Interesting development on the Xbox 360 front. Cable manufacturer XCM say they are bringing out a HDMI cable for the standard Xbox 360 complete with 1080p support. One of the main selling points of the Xbox 360 Elite is the built in HDMI connection, so it will be interesting to see Microsoft's reaction to this if the story is true.

Gaming - News - HDMI 1080p on standard Xbox 360? - Digital Spy

One Voice Technologies have kindly allowed me to offer a trial version of Media Center Communicator V3 for download on The Digital Lifestyle.com downloads.

This is a full featured 30 day trial of Media Center Communicator, so you can try it to see if it works for you.

Oh and listen out to next weeks Media Center Show for a chance to win a copy

Files: Media Center Communicator V3 from One Voice Technologies

Microsoft has released the June 2007 Cumulative Update for Media Center for Windows Vista.  I am installing this as I type, so I will update on how it gets on.

It is available on Windows Update and can also be downloaded directly from Microsoft

thanks Mike at Missing Remote for the heads up

Hotfix replacement information

929011 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929011/) Windows Media Center does not correctly configure a combo TV tuner that supports both ATSC and NTSC signals on a Windows Vista-based computer

932753 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/932753/) When you resize the Windows Media Center window in Windows Vista, video playback may stop

932818 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/932818/) April 2007 Cumulative Update for Media Center for Windows Vista

931967 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931967/) You cannot hear the audio in Live TV or on a DVD in Windows Media Center after you wake a computer that is running Windows Vista Home Premium or Windows Vista Ultimate

Issues that are resolved by this update

•Several fixes for the Media Center Extensibility Platform

•An update to the Digital Cable Card component to provide better support for interaction between the digital cable tuner, the CableCARD, and Media Center

Steven Harding (also know as Ignorance Is Bliss) has taken charge of the developer forum on The Digital Lifestyle.com, he will be discussing issues raised on his developer blog and sharing ideas on TriviaCenter (a new Media Center app he is developing)

So any question to Steven please post on the Developer Forum, see Steven's welcome post

As part of the expansion of TheDigitalLifeStyle.com I want to add more blogs and more podcasts.

I would like to add extra podcasts to the site to compliment my Media Center Show, so if you fancy doing a regular show on anything to do with the digital lifestyle let me know. It could be on Mobile technology, gadgets, development or anything. You don't have to be an experienced podcaster, I had no podcasting experience before starting out and learnt as I went along. I can help out if necessary with any aspect of the show. If you interested drop me an email to Show [at] Thedigitallifesyle.com and we can talk about the options

Also the popularity of The Developer and the Expert Blog on the site means that I would like to expand the range of blogs on the site, so if fancy writing about a digital lifestyle topic let me know: show [at] thedigitallifestyle.com

Come on, join the community!

On Eric Anderson blog he confirms that V2 extenders do exist and that the prototype device he is using has native divx support. It's good to know that that the extenders (codenamed Pika) are on the way and that native support of formats like Divx is included. I wonder if the extra formats have been added as a way of differentiating the Pika Extenders from the Xbox 360?

Eric Anderson's Blog : Pika Me

By Ian Dixon (20.3mb 59mins 10sec)

Direct Download Link  - Subscribe via iTunes - RSS feed for the show

This week Jessica Zahn from the eHome team at Microsoft joins me to talk about her forum on The Green Button plus TV setup, CableCARD and beta testing. Also find out why Jessica had ran 12 miles before doing the interview.

I have email, news items and forum poster of the week

The Media Center Show with Orb Networks, email the show: Show [at] TheDigitallifestyle.com

Show Times:
00:53 Coming up this week
01:26 Email - DVB-T Signal problems
05:59 Vista Media Center applications
07:54 DVB-T Fix for Australian users
08:54 mceComponents updated
09:25 DVRMStoolbox updated
09:47 Forum poster of the week, win a mcePhone bundle
10:52 A Message from One voice
12:11 Welcome to Jessica
12:31 Jessica's background
14:16 TV Setup in Windows Media Center
20:11 CableCARD
24:44 Beta testing
27:43 What makes a good tester?
34:50 Jessica's forum on The Green Button
40:22 Common questions on the forum
50:26 How to ask Jessica
52:30 How far did Jessica run before the interview?
55:40 Thanks to Jessica
56:03 Get in touch and win my book!
Thanks for listening!

Music by Ian Dixon

Technorati tags: Windows Media Center, podcasts

Could this be the key to more Media Center extenders? Microsoft have invested $12.3 million in a Chinese electronic manufacturer (Sichuan Changhong Electric Co). The two companies are said to be cooperating to develop and market TVs, computers and other home entertainment products.

The lack of Media Center extenders is a real problem and this could be one way Microsoft getting in to the integrated TV business.

info from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19281737/

Over on the Big Screen Blog, Nial Ginsbough reports that there is a very important fix for Australian DVB-T Vista Media Center users. The problem of Media Center loosing the channel line up (which only affects Australian users) sounds bad, the only way to get your channels back is to rescan for channels which is not want you want to do when your waiting to record your wife's favorite program.
Read Nial's post for more info

Important DVB-T tuning Hotfix released for Australian Vista Media Center Users...

If you have a Nitendo Wii and want to get your Media Center content on to it you can use Orb's 10 foot interface and it works very well, but it looks like there is an alternative called Wii Media Center X. You can stream video, music, pictures and files to your Wii and the server is cross platform so you could use it on your Mac or Linux box too

via PVRBlog

Windows Home Server Release Candidate is live, according to the Windows Home Server Blog "we'll make the RC software available to all 100,000+ beta program applicants asap, as well as all new sign ups. " , so availability shouldn't be a problem.

I will be installing it tonight and I will let you know how I get on getting Recorded TV playing from it.

Windows Home Server Blog : Release Candidate goes live!

Mike Garcen over on Missing Remote has a review of Cyberlink Live a product I have not used before but it's a product that according to Mike is similar to Orb.

I'll start quite honestly...there's really not a single feature new to Cyberlink Live that you can't find in Orb or the other media streaming options, so the purpose of this first look is more to show what it has to offer. It is free after all, so assuming it doesn't break your system, it just might be worth a try if you dislike the others for some reason.

Take a look at Mike's review and as Mike says its still Beta software but I have to say it doesn't look to impressive

First Look- Cyberlink Live Beta

For anybody looking at CableCARD its well worth looking at Chris Lanier's CableCARD FAQ. He has over a dozen questions on the FAQ that should answer many CableCARD questions.

Vista Media Center CableCARD FAQ

Steven Harding has launched EMUCenter, its a Media Center program that enables you to play games from Media Center

Say hello to 'EMUCenter'. It lets you create your own list of games to play from within Media Center. You can add your normal Windows games, as well as games from your old favorite machines (assuming you still own those disks and haven't thrown them out, of course!).

If you would like to check it out (and tell me if it doesn't work!) feel free to drop on by the greenbutton forums - download the program and leave some comments.

 

Steven also has a new version of Yougle for Vista (the YouTube and Google video player for Media Center) and you can find more info on that on Steven's site

Steven's Windows Media Center Developer blog is a great read and can be found HERE

Want cableCard, Blue-ray and HD DVD in one box? This is a copy of Vidabox's press release:

VidaBox now shipping CableCARD systems w. Blu-ray & HD DVD support
WESTBURY, NY – June 8th – VidaBox, a manufacturer of premium media center
systems, is proud to announce that it is shipping CableCARD-ready systems
for customers looking to tune & record HD Cable directly on their media
centers
"We're absolutely excited to finally ship systems with CableCARD, Blu-ray,
and HD DVD support – everything in one box," said Steven Cheung, a
co-founder of VidaBox. “These systems answer the prayers of many of our
customers who’ve been clamoring for a total, turn-key solution with the
latest in HD technology. Now complete with life-like HD cable support, our
customers can finally realize their HDTV’s full potential beyond just
Blu-ray & HD DVD.”
The new CableCARD feature is available in the LUX & MAGNUM systems, which
are already packed with a silently cooled nVidia 8600GTS video card to
render back crystal clear video in full 1080p, support for up to 7.1 Dolby
Digital HD and DTS HD surround sound, and options for 2 additional OTA HD
tuners (for a total of 4 tuners), 4GB of RAM, and up to 5TB & 9TB of onboard
VidaSafe™-protected storage on the LUX & MAGNUM, respectively.
“CableCARD-ready VidaBox systems can also act as a safe & secure digital
media repository,” Steven continues. “Recorded HD Cable content can be
streamed and played back on up to 5 connected XBox 360 systems, while music,
pictures, video, and DVDs stored on the system can be streamed to 10 VidaBox
media extenders. This is perfect for users who want to access their content
anywhere at home – regardless of where they are.”
The new line of VidaBox media center systems with CableCARD support is
available through dealers.
About VidaBox LLC
VidaBox LLC is an innovative systems integration company focused on
manufacturing and engineering premium Media Center systems.  VidaBox is on a
mission to create user-friendly, stable, compact, and quiet Media Centers
that work right out of the box.  For more information, visit www.vidabox.com
or call 1-516-730-7500.

Nial has been at it again and is working on another great Media Center application. This one is called Big Screen Movies, it is still work in progress but it looks an awesome addin

In a nutshell - Big Screen Movies is essentially a replacement for DVD Library/Gallery feature found in Vista Media Center. Although DVD Library is very cool - there's a bunch of limitations imposed on what types and formats of movies you can browse/view, what metadata and imagery is available (if you're not in the US the DvD info is a real problem) - and also doesn't catalog your offline movies (ie DVD's sitting on the shelf don't appear until they are inserted in a drive).
Big Screen Movies essentially removes these limitations by treating all types of Movies (online/offline, other formats etc) as equal citizens (ie the same sort of metadata etc can be provided regardless of location/format) - and then ups the ante by supporting a brand new XML metadata file and allowing all manner of imagery and media to be displayed (ie. back covers, gallery images, movie preview etc). 

Read the post on Nial's blog for more details on what it does and doesn't do, I can't wait to try it!

Are you a C# programmer and know some MCML? If so Mike Venner at EtherDigital is looking to talk to you. EtherDigital are based in London (UK) and if your interested send an email to Jobs@TheDigitalLifestyle.com and I will forward the email to Mike.

If your looking for Media Center developers let me know and if your a Media Center developer looking for work drop me an email