Microsoft today announced that Linksys, D-Link, HP and Niveus will be
releasing Media Extenders. While this is the second attempt to bring these
extenders to your home after the first one failed, these new devices have
some advantages in using Dual band Wireless N, making it good enough to
be used as wireless devices for HD playback as well.

Several models with and without DVD will become available.
The questions is, considering the limitations, is this a knockoff or an
enhancement? Is it merily an upgrade in Quality against so many options
available already to stream from PC to TV?

Considering the limitations (Vista only, DRM protection etc) does it really
sound as interesting as depicted and why the minor progress (Wireless N)
and not some more advanced abilities as network center...?

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2007/sep07/09-26ExtendersDigitalLifePR.mspx?rss_fdn=Press%20Releases

Linksys:
http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?c=L_Content_C1&childpagename=US%2FLayout&cid=1175237536068&pagename=Linksys%2FCommon%2FVisitorWrapper

Jappy discussion!

Microsoft today announced that Linksys, D-Link, HP and Niveus will be
releasing Media Extenders. While this is the second attempt to bring these
extenders to your home after the first one failed, these new devices have
some advantages in using Dual band Wireless N, making it good enough to
be used as wireless devices for HD playback as well.

Several models with and without DVD will become available.
The questions is, considering the limitations, is this a knockoff or an
enhancement? Is it merily an upgrade in Quality against so many options
available already to stream from PC to TV?

Considering the limitations (Vista only, DRM protection etc) does it really
sound as interesting as depicted and why the minor progress (Wireless N)
and not some more advanced abilities as network center...?

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2007/sep07/09-26ExtendersDigitalLifePR.mspx?rss_fdn=Press%20Releases

Linksys:
http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?c=L_Content_C1&childpagename=US%2FLayout&cid=1175237536068&pagename=Linksys%2FCommon%2FVisitorWrapper

Jappy discussion!
If these players require Vista then I for one will not be purchasing one any time soon. I have no desire to support Microsoft any more than I currently am and I do not want to be herded down the DRM shute.

For the masses these players may turn a profit provided they are as easy to operate as a TV, reasonable price point for the unit, competitive price point for the media content, lots of quality media content to play that is fast and easy to download while sitting on your couch.

People will have those for starting point. But afterward, they will find out that leaving the PC on 24/7 and having slowdown (CPU + Disk usage) when someone is streaming and another is using the PC is quite cumbersome. Then, with the lessons learned from this, they will want a standalone PC, which is expensive considering alternative solution. After all those iteration, they will move to 'real' media extenders or rather media players which are 'server' agnostic and don't require a lot of horsepower to feed the player.

As we are early adopters, most of us already went through this and maybe skipped a step or two.

If it does not yield this kind of result, it's a rip off, if it does, it's a necessary evil that will become a fad.

Patrick S.

http://www.twice.com/article/CA6483680.html?nid=2402

quote:
The models each feature dual-band wireless to ensure a clearer signal throughout the home and the Extenders will give access to a new free, ad supported Microsoft/MSN video service that will shortly become available to all Microsoft Vista users, he said. The vast majority of the initial programming consists of short clips from popular cable channels like Discovery, The History Channel and HGTV.


All of these services are now available through Microsoft’s Xbox 360, but Laepple said very little has been done to promote the feature. Despite that, he said, Microsoft has been impressed with the number of Xbox owners who have used these features; however, he declined to give any hard numbers.


The launch partner products were shown to the trade earlier this month at CEDIA, but today’s unveiling at DigitalLife is the first time the general public will get a look at the new devices.


Linksys is offering two models: a smaller hardcover-book size version and a second type about twice this size that incorporates a DVD player. These should be on store shelves prior to the holidays with $299 and $349 suggested retail prices, respectively.


The D-Link model is about the size of a standard A/V component. Pricing and shipping information were not available at press time.


Details on the Niveus offering were expected to be released at the show.


The new extenders will work with most cable services, but at this time not with digital satellite or IPTV services like FIOS, Laepple said

After all those iteration, they will move to 'real' media extenders or rather media players which are 'server' agnostic and don't require a lot of horsepower to feed the player.

Why do media extenders require more horsepower? For example, the D-Link DSM-750 is now apparently being repackaged as a "media extender". Will that require more PC horsepower than if it used some other scheme?

Those are 'standalone' ...
The others that REQUIRE Vista let Vista do the dirty work (ie transcoding and stuff).
Patrick S.

Can be compared to DivX Connected, they also depend on PC but at least not Vista only. We will see that coming up in players pretty soon too. It's a similar method but more attractive and powerfull (with add ons and such)

Unibrain has already decided to add it on the new iZak2 and iZak3.

Those are 'standalone' ...
The others that REQUIRE Vista let Vista do the dirty work (ie transcoding and stuff).
Patrick S.
If Vista is doing the dirty work then your CPU will be highly utilized. Most of the current standalone network media players require nearly 0 pc resources (yes this is so even when requiring server software) because they do not need to transcode, they (the network media player) do the video/audio decoding and not your PC.

That's what I was saying ...
It's a bit like the Squeezebox and Slimserver, except for all media type.
Dumb terminal, intelligent server approach.

I find it more flexible the other way around.
Patrick S.

I think they are still missing the boat.

The DVD should be either a HD-DVD or Blu-ray, after all they are pushing the high def content. The upconverting is great but nothing when it comes to native 1080 content.

There should also be a unit without the expensive wireless connection. I will bet this option alone adds $100 to the price!!

And the unit needs to be dead quite, like the original extenders. If it is anything like the xbox360, that sounds like a roaring vacuum cleaner, I will not be buying it. Not the kind of machine you want for watching movies and TV, just too much fan noise.

Also there are a lot of us who got left behind when windows Vista did not work with the original Media center extenders. That is a tough pill to swallow, no one wants to spend several hundred dollars and then just throw the extender(s) away because of a software update(Vista).

Microsoft should has kept the software backwards compatible with the original WMC Extenders. So I would think twice before I put out another $300 for two or three extenders.

I thought the Xbox360 would be a good bet against Microsoft obsolescent, because it could always be used as a gamming machine. I was ready to buy three for extenders. Install one and that was it. The Xbox360 just has too much fan noise.

I'am excided to see new extenders being released. But now I need to know:

1. Will they work with both XP and VISTA
2. Are they dead quite!
3. are they dead QUITE!!!!!

Chris Lanier's, one of MCE's big defenders a couple years ago offered some feedback on the new extenders and seem to be leanient towards what most experienced people say... It's ins't it at all...

Overpriced, lacking features, lacking support for most requested
enhancements and promises since 2 years not fulfilled sums things
up...

http://msmvps.com/blogs/chrisl/archive/2007/09/26/1218313.aspx

If these players require Vista then I for one will not be purchasing one any time soon. I have no desire to support Microsoft any more than I currently am and I do not want to be herded down the DRM shute.



Per the info on the d-link site from the notes on the bottom of the page it sound like it will work with windows XP:

5. Windows Media Center requires Windows Vista™. Windows Media Player 11 and Windows Connect Now require Windows Vista™ or Windows XP™ SP2 and can be downloaded using Windows Update on your computer.