Tag: MEDIACENTER

The Microsoft Kinect hacks just keep on coming, and we'll probably be seeing even more cool apps released now that first-party drivers are available for download. Today, we've got a glimpse at a new open source project called KinEmote in action. It's designed to take advantage of your Kinect in its natural habitat: the living room. KinEmote is a -- you guessed it -- remote control app which ...

XBMC is a fantastic media center application, and while it works well for dedicated HTPCs, it also plays nice on desktop computers, alongside your other software. But now XBMC has hit the version 10.0 milestone with a plethora of changes and improvements. Here's a small sample of the goodies you can look forward to in 10.0: Add-on support: The biggest change -- add-ons can now be browsed, ...

Boxee, one of the best all-in-one media center apps, has just released a new beta that introduces a library of full-length streaming movies. Boxee was already famous for letting you watch and listen to streaming content on your computer, and hook the whole thing up to your TV, too, but its new partnerships with indie movie sites make it even better. With Boxee, you already have Netflix, ...

Boxee is one of those magically delicious technologies that you may not "get" until you try it. Then you try it and you're hooked. I'm just talking about the old alpha builds here, which I tried on my non-techy mate and she loved Boxee, frequent crashes and all. With tons of free video and audio streaming content, plus the ability to add your locally stored multimedia wares, it's one of the least ...

It's here! Enna, a media center application made for Linux is finally ready for public release. Yay? If you're not sure what this is, you're not alone. First, GeeXbox is a Linux app that turns your computer into a media center that can work on a lot of software configurations. Enna is a nice graphical interface for GeeXbox that adds some cool new features and makes it a lot more usable. The ...

XBMC is a cross-platform, open-source media center app that can play almost any file format and makes a perfect companion for your home theater system. On top of its other attractive features -- it's compatible with all sorts of remote controls, and can even be installed on the original XBOX! -- the latest version of XBMC includes a sweet-looking new default skin. The new look, Confluence, ...

Firs there was Windows XP Media Center Edition. Then there was Windows Vista with media center features built into the operating system. But while Microsoft has built an excellent 10-foot interface for interacting with TV, video, radio, and and pictures from your couch, the company has never put together a simple interface for accessing your content from further away. Say, from the office or a ...

Seems like there's a new Ubuntu-based Linux distribution coming out at least once a month. Last month it was Ubuntu Studio, a distro designed for creative professionals interested in audio, video, and image editing. This week we saw the alpha release of Mythbuntu, a distro for those who'd rather consume media than create it. Just as Ubuntu is designed to make Linux accessible to the casual user, ...

digg_url = 'http://digg.com/linux_unix/Linux_MCE_looks_hot_Download_Squad'; MythTV, the popular Linux based PVR project, has been around for some time. It's nice, and it functions well, but it's only as functional as Windows Media Center Edition plus, it can be difficult to install and configure. Linux MCE, which wraps MythTV up into a nice package and places it squarely on top of the leading ...

Microsoft seems to have left out from Windows Vista the ability to log in to your PC without logging out another user. While this was something that was technically only supported on earlier Windows Server products, there was an easy hack that allowed you to replace a dll file in Windows XP. Okay, so why is this important? Well, if you want to access files on your computer, or install updates, or ...

Microsoft has launched a beta of its new Windows Live for TV (formerly known as Nemo). Basically, what Windows Live for TV does is add a ten foot interface to a number of Windows Live services, such as Spaces, Messenger, and Live Call. The program is meant to work with Windows Vista Media Center. That means you can plug your PC into your TV and access Windows live services from the comfort of ...

GBPVR is a free PC PVR software package including media-center-like functionality, free for download. Unfortunately, it didn't support the PVR card I have in my PC, so I couldn't tell you how well it works. The interface looks nice, and it seems that the setup isn't too hard, so you'll have to let me know what you think of it if you install it on one of the supported cards listed. The currently ...

PRV Wire's Chris Tew has written an interesting editorial in which he argues that "There is one company that Google, Microsoft or Yahoo could acquire to ensure they will be well placed on the living room TV, and that company is TiVo." Chris rules out Microsoft because they've already got their foot in your living room with Windows Media Center and because TiVo runs on Linux. Yahoo! and TiVo ...

Microsoft has unveiled a Vista upgrade matrix, detailing which present versions of Windows are eligible for upgrading to one of the four relevant versions of Vista (Starter and Enterprise are targeted for specific markets and therefore not included in this matrix). To make matters a bit complicated, however, some editions (such as XP Pro or Win2K) are only eligible to upgrade to a "corresponding ...

File this under why-didn't-I-think-of-that: YouTubeMCE is an add-on that integrates YouTube with Windows Media Center Edition. It lets you browse, search, and view YouTube videos without leaving your couch. It lets you watch videos in full-screen mode, but as lousy as those videos look on your 19" monitor, don't expect them to look fantastic on your 52" one. YouTubeMCE is free. (As pointed out in ...