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]

If you've been meaning to pick up a new version 2 Windows Media Center Extender but you've been waiting for the price to drop by, oh say, $100 you might want to pull out your wallet. Michael Walker at The Green Button forums has discovered a promotional code that will knock $100 off the price of two different Linksys media extenders available from Amazon.

The Linksys Media Extender normally runs $250, while the version with a DVD player goes for $300. But if you use the promo code MSFTDEAL when you checkout, you can get the former for $150 and the latter for $200.

In case you're not familiar with Media Center Extenders, basically you can plop one of these boxes down by your TV set and hook it up to your home network via a wired or 802.11b/g/n connection. Then you can access all sorts of content stored on your Windows Vista PC elsewhere in the house. That includes live and recorded TV programs, photos, and music.

[via Chris Lanier]

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.

If you're running Windows Media Center on your PC, you can buy a media center extender box to stick next to your TV. Companies like Niveus, D-Link, and Linksys all make boxes that let you access your Windows Media Center menus, recorder programs, and other media. But if you're using a competing media center application like SageTV, those boxes won't get you very far.

So SageTV is taking matters into their own hands and building a dedicated SageTV extender device. No word on the pricing or ship date yet, but you can check out a bunch of pictures of the upcoming STX-HD100 over at the SageTV forums.

What we can tell you is that the box will feature HDMI, component, composite, and S-Video outputs. It also sports an ethernet cable for connecting to your home networks. No WiFi included. There are also two USB connectors, although it's not clear yet exactly what you'll be able to use them for.

The STX-HD100 looks like it won't work with Windows Media Center or other applications.. According to the retail package, you need SageTV software to apply, which seems like an odd move to us. We would have expected SageTV to use this box as a way to build name recognition in the marketplace. The best way to do that would be to position it as a standalone device that works with all the major PVR/media center suites, but save some advanced functionality for SageTV software users.

[via Engadget]

SageTV has released a new beta of its PVR/place-shifting software for Mac, Windows, Linux, and Windows Home Server. I'm pretty sure that list of supported systems makes SageTV the most cross-platform software based personal video recorder on the market today.

There are a bunch of tweaks and bug fixes in SageTV 6.3.1. But probably the most exciting bits include hardware support. While SageTV has been supporting Mac OS X since this summer, the Mac client only supported two Hauppauge TV tuner cards. The update adds support for the popular ElGato EyeTV Hybrid and Hauppauge HVR-950 tuners. There's also Mac support for the HDHomeRun networked HDTV tuner.

It looks like SageTV has also built in support for the company's upcoming STX-HD100 Media Extender, which will do for SageTV what other media center extenders do for Windows Media Center. In other words, you'll be able to put the box next to television sets throughout your house, connect them to the home network and access live and recorded TV and all the other content stored on your main media center PC.

[via Brent Evans]

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.

Niveus has released more details about its new Media Center Extender for Windows Vista. The new device, with the catchy moniker, EDGE packs a bunch of features, but seems to be missing a few essentials as well.

The EDGE includes a passive cooling system for silent operation, 3 USB 2.0 ports, HDMI/component outputs, and an ethernet jack. But there's no Wi-Fi. That's right, not only does this device lack any 802.11n support, there's no 802.11anything in there.

Niveus plans to release the EDGE in November, but there's no word on pricing. Considering Niveus tends to make high end boxes, we would expect the EDGE to cost more than the $350 D-Link and Linksys are charging for their extenders. But the lack of Wi-Fi has us scratching our heads.

Anything Linksys can do, D-Link can do better too. The same day Linksys announced its first "version 2" media center extender, D-Link followed suit with its DSM-750.

The DSM-750 is the newest member of D-Link's MediaLounge line. It includes the same software interface for streaming content from the web or from your networked PC to your television set. But unlike earlier MediaLounge products, the DSM-750 is designed to work with Windows Vista Media Center, meaning you can access recorded shows, online video, and just about anything else on your PC.

The new box will set you back $350. At that price, you might as well just go ahead and buy an Xbox 360. It'll act as a media extender, and I understand you can also play games on it.

A few weeks after Niveus showed off its first "V2" media center extender, Linksys is following suit with its DMA 2100/2200 devices for Windows Vista Media Center users.

While Windows Vista has been around since the start of the year (and even earlier if you were in on the beta), so far the only media center extender released that works with Vista has been the Xbox 360. If you didn't want to buy an expensive video game console just so you could watch content from your office PC in your living room, you were out of luck.

But with Niveus, Linksys, and several other companies set to offer new extenders, things are looking up. We're expecting a few more product announcements during Microsoft's keynote tomorrow at the Digital Life Expo.

As for the Linksys boxes, the DMA 2200 includes an upscaling DVD player, which could make it a nice all-in-one box to stick in your TV cabinet. Both the DMA 2100 and 2200 will be available in November for an undisclosed price.

[via Engadget and Big Screen Blog]