We Got Served » CES 2008

“Mommy, Why Is There A Server In The House?” Now Pre-Ordering at Amazon

Terry Walsh — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 23:08:21 +0000

When I was told by Todd Headrick from the WHS Team, that they were planning on releasing “Mommy, Why Is There A Server In The House?” on Amazon for people to buy, I have to admit, I thought he was joking - sure, releasing the rumour around the Net would be a neat extension to the “Stay at Home Server” campaign, but publishing the book for real? Come on!

How wrong I was….! Amazon.com now have the book listed for pre-order. It’s currently out of stock, but fingers crossed it arrives soon and you can get your copy too before they sell out! My advice? Get your order in now!

More Info: Amazon.com

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Fond Memories From CES

Terry Walsh — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 19:06:14 +0000

Thanks for the interview, Ian - very funny show this week.

36:29 - 40:20 - Media Center Dinner…. at this point, I really do have to say it wasn’t a complete beerfest. But whenever I bumped into Ian (and his microphone) we both appeared to have beers in our hand.

Great fun. Ian, Andrew and I talked about doing some kind of UK Media Center/Home Server enthusiast dinner (and beer) meet up this year. Who’d be up for it?

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Todd Headrick Talks Windows Home Server Power Pack 1 on The Media Center Show

Terry Walsh — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 18:26:43 +0000

Ian Dixon has been doing a valliant job of editing and sharing a huge variety of interviews he conducted at CES last week. Even though 140,000 people attend CES, it’s funny how you bump into the same people regularly, and every time I saw Ian, he had his tablet PC and microphone at the ready. Great job, Ian.

This week’s edition of the Media Center show features a long interview with Windows Home Server Product Planner, Todd Headrick. Todd discusses the new features coming in Power Pack 1, the Stay at Home Server campaign as well as what’s ahead for WHS. Well worth checking out.

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CES 2008: Day 3 and Wrap Up

Terry Walsh — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 15:30:47 +0000

It’s interesting to see how a lot of people attend CES from Sunday through Tuesday, and leave on Wednesday - the show floors were certainly a lot calmer today, which was a welcome relief after the carnage of previous days.

A couple of highlights from Wednesday:

Medion MD90110 Home Server

Microsoft were showing off a range a home servers on the booth this week, and amongst them was the Medion MD 90110. This is a 4 bay multi-drive system, with easily accessible, hot swappable drives which hide behind a hinged front panel with a black piano finish. It’s footprint is pretty small - not too far away from the HP MediaSmart Server. Great to see it in the metal finally.

The NextGen Home Experience

The NextGen Home Experience showcased a wide range of home automation and digital entertainment equipment in a “real house” built in the Central Plaza of the show. Actors played the roles of family members in each room of the house and did a great job to illustrate how the various products on display integrated into their daily lives. Great fun. Ian Dixon has more.

So, in a couple of hours I’m leaving Las Vegas to return home, with a couple of thoughts in mind. Firstly, you’ll read all over the web that there was “nothing really new” or no “groundbreaking products” at CES this year. That’s true. What I did see, however, was a lot of connected devices for the home - DMRs, digital photo frames, networked storage devices, networked AV equipment etc. As you’ll hear me say in a future Digital Lifestyle show, this is the year that the connected home is really starting to look accessible and exciting to the guy in the street - products are getting simpler to configure and use, with prices more affordable than they’ve ever been.

But there’s still a very long way to go in educating consumers about the benefits of some of this equipment, and a huge gap in supporting their usage. Those companies that focus on simplicity of use with first class communication and support will be the ones that prosper in this space.

It was great to see WHS have a decent presence at the show, and the PP1 announcement has generated a buzz with the new features it will bring. Microsoft now need to focus on increasing the number of OEMs supporting the product, both some of the big guys and indeed smaller manufacturers and boutique home installation businesses to start to drive communication and presence of Windows Home Server in the marketplace.

I was asked by various people during the show as to my thoughts on when we’d see mass take-up of Windows Home Server in the market - I don’t have the complex demand curve tools that the analyst do, but right now, WHS is a wonderful product for enthusiast s- both server enthusiasts, and digital media enthusiasts. Going forward, both the platform and the hardware products it supports must continue to become simpler and more intuitive so they “just work” both at the home server level itself, and with products within the ecosystem they support and rely on - router configuration, anyone?

Personally, I’d love to see more development and communication partnerships between brands whose equipment works seamlessly together without frustrating the customer. My hunch is we’re 3 years and another two product releases away from seeing Microsoft and its partners start to penetrate into mainstream homes with any volume. But everything I’ve heard this week suggests that there’s a strong desire and commitment to do what’s required and I’m really looking forward to seeing where they are in this challenge next year at CES 2009.

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CES 2008: Day 2…

Terry Walsh — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 14:53:44 +0000

Tuesday was Day 2 and CES, and I still feel like I’ve only just scratched the surface of this show - all the articles you read about the size and scale of CES - it’s true, but then double the size and scale you actually think it is. Then add aching feet and 150000 people in your face. Great fun.

So, over the past couple of days I’ve had the great privilege of hanging out with Andrew Edney, fellow Brit, fellow WHS MVP and noted author of the Windows Home Server User’s Guide (which is available from all good bookshops and many bad ones too). I helped Andrew out on his book as a Technical Reviewer, so we swap a lot of emails, but it’s been great sharing adventures and generally supporting each other through intense lack of sleep. Partying in Vegas? Nope, jet-lag.

On Monday night, we had dinner with a few of the guys (Todd, Joel S, Joel B and Dave) from the WHS team. One thing I’ve learned being here at CES is just the sheer graft these guys put in every day talking to the press through the show. Most of the larger exhibitors here have big booths where the products are demonstrated, but then there’s a suite of private meeting rooms where in depth 30 min press and analyst briefings are happening pretty much back to back for 3 days. Fun night out and great at last to be able to put faces to names and email addresses.

Tuesday started bright and early with a breakfast meeting with Microsoft’s Oliver Niedung, who manages OEM Accounts for Microsoft’s Server products (which includes WHS) in Europe. We talked through some of the products that we’re going to see in Europe early this year from Fujitsu-Siemens and Medion as well as units later in the year from MaxData and Belinea. Oliver was optimistic about us seeing units from Iomega and Lacie next year, so fingers crossed that comes to fruition - again, Oliver has been a great supporter of WGS in Europe this year, so it was great to shoot the breeze and hopefully we’ll do more together over in Europe in the Summer.

I had a very quick opportunity to snatch quick conversations with the guys at Sonos and Netgear before heading over to HP’s mammoth booth for lunch with Carlos Montalvo. Carlos is Vice President of Marketing for HP’s Managed Home business unit. These guys look after HP’s suite of MediaSmart products, including the Server, TV, Receiver and Media Vault. Carlos talked through the history of the MediaSmart Server project, their partnership with Microsoft which enabled development of the home server over the past two years as well as some of the challenges faced over the holidays with product supply and support. I fed back some of the experiences I’d heard from some of you on dealing with HP Support recently - It’s clear that HP have a strong desire to hear and resolve these kind of issues quickly, and I’m hoping that we can find ways this year to work together to ensure the community has a more direct line to the Mediasmart team.

Following lunch it was back on the show floor to check out Sony’s Home Media Servers. They had a giant floor-standing ”media server” tower on show which couldn’t be networked (!) as well as a prototype Linux-based Home Media Server which looked a little familiar to those of you who remember Microsoft’s “Hockey Puck” design from CES last year. The unit offers some of the functionality we see in WHS, including backup of an attached home computer. One nice feature was a media card reader which automatically places files on an inserted card in the appropriated folders in the machine. Single drive machine though, which will need to be re-thought.

Intel were showing off their Storage Server reference hardware both at the Intel booth and on display within the Microsoft booth. This will be better known to you soon as the Velocity Micro NetMagix Home Server and the Fujitsu-Siemens Scaleo Home Server (although with slightly different configurations). As you’ll remember, this is a multi-drive (up to 4 drives) system, which I think will do the job pretty well. When you see it in the metal though, it is a bit chunky (Intel call it “robust”) compared to what we’ve seen from HP and Tranquil PC, but from what I understand, the power consumption is low and it’s very well ventilated (it’s air-cooled) which should keep it cool and quiet. I had no chance on a noisy show floor trying to hear how noisy it is. I should hopefully have a review unit soon, so stay tuned.

Andrew and I had arranged to meet up again with the WHS team in the late afternoon, this time accompanied by Charlie Kindel, and we managed to spend a couple of hours talking planes, tigers, Blackburn Rovers, tutus and the Beatles. Pretty much everything except Windows Home Server, which, given the fact that we’d all spent most of the day talking to various people about WHS was fine with me.

A mad dash back to the hotel then ensued by tram and monorail (after a taxi driver quoted us $40 each for a 3 mile trip) before dinner with Allen Buckner, Jeff Kraft, Josh Peterson, Pat Kinley and Frederik Hamberger from HP. Jeff looks after the day to day management of the MediaSmart Server, whilst Allen managed the development of the product and is now focused how it evolves over the next few years (both with software updates as we’ll see in February with PVConnect and McAfee’s anti-virus offering, and how the hardware evolves in the future). We talked a lot about the WHS community and it’s growth, thoughts around the highs and lows of the existing product as well as future plans for the MediaSmart Server (though not much was shared, other than it will go to market in a few more countries (my assumption is Q2/Q3 this year) and the future will involve in house add-in development, third party add-in partnerships (like McAfee and Packet Video) and a hardware roadmap).

So a busy day all round with lots of walking and talking - thanks to everyone who spent time chatting yesterday from Microsoft and HP. It was great to be able to meet many of the people behind the products we’ve been talking about here on the site for the past year.

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CES 2008: Zyxel HomePlug AV Digital Media Adapter

Terry Walsh — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 14:37:10 +0000

Regular readers will know I’m a fan of networking over power lines for those rooms in the house where you really need a decent connection, and wireless may be a little patchy. I use Netgear’s adaptors for the DMR in the lounge which is connected through to the router and allows me to access my home server’s music, video and photos folders at near Ethernet speeds.

One product I’m keen to check out here at CES has just been announced by Zyxel, which is a digital media adaptor with built in HomePlug AV Powerline technology. This provides a nicely integrated media adaptor and easy networking solution in one box, which sounds great for Windows Home Server.

Here’s their release:

ZyXEL Extends Industry’s Most Comprehensive Powerline Product Offering With The New HomePlug AV Digital Media Adapter

HomePlug-driven Digital Media Streamer Simplifies Sharing Movies, Music and More Throughout the Home

LAS VEGAS, January 7, 2008 – Responding to the increasing consumer demand for a simple solution that will allow users to easily share and enjoy pictures, video and music on an HD television and entertainment center, ZyXEL Communications Inc, today announced the DMA1100P, the first digital media adapter with built-in HomePlug AV Powerline technology. Power-packed with support for 1080i high definition (HD) streaming, HDMI connection to HDTV and USB 2.0 support, the DMA1100P streams digital music and HD video to the home entertainment system with ease over existing power lines in the home.

The DMA1100P streams HD digital content to a user’s home entertainment system from a home computer, or network storage devices over power lines, using the built-in HomePlug AV technology, at up to 200 Mbps. Once connected to the network and the home entertainment system, it can be set up by using the included remote control. It automatically discovers all media files from DLNA supported devices and makes them available for browsing and playback. A DLNA server is included with the appliance, on a CD for easy installation on the home computer.

“Consumers are collecting gigabytes of digital pictures, videos and music and need an easy way to share and view these on their HDTVs and entertainment centers,” said Munira Brooks, senior vice president of sales, marketing and business development for ZyXEL, “The addition of ZyXEL’s Powerline enabled digital streamer answers this need and simplifies connectivity throughout the digital home.”

As the Powerline market leader, ZyXEL has developed a series of industry first products that enable users to network their home or extend their existing wireless network. HomePlug AV (Audio Video) technology was designed from the ground up to stream HD media with steady high throughput that is necessary for such applications. ZyXEL’s HomePlug AV Powerline product family was launched last year with its PLA400 and PLA401, Powerline Ethernet adapters (desktop and wall mount options) and P660HWP, an ADLS2+ gateway with HomePlug AV and WiFi built-in. ZyXEL’s P660HWP is an Honoree of the 2008 International CES Innovation Design and Engineering Award. ZyXEL has also added a Powerline wireless router, wireless access point and a 4-port Ethernet switch. With the DMA1100P, ZyXEL offers a complete Powerline solution and adds to a comprehensive HomePlug AV product line.

“ZyXEL is a market share leader in residential gateways, and a strong vendor in other broadband networking solutions for service providers and consumers. As an early competitor for new HomePlug AV devices, ZyXEL sees how HomePlug can match the needs of the consumer,” said Joyce Putscher, principal analyst for home networking/digital home research at In-Stat. “There is a strong demand for simple home networking solutions and the HomePlug Powerline standard continues to gain momentum.”

The DMA1100P and the NSA220 – ZyXEL’s network attached storage and media server make a great solution for centrally storing, organizing, sharing and streaming media anywhere in the house or home office.

Pricing and Availability
The DMA1100P will be available in February, through ZyXEL’s approved channel partners and Retail/eCommerce partners. MSRP for the DMA1100P is $269.99. For more information about ZyXEL’s Digital Home product line, please call 1-800-255-4101.

About ZyXEL Communications
ZyXEL Communications, Inc., with North American headquarters in Anaheim, Calif., is one of the world’s foremost suppliers of broadband networking and Internet connectivity/routing products for service providers, solution providers, small to medium businesses and consumers. With expertise in diverse technologies like network security, wireless, Ethernet, powerline networking, VoIP, xDSL, cable, and WiMAX, ZyXEL offers integrated secure network solutions to all our customers. ZyXEL’s North American distributors include Ingram Micro, Jenne, Tech Data and Wynit. ZyXEL offers its channel partners industry leading incentives with a full line of enterprise-class networking products scaled to meet the requirements of the mid-market through the North America ZySTAR Channel Program. For more information on ZyXEL Communications and its broadband solutions, visit the company’s Web site at http://www.us.zyxel.com.

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CES 2008: PVConnect Coming to Windows Home Server

Terry Walsh — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 14:19:30 +0000

Late last week, HP announced that as part of their February update, the HP MediaSmart Server would include free media server software from PVConnect. The software also comes bundled with the new Fujitsu-Siemens SCALEO Home Server. I had a quick chat with Packet Video on Sunday to understand the real benefits that PVConnect brings over a standard WHS installation. The key things include the ability to stream a very wide range of media formats to a range of DMRs including the Xbox 360, PS3 and others, as well as transcoding ability for photos which ensures that your photos are shown at the most appropriate resolution for the specific display you’re serving them to. I’m over at the HP booth today for a while, so I’m hoping to take a look at the software in more detail.

According to PacketVideo, the software for Windows Home Server will also be made available to buy spearately through their website, along with a 30 day evaluation version. If you have a MediaSmart Server, you get it for free.

PVConnect released their own announcement regarding their partnership with HP yesterday - here’s the release:

Jan 07, 2008 09:00PVConnect(TM) Media Server Software Included in Select New HP Storage and Home Server Devices

PacketVideo’s PVConnect Software Enables Devices to Share Content with Other Home and Mobile Devices

SAN DIEGO –(Business Wire)– Jan. 7, 2008 PacketVideo’s (PV) PVConnect media server software will be included in new products launching this year to allow for media content to be shared among a variety of compatible home consumer electronic and mobile devices. In particular, PVConnect will be the media server software for the HP Media Vault 2100 and 5100 network-attached storage devices, both expected to ship in the spring.

PVConnect media server software can manage literally tens of thousands of individual media files without negatively influencing CPU performance. This capability makes it the perfect choice for high-capacity storage units such as the HP Media Vault devices, which can hold up to 1.5 terabyte of capacity and have multiple bays and USB ports for adding even more capacity.

“As the world continues its transformation to digital media, consumers are amassing mammoth amounts of video, music and photo files — files that add up quickly and can become a nightmare to manage and share,” said PV CEO James C. Brailean, Ph.D. “PVConnect is a powerful tool to create order out of media files, and to extend their reach to other home network devices.”

PVConnect server software will also be part of an early spring software update for the newly released HP MediaSmart Server, which is based on the Windows(TM) Home Server platform.

“Our MediaSmart Server and Media Vault products have created exciting new ways for people to connect to their digital content and share experiences with friends and family no matter where they are,” said Carlos Montalvo, vice president of marketing, Managed Home Business Unit, HP. “The integration of PacketVideo’s PVConnect software into our server product suite makes it easier than ever to share and enjoy high definition media files through out the home and on the go.”

PVConnect is developed by PV, a subsidiary of NextWave Wireless Inc. (NASDAQ: WAVE). PV also supplies the multimedia software that enables such services as Verizon Wireless’ VCAST music and video services, NTT DoCoMo’s 3G FOMA service and Orange’s Orange World services.

PVConnect is certified by the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA), meaning it can enable a device to talk to hundreds of other DLNA-compatible devices as well as those that follow the standard Universal Plug-and-Play (UPnP) protocol. PVConnect also has a flexible adaptation layer that makes popular gaming consoles such as the Microsoft(TM) Xbox 360(TM) and Sony(TM) PS3(TM) devices able to access and control media from storage devices like the HP Media Vault and HP MediaSmart Server.

About PV: PV, a subsidiary of NextWave Wireless Inc. (NASDAQ: WAVE), is the software innovator powering the world’s leading mobile multimedia services. With more than 250 different devices supported and 170+ million PV multimedia clients deployed around the world, PV has the deepest, broadest and most respected multimedia software expertise in the industry. Founded in 1998, PV is headquartered in San Diego, California, with regional offices in the U.S., Japan, Europe and India.

Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains “forward-looking statements” for purposes of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurances that forward-looking statements will be achieved, and actual events or results could differ materially from the events or results predicted or from any other forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of, PV, and should not be considered as an indication of future events or results. Important factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially are described in filings of our parent company, NextWave Wireless Inc. (NASDAQ: WAVE) with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All such documents are available through the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. PV and NextWave Wireless Inc. make no commitment to revise or update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect changes in events or circumstances after the date any such statement is made, except as may be required pursuant to applicable law.

PacketVideo
Gretchen Griswold, 858-731-5335
griswold@pv.com
or
Ruder-Finn
Jeff Seedman, 310-882-4009
seedmanj@ruderfinn.com

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What’s Happening With That Data Corruption Bug?

Terry Walsh — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 12:57:27 +0000

You may be thinking that whilst the guys from the Windows Home Server team are out here at CES working the crowds, no-one’s back in Redmond nailing that data corruption bug. From discussions I had with the team yesterday, they have nothing official to share right now in terms of timings on a fix, but I do know the developers back in Redmond are still working hard on it, and my sense is they’re making good progress. I’m hoping to bring you more news in the next couple of weeks.

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CES 2008: Windows Media Center News and More…

Terry Walsh — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 12:26:29 +0000

Whilst I’m pounding the halls this week seeking out Windows Home Server news, a few of my colleagues are out and about doing the same for their communities. So, if you’re finding Engadget a little overwhelming this week, here’s a couple of recommendations:

Media Center - Ian Dixon’s working the halls with podcasting kit in hand, interviewing all-comers. He grabbed me over at a noisy Bloghaus on Sunday night for a quick interview after we’d both had a couple of beers and we’re both suffering from intense jet-lag. Thanks Ian Chris Lanier is doing his usual thorough job of covering all things Media Center and The Green Button also have a blog covering the show. I got a quick chance to chat to a couple of the Media Center team myself today, and I’m hopeful that (at last) we may see some activity from them this year that won’t make you swear at your TV. As a long time Media Center beta tester here in the UK, I have my fingers crossed we see a much needed return to form.

Windows - I’m bumping into Ed Bott regularly here at the show. Ed’s always a great read, a supporter of the WHS community, and, as I discovered this week, a good guy - his comments on the Bill Gates speech (and the BlogHaus) were spot on. He left about 2.5 minutes before I did. I’ve also walked the floors of Las Vegas over the past couple of days with Josh Phillips from Windows Connected, who, despite continually sticking it to me for a lack of a .com domain over the past few days, is another great read.

Guys, hope your feet are feeling better than mine after Day 1

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CES 2008: Windows Home Server vs Network Attached Storage - A New Battleground

Terry Walsh — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 11:48:38 +0000

Walking the show floors here at CES today, it was interesting to see the sheer number of networked devices on show from a multitude of manufacturers. Be it audio devices such as Logitech’s Squeezebox Duet, digital media receivers from D-Link and HP or wireless digital photo albums from Ceiva and Samsung, the Connected Home is a big theme here at CES.

Many manufacturers were showing of new, small footprint NAS (Network Attached Storage) devices too, as a cheaper alternative to Windows Home Server systems. Whilst NAS devices have been around for a little while, the interesting development here is the focus on bundling software and services to provide more simplicity and enhanced functionality for what have traditionally been complex enterprise or enthusiast devices.

Seagate were showcasing their Maxtor Central Axis software for their Shared Storage II drives, which allows users to access the drive remotely over the internet (sound familiar?) through a secure gateway on Maxtor’s website. Netgear announced a suite of storage options under their ReadyNAS brand, a small footprint, hot swappable 4 drive RAID system.

Over at D-Link, the DNS-323 is a 2 bay system offering data storage and protection with an in-box FTP server and automated PC backup. Even HP are offering a broad range of WHS/non-WHS storage options with their refresh of the Media Vault series which pick up the aesthetic cues of the MediaSmart Server as well as added value services, including the iTunes Server, HP Photo Webshare and PVConnect media streaming software.

So, a choice of options available for the consumer this year and in conversation with some of the people above and others, they certainly believe they can deliver some of the storage and back up simplicity offered by WHS at a cheaper price than a Windows Home Server system. For me, WHS from a software point of view, blows pretty much all of the NAS device services away with what it delivers in power, simplicity and of course, added functionality through add-ins, but this comes at a price premium. The question this year will be are these NAS devices “good enough” to reassure families they have their digital media stored and protected without the cost of a home server?

Certainly, NAS manufacturers are going to be doing their best to persuade consumers that they are - Microsoft and WHS OEMs will have a job on their hands to persuade them otherwise. I’m hoping to take a look at some of these devices in more detail over the course of the year to help you make a more informed decision. Should be an interesting year.

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