As any 'Flight of the Conchords' fan knows, when you hire Murray Hewitt -- talent manager and occasional New Zealand diplomat -- you get round-the-clock commitment, rabid enthusiasm and an extreme belief in your greatness. But let's not dwell on the negative.

After all, Murray (or someone an awful lot like him) is hanging out these days with real movers and shakers. Fortune 500 techno-giant Hewlett Packard is featuring 'Conchords' comic Rhys Darby in a series of witty ads under the banner "Let's Do Amazing." ('Conchords' duo Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie pulled the plug on the show in December). It's hard to think of another example of a TV character-inspired pitchman, but the move is genius (there was "I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV." Uh, nah.)

HP has unveiled the MediaSmart Connect, a set top box that looks an awful lot like a full fledged media center, but which is actually a Windows Media Extender. What that means is you can plug the MediaSmart Connect into an HDTV, connect it to your home network, and use the device to stream content from your PC to your TV.

While you can use it to play videos, music, and photos stored on your PC, the MediaSmart Connect has a few other tricks up its sleeve. You can access online radio and video streams using Windows Media Center. And the MediaSmart Connect has 2 USB ports and an HP Pocket Media Bay for additional stroage which lets you access media stored on a hard drive.

The box supports a bunch of formats including MPEG2/4, DiVX, XViD, DVR-MS, WMV, WMV-HD, MP3, WMA, AAC, JPG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, and PNG. You can connect it to your home network via an Ethernet port or over a wireless 802.11a/b/g/n network.

The MediaSmart Connect should be available for preorder later today for $349.

[via The Windows Experience Blog]

HP is launching several new HDTV units with built-in media center extender capabilities. That means you can setup a PC in the office to run Windows Vista Home Premium or Ultimate and record television programs, and host your audio, video and picture files. And you can connect your TV in the living room the home network and access all of that media.

HPS's newest MediaSmart LCD TVs come in 42 inch and 47 inch varieties, both with support for 1080p resolutions and WiFi networking. The smaller TV will set you back $1900 while the larger one will go for $2400.

What's more, HP is pushing out a software upgrade to existing MediaSmart owners that will turn their old fashioned television sets into Windows Vista Media Center Extenders as well.

HP claims to the first company to release an internet-connected TV that can serve as a media center extender, and I can't thin of any other examples that would prove them wrong. Still, if you've got room in your living room for two separate devices, you'll probably save a few bucks by purchasing your TV and media center extender separately.

[via Engadget]

HP is rolling out a whole slew of new Media Center PCs and media extender devices. First up, HP is rolling out a couple of HDTVs with embedded media center extender capabilities. The SL4282N and SL4782N TVs both work as V2 extenders, meaning you'll be able to stream content across your home network from your Windows Vista PC tucked away in the closet. The 42 and 47 inch TVs also sport 1080p displays, 3 HDMI inputs, 2 component, 2 composite/S-Video, and 1 VGA port. You also get an Ethernet and 802.11/a/b/g/n adapter.

If you've already got a MediaSmart HDTV, HP is offering a software update that will upgrade your device to function as a V2 extender. The update also supports additional media codecs.

If you're just looking for an extender to stick next to your TV and don't need a whole new television set, HP has also got the MediaSmart Receiver. This set-top-box shaped device connects to your home network over Ethernet or 802.11/a/b/g/n and lets you control your media center PC and stream audio, video and pictures around the house. The receiver also comes with a couple of media bays if you want to run your media from a flash or hard drive.

And finally, if you're looking for a more traditional PC that just happens to be designed with media center users in mind, the HP Pavilion Elite m9150f is a desktop tower PC with everything a media enthusiast could ever need. You know, until holographic discs come out or whatever the next big thing is. This PC packs an HD-DVD drive, a DVD burner, NTSC/ATSC/FM tuners, HDMI/DVI outputs, and ships with a media center remote. The only thing that would make this $1,159 PC more appealing would be CableCard tuners, but that would probably drive the price way up.

Niveus, Linksys, and D-Link have all announced extenders for Windows Vista Media Center. In other words, you can keep your PC in the office, configure it to download internet video, record TV shows, or do whatever you like. Then you can slap a smaller, quieter, cheaper box by your TV set and enjoy all of your digital media without moving the PC into the living room.

But if you've already got a DVD player, TiVo, and video game console sitting by your TV, the last thing you want to do is spend another $300+ so that you can plug yet another box into your TV.

HP may have the answer in the form of a combination TV/Media Center Extender. The company has announced that starting early next year, HP's 42 and 47-inch MediaSmart LCD HDTVs will be able to perform as full-fledged Windows Vista Media Center Extenders. In other words, you connect your TV to your home network and you can access all the media on your PC, as well as internet video using the Windows Media Center interface.

Of course, a MediaSmart TV will set you back a few bucks more than a typical media extender box. But if you're in the market for a new HDTV anyway, it might be worth taking a look at the HP models. Oh, and the best bit is that if you've already got a MediaSmart TV you won't need to buy a new one. The extender features will be available as a downloadable software update.

There's a whole slew of updates coming out of the Sling Media camp this week.

• The SlingCatcher launch has been pushed back to this fall.
• Sling Media released a firmware update for all Slingbox models with some minor networking fixes.
• HP is shipping selected laptops with SlingPlayer preinstalled.

Of course, having SlingPlayer preinstalled does no good unless you also shell out the money for a Slingbox. But with PC makers constantly dangling incentives like free printers or flash drives in order to convince you to buy their model, perhaps we'll see a notebook/Slingbox bundle some time down the road?

The nice thing about HP's SlingPlayer integration is that the application has been added to HP's QuickPlay software, meaning you can load up the SlingPlayer to watch streaming television without fully booting up your PC.
[via TiVo Lovers and Dave Zatz]

HP may have decided to stop selling media center PCs designed to fit in your living room, but the company is adding some serious digital video punch to two upcoming desktops.

The m8010y and d4890y desktops will include Intel Q6600 Core 2 quad processors, NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS graphics, and a combo Blu-Ray/HD-DVD drive. To top things off, they'll come with an optional ATI TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner.

I can't imagine these PCs will run under $1500 to $2000, and at that price, you might as well slip them into a fancy case and stick them next to the TV. But it might be nice to pick up one of these machines for the office so you can use it as a workhorse and PVR at the same time. Then you just use your Xbox 360 media center extender in the living room.

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.

Either Best Buy discovered there weren't too many folks out there willing to spend $15,000 on a complete home automation setup that doesn't include a TV, or it's easier to configure that home automation setup if you know what TV you're using.

Whatever the reasoning, Best Buy has decided to add a 32-inch HP HDTV to its ConnectedLife.Home package.

That's on top of an HP Media Center PC, Life|ware Home Automation software, a whole bunch of networking equipment, a series of lighting switches, dimmers, a digital thermostat, wireless video cameras, and one programmable remote control to rule them all.

The whole package still seems a bit overpriced, but considering that Best Buy will send people out to your home to set up everything but the wiring, and you get a year of support, it's a lot easier than setting up a complex a home automation/media center system all by your lonesome.

Here's a cautionary tale about all that crap that PC makers load onto a computer before shipping it to retailers.

A user over at The Digital Lifestyle forums reports that he went and purchased a new HP Pavilion M7775 PC runnings Windows Vista, figuring he'd be able to use his Xbox 360 as a Media Center Extender. After all, that's what he'd been doing with his old PC running Windows Media Center 2005.

Et tu HP? Ya know, I just don't get the fascination with American Chopper. It's an ok show, but it has fallen into the Gilligan's Island trap long ago. You know, the joke about Gilligan's Island? "Did you ever see the one where they almost got off the island, but then they didn't?"

Well.... did you ever see the American Chopper where they almost ran out of time and then Paul and Paul Jr. had a fight? It's repetitive, and the bikes are too similar to keep me coming back to watch the show. For some reason though, companies all over the place want to be associated with them. Good for them on taking advantage of it. Their presence kind of killed this one for me, but it was a well done spot otherwise. Nice animation, and it gets the HP name out there to what must be an audience that I just don't comprehend.