Entertainment 2.0

This post is for those who don’t listen to the podcast. (Why would you do that?  To make Josh cry?)  We officially announced it then but I wanted to post here as well.  Entertainment 2.0 the blog is, well, basically, no more.  It’s changing into something better.  Something with more coverage of more products. 

While Josh Pollard and I have been working on the podcast together for awhile now, we decided it was time that we took on the whole site together as well.  In doing so, we wanted to provide our readers with as much coverage of HTPC and digital content as possible.  From  this vision, The Digital Media Zone, or The DMZ was born.

The Entertainment 2.0 podcast is and always will be Media Center focused.  Nothing is changing there if you enjoy the show.  You won’t even have to change the feed that you get the podcast on.  We’re taking care of that for you.  There shouldn’t be any hiccups when it comes to downloading the latest episodes.  If you have any problems, please let us know right away by using the contact form at The DMZ.

As always, you can follow Josh and I on twitter. (Josh and Adam).  Also, you can now follow The Digital Media Zone as well.  You’ll get the latest site updates the fastest this way.

We know that changing URLs and content feeds can cause problems for some people.  We apologize for this but we think we’ve made it as easy as possible for everyone to get the content we want.  When you go to the new site, I encourage you to head to the RSS Page.  You can of course subscribe the main site feed, but we’ve split them up so that if you want, you can get just the content you want.  We hope this makes it easier for everyone.

Let us know what you think of the new site!  We love feedback and want to hear from all of our readers/listeners about want you want us to write/talk about.

Welcome back to the show folks.  We had a bit of trouble recording last night but family comes first and we were still able to get the show out today!  The one good part is that I had an opportunity to pay homage to Monty Python.

This week we take time to talk about Hack7MC yet again.  Michael Healy is really cranking out the hacks and customizations for 7MC and while we were going to talk about two of them this week, we ended up covering three!  Find links below.

We also talk about the value of high end custom Media Center systems vs. building your own/buying from companies like Dell and HP.  There are good and bad points of each and we do our best to hash them out.  As well, be sure and listen to the whole show.  I’m not going to post the link here but we’re making some changes that we think listeners/readers will be happy with.  The podcast is staying the same, just moving a bit.

Leave us your comments or contact us on Twitter (Adam, Josh) if you have any questions, comments or anything else you’d like to share!

Show Links:

13 Million Media Center Users

Hack7MC-New 7MC theme

Hack7MC-Replace Movie Strip with Media Browser

Hack7MC-Color Channel Logos

Microsoft Smooth Streaming

Click here to download the latest episode or listen below:

Okoro Media Systems has debuted it’s 2009 Media Center servers and are giving you a ton of options.  Rack mountable, 6GB minimum ram and a choice of Vista 32bit, 64bit or Windows Home Server with Media Center or SageTV providing the actual interface, you get these server just about any way you want.

From the article at CEPro:

Along with a rack-mountable chassis, 80-gig solid state hard drive OS drive and Intel i7 processor technology, each RK system will come standard with a Blu-ray drive, RS-232 support, multi-zone audio support, and a minimum of 6 GB RAM.

You’ll also get a minimum of 2 terabytes media storage—but these days that’s not enough for all of your music and your high-def video library, is it? Nah, Okoro doesn’t think so either, so the storage options include up to 32 TB of RAID storage.

I doubt I’ll ever have the money to buy one of these systems myself but I do have to say that they look good, come pretty much the way you want them and with enough storage for even the heaviest movie watcher. 

What system would you build if money were no object?  Comment below and let us know!

It’s that time of the week again.  Thanks once more to everyone who joined us for the live show last night.  I’m (and I think I can type for Josh) really enjoying the live aspect of Wednesday nights so I encourage you to join in the fun!  Just click the “Live Show” tab at the top of the page and you’ll be all set.

We took time this week to cover a little news that’s come out recently.  Notably possible MKV support in build 7077 or Windows 7 as well as the rumored ZuneHD and the possibilities it brings.  We also touched on an article written by TechRadar detailing 7 companies that MS should look to buy.  Two of them were Media Center related so Josh and I shared our opinions on those.

We hope everyone is enjoying the show.  We look forward to your feedback!  Comment below or send us a message on Twitter.  We always want to hear from you!

Don’t forget about the Entertainment 2.0 drop!  No one has left us any content yet and Josh is starting to get upset about the whole situation.  Since his hockey team most likely won’t go very far in the playoffs he needs something to look forward to so upload your system pics or leave us a voicemail!

Click here to download Episode 26 or listen below:

It’s always hard reviewing beta software.  I’ve probably said this before, but when an app works but has bugs, you want to point them out to people yet at the same time make sure they know that it’s beta software so bugs should be expected.

Such is the case with vmcPlayIt.  There are some bugs, but even so, the app is doing what none other has done so far:  Brought Hulu, Netflix, CBS, CNN, ESPN, Amazon VOD and Youtube into Media Center inside of an interface that never makes you think you’ve left the UI.

vmcPlayIt is a Media Center plugin that provides access to PlayOn, a Media Mall technology which operates as a server on one of your PCs and allows you to stream online content to your Xbox 360 or PS3 game console.  On the 360 this occurs through the dashboard so other than giving it a quick try (and not liking it) I hadn’t thought about PlayOn since.  The interface on the 360 dashboard just didn’t do it for me as it was strictly alphabetical.  Not PlayOn’s fault but more a lack of functionality on the 360 dashboard.

Recently, along came vmcPlayIt.  After seeing other attempts at getting streamed online content into Media Center I was skeptical.  Apps like SecondRun.tv work well and give us features that we didn’t have before but have a bit of a hacked feel to them.  Again, nothing against the developers, they’re up against a hard wall, but the MCE UI was broken and took me out of my environment.  vmcPlayIt fixes that.  Everything remains in the MCE UI, video starts in full screen, and I never feel as though I’ve left my home.

This being a beta, there are a few bugs there.  Occasionally the app crashes on me and kicks me back out to Media Center.  Annoying, but no big deal really.  This has only happened while choosing what to watch and never during a video.  That so far is the only issue I’ve found.  The content plays at full resolution and while you have to wait up to 30 seconds for your show to start, once it does, I have yet to see any buffering or stutter issues.

Whether you choose a solution like vmcPlayIt/PlayOn or SecondRun.TV really comes down to a few things:

1. SecondRun.TV is completely free but doesn’t give you Netflix or Amazon VOD.
2. vmcPlayIt is free but PlayOn will run you $40
3. vmcPlayIt will keep you 100% inside the Media Center UI and your remote performs as normal.  Secondrun.tv doesn’t use the same remote mapping to control the video and shows start outside of the Media Center UI.
4. You want your online content on your extender.  I have yet to see another app pull flash content onto an Xbox 360 or into an Extender UI.

If cost doesn’t matter to you, vmcPlayIt would be my recommendation.  The interface is just smoother.  You also get full access to your Netflix streaming queue and Amazon VOD if you’re a member.  Also, to the best of my knowledge it’s the only app that will get the online content onto your extender within the Media Center UI.  If you don’t want to drop the $40 for the PlayOn server, then SecondRun.tv will suffice and you’ll be happy!  For me, I’ll be paying for PlayOn when my 14 day trial is up. 

If you’d like to help the developer with vmcPlayIt, visit the site here and donate or head to the discussion thread on The Green Button and leave comments or bug reports.

Note:

The PlayOn customer service was able to help me when the server wouldn’t run on Windows 7 by sending me three new files.  A little drag and drop was all it took.  If you’re running Windows 7, don’t worry, they told me these would be part of an updated release by the end of the day.

When you’ve been using components for a long time, sometimes you forget that it might be a good idea to review them for others.  That’s the thought that crossed my mind today while talking to Josh.  The Harmony Advanced Universal Remote for Xbox 360 has been controlling my Media Center experience for at least two years now.  The ability to control the Xbox 360 both in Media Center and the dashboard is what led my wife to get it for me as a gift and I’ve yet to look for another solution.

Like most of Logitech’s remotes, this is a full universal solution.  Able to connect, through software on your PC, to a database of over 175,000 devices means that you’re not going to have to worry about whether or not this remote will control your gear.  Not only that but it comes with an IR port on the bottom specifically for learning commands from your other remotes.  This makes it compatible with basically any IR device you throw at it.

One thing I really enjoy about the Harmony 360 is the fact that you don’t just setup your hardware.  You get to manage “Activities”.  Activities give you the ability to turn on, and set to the right input every piece of gear you need to run a certain activity.  Set up an Activity for watching Blu-Ray, and at the touch of a button, the remote will turn on your Blu-Ray player, receiver and TV, then set your receiver and TV to “Video 2” or whatever input you might be using.  This can be great if you have multiple devices connected to one display.  As an example, in our home, we have the PC connected for Media Center and a Wii for gaming.  This remote allows me to switch between the two without multiple button presses.  Simply wonderful.  The one thing to keep in mind with this is that it takes time to send all of those signals, so you have to be sure the remote has LoS to your devices until it’s done.

Setting up the Harmony 360 is a breeze.  After installing the software on your PC of choice you’ll be required to sign up for an account.  The software automatically connects to the internet to receive updates and maintain a profile for you.  Why I’m not sure but the software overall works great.  After adding your equipment you can start building activities.  This is simply a matter of selecting with pieces of gear are used and what they need to be set to.  If you have multiple sound sources, the software makes sure to ask which component you want to control the volume with, etc.  It’s all very intuitive and easy to do.  The only time I had trouble was when setting it up to control my Media Center PC.  This was more me than the software as I didn’t realize at first that there was a selection for “Vista Media Center” and I was attempting to set the remote up to control a computer.  This brings you to a motherboard selection screen.  Not something you want or need to get into in order to control Media Center.

Overall I’ve been exceedingly happy with the Harmony 360.  Whether you need a universal remote for your Xbox or are looking for a lower priced Harmony solution for your MCE PC, this remote will do both.  At only $99, it doesn’t do EVERYTHING that something like a Harmony One will, the price point is much lower.  While no universal solution is perfect, Logitech has done a great job putting together an easy to use yet very encompassing solution with the Harmony 360.

What remote solution to you use to control your home theater experience, universal or otherwise?  Leave a comment with your suggestions or recommendation!

It seems that 90% of consumers think they should be allowed to back up their DVDs as reported by EngadgetHD.  It’s not as though this is a huge surprise to anyone using Media Center but at least we know we’re not the only ones.

From the article:

What should be music to the ears of the MPAA though is that 79 percent said they weren’t interested in actually copying DVDs and that 40 percent said they’d be more likely to buy DVDs if they could copy ‘em. All interesting stuff, but everything has a price and that price seems to be about $60, which is the amount most would be willing to pay for DVD ripping software.

So, people would buy more if they could back them up to a hard drive?  Well, that’s not what we’ve been told at all!  People who want to copy DVDs only want to steal them and give them to friends ya know.  Yeah. 

As stated in the article, it would be nice if this made the MPAA stop their ridiculous practices but I won’t be holding my breath.

Another great episode this week.  Josh and I were lucky enough to speak with Jere Jones, creator of ShowAnalyzer.  We got a lot of great info from Jere about the history and the future of commercial skipping in Media Center, including a time frame on when WTV files will be supported.  Have a listen to find out!

We took some time to cover other topics such as file conversion and Zune integration.  You can find all the links in the show notes below.  Thanks again to everyone who joined us live last night.  It’s getting to be a lot of fun watching the chat while we record.  Keep coming back!

Show Notes and Links:

• Zune Job Posting
• Video Conversion and DVD Ripping
  1. Ben Drawbaugh’s DVR-MS Profiles
  2. Slysoft (DVD Ripping)
  3. Skibit.org (DVD to WMV conversion-Thanks to Richard Miller)
• ShowAnalyzer—Commercial skipping and other fun with Jere Jones.

Thanks again to Jere for joining us and for all the listeners last night.  Tons of fun!  Remember, you can follow Josh and Adam on twitter.  As well, upload your system pics and mp3s or leave us a voicemail at the Entertainment 2.0 drop.

Click here to download Episode 25 or listen below!

Just wanted to let our listeners know that the show will be one day behind this week.  We’re still looking to get it out to you for your weekend.  As well, we’ll be streaming live tonight while recording.  You can expect the stream to start around 7:15pm EST and we’ll jump in and start the show not long after.

Sorry for the delay!  I think it’ll be well worth it though as Josh and I have lined up another great guest for this week.  We look forward to seeing you in the chat.

Beta testing can be fun.  What’s not so fun is when the latest version of a software takes a step backwards.  Why this happens, I can’t pretend to know.  I just think people might need to know about it.  The fact is however, these shouldn’t be read as complaints.  When you run software that hasn’t officially been released, you take your chances and I’ve taken mine in this case.

There are really two issues I’ve noticed so far that are specific to build 7068 which is what I’m running on my main Media Center at this time.  The first is that Divx/Xvid files look absolutely horrible on the Xbox 360.  Very bad pixelization, some slight stuttering are things that weren’t happening in build 7000 for me.  And just to be clear, we’re talking about the same files here.  These aren’t new, lower quality rips.  As well, after watching the same content this morning on both the Media Center PC and the Linksys DMA-2100, I can say with relative certainty that this is an Xbox 360 issue.  The same piece of content played without issue on both of these devices.  What the difference is, I have no idea.

The other issue I’ve seen so far is one concerning zoom.  This seems to happen on both the 360 and the Linksys but not on the PC itself.  There are several files that when I start them, they squeeze into the center of the screen.  After adjusting the zoom to another setting and then changing it back, everything seems to work just fine.  This happens on my Linksys with both video files and TV programming.

7068 has added some very nice cosmetic features to 7MC.  Unfortunately, MS has also introduced some problems.  Again, I certainly don’t blame them as it was my choice to run unreleased software.  I post this more to let users know as well as let the eHome team know that some things might need a look before the RC hits in (hopefully) May.