Entertainment 2.0

I’ve decided that so far, when it come to Windows 7, Simon May from The Digital Lifestyle is my hero.

I’ll be short:  Since installing Win7 yesterday, I’ve been trying to figure out how to get “Play To” to work in WMP12.  I haven’t had a lot of time yet, so I missed the little “share” menu at the top of the screen.  But no longer.  Now I can listen to my No Agenda and Daily Source Code podcasts without downloading them twice!

Needless to say, if you’re having the same trouble I did, you should head over to Simon’s blog where he shows you how to do it.

Windows 7 is, of course, adding a lot of great features.  Not just in Media Center, but overall as well.  While the focus here is on that Media Center part, something else has caught my eye recently. 

I was able to watch a demonstration of DLNA this morning on Ian Dixon’s blog.  To break it down, any network connected DLNA device will be able to receive media from any other DLNA device.

I haven’t had a chance to play with this yet but it’s one of the things I’m looking forward to once I get my hands on Windows 7 later today.  Until I do, PCMag is probably better at explaining it than I am.

From the article:

DLNA is a certification based on the Universal Plug n Play standard (UPnP). It allows your consumer electronics to recognize and control each other over a network. Although if hasn’t had a lot of visible branding, there are hundreds of DLNA certified products already on the market. For example, all Sony VAIO laptops are DLNA certified, as is the Sony PlayStation 3. Most of the N series of Nokia phones also come with the DLNA stack.

…

In one of the demos, a Nokia N85 was used to pull a video from a Wi-Fi-connected Promise Technology SmartStor Media Server 25 feet away and send the video to a networked HDTV for playback. The process took seconds and delivered smooth clear video. DLNA also supports wireless printing, and showed the N85 sending an image to a prototype HP printer. Moore said Hewlett-Packard will release DLNA printers in the next few months.

DLNA’s mission is to bridge three islands of information: the PC/Internet, broadcast TV, and the mobile space. "A lot of people think you need a computer to network these, but all you need to do is plug in the right devices," said Stephen Shyn, a DLNA spokesman.

Although a PC isn’t necessary for DLNA devices to communicate, Windows 7 is poised to play a big role in the standard’s success or failure. Windows 7 devices can be used as digital media players, servers, renderers, or controllers. Not only will Windows 7 support DLNA, but in order for a PC, HDTV, or other peripheral to be listed as Windows 7 compatible, it also must be DLNA-certified. Indeed, the Windows 7 interface makes it very simple to direct media around the network.

"The key feature in Windows 7 is the right click button." Shyn says. "From there, you can select your file and have it sent to any DLNA-player on your network."

Again, this has me really excited because basically, with the placement of the media devices in my home, I’ll be able to have multi-room audio and hell, even have the same video playing while I walk around the house without having to buy one of those expensive multi-room solutions.

I really hope DLNA can take off and we start seeing it in a ton of new CE devices soon!