Yesterday I mentioned Microsoft's propriety video format MS-DVR which is used for Windows Media Center recordings.
Previously you would need to convert the videos to a more standard format using something like DVRBox so you could edit them with ease. However Vista Movie Maker now comes with full support of MS-DVR files so editing out those adverts is now pretty easy.
The Vista launch has come upon on us and so it's a busy time for a lot of PC related companies. One of which is Hauppauge which has announced that it has the widest range of Vista ready PC tuner cards available.
Hauppauge will now be offering the new Vista driver software with every Hauppauge product shipped from today. Existing customers can upgrade from the Hauppauge website.
If you are keen to read more about the Windows Vista launch then check out Engadget.
DVR-MS is a proprietary Microsoft format that is used in Media Center Edition to record videos. Unfortunately this format can't be played on may other devices so you may want to be able to easily convert your DVR-MS video recordings to some other format..
DVRBox is free open source software that does just that converting your DVR-MS video files into other formats including Xvid and MPEG 4. Features include:
Editing of DVR-MS videos
Batch processing
Automatic crop detection
Scheduled compression
Outputs to MPEG-4 including XviD, x264
In development is manual cropping, directory scanning, profilesand iPod Support.
SageTV, the popular provider of PC PVR software, has announced support for AMD LIVE! Home Cinema And Home Media Server.
An AMD LIVE! PC is much like a Windows Media Center PC offering a complete solution for video, music and photo access through an easy to use interface. With SageTV an AMD LIVE! Home Cinema will also provide the popular complete PVR functionality from SageTV too.
Everyone likes to customize their PC with some pictures and themes, if its not a picture of some hot girl or a desert island on your desktop, it's a load of fishes swimming around on your screensaver.
The Snapstream community has created a nice set of skins for the BeyondTV PVR interface meaning your TV experience can now be that little more personalized too.
A selection of the skins available can be seen here including dolphin, desert island and pirate themes. Installing a skin is easy and requires simply replacing one file in the BeyondTV directory.
Anyone fancy making a PVR Wire theme? You know you want too!
Back at the end of October Brad talked about an XML file that could be used within Windows Media Center which would automatically download cover art, descriptions, ratings, cast, etc about any DVD that you may have ripped.
Now although that site has been a huge help in that it saves you from having to create these individual files for each DVD on your system, there were some short comings with the site. Well hopefully most of those have been taken care of.
DVDXML.com has just completed a major overhaul that includes a new, easier to use download section, and a new and improved search engine. However because of the upgrade they are temporarily not accepting new XML files, but that restriction will be lifted in the near future.
If you have a Windows Media Center based PVR and you like to keep your DVD's on your hard drive, be sure to check out this site. It's all the little things like this that make you realize how customizable a do it yourself PVR really can be.
Announced at the TiVo Community forum was a neat piece of Windows software called TiVo.net that allows you to use your TiVo as a media extender so you can play a variety of video formats from your PC.
A list of video formats and codecs that TiVo.net supports can be found here. The software works by converting the video on the fly to MPEG2 TiVo compatable video that can then whizz across your home network to your TV screen, via your TiVo.
TiVo.net is an open source project so others can get involved. It's early days for the software and if you experience any bugs it would be worth pointing them out to the developer.
The HAVA Gold HD has been launched today at the highly respectable price of $129. For this small price you can turn a regular Windows PC into a PVR and also stream MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 video to multiple PCs on your home network, and also over the internet, just like a Slingbox.
Additionally when used with Windows Media Center (both XP and the soon to be released Vista MCE) it opens up the option of using the HAVA Gold as a TV Tuner appearing on the PC as an installed TV Tuner card.
The HAVA Gold HD will connect to any TV source such as Cable, Satellite, DVD, TiVo or a Camcorder allowing you to spread your TV to any PC over your home network or the internet.
Unlike the higher end HAVA Wireless HD model it does not come with built-in wireless features and fewer I/O options.
I have to say as an entry level Slingbox device I like the specs and I like the price.
Dean Takahashi of the Mercury News has put together one of those "xx reasons" type of lists, this time about the forthcoming Windows Vista.
The launch of Vista (for consumers) is only a few days away, and already the hype machine is working its magic.
Chief among Dean's reasons for getting a hold of Windows Vista is the fairly obvious one for me: #5 Vista has a built-in version of the Windows Media Center user interface.
However, I'm not so sure that "when you move your mouse over the borders, you'll find they're a little thicker so it isn't as hard to grab them and expand the size of a window" is a sufficiently good reason to go out and spend the money on an upgrade so early in the day.
Recommended recordings. You either love them or you hate them. There might be a middle ground, but I don't know anyone who lives there.
When I got my first TiVo, I loved the idea that it would track my viewing patterns and record more programs that it thought I would like. There were just two problems. Between my wife's habit of recording home makeover shows, and my tendency to thumbs up science fiction shows, I think we broke the thing. And what's worse, we had a 40-hour unit, which was only 20 hours at a decent quality. And I love saving up recordings to watch in marathon sessions. That didn't really leave room for recommended recordings.
Well, recommended recordings have finally made their way to Windows Media Center. Proxure's MyTV Genie lets you rate programs you like or detest, and it will recommend future programs you might like, and it will go ahead and record them for you if you let it. If you're too lazy to rate the shows, MyTV Genie will just track your viewing habits and go from there.
It's free, and a future release will have one feature missing from TiVo: community. You can share your favorites with friends or subscribe to a friend's "channel," to try recording some of their favorites.
ReplayTV is offering a 20% off coupon code for purchases of their PC-based PVR software if you buy a copy by February 27th. That brings the price down to about $80, which brings it closer to its competitors' prices. You can pick up a copy of BeyondTV for $70, and SageTV goes for $80.
ReplayTV is not only a newcomer to the PC software market, it's also one of the highest priced options available. I'm willing to cut them some slack, since they did help to popularize the concept of PVRs with their set top boxes. And some of the search options in the ReplayTV PC edition are quite cool.
To get the coupon, use the code RTVJAN0720 before February 27th. There's also a 30 day free trial of the software, so you can test it out for a full month if you like before deciding whether it's worth spending $80.
Good news if you're a user of the Linux-based commercial desktop operating system Linspire or Freespie; SageTV has released SageTV Media Center Version 6 all for you.
I've neve used SageTV myself, but I understand it's pretty nifty.
Get yourself along to the one-click download and installation location at www.linspire.com/sagetv if you want to get your hands on a copy right away for $99.95.
We've mentioned TiVoServer here before on PVR Wire, but we've never really gone into any great depth as to its functions, foibles and fun-filled features.
However, Dan Farber and Larry Dignan (also featuring David Berlind!) of ZDNet have taken a stab at this technology for your Mac, Linux box or PC which allows you to share TiVo content with other TiVos around your house.
Of course, there's a few issues over DRM (which can obviously be worked around), but this sort of open-source software could spell the beginning of the end of the locked-down tyrants behind iTunes (and TiVo), who don't really want you to do anything with your own content, except pay them to watch it.
Even if you're well and truly embedded in the fast-paced world of technology and software, the imminent release of Microsoft's new operating system, Vista, might still be somewhat something of an unknown for you.
For example, most people I speak to seem to think of it as another bloated upgrade to Windows XP, rather than a top-to-bottom makeover -- and fewer realise that it's actually a massive expansion on Windows Media Center Edition -- which tells its own story, really.
Tom Gromak of The Detroit News has made a start at presenting a brief run-through of what to expect when the product hits the shelves (for regular consumers) on January 30.
His first bit of advice is not to rush, which is sensible. Don't be panicked into thinking you need to upgrade your PC, software, mouse, or any other part of your computer; rather, think of it as an opportunity to sit back and see what happens when Vista starts throwing up bugs -- and, more importantly, if the drivers will be available to operate the key peripherals you rely on for day-to-day operation (think printers, scanners, cameras).
Otherwise, Tom reckons Vista is pretty cool (a few moans aside); it has improved security, better networking, some nifty add-ons and, of course, the all-important Media Center tweaks to turn your PC into a PVR.
News broke late yesterday and I have just received an email from The Venice Project team that it has now been renamed to the much more catchy name: Joost. Here's what the email from Fredrik de Wahl of Joost said:
"While we're still in beta, we hope that Joost will become synonymous with the best of TV and the best of the Web.
We're working on putting more content on the platform and creating more and more applications and functionality. For those of you who've already been on the client, you can expect to see some of these updates in the 0.8 release - which is not far away at all.
Now that we're Joost, we're going to be sending out many more beta invitations. I know some of you have been waiting quite some time for your invitation and I appreciate your patience. We've been somewhat conservative about expanding our beta - but that's going to change pretty rapidly now. So please keep a lookout for your invitation if you haven't gotten one already. And when you do receive it - please tell us what you think."
Along with the launch of the new name has come the brand new Joost website.
Looking at the screenshots of Joost in action its easy to see how it could be ported over to a PVR or set top box to bring high quality internet TV into the living room.
The Vista launch has come upon on us and so it's a busy time for a lot of PC related companies. One of which is Hauppauge which has announced that it has the widest range of Vista ready PC tuner cards available.
SageTV, the popular provider of PC PVR software, has announced support for AMD LIVE! Home Cinema And Home Media Server.
Back at the end of October Brad talked about an XML file that could be used within Windows Media Center which would automatically download cover art, descriptions, ratings, cast, etc about any DVD that you may have ripped.
Announced at the TiVo Community forum was a neat piece of Windows software called TiVo.net that allows you to use your TiVo as a media extender so you can play a variety of video formats from your PC.
Dean Takahashi of the Mercury News has put together one of those "xx reasons" type of lists, this time about the forthcoming Windows Vista.
Good news if you're a user of the Linux-based commercial desktop operating system Linspire or Freespie; SageTV has released SageTV Media Center Version 6 all for you.
We've mentioned TiVoServer here before on PVR Wire, but we've never really gone into any great depth as to its functions, foibles and fun-filled features. 
Even if you're well and truly embedded in the fast-paced world of technology and software, the imminent release of Microsoft's new operating system, Vista, might still be somewhat something of an unknown for you.
News broke late yesterday and I have just received an email from The Venice Project team that it has now been renamed to the much more catchy name: Joost. Here's what the email from Fredrik de Wahl of Joost said:
