Is this the year of powerline networking?  WiFi solutions have become a solution of choice for many homes, including mine.  The current top-dog wifi standard is 802.11n, with a theoretical data rate of 300 Mbits/sec.  Current powerline networking solutions do not come close to that.  Yet.  According to Rick Kukulies of NuVo, current non-proprietary powerline solutions are suitable only for use with as control devices in the home.

The undisputed king-of-the-hill is a wired gigabit solution.  Wiring a home is not always a feasible option, and I abhor current “proprietary” powerline solutions that are acceptable for use to stream audio and video.  Getting back to Rick Kukulies, he recently sat down with CE Pro’s Robert Archer to discuss new powerline-based standards.  From the article:

Describe powerline technology.

Powerline technology connects devices together using the power lines in the home.

Proprietary technologies exist for both control and A/V applications, but HomePlug is the only global standard for high-speed networking in the home.

How do today’s technologies differ from older protocols, like X10?

Powerline technologies, such as X10 and Insteon, are for control only.

The frequencies used by these technologies are in the 100 kHz to 200 kHz range and they cannot handle audio or video content. The HomePlug 1.0 powerline specification, however, is suited to transmit audio, video and metadata.

In what applications will installers see Powerline technology used most?

Powerline technology is used for control applications, such as lighting, HVAC and other home automation scenarios.

The powerline market segment is growing quickly. It will be used for audio and video applications, too.

Will the reliability of the technology be affected by issues such as brownouts, surges, line noise and power outages?

It’s tough to beat a physical wire for transmission quality, reliability and cost, of course.

There are, however, many applications, particularly in retrofitting existing homes where a physical wire is difficult or impossible to run.

Keep in mind that homeowners are not only concerned with the cost an installation, but also the disruption of running wires throughout their homes.

It can be a messy and time-consuming process and as we all know the holes need to be cut and patched to the homeowner’s standards.

In order to best serve the retrofit market, the industry has been forced to find ways to wirelessly connect rooms together and this connectivity doesn’t necessarily mean using wireless technologies.

With that said, there are two reliability issues with powerline and both are addressed by the current technology.

The first issue involves the possibility of permanent damage to equipment caused by surges and brownouts. The second issue is the temporary loss of service due to factors such as line noise.

The permanent damage issue is addressed by standard techniques that the industry has employed for years and The HomePlug Powerline Alliance has addressed reliability through extensive testing to find ways to reduce signal loss issues.

Does a technician need to be a licensed electrician to install these products?

If the product is directly connected to AC wiring, the installer needs to be a licensed electrician.

Powerline products, like USB extenders and Ethernet adapters, do not require electrician licenses because all they do is plug in to an outlet. In all cases, the installer must comply with all electrical codes — national and local.

What are the cost differences between traditional A/V and powerline technologies?

As with any product that isn’t hardwired, powerline products will be more costly. The difference is that the installation cost will be lower in some cases.

Powerline technology eliminates the disruption caused by installing more wiring in an existing home.

What kind of profit do you expect this emerging category to offer installers?

The real take-home point for the installer is this: even though the products are more expensive and the installation is less expensive, dealers will realize greater income because they will be able to perform more installations.

In the case of a multiroom audio system, like the NuVo Renovia, installation can be done in one day.

Looking at the big picture, powerline-based solutions will enable the industry to make a significant impact in the existing home market.

It seems that companies are looking to introduce these devices for use by professional installers in a digitally connected home to stream all types of audio/video content.  The one point that is made that causes me concern for the potential self-installer is

If the product is directly connected to AC wiring, the installer needs to be a licensed electrician.

Powerline products, like USB extenders and Ethernet adapters, do not require electrician licenses because all they do is plug in to an outlet. In all cases, the installer must comply with all electrical codes — national and local.

These statements confuse me.  Aren’t powerline devices “directly” connected to the AC wiring, thus requiring a licensed electrician to install?  Then he goes on to state that extenders/adapters do not.  I really think those statements need further explanation.

Regardless, I like the concept of standards being introduced to powerline solutions.  My home is not ethernet wire-friendly.  Appliances like televisions are not wifi friendly.  I like the idea of a powerline solution.  At least one that is consumer friendly, is designed/built to industry standards, and is cost/performance competitive to wifi solutions.  Will this solution meet those criteria?  Only time will tell.

• Hands On: Linksys Powerline Network Kit PLTK300
• CES 2008: Zyxel HomePlug AV Digital Media Adapter
• New Linksys Powerline Network Adaptors Announced
• First Glimpses of USB 3.0 to be Shown at CES 2009
• Streaming21 and WNC Debut WiFi Media Frame Connected to Microsoft Windows Home Server at CES

So what has changed in the month or so since the last build? Well the UI is a lot more consistent, much faster and generally ‘feels’ like a proper working piece of software. There is a new colour coded guide which highlights movies, news and kids programmes. This is a nice addition, but the colours they have chosen aren’t the nicest, and there are no options to change them. The new mini guide that pops up during live TV is a vast improvement. It really is now a ‘mini guide’ as it has 2 lines of the actual guide on the bottom of the screen. Looking at it now it looks so obvious I don’t know why it wasn’t like that from the start. This build still has the very annoying ‘virtual keyboard’ which only pops up on the guide search. I really hope they either get rid of it or let you turn it off as it takes longer to tap out your search using that than the traditional ‘MMS’ keypad search.

There’s not really much else that changed from the 6801 build. It’s a lot more stable and I was almost going to use it full time until I found quite a big bug… I was listening to the ‘play all’ music (on shuffle, and the MP3’s are all stored on my WHS) with my daughter and it was playing everything fine. After a while it started to miss the start of some songs. I put it down to the PC playing up so I did a reboot, started the ‘play all’ again and all was well (although it was now playing different music). I moved to my desktop PC to set up a playlist for my daughter’s party, and some of the same songs that hadn’t played properly were now missing the intros on my desktop PC! I loaded up the MP3 in some sound software and the actual file has had the intro removed. I was not happy about this as I had no idea how many songs had been affected. I also quickly checked my photos, but none had been modified. Luckily I had a backup of the music directory, so simply copied it back and used WHS to roll back my Media Center PC to Vista.

All in all this build looks and feels very much better, but after being caught out with my music, I’ll be waiting until Windows 7 is realised to the public before upgrading…

• Windows 7 Media Center Revealed
• Windows 7 Media Center – Preview
• How-To: Install Firefly Media Server for Windows Home Server
• Building the Ultimate Media Center (Part 1)
• How To: Play Media Stored On Your Playstation 3 With Windows Home Server and PVConnect/TwonkyMedia

I happen to be one those minimalist kind of guys.  And I am cheap. :)  If I can do something that requires little or no cost, and does it without installing a program on top of another program, I’ll go that route every time.  Quite often, I also find that other methods like the one I described in my aforementioned article gives me more control over what I want to do.  MyMovies simply did not allow me the kind of control I wanted.

From my article, once I had pointed VMC to my share on my WHS machine, ripped my movies, and got the associated xml file from DVDxml.com, life was good. For the most part…  The one problem that I had with this method was that occasionally I could not not find the xml file needed for a particular movie on DVDxml.com.  Bummer.  They have a forum where one is able to obtain some movie xml files that are not on the main website.  They would work sometimes, sometimes not.  Recently I came across a thread there that provided me a method to get the xml information I was missing.  Music Man, in his post, gave me a hint of a program that would get me the information that I lacked: DVD Library Manager.

I did the usual Google search which led me this GreenButton thread.  From there, I downloaded DVD Library Manager, installed it, started it up, pointed it to my WHS share and several minutes later, I had all the xml and graphics information that I was missing from my DVD collection.  Nice!

So, if you are the minimalist/cheap bloke like me, head over to the GreenButton link above, download the program and complete your DVD information library for VMC.  The following shots are examples of what the program looks like in action.

Enjoy!

• How To: Play DVD’s in Windows Media Center Stored On Your Windows Home Server
• Microsoft KB 955690: Outlook Personal Folder Files & Database Files Unsupported via Network on Windows Home Server
• Video Library - Media Center Plug-in Review
• Open Media Library Goes Open Beta
• MyMovies Media Center Plug-in

If, like me, you download TV shows to watch later then this plug-in provides a very nice GUI to browse and select the shows you want to watch. It has an excellent Meta database function which downloads descriptions and images for the TV series you are watching. This alone is worth the download. It doesn’t actually enable you to do anything different with your content, but the way it displays cover art for all of your content is simply fantastic.

It works with all types of files that your Media Center can play, but it does have some drawbacks… In order for the plug-in to correctly recognize what the file is, the file name must match what it is expecting. For example I downloaded ‘Top Gear’ from the BBC iPlayer, and this has a seemingly random file name. You have to manually rename it to ‘Top Gear-S12E01-Lorries.avi’. Obviously this is a little time consuming if you have a lot of files, but you only need to do this once. You also have to manualy edit a config file to point to another directory (it uses ‘Recorded TV’ by default)

It can download meta information for movie files, and for recorded TV, but as I use the DVD Library hack, and recorded TV already has Meta information I didn’t try this function out.

If you want a fantastic front end to your downloaded TV, then this is for you.

Check out thegreenbutton.com post for info on how to download:

Video Library Plug-in

• Add-in Review: MyMovies For Windows Home Server
• Add-In: TV Manager (Beta) Released
• Controlling Media Center From Your Windows Mobile Device
• TweakMC for Media Center Released by Microsoft
• Podcasts in Vista Media Center?

The movie industry has faced a similar problem with illegal distribution of movies.  Perhaps not quite as bad as the movie industry, as movies are immensely larger in size to download then songs.  As the music industry has moved to legal online distribution of songs, the movie industry appears to going down the same path.

Enter Roxio.

Roxio has developed the Qflix ecosystem which is made up of manufacturers, distributors, software developers, systems integrators, retailers, and other digital media related companies who have all embraced the on-demand creation of secure DVD titles using the Qflix platform.

With one download, you get a movie that can be watched instantly on your PC and burned to DVD. You’ll no longer have to choose between downloads and DVDs!

So how does this magic work? There are three simple steps: First, buy a Qflix DVD burner, available from Dell and others. Your burner will come with the Roxio Venue software, which you need for the following steps. Next, open Venue and choose a movie from the CinemaNow online store. Finally, press the download & burn button. That’s it!

You’ll have your finished DVD in hand in about 1.5 to 2 hours, and you can even watch the movie while it downloads to your PC. With a Qflix drive, you can pick a movie when you get home from work, and your DVD will be ready for viewing on the big screen after dinner.

The Qflix ecosystem is made up of four key components:

• Qflix-enabled DVD recordable discs
• Qflix-enabled DVD recorders
• Qflix-enabled software for PC or CE devices
• Qflix online secure key servers

These specially-modified components work together to enable premium content to be burned onto recordable media with the CSS (content scrambling system) copy protection format, used universally by the DVD format. The finished DVDs are functionally identical to standard retail DVDs and can even be created with printed case liners and discs just like off-the-shelf DVDs-look and behave identically to standard replicated DVD titles and will play in virtually every DVD player on the planet.

By making CSS-encrypted burning virtually ubiquitous, the Qflix program enables the rapid, low-cost release of new titles, a virtually unlimited virtual shelf for back-catalog titles, the economical distribution of hard to find and specialized content, plus the convenience of in-store or in-home DVD creation.

With one download, you get a movie that can be watched instantly on your PC and burned to DVD. You’ll no longer have to choose between downloads and DVDs!  Since the CinemaNow license allows for playing back your purchased Qflix movies on up to three PCs at a time (in addition to burning one DVD), you can install the software on additional PCs for downloading and viewing.

CinemaNow, which integrates within Media Center, is available currently only in the U.S.  As this distribution model gathers acceptance, I am sure that expansion will occur to other areas of the world.  I like free (don’t we all!), but it is nice to have the convenience of legal online availability of movies.  I am not sure I care for the costs associated with special burners and discs, but that is the price one must pay to be legal.  But at $120 from Dell, that is not a bad price to pay.

• Add-In: DVD Manager Alpha
• Video Library - Media Center Plug-in Review
• Add-In: My Movies for Windows Home Server v1.0.0.3
• MyMovies Media Center Plug-in
• Add-in Update: My Movies for Windows Home Server 1.02

So what functions does this new version bring? In a nutshell it has automated disc copy, automatic monitoring of shared WHS folders and now functions as a meta data provider for other video collection programs. The last function is especially interesting, which I’ll cover later.

Automatic Disc Copy

This new feature is a strange one. One of the ‘features’ of Windows Home Server is that it is intended to be run as a headless unit without a DVD drive. Designing an add-in that specifically requires a DVD drive seems to be a bit odd. Anyhow for those of you who want to be able to rip your entire DVD collection to your home server this is the one for you! Basically all you do is pop the disc into your DVD drive (I used a USB drive attached to my MediaSmart server to test this) and MyMovies will copy it to your shared video folder. If you want to copy commercial DVD’s (which is illegal in some countries) then you will also have to install a second application, AnyDVD, on the home server itself. If you don’t/can’t have a DVD drive in your home server, you can still copy to it using the MyMovies client running on any desktop PC with a DVD drive.

Folder Monitor

This part of the add-in will keep an eye on your video share and add any new video files to your database. This part is a little clunky at the moment as it will find any video file in the Videos folder. I have all the Quintin family videos in there, and of course MyMovies has no idea what they are and cannot provide data for it. You currently cannot set a sub folder of a share as a ‘rip’ folder, which will hopefully be fixed in the next version.

Meta Server

This part of the add-in is very interesting. The regular MyMovies Collection program has great metadata for DVD’s but the actual Media Center plug-in user interface is not quite as good as the inbuilt Microsoft DVD library (which is available with a small registry hack). Now you can run a small program to change the DVD library to use your home server to provide the metadata. I’ve tried it and I like what I see. Originally I couldn’t get the Microsoft DVD Library to work quite right, but now it looks great with MyMovies DVD artwork and Metadata. The only let down is that it won’t grab artwork for any movies recorded by your Media Center. Media Center users outside of the US don’t get any cover art for recorded movies, so hopefully MyMovies can fill this gap in the future.

So is MyMovies for WHS the plug-in for you? I will certainly be uninstalling MyMovies from my Media Center PC, and running the Microsoft DVD Library full time as I feel it has a better user interface. I know I will lose the copy feature directly on the MC box, so I will use the copy functions of the MyMovies Client running on my desktop PC and rip to the WHS.

Overall a solid step in the right direction.

• DVD Library Manager
• Add-In: My Movies for Windows Home Server v1.0.0.3
• HP MediaSmart Server Wins Macworld Best of Show Award
• MyMovies Media Center Plug-in
• New Windows 7 Technologies Point the Way to Future Improvements In Windows Home Server

Andy further states that Blu-ray will be replaced by another format or technology.  I do admit that the CD-type media is starting to show its age, and should be replaced by a new media format.  How many times have you rented a DVD/Blu-ray and it shuts down 10 minutes to go in the movie because the disc is scratched?  Of course, it is entirely possible (probable) that physical rental of movies discs will be replaced by some sort of downloadable version sooner than later.

But a new format?  My vote, which does not count in the corporate world, would be to have the technology to bypass the need for new hardware players every 5 years.  But, of course, I’m sure one would have to still invest in 4320p, or whatever they will be calling the latest screen resolution, to take advantage of that latest format.

Sorry, I have no desire to invest in the “latest” every 5 years.  I remember the good-ole-days when you bought an appliance, you expected it last 10 years or more.  In an effort to maintain sales, is the corporate world going to try and force the average consumer to recycle their perfectly good hardware every 5 years?

I get the feeling that hardware appliance makers have been studying the software market.  Anywhere from 1 year to 5 years, the consumer is subjected to that software upgrade path.  That is quite often very painful to the pocketbook.  No wonder torrents are doing well!  To bad there are not hardware “torrents”.  Not until we have that “beam me up, Scotty” technology…

The original article can be found here.  What are your thoughts on this?  Am I all wet?

• µTorrent Add-in Released For Windows Home Server
• The Beginner’s Guide to Windows Media Center - Part 1
• Do You Want Your Next Home Storage Solution to Be an Appliance?
• CES 2009: LG Broadband HDTVs Offer HD Netflix Streaming
• Add-in Update: My Movies for Windows Home Server 1.02

One is a Media Center device that will allow the user to allow full access and control of their media content. The 2nd product is a Windows Home Server based system with added music streaming support and home surveillance capabilities.

Put the 2 together and this is what I want my WHS computer to be able to do!  From the article:

09.05.2008 — Home Automation Inc. (HAI) one of the first automation companies to create a plug-in for Media Center, now plans to offer a Media Center PC of its own.

Do they really want to go there? I asked HAI chief Jay McLellan.

“We do,” he says. “We wouldn’t do that if we didn’t see the progress of Windows Media Center. If we were just putting me-too Media Centers in there, we wouldn’t do it.”

What’s different about HAI’s Media Center, a prototype of which is being quietly demonstrated at CEDIA Expo 2008, is that it’s pretty darn basic.

“To start with, we’re not going to go all out and try to do too much,” says McLellan. “We’re not supporting every output, just HDMI,” McLellan says. “We’ll discourage [through the setup] people from putting too much extra stuff in there.”

There will be no CableCard support right now. “There’s a lot to improve with CableCard,” McLellan says. “We’ll do it when the time is right.”

And HAI has opted for an upconverting DVD player rather than Blu-ray. “We’ll wait until there’s native support for Blu-ray,” McLellan says.

What the Media Center will have is plug-and-play integration with HAI’s automation system and supported interfaces, including Philips Pronto remotes and HAI’s new OmniTouch WiFi-enabled tablets.

HAI has partnered with Autonomic to enable the OmniTouch tablets to take full advantage of the Media Center.

“HAI has been an integration partner in the past,” says Autonomic’s Michael de Nigris. “But that was just one-way communications from their controller to our server. This is true two-way integration covering all five [Media Center] categories: music, movies, recorded TV and photos.”

HAI has not set pricing on its Media Center, which is expected to ship this year. McLellan suggests that it should retail for less than $2,500.

Autonomic is also helping HAI with a new “Music Gateway” based on Windows Home Server.

HAI already offers WebLink 3 (WL3) automation software for Home Server. HAI now is developing its own Home Server incorporating Autonomic’s Media Control Server multiroom audio solution (I love this stuff).

The HAI Music Gateway has a built-in 5.1 sound card which, thanks to Autonomic, can deliver three music streams to three zones simultaneously (including protected iTunes content).

The unit ships with HAI’s WL3 software, enabling remote access to the HAI system from any Web browser, including an iPhone.

Since HAI has added DVR functionality to WL3, the Music Gateway can record surveillance video from IP cameras. It transcodes the video so for viewing even on itty bitty screens.

Even though the product is a full-fledged Windows Home Server, HAI is keeping it simple, promoting it simply as a music (and CCTV) gateway.

The gateway runs very cool, says McLellan, so it can be installed in a closed structured wiring cabinet.

The Music Gateway, with 160 GB of storage, is expected to retail for less than $1,800.

• HAI Now Shipping WL3 Home Automation Software
• CEDIA Expo 2008: Exceptional Innovation Announces Entry-Level Life|ware Series Servers with Windows Media Center, 5.1 Surround Sound, and ZigBee
• How Do You Integrate Windows Home Server and Windows Media Center in Your Home Setup?
• mControl for Windows Home Server - Automate Your Home
• Media Center Integration With Windows Home Server - Your Ideas?

According to Alex Springer’s website, “MY PERSONAL TV DIGITAL permits the creation of personal TV channels on the basis of conventional TV programs and internet video offerings.”  The Internet TV Beta that is available currently for VMC is rather anemic and I have found the quality rather lacking.  While this addin sounds interesting, the announcement is long on hyperbole and short on substance.  Just the mention of TV Pack in the announcement kind of leaves me wondering what this addin will really do for current VMC users.  And I really wonder what is meant by “conventional TV programs”.  I guess we will have to wait until November to learn more.

But hope springs eternal.  Perhaps this addin will bring much needed new content options to users of VMC.  Like the rest of you, I am looking for better quality (i.e., HD picture and 5.1 sound) and more programming variety.  If neither of these become available through VMC, the great shining star of VMC will become a little more tarnished.

For those of you who are interested in the announcement, the following comes directly from Alex’s website.

Berlin, August 28, 2008 – MY PERSONAL TV DIGITAL, the intelligent Personal TV service from Axel Springer and APRICO, a technology venture of Philips, will be available starting November 2008 for free downloading from the Online Media of the Microsoft Windows Vista Media Center. Microsoft indicates that the Windows Vista operating system has been sold worldwide more than 100 million times since January 2008.

MY PERSONAL TV DIGITAL permits the creation of personal TV channels on the basis of conventional TV programs and internet video offerings. The intelligent and self learning service uses the software-based recommendation technology from APRICO, as well as the program guide technology and program information services of Axel Springer Digital TV Guide. Axel Springer and APRICO plan to introduce this innovation in the sector of digital and interactive program navigation progressively throughout the global digital media market by the end of 2008.

“We are delighted to have secured Microsoft as our partner: one of the most innovative firms in the world. Microsoft Windows Vista enables MY PERSONAL TV DIGITAL to achieve the greatest possible reach internationally“, says Stephan Zech, Managing Director of Axel Springer Digital TV Guide. “At IFA we are showing new features of our TV Pack as well as several new solutions from partners for Windows Vista Media Center“, says Isabell Scheuber, Director Windows Client, Microsoft Germany.

“With MY PERSONAL TV DIGITAL from Axel Springer and APRICO users will have an even larger choice of attractive and interesting multimedia applications.“

Alongside Microsoft as sales partner MY PERSONAL TV DIGITAL has already secured the first marketing partner and premium brand as an advertising customer: Mercedes-Benz will have its own TV channel on MY PERSONAL TV DIGITAL offering new content in the genres of lifestyle, motor and sports, as well as the history and innovation of this leading automobile brand.

About MY PERSONAL TV DIGITAL

The Personal TV offering has been proven on the basis of long-term studies and research over the course of two years among test households concerning the current and future requirements of television viewers. MY PERSONAL TV DIGITAL enables viewers to add to their existing program offering a range of “virtual” personal television channels. These personal channels are created automatically and are continuously updated, and reflect individual television preferences and viewing behavior. In this manner the viewer has a personally-tailored TV channel, which can be easily accessed thanks to its intelligent and „self-learning“ program profile.

About Axel Springer Digital TV Guide GmbH

Axel Springer Digital TV Guide GmbH (ASDTVG GmbH) provides CE producers and network operators with access to the premium editorial content of Axel Springer. It offers technological solutions – in particular electronic program guides (EPGs) – for extended navigation and insertion of targeted, personalized advertising through digital content on digital receivers, personal video recorders (PVRs), game consoles, PCs, mobile phones and other terminals and platforms. The company is a 100-percent subsidiary of Axel Springer AG (XETRA: SPR.DE) and cooperates closely with the editorial offices of the Axel Springer program guides and other global publications. For more information visit: http://www.as-guides.com

About APRICO

APRICO solutions help people to enjoy the wealth of content available through broadcast networks and on the internet in a personalized television experience. The company’s recommendation technology finds, filters and delivers content from different media directly to the viewer’s TV screen.  This solution is a perfect platform for the use of customers all over the TV, multimedia and advertising markets to fulfill one mission - provide pure personalized TV entertainment and advertising to the end user. Founded in 2008, APRICO delivers its solutions across the globe. Corporate headquarter of APRICO is based in Eindhoven. APRICO is a technology venture of Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI). For more information, please visit http://www.aprico.tv

• Fiji Isn’t All Bad News, Especially For Those Outside the USA
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We are holding a FREE All Day training event at the Microsoft office in Waltham, Ma in partnership with Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard.

The event is called “The Connected Home Day”. It’s a full day training for novice computer users who want to learn how to build and secure a home network, use Microsoft Media Center to it’s full potential and use Windows Home Server to store and backup their important documents and precious Digital Photos and Videos. We will also be covering the Analog to Digital conversion in Feb 2009 and what it means to the average person.

It sounds like it would be a nice event to go to and learn a thing or 2.  Being that it is sponsored in part by Microsoft, I would not be surprised if they had free copy of something for the attendees.  I wonder if my company needs anyone in that area in mid-September…

• Join Microsoft and HP Online to Hear About the HP MediaSmart Server
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• Add-in: Digital ArchHound for Windows Home Server