

Anyway, HP’s loss could be your gain. Try searching Froogle for x5400 extender and you’ll see some nice close-out deals on new units and demo models ($200 and $180, respectively). If the price has put you off, this might be a buying opportunity. (Disclaimer: I’ve never purchased anything from TechExcess, so I can’t recommend them. Their profile at Reseller Ratings is acceptable, but it’s based on very limited data. Caveat emptor.)

One more time: You CAN legally buy a copy of Media Center Edition

Update, December 2005: In August of this year, Microsoft changed its OEM licensing rules, eliminating the silly requirement that you had to buy a trivial little piece of hardware along with an OEM operating system. Now, anyone can buy an OEM version of any Windows operating system, including Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, if they are a “system builder.” And the rules of the System Builder specifically state that a hobbyist qualifies, without having to join any organization or pay any fees. For more details, see this post.

The other day, I pointed to a post by a Microsoft blogger who claimed you can’t legally buy an OEM copy of Windows XP Media Center Edition unless it’s installed on a new PC. I provided lots of evidence to prove that’s not true, including quotes from Microsoft’s Web site and from official representatives of the OEM Systems Group, as well as from the license agreement itself.

That’s not enough for some people, I guess. Case in point, Ed Oswald, who writes a blog called The Daily Ed and says his occupation is “Reporter, BetaNews.” In a blog post today, Ed insists that “The official line from Microsoft is that Windows Media Center Edition is not available as a standalone product.” After a couple of confusing paragraphs that refer to eBay and the absence of a retail price for this software, Ed concludes, “So, in response, my answer is right. Because legally, as said by the company itself, Windows Media Center is not sold seperately, and only with a new PC.”

Ed, you’re wrong. Don’t just listen to me; here’s Microsoft’s own take on the subject. As part of its System Builder program, Microsoft produced this official Product Guide for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005:

System Builders must distribute each desktop operating system unit with either a fully assembled computer system or a nonperipheral computer hardware component.

Non-peripheral hardware? What’s that? Conveniently, Microsoft has put together a Web page that defines the term:

What is Non-peripheral Hardware?
A non-peripheral hardware component is one essential to running a PC

Examples of non-peripheral hardware:
Memory
Internal drives
Mice
Keyboards
Power supplies/cords

Examples of components not considered essential are:
Scanners
Printers
Cameras
External modems
Networking device

In other words, you can legally buy a copy of Windows XP Media Center Edition (or any OEM edition of Windows XP for that matter) from any authorized reseller as long as you buy it with a power cord. Or a mouse. Or a keyboard. OK? That’s the legal, official answer. (Note that this is not true of OEM copies of application software, like Office, or server software, like Microsoft Exchange. Those can only be sold with a fully assembled computer system.)

Over to you, Ed.

Update: On his blog, Ed replies, “I have really not heard of one person who would want to go through the trouble of obtaining MCE through this process – even if it is possible, it sure isn’t advertised, and I’m sure even if you contacted a customer service representative, many of them wouldn’t even know how to sell it to you anyways.”

Not advertised? C’mon, Ed. Here are four large companies that prominently advertise Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 on their Web sites and will gladly sell it to you without requiring that you buy a new PC. All you have to do is click a link; you don’t even have to talk to a sales rep:

Newegg, $129.95

PC Alchemy, $119.95

Allstarshop.com, $128.00

Chief Value, $125.99

In each case, the listing makes clear that the software must be purchased with hardware. So throw a $1.99 power cord or a $5 generic mouse into your shopping basket. Or get that memory upgrade you’ve been thinking of. Or upgrade your hard drive. Use your imagination.

Remind me not to take BetaNews too seriously from now on, if this is the quality of their “reporters.”

All of the above companies still sell Media Center OEM versions. A few still include the outdated requirement that you must purchase a qualifying peripheral. Newegg is a notable exception. In keeping with the updated license terms, it now has this text in the product description:

OEM versions are intended for system builders only and cannot be transferred to another PC once it is installed. Purchasers of this software are required to comply with the terms of the System Builder License, including responsibility for providing all end-user support.

So, bottom line: You can still legally buy a copy of Media Center Edition 2005.

Can you buy an OEM copy of Windows XP Media Center Edition? Yes.

Update: In August 2005, Microsoft changed its OEM licensing rules, eliminating the silly requirement that you had to buy a trivial little piece of hardware along with an OEM operating system. Now, anyone can buy an OEM version of any Windows operating system, including Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, if they are a “system builder.” And the rules of the System Builder program specifically state that a hobbyist qualifies, without having to join any organization or pay any fees. For more details, see this post.

Michael Creasy answers some questions on his blog and gets one wrong:

I’ve seen the Media Center software for sale online is it OK to buy it? I’m no lawyer so I’m not going to comment on this. Media Center is an OEM product and only available with new PCs is the official answer though.

Sorry, that’s not true. I covered this topic earlier this year in a post entitled Everything you always wanted to know about Windows Product Activation. Yes, you can buy an OEM copy of Windows XP with a new PC. But you can also buy your own OEM copy of Windows XP if you purchase it with a “non-peripheral computer hardware component.” Qualifying products include memory, internal drives, mice, keyboards, and power supplies/cords. This type of OEM license includes a CD, a Certificate of Authenticity, and a product key, and it requires activation.

There are many vendors who will sell you an OEM copy of Windows XP Media Center Edition. Just buy an appropriate piece of hardware with it and you’ll be fine.

(I’m pretty sure Michael works for Microsoft, but there’s no bio on his site, so I don’t want to assume.)

Update: In the comments, Thomas Hawk confirms that Michael works for Microsoft in the Media Center group. (Thanks, Thomas!) Thomas also suggests that selling an OEM copy of Windows with a small piece of hardware might somehow be against the “official” policy but that Microsoft winks and looks the other way.

That’s not correct. The “official” policy is exactly as I stated it: You can legally purchase an OEM copy of Windows XP with qualifying hardware. This is not a wink-wink, nudge-nudge deal. This is an explicit, documented part of the license terms. Read it for yourself (link to PDF copy of OEM license):

If the individual software license is a desktop operating system (including Windows XP Media Center Edition), we grant you a nonexclusive right to distribute individual software licenses; provided that each one is distributed with either (a) a fully assembled computer system or (b) a nonperipheral computer hardware component. A “fully assembled computer system” means a computer system consisting of at least a central processing unit, a motherboard, a hard drive, a power supply, and a case. A “nonperipheral computer hardware component” means a component that will be an integral part of the fully assembled computer system on which the individual software license will be installed.

Several Microsoft documents make it clear that any component that is an integral part of the PC qualifies, including an internal connector for a hard drive or an external power cord. This online chat with members of Microsoft’s System Builders group, from February 2005, is explicit on the subject:

Q: [P]lease elaborate on what nonperipheral hardware is. The OEM site lists power supplies/cords as examples implying it is legal to sell with an internal P4 power adapter or external power supply cord.
A: If you look at [the System Builder site] it states that a power code [sic] is and examples of non-peripheral hardware. … Non-peripheral is something that is essential to the functioning of the PC – so a power cord would qualify.

There are many other, similar references on Microsoft pages, most of which are available only to registered members of the System Builder program. The products I mentioned above (memory, mouse, power cord) are specifically mentioned as acceptable qualifying hardware.

So go ahead. Buy an OEM copy of Windows XP Media Center Edition. You don’t need a secret handshake, just a valid credit card.

PS: Everything in this post applies to Windows XP only. None of this information applies to Microsoft Office. The only legal way to purchase an OEM copy of Office is with a new PC!

Read more on this topic here.