After years of stringing Microsoft’s Media Center users along from XP Media Center to Vista Media Center to the much-less-then-expected Fiji, we’ve been promised a CableCARD-like DirecTV tuner. Fast forward to Ed Bott’s DirecTV HDPC-20 USB tuner driver discovery within a pre-release of Windows 7. This doesn’t necessarily mean there’s a HDPC20 device at the moment, but the driver’s presence and earlier announcement of H.264 support certainly improves the odds that we’ll see such a product once Windows 7 is released… in 2009 or 2010. If these arrive and deliver as hoped, it’ll make an immediate impact on the HTPC world. Still, if you’re more about getting satellite (or digital cable) programming on your HTPC in the here and now - check out the Hauppauge HD-PVR along with SageTV, BeyondTV or GBPVR.

Check out more of Brent’s reflections on tech, gadgets, software and media at Geek Tonic.

If you delve very far into the world of home theater PCs (HTPCs), one of the first things you’ll want to tackle is freeing yourself from the keyboard and mouse. To really transform your HTPC into more of a set-top box and less of a computer, you’ll obviously want to control it with a remote - aka the 10-foot interface.

The most popular and arguably best way to do this is with a simple little device called the USB-UIRT (Universal Infrared Receiver Transmitter). This IR receiver/transmitter may not be the most exciting part of the HTPC, but it certainly is one of the more important components. In plain speak, the simple-looking device lets you control your PC with a remote control and, in turn, has your PC control a cable or satellite set-top box. The USB-UIRT connects to your computer through the USB port and allows your computer to receive IR signals from any IR remote. I’ve used it with my old TV remote, a Hauppauge remote, the SageTV HD Extender remote, a URC MX-500 remote, Haromy 880 remote and many others. You should be able to use about any remote control that emits IR - which would be most of them. Another important feature of the USB-UIRT is that it can send (blast) IR signals to control most of your AV equipment such as a DVD player, receiver, etc. You can also program the USB-UIRT to handle “discreet codes” (power on only, or power off only, for instance) that aren’t found on a standard remote control.

The USB-UIRT works out of the box with many programs including SageTV’s HTPC software. Even if the program you want to remote control doesn’t natively support USB-UIRT, you can use Eventghost, LMGestion, Girder, Intelliremote and a whole host of other software apps to enable control of various IR devices.

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If you’ve wanted the Netflix Watch Instantly service on your Mac, there’s now a way to opt-in. But, be warned, this is a all-in no-turning-back procedure. Some caveats:

• Once you switch to the new, Silverlight version of the Netflix player, you won’t be able to access the older, IE version.
• You Netflix account will use the Microsoft Silverlight version on all machines.
• Not all movies are currently available to watch using the Silverlight player.
• During the beta, you may notice errors or lesser quality when streaming certain titles.
• If you use a plugin for Netflix Watch Instantly with SageTV, Vista Media Center, Xbox 360 using VMCNetflix or any of the other HTPC programs, opting in will break that functionality. The new version will require a re-write to enable Netflix video playback.
• The new player works on PCs and Intel-based Macs.
• This is a preview release - bugs can and probably will surface.

I’m not opting in through my Netflix account as I use the SageTV Netflix plugin, but I was able to test this out using a friend’s account (primarily a OS X user) and can confirm it works. The streaming quality seemed noticeably worse under the Silverlight version, although fast forward, rewind and skipping around in the movie performed better in the new player. I was able to view Netflix Watch Instaly using Firefox 3 as well, but it doesn’t work in Opera. So, if you’re a Mac-only guy who hasn’t leveraged any of the customer-created plugins for Netflix Watch Instantly, and you’re okay with the above warnings…  opt in to the Silverlight Netflix player.

Check out more of Brent’s reflections on tech, gadgets, software and media at Brent Evans Geek Tonic.

The Microsoft Professional Developer Conference has been covering new features planned for Windows 7 and attendees have received an early version of the software for testing and feedback - so news and tidbits are leaking out onto the web. Last week many screen-shots were available to look at, but there wasn’t much in the way of real news for Windows 7 Media Center functionality. Now we’ve learned native H.264 support will be included on all Windows 7 Media Center products - PCs, extenders, and the Xbox 360. Beyond that, there are plenty of tweaks and UI enhancements plus the integration of TV Pack features into the retail software. My first impression is that additional QAM support (already in TV Pack) and H.264 support are the only non-visual updates to Media Center. Yes, the user interface is being improved further, but the deep-down below the surface workings don’t appear to be changing much from what you experience now.

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While the screenshot above depicts a Windows-based laptop, you’ll soon likely see a Macbook in Netflix’s ads. For quite a while Windows users have had Netflix Watch Instantly Now video streaming - Mac users have had to sit by and wait or attempt virtualization. Well with Microsoft’s Silverlight, Netflix video streaming is finally arriving for most OS X users. I say most because it will only work on Intel-based Macs. Note, that as now, there’s no official word on the Netflix site, but my guess is we’ll see more info today given the press release EngadgetHD has posted.

The deployment, which will initially touch a small percentage of new Netflix subscribers, is the first step in an anticipated roll-out of the new platform to all Netflix subscribers by the end of the year. It is expected that Netflix members who watch movies and TV episodes instantly on their computers will enjoy a faster, easier connection and a more robust viewing experience with Silverlight, due to the quality built directly into the player. Among the viewing enhancements with the new player is a breakthrough in timeline navigation that vastly improves the use of fast-forwarding and rewinding.

Check out more of Brent’s reflections on tech, gadgets, software and media at Brent Evans Geek Tonic.

There’s a new music store in town named Lala.com. TechCrunch and many others are calling it a possible game changer or revolution in music sharing/buying. I was pretty skeptical of the concept at first, but after trying it out I’m pretty impressed. It has potential to be a very nice service as a HTPC plugin, too.

HERE’S HOW IT WORKS:

• You sign up and get 50 free songs for streaming
• There are “streaming songs” that you can listen to (most in their entirety) once before buying. You can then pay 10 cents to purchase (or as they say ‘keep’) the right to stream any of these songs for as long as they exist and you maintain your account with them.
• You can purchase for download any of the songs for an additional 79 cents ($0.89 total) - these are DRM-free, MP3s compatible with all MP3 music players. The vast majority of the MP3 files are encoded using variable bit rates (VBR), aiming at an average of 256kbp
• You can also “match the songs” on your computer (all songs regardless of where you got them) to their catalog and always have free access to those songs via streaming. 

The streaming and “syncing” feature sounds very familiar to me. You know why? Because it is almost exactly the type of “music locker” service we once knew as MyMp3.com (don’t go there, it’s an adult site now) and mp3tunes.com which still exists but is being sued by the the record labels. So here I guess the labels think it’s okay because they’ve put their restrictions on the streaming rules and they are getting paid royalties. The business model is similar to Rhapsody except it’s pay per tune, instead of pay per month, for music streaming. It’ll appeal to people if they understand it: No subscription fees, only pay for the songs you want to stream. Plus take it with you for 89 cents total. A closer competitor in concept might be GrooveShark - another service I really like.

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While some appear content to sit on the sidelines, Boxee beats the big-time HTPC software companies to the punch by integrating Hulu, CBS, Comedy Central, and MySpaceTV streaming players into their software. This alone should give Vista Media Center, SageTV and BeyondTV pause as web-based video/television/movie content has clearly become important to the end user. The new, alpha version of Boxee includes:

• Streaming TV shows, movies and clips from Hulu, CBS, Comedy Central and MySpaceTV
• Major changes to the UI
• Web interface to adding RSS feeds
• Improved performance

Current Alpha versions support Linux, Mac OS X, and AppleTV with a Windows version scheduled for release later this fall. Those who already have an alpha account, click here to download the updated software. Those in need of an invite, simply leave a comment requesting one - we’ve got you covered.

Check out more of Brent’s reflections on tech, gadgets, software and media at Brent Evans Geek Tonic.