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I was reading this article from Electronic House about the future of media servers, and it got me wondering. When will media servers finally rule the world?

People have been touting media servers for many years now. Millionaires like Bill Gates have them. They put all their music onto hard drives, all their movies onto a central server and can access them from anywhere in their home. Want to watch “The Matrix” again? No need to pull out a DVD and use your DVD player. Simply pull it from your media server off a menu and start watching any movie in your library. In your living room or in your office computer.

I bought something that promises to do this. It’s a Buffalo LinkStation network storage device. It has 750 GB capacity so I can fit all my music and multimedia with lots of room left over for work files and other documents. It even has a USB port so I can connect external USB drives and provide additional storage, if I need it in the future.

The best part about my LinkStation is that it has DLNA certified, which means it can act as a storage server for a media device. Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) makes it possible to access and share digital content throughout a home network. It aims to connect PCs, peripherals and TV/consumer electronic devices using your existing home network.

So far, there are just a few DLNA-certified products out there. There are a few media extenders, storage servers and other products, but they are not very popular yet.

I think consumers aren’t really thinking about their home networks too much and haven’t thought of the possibilities available with a home media server and storage devices. An inter-connected maquinas tragaperras webjugar interactivo portal internetapuesta dinero lineajuegos apuestas portales webjugar interactivo onlinevideo poker portalcasinos internacionales webganar premio paginas webjuego pagina internetmaquina tragaperras pagina webdescargar ruleta de la suerteonline casino listecasino online slotcasino websitecasino online texasonline kenoonline casino softwareonline spiel automatmultispieler spieleroulette spielregelcasino im internetgolden palace online casinoamerican slotscasino online wiesbadenonline slotmaschinen spielenbwin roulettecpayscom2 casino onlinebaccarat downloadcasino pc games,www casino games,casino gamescasino online livevideo poker onlinecasino slots games,casino slots,casino slots downloadonline casino testcasino automaten spieleslotmachines online spielenbaccarat spielenechtes kasinospielroulette spielregelncasino spiele decasino kostenlos spielencasino spiele downloadcasino online vergleichroulette gratis,roulette gratis spielen,roulette gratis downloadwww rouletteeigenes casino onlinemobiles casinoslots spielen gratisroulette trickskostenlose casinospiele,internet kasino spielen,casino spielecasino online mac home makes a lot of sense for people with lots of media assets. I think DLNA products are set to explode–maybe not this year, but soon.

I’ve already started encoding my CD collection onto my LinkStation and going completely digital. Then I can just hook up my iPod and take my entire music collection on the go.  No more fumbling for CDs.

As a bonus, I can also use my Buffalo LinkStation over any Internet-connected computer and access my files. When I log in to my home LinkStation, I can see anything that I’ve set up for sharing. Anything else is protected and invisible to me. I can upload files and save them for later, or access any of my shared files over the Internet.

My music folder is my favorite thing. I can log in anywhere and listen to any of my MP3s. I can even listen to folders of music right from my browser, since it comes with a built-in player. It’s quite dreamy–all my music, available anytime, anywhere.

Isn’t that what you want from the Internet?

[tags] Buffalo Technology, LinkStation, LinkStation Live, Media server, iPod,  DLNA [/tags]

Over at Crunch Gear and Crave, they’re showing off a new product called the TVix media hub. It looks cool–somewhat like a coffeemaker–but it connects to your TV (via HDMI or other connections) and lets you access your media from your PC. Apparently, it can play 1080p movies, DVDs, music, photos and movies on a built-in hard drive.  It can also be used as a DVR by connecting a tuner adapter, sold separately.

Not a bad idea, but there are lots of other products like it. But is it really worth $520? Who would want to buy this except media geeks and early adopters?

Sure it looks cool and I’d love to play with it, but do I really need it? Check out the manufacturer’s page here for more info.

[Via NewEgg]

[tags] TVix, media hub, DViCO, media extender, DVR, PVR [/tags]

In a bid to remain atop the online movie rental business, NetFlix said it will deliver movies directly to TV sets later this year. Currently NetFlix only lets subscribers to its “Watch Instantly” service view rentals on PC screens.

This new service will come in the form of a new set-top box that connects to the TV and computer, much like Apple’s Apple TV product. In many ways, the device isn’t a new approach or anything really startling–the main thing is that it’s coming from NetFlix which already had a deep library of movies, an existing DVD by mail rental business and the PC viewing option. Those things make it a very compelling strategy and is may make it a success for NetFlix.

In essence, NetFlix is understanding that it’s critical to deliver content (movies, TV shows, etc.) to TV screens since many people are getting HDTV sets and most do their viewing on the big screen in the living room.

Having yet another set-top box, however, seems like the biggest flaw in this plan. People will not rush to buy another box unless it offers something compelling that they can’t get anywhere else. And customers can definitely get movies in many other ways, without getting a new box and hooking it up to a PC, like the NetFlix service requires.

For example, want to watch a recent hit movie like Pirates of the Caribbean? There’s On-Demand, DVDs, free TV, premium channels like HBO, and online pirated versions available. Will consumers really flock to a device that just delivers movies? Tivo seems like it has the right approach with its partnership with Amazon for its Unbox movie delivery service. However, Unbox (and even Apple TV) have not been huge hits.

Another downside is that the movies that NetFlix delivers to TVs will likely not be HD-ready. Many people will still want to rent the physical DVDs, especially if they own Blu-Ray or HD-DVD players.

Guess we’ll have to wait and see how NetFlix tackles this interesting new delivery to the home.

[tags] Apple TV, Apple, NetFlix, Amazon, Tivo, Unbox [/tags]

Digeo unveiled a software version of its DVR set-top box which lets PC users record TV from their computers. Digeo makes a line of media recorders called Moxi.

Users must have Windows XP, a TV tuner card to use the Moxi TV for PC software, which is available free during the beta trial period.

Other software-based DVRs include ReplayTV, BeyondTV, Windows Media Center and Orb.

[Via Download Squad]

[tags] Moxi, Digeo, DVR, PVR [/tags]

I love media. I’ve got hundreds of CDs, thousands of photos and lots of gigabytes worth of movies stored on my home PC. With so much content, I really wanted space where I could everything without taking up space on my PC. My solution was to get a network attached storage device.

I recently bought a Buffalo LinkStation Live network attached storage (NAS) device. It’s 750GB so it can fit all my music, movies and photos. And since it’s attached to the network I can access it from my home network, or anywhere in the world via the Internet. Pretty cool, eh? 

The one thing I’m missing, however, is the connection between the PC and TV. But since my LinkStation works as a media server, all I need is a compatible device.

Media extenders act as the bridge between PCs and TVs. They connect to your TV set and let you watch movies from your PC. PC Magazine wrote up a round up of products that can do this, including the Apple TV, Netgear’s extender, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. But the Xbox and PS3 aren’t full media extenders–they’re game systems that can do some movies and media center functions. And Apple TV has just been pretty much ignored by everyone, including Apple.

Now, SanDisk has unveiled a new flash-memory-based device that can take content from your PC to the TV. But no matter how SanDisk makes it look pretty, it’s still sneakernet–you have to physically walk the flash-memory device from the PC to the TV.

Media extenders seem like the best solution for me, especially now that I’ve parked all my media on my NAS. The Buffalo LinkStation that I bought is compatible with DLNA certified media devices, like Buffalo’s own LinkTheater Wireless A&G Network Media Player. I was also impressed by some media extenders that Linksys unveiled last month.

DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) is still a pretty new concept that not may people have heard of. It’s simply a way to share media between PCs, TVs and other consumer devices within a home network.

I’m pretty excited about having tons of storage, and am getting ready to buy a media extender to really take advantage of all my media. As much I love my media, I want to have it everywhere I go, and on any device. But alas, we haven’t gotten there yet.

SanDisk announced a USB product that bridges the distance between a PC and TVs allowing viewers to transfer files from the computer to the device and into a cradle connected to the TV.

The TakeTV Video Player, is meant to make it easy to transfer TV shows and movies from PC to TVs but adds yet another equipment residing next to the TV. I guess until TV sets come with USB ports, we’ll need to have a device like this. The device is available in 4GB ($99) and 8GB ($149) versions.

I’m not convinced that this is the best way to get content to your TV, but it might prove to be quick and a good low-cost way. The alternative is to a) run a wire from your PC to TV b) burn a DVD and play it on your TV or c) use a media center extender like NetGear or even Apple TV.

With the SanDisk method, you can get decent content (without going through BitTorrent) and a somewhat easy way to bridge the famous “ten-foot” gap between the PC and TV.

The bad news? You can’t take protected content, like stuff from iTunes or Amazon Unbox.

SanDisk also unveiled Fanfare, a new online video service where users can download TV shows and movies.  Content partners include CBS, Showtime Networks, Smithsonian Networks, The Weather Channel and Jaman.com. Fanfare content will also be downloadable to mobile phones, handheld computers and TVs.

[Via Forbes,  SF Chronicle and others]

[tags] SanDisk, FanFare, TakeTV, PC-to-TV [/tags]

Although there are plenty of media extenders for Windows Vista and XP. Like NetGear, Buffalo LinkTheater, and D-Link–see the reviews from PC World here. These devices sit next to your TV, connect to your PC (via Ethernet cable or better yet, Wi-Fi) and allow you to view movies and listen to music through your home network.

Now, PVR Wire is reporting that HP is releasing an HDTV with a built-in media extender. That means you don’t need an external device to connect to your TV. This is a great idea. After all, who wants YASTB (yet another set-top box) near the TV?

As PVR Wire reports, the price of the TV may be a bit more, but it makes up for the media extender that you’d probably purchase.

[tags] media center, media extender, HDTV, HP [/tags]