Don't forget I have moved my blog to HERE and you can find the RSS feed for my blog HERE

Here is another round up of recent posts:

Zune + Windows Mobile = Better Together?

It maybe a few years to late but on the Windows Mobile blog the team are asking how Windows Mobile and Zune can work together. It's great that they are asking but I can't help thinking that this is something that should have been done before the iPhone...

MyNetflix v2.1 Beta

Anthony Park has updated MyNetflix with a new public beta, this adds WatchNow in full screen and a number of bug fixes. Head over to Anthony's blog for more details and a download I have completed development on the next version of MyNetflix (v2.1). This...

Windows Media Center query-based recording

Top tip on how to use query based recording with Media Center. As Ewan says in the blog it's a bit obscure and not easy to find but it's well worth highlighting. I won't steal the thunder of the original blog post but you will find the feature under the...

The Media Center Show Live Feb 29th with Windows Expert Ed Bott

It was good fun recording The Media Center Show Awards live , so I thought I would do another live recording. This Friday (29th) at 8pm UK / 12pm PST I will be interviewing Windows expert Ed Bott . We will be talking Vista Service Pack 1, Vista myths...

Don't forget I have move my blog to Ian.TheDigitalLifestyle.com

Listen Here

This week on the show I have two interviews. The first interview is with Terry Walsh from WeGotServed.co.uk talking about the data corruption bug that has hit Windows Home Server and pointing out how to avoid it then I have Pasquale DeMaio from Microsoft, he is a real Media Center enthusiasts and he talks about how he uses Media Center to distribute music around his home and he describes his Media Center setup. I have email and the latest Media Center news.

Direct Download Link - Subscribe via iTunes - Subscribe via RSS - Vote for the show on Podcast Alley - Join The Media Center Show Group on Facebook - Catch me on Twitter

Thanks to the show sponsor Tech.co.uk

Get all the show times and links on the show blog

The Media Center Show #146 - Pasquale DeMaio (Microsoft) - Media Center Enthusiast

Don't forget I have move my blog to Ian.TheDigitalLifestyle.com, so to get all my posts head over there and subscribe to the RSS feed. I have all my content on there including podcast, videos and forums. Plus there are lots of other blogs on the site including:

Mike's Digital Home

Microsoft Coder's Media Life

The Digital Lifestyle Developer Blog

Also you can follow me on Twitter

Other links:

RSS - The Media Center Show
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RSS - The DigitalLifestyle.com Video Show

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It was good fun recording The Media Center Show Awards live, so I thought I would do another live recording. This Friday (29th) at 8pm UK / 12pm PST I will be interviewing Windows expert Ed Bott. We will be talking Vista Service Pack 1, Vista myths and the recent Vista news.

It would be great to get the the interview interactive, so go to Live.TheDigitalLifestyle.com on Friday February 29th at 8pm GMT / 12pm PST and and enter the chat room. You will be able to listen live to the interview and I will put your question to Ed. Don't worry if you can't make the show you can send in your question to Ian (at the) digitallifestyle.com and I will try and include them in the show.

Don't forget I have moved my blog to HERE and you can find the RSS feed for my blog HERE

Will Digital downloads will be Blu-ray's downfall?

I was reading a CNET post on why digital downloads will overtake Blu-ray and I almost agree. While I don't think it will happen over night, I am sure digital downloads will over take physical disks in the future. The problem Blu-ray has is that for most...

Media Center in the Kitchen

I am having my kitchen redone at the moment (my wife's idea) and I am thinking of putting Media Center in to it. In the old kitchen I had an old laptop with a broken screen and a monitor, but it was messy and will not do (again my wife's thinking!) for...

Windows Home Server Data Corruption Bug Update

Terry Walsh of We Got Served posts an update on the WHS data corruption bug, while the bug is very rare it can be nasty so I thought it would be good to get Terry on to The Media Center Show to clarify the issue and help make sure avoid the problem. So...

Microsoft announces games for Zune via XNA Studio

Does anybody want to play games on their Zune? Not sure I am that bothered about playing games on my Zune I mainly use it the car for listening to podcasts and music, but I think its great that Microsoft are opening up the platform with XNA Studio Microsoft...

Listen Here and Subscribe to the RSS feed HERE

This week Microsoft's Steve Lindsay joins me to chat about his home Media Center setup and the custom developments he has been working on. Steve is involved in a program called the Microsoft Champion program and has volunteered to evangelise and support Media Center and related technologies and has started a a new blog on TheDigitialLifestyle.com.  Steve is very passionate about his home Media Center system so its interesting to hear how he has set it up. I have email, news items and software to give away.

Direct Download Link - Subscribe via iTunes - Subscribe via RSS - Vote for the show on Podcast Alley - Join The Media Center Show Group on Facebook - Catch me on Twitter

[mp3]http://thedigitallifestyle.com/audio/TDL_MediaCenter_20080221_145_a.mp3[/mp3]

Thanks to the show sponsor Tech.co.uk

Show times and links on the show blog post

Sad day for HD-DVD owners and for consumers in general as Toshiba kills HD-DVD. While it's good that the format war is over I can't help thinking that HD-DVD was more consumer focused (think Managed Copy). I say forget physical disks and go with digital downloads

BBC NEWS | Business | Toshiba drops out of HD DVD war

Microsoft's Windows Media Center Community page gets updated

Microsoft have updated the community page that focuses on Windows Media Center. There are videos on Media Center taken from Channel 10 and links to community site including TheDigitalLifestyle.com. It's a great honour to be including along with The Green Button, Chris Lanier's blog, Missing Remote and and Ed Bott's Media Central

S1Digital on Channel 10

S1Digital have been featured on The Media Center Show a few times now with Paul Heitlinger on the show a couple of weeks ago . Channel 10 caught up with Paul at CES and have posted the video interview. As well as a background on S1digital Paul talks about...

mcePicasa (Picasa Web Album Windows Media Center Presentation Layer Application)

mcePicasa is a open source project (on codeplex ) for viewing Picasa images in Media Center. Written in MCML (Media Center Markup Language) means it's a native Vista Media Center application with all the richness that offers. Plus being open source source...

Niveus drop HD-DVD for Blu-ray

Another nail in the HD-DVD coffin? Niveus have added support for Blu-ray Disc playback and to cease production of HD DVD-based servers.

Niveus update Storage Server

Maybe if I blog enough about Niveus they will send me a nice new Denali Edition , maybe not. Niveus have added the Niveus Storage Server Pro to their product range, with 4TB of storage. Have a look at my CES video to see the Storage Server. It's a slim...

Disney Revives 'House of the Future' with Media Center

I hadn't seen the 50's "Home of the future" at Disney but they are going to create a modern home of future at Disney based on Media Center, HP and Life|Ware. Disney, Microsoft, HP and LifeWare spent over $15 million on hardware and software...

LISTEN HERE

It's The Media Center Show Awards! Recorded and streamed live last Wednesday, the aim of the awards was to highlight the great work done by the Media Center developer community.  Joining me are special guest from the community and listeners in the chat room. I also read out some interesting facts from the user survay.

Direct Download Link - Subscribe via iTunes - Subscribe via RSS - Vote for the show on Podcast Alley - Join The Media Center Show Group on Facebook - Catch me on Twitter

Thanks to the show sponsor Tech.co.uk

Show times and all the links HERE and don't forget to subscribe!

Don't forget I have moved my blog to HERE and the RSS feed is HERE

Video: Unboxing HP's MediaSmart Windows Home Server

In this video I unbox and give a brief tour of a HP MediaSmart Windows Home Server . It's a very compact unit with plenty of space for adding more storage and it has plenty of expansion options.  So have a look at this video and then compare it with the video I recorded of Tranquil's Windows Home Server.

• Watch via MSN Video
• Watch via Youtube
• Watch via Blip.tv
• Watch via Direct Download

February 2008 Cumulative Update for Media Center for Windows Vista

Microsoft has released the February 2008 Cumulative Update for Media Center for Windows Vista. I would expect the update is included in Service Pack 1 for Vista as well as being on Windows Update Fixes include: Addresses an issue that is introduced in...

Media Center Add-In for updating Facebook Status

As a facebook user and a Media Center user I was thinking of developing some kind of Facebook status update app. Well it looks like Jussi Palo beat me to it. His background application updates Facebook with what you are watching, eg "is watching..." . Great idea, but make sure you avoid the port channels ;)

Don't forget I have moved my blog to HERE and the RSS feed is HERE

Tranquil PC to Launch T7-HDX Home Server Extender

When I visited Tranquil's office last year one of the cool technologies David showed me was their Server Extender. One of the problems with the small and compact T7 is that adding extra space means extra USB hard disks cluttering up your setup, so the...

Windows Vista SP1 availability for technical customers

While there is nothing major for Media Center users in Vista SP1 the reliability updates should make it work while. Last week Microsoft announced that Service Pack 1 had RTMed (released to manufacturing) but due to driver issues was being held back till...

Niveus on Channel 10

I chatted with Tim cutting of Niveus at CES (plus got the scoop on the Niveus Companion software) and Channel 10 have posted an interview they did with him at CES . In the video Tim talks about the background of Niveus and some of the product ranges Niveus...

New Vista Media Center Plugin - MyNetflix (beta)

Media Center MVP and the developer behind mceBrowser Anthony Park has a great application for Media Center Netflix users. MyNetflix is a Vista Media Center application that enables you to view your Netflix queue, browse movies and play "watch now"...

New Blog and forum: Microsoft Coder's Media Life

Please welcome to TheDigitalLifestyle.com Microsoft's Steve Lindsay . Steve is to 'Champion' Media Center and Home Server for several communities and TheDigitalLifestyle.com is one of them. Steve is going to be answering questions in the forums and writing...

Video: Unboxing and setting up a Linksys DMA2200 Media Center Extender

Now that I have the video out on Linksys' DMA2100 I thought I would try the DMA2200. This is the big brother of the 2100 and includes an upscaling DVD Player. ( You can read my first impression in here ) This video shows the unboxing of the DMA2200, the...

Want to add more content to Yougle?

Yougle is a great addin for Media Center that enable you to watch user generated content via the 10 foot UI. The developer Steven Harding maintains The Digital Lifestyle.com Developer blog and he has posted details on how to add customer sources to Yougle...

Have your say on the Vista Start Menu

Over on TheGreenButton.com forums Microsoft Program Manager Charlie Owen ask for you to have your say on the Vista Media Center Start Menu. The thread is already pretty long so if you want to have your opinion heard head over the the forum. It's great...

Niveus team up with Lagotek

I have to admit I have not heard of Lagotek, it looks like a PC based home control / automation system. From looking at the website it seems like they have wall mounted LCD touch screens and they are working with Niveus to show off some pretty high end...

I have moved my blog to  TheDigitalLifestyle.com with a new RSS feed

Video: Unboxing and setting up a Linksys DMA2200 Media Center Extender

Now that I have the video out on Linksys' DMA2100 I thought I would try the DMA2200. This is the big brother of the 2100 and includes an upscaling DVD Player. ( You can read my first impression in here ) This video shows the unboxing of the DMA2200, the...

Want to add more content to Yougle?

Yougle is a great addin for Media Center that enable you to watch user generated content via the 10 foot UI. The developer Steven Harding maintains The Digital Lifestyle.com Developer blog and he has posted details on how to add customer sources to Yougle...

Have your say on the Vista Start Menu

Over on TheGreenButton.com forums Microsoft Program Manager Charlie Owen ask for you to have your say on the Vista Media Center Start Menu. The thread is already pretty long so if you want to have your opinion heard head over the the forum. It's great...

Pros and Cons on the Linksys Extenders

As I have been using the Extenders (see the the unboxing videos here ) for a few days and I have had loads of questions so I thought I would try and put some of the points down here 5.1 Audio I thought I would try a WMV file with 5.1 audio encoded in...

Video: Comparing The Xbox 360 with a Linksys DMA2100

I was about to packup the Linksys DMA2100 and unbox the 2200 when I thought it would be interesting to compare the Extender function of the Xbox 360 with the Linksys DMA2100. So with both extenders connected up to my TV I made a side by side comparison...

The live show was great! + Find me on Twitter

So I caved in and joined Twitter , more and more people I talk to use it and find its a great way of keeping in touch. So I created an account and if you have Twitter add me http://twitter.com/isdixon , also let me know if there are any tool or apps I...

LISTEN HERE, don't forget my blog has moved to Ian.TheDigitalLifestyle.com

S1Digital make a great range of high end Media Center Systems, including a quad Cablecard system. In this weeks show Paul Heitlinger from S1Digital joins me to chat about their Media Center systems, Cablecard, their new showroom and the importance of fitting good quality components into your systems. I have email including a listeners asking for help with an Xbox 360 extender that keeps disconnecting and an update on the Linksys DMA2100 Extender I have been playing with.

Direct Download Link - Subscribe via iTunes - Subscribe via RSS - Vote for the show on Podcast Alley - Join The Media Center Show Group on Facebook 
Thanks to the show sponsor Tech.co.uk

For the show times,links and all the RSS feeds head to The Media Center Show Blog

I will be recording The Media Center Show and streaming it live today at 8pm GMT / 12pm PST. Joining me will be Media Center developers and enthusiasts. So head to live.thedigitallifestyle.com and listen in, there is a chatroom so you can ask the guest questions and chat with other listeners.I will also be taking calls via Skype (let me know your ID if you want to come on)

So see you later

live.thedigitallifestyle.com

Posts from by blog on TheDigitalLifestyle.com , Get the RSS feed HERE

MiraWorldTV for Media Center

Over the weekend I played with MiraWorldTV for Media Center. It's a new plugin that brings Internet TV streams in to a 10 foot Media Center UI

The install is a nice simple download and then it adds a tile in to Media Center, you then get a grid of Intent web content. When you click on the content you get the option to play full screen or in a Windows. I tried Click (a tech show from the BBC) and it played ok on my test system, it did pause a couple of times but I think that was a Internet problem. It looks like it should work on a Media Center Extender but I haven't had chance to test that yet.  It can also stream content live, so you could watch BBC news 24 live via the application.  make that Sky news as the BBC feed didn't work

HP Pavilion tx2000 tablet goes on sale

One Tablet PC I have been watching since CES is the HPtx2000. While my 2710p is a lightweight business tablet (and great podcasting tool) the tx2000 is more of a consumer device. It has a touch and active digitiser and comes with Vista Home Premium so would make a great Media Center machine

According to Engadget they are available to order now. For the UK Amazon.co.uk are selling it for £664.40 but with no delivery date yet.

Interset talk Media Center Systems with Channel 10

Interset make high end Media Center systems, I had them on the show a couple of years ago. Channel 10 interviewed them at CES where they talked about their high end AV Media Center systems and how they work with dealers to get them installed

Niveus Media formally announce Media Center Companion 3.0 and Basic

I know it has already been reported that Niveus are releasing Media Center Companion for free but today they formally announced it. So here is the press releases and in case you missed it checkout the video I took at CES with Niveus founder Tim Cutting where he explains the details on the announcement

The votes are in and have been counted so it's time for the awards show.  Don your black tie and join me for The Media Center Show Awards on Wednesday 6th 8pm GMT (12pm PST) live on ustream.tv. You can join in via the chat room on ustream or even better call in via Skype, just send me an email to Ian at theDigitalLifestyle.com with your Skype ID and I will call you during the recording of the show.

I hope to have some guest joining me for the show as well as announcing the winners of the awards and the prize draw. I will also be giving away a copy of mControl 2.1 to a random caller

So make a note in your diary and join in on Wednesday,  it would make it great if you could join in

Live Show Link

You can get the RSS feed for my Blog here and head over to TheDigitalLifestyle.com for all my content

First Impressions of the Linksys Extender

Tonight I had my first play with Linksys's DMA2100 Media Center Extender, so here are my first impressions. I have been using an Xbox 360 as an extender for nearly two years now and am very happy with it so going to be hard for the new Extenders to match...

Bigscreenglobal.com + v2 products

Niall Ginsbourg has launched his new site http://bigscreenglobal.com and the public releases of Big Screen Photos v2 and Big Screen Weather v2 As I did with this weeks The Media Center Show next week I will be giving away a full copy Big Screen Photos...

Video: Walking the CES show floor with Tim Cutting from Niveus.

This is my last video from the 2008 CES. Tim Cutting from Niveus and I walked the show floor looking at Extenders and had some fun searching for Sideshow devices. Lookout for a Niveus product announcement at the end where Tim mentioned a free application...

Video: Linksys DMA2100 Unboxing and Setup

As promised on my "first impressions" post here is the video of the unboxing and setup of the DMA2100. The video shows the unboxing and how I setup the Extender to connect with my Media Center PC. It wasn't all plane sailing, mainly due to the...

Niveus Media Companion for Free!

In case you didn't watch the CES video I recorded with Niveus founder Tim Cutting (why not!), Niveus are releasing Media Companion Basic edition for free. I really like Companion ( see my review ) and its a great move by Niveus to offer the software for...