Microsoft Research, Squeeze the Screen (via Steve):

Baudisch and his colleagues have devised a project called Collapse-to-Zoom that avoids all that annoying scrolling. Collapse-to-Zoom allows users to collapse the areas of the screen that they aren’t interested in, which causes the areas of relevant content to expand. It then allows users to zoom in on the content they want to read. Users typically collapse archive material, ads, or menus to focus on content.

The problems encountered browsing websites on a Media Center with a small non-HD display are analogous to browsing websites on handhelds. It would be really interesting to see some of the thinking being applied to making websites navigable on my phone applied to making them navigable on my TV with a remote control.

I wonder when FireFox is going to deliver a 10′ web browser? :) But I guess the question would be ‘when will Opera…’ since Opera seems to the company pursuing the handheld market.

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Thomas Hawk on the announcement of Microsoft software (MSTV) running on Comcast cable boxes:

So let me see if I get this one straight. If I’m a Comcast subscriber I can get a box from Comcast for a nominal monthly fee that runs Microsoft software that can record HDTV or I can go out and spend $1,500 on a Microsoft Media Center PC that cannot record HDTV content from my very same provider Comcast.

The box this is using is a Motorola DCT6412 with a 120 gig hard drive (and it looks just like my current set top box).

So to answer Thomas’s question why would you keep your MCE, it’s because with the Comcast service:

• You can’t get any of the content off to other devices. I.e. burn to dvd, copy to external hard drive, portable media center or media center extender, other cable boxes in your house
• You can’t add more storage
• You can’t connect your camera or video camera
  
• You can’t frame advance, slow mo, fast mo..

• You can’t put your own applications on the box
• You can’t put your own photos, music, or videos on the box

Some other tidbits…

• It records the MPEG2 stream so it will fill up fast
• If you’re smart you can pull non-encrypted content off. See this AVS Forum thread

But hey, being able to record two HD shows at once is pretty cool and you can bet that if I had Comast I’d order it and use it inconjunction with my MCE.

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Engadget, TiVo permalinks for TV shows?:

Microsoft, if you�re listening, you�ll add this feature to Windows Media Center when you roll out MSN Remote Record.

While I don’t believe it is tied into MSN Remote Record, folks interested in permalinks to Tivo shows should check out our SDK on ‘Click to record’:

Microsoft� Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 includes a feature called click-to-record that enables applications to programmatically schedule the recording of TV programs. Click-to-record can be invoked in the following ways:

• By a hosted HTML application or add-in running inside the Media Center shell.
• By an external application using the managed click-to-record application programming interface (API).
• By the user launching a click-to-record document from the Windows shell.

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A week or so ago I signed up for Millennium’s unadvertised HDTV cable package. I didn’t ask any questions on the phone and so I was surprised to discover a few things once it was installed:

• Cost: $7 more a month.
• Only 4 channels:
  

  • Komo - ABC
  • King - NBC
  • Kong - IND
  • Kiro - CBS
• Hardware: A Motorola box with no DVI output. Apparently I could have requested a box with DVI. Though I should point out my TV only has one DVI input currently being used by my MCE.

Now compare this to Comcast where you get up to 14 HDTV channels for only $5-$6.75 a month.

And of course there are no DVR/PVRs available to record either service.

Conclusion: Since it turns out I don’t get The O.C., the only show I’d tolerate watching with commericals, in HD, I am likely to cancel my service next month.

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Tivo, Season Pass Hot 100 shows (via Thomas Hawk).

Media Center does not have a similar list because we do not track what you watch.

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Wired, Has TiVo Forsaken Us?

Sometime in the next few months, your machine will quietly download a patch that makes it respond to a new copy protection scheme from software maker Macrovision. The app puts restrictions on how long your DVR can save certain kinds of shows - so far, just pay-per-view and video-on-demand programs.

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Ryan’s MCE site has lots of fun apps for your Media Center:

• My Weather
• My Netflix
• DVD Collection
• MCE Weather
• Front panel SDK
• My Receipes
• …

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