MS pushes Media Center through Xbox

By Tom Bramwell Published 8 January, 2004

Extender kit reduces distance between PC and TV.

In his keynote address to the CES convention in Las Vegas this week, Bill Gates has revealed Microsoft's desire to push "seamless computing", starting with technology that will allow users to view movies and images and hear audio stored on their PCs, using a regular television equipped with a gadget from the Media Center Extender Kit (MCX) family of products.

In another example of Microsoft's ambition to control the lounge - the entire entertainment matrix of the home, in fact - as well as its traditional PC stomping grounds, MCX kits will give the end user wireless TV access to a raft of media stored on a suitable PC, and one way of connecting the two will be to use the Xbox Media Center Extender Kit, with its DVD and dedicated remote control.

However if you buy a PC later in the year then Microsoft will be hoping that you find yourself with an MCX set-top box or adapter right from the start. Having partnered with Gateway, Creative Labs, Samsung and SANYO amongst others to produce portable Media Center compatible devices supporting Windows Media Video and Audio 9, it shouldn't be long, Microsoft says, before the wireless bridge between PC and TV is a standard feature. Windows Media Connects, a series of application programming interfaces (APIs) on the verge of release, should allow even more consumer electronics firms to equip their devices to support automatic sharing with Windows Media Center, and we can certainly expect to find support built into the next generation of Xbox console.

Even at this early stage, we're already starting to see Media Center content appearing in high places, including media player applications on websites like those of American sports broadcaster ESPN. Over 8,500 software development kits for Media Center Edition 2004 have been downloaded since September, and the format is supported by various partners of MS, with film studios like Artisan, IMAX and National Geographic already producing a total of 16 films using the new Windows Media High-Definition Video (WMVHD) format, while MS is currently polishing up a version of Media Player with HDTV support.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (15) Latest comment 8 years ago

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  • kincaide #1 8 years ago

    Leave my lounge alone Bill

  • Beano #2 8 years ago

    Yay... but we allready have Xbox Media Player today :)

  • Blerk #3 8 years ago

    Just concentrate on the games ffs, Bill! Jeeeeeeesus. >-(

  • kingmob #4 8 years ago

    Beano, I agree. There's nowt wrong with the current version sitting happily on my xbox.

  • Zero Beat #5 8 years ago

    Great news. Hopefully they'll give the Xbox software a GUI much closer to Wndows XP than the bubbly ugly mess of Xbox Music Mixer.

    I just want an official utility that lets owners backup all their gamesaves now. Including copy protected ones.

  • prettyboytim #6 8 years ago

    This sounds cool - I just hope it's not too expensive.

    I don't see what the big deal is here - frankly I think it's cool that I'll be able to download Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story onto my PC and then watch it in the living room rather than on my monitor. It seems a waste to have a fairly powerful net-connected device attached to my TV and not be able to use it to watch downloaded movies.

  • PondScum #7 8 years ago

    I'm not sure why you think convergence will have an adverse effect on the games, Blerk - the next version of Xbox is likely to be developed by the Xbox team, but will just use the API set to tie it into the Media Centre suite. Does it matter if the same console stands alone or is part of a suite?

  • spiny #8 8 years ago

    Blerk, you obiously haven't seen how great XBMP or XBMC are then.

  • Blerk #9 8 years ago

    I don't want or need a 'media centre'. I want to play games. All this extra rubbish that the majority of people don't care about just shoves the price up.

    /shrugs

  • surgeon_general #10 8 years ago

    This all just points to the emergence of convergent entertainment devices in our homes, Sony are already gearing up to having content streamed into your front room via their next PS offering. Microsoft are building relations with key media players as reported by the New Scientist recently.
    The article also shows that MS are attempting to address the p2p network problems too.

    So, if you follow either the MS or Sony camp you're likely to have very little say about any of this. They're setting their sites on bigger fish than just the games market.

    If you want a purely games oriented machine, I'd go for the next Ninty console, it's likely to follow their ethos of games only, no frills. But it will likely come with net connectivity out of the box.
    Edited by 1 at 08/01/04 @ 15:02

  • jellyhead #11 8 years ago

    Spiny - XBMC is great but i hate the lack of proper fwd/rwnd controls.

  • kingmob #12 8 years ago

    Blerk, I do agree in principle. In fact the media centre capability of my Xbox was something I thought I'd never use. However, the ability to watch divx on your TV really is nice and soon got me hooked (up to "24" series 3 episode 9 already!).

    But, like everything, it's down to your personal preferences. I'm sure that for "Joe Average" this might be quite a selling point but for your more serious gamer it means naff all.

  • Nemesis #13 8 years ago

    I just read all that and thought.........gah, I just can't be arsed pissing around with all that.



  • kincaide #14 8 years ago

    This can't be right... the BBC is reporting stuff before Eurogamer:

    htt p://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3379333.stm
    Edited by 2 at 08/01/04 @ 16:39

  • Brutebasher #15 8 years ago

    Reffering to the BBC article:

    Robbie Bach wants 60% of Live users within 5 years to be women? or did I misinterpret that?

    This whole idea is cosy isn't it. Bill's obsessed with his intergration of products and then into the living room idea. But I suppose in the future we will have digital houses. Smart kitchens that re-order ingredients over the internet and being able to control switches and appliances from anywhere in the World using a mobile phone etc. This is already reality. This is just one more step in his scheme for the interactive house. MS want to sell everything! They're already designing watches that you can recieve Live invites on, there are Windows based PDA's and mobile phones, and of course computer operating systems (Windows) and games consoles (Xbox). You'll walk into a shop tomorrow and find MS TV's - TV's with a built in web browser, Xbox, alarm clock, media player, digital camera, phone and kareoke system.

    Is there anyone in our generation who can say they don't own anything by Microsoft? I suppose that's just Mac users with a PS2 or GC then. I'm just waiting for Bill to sign the cheque buying the World and then making a big public speech about intergration through a webcam over MSN.