HP to drop media center PC line

CE Pro reports that HP is exiting the digital entertainment center business. What does that mean? Basically that one of the first companies to offer a Windows Media Center PC that looked good in your living room is going to stop packing computers into A/V style cases.

Sure, you'll still be able to buy an HP machine that will work as a media center. After all, any computer running Vista is a media center, and if you throw a TV tuner into it, it's a PVR.

But the company's going to focus its living room strategy on its MediaSmart LCD televisions with digital media adapters. These are sort of like a proprietary version of Microsoft's Windows Media extenders, allowing users to access videos, music, photos, and web-based content on their TV set.