General VMC News

It seems that 90% of consumers think they should be allowed to back up their DVDs as reported by EngadgetHD. It’s not as though this is a huge surprise to anyone using Media Center but at least we know we’re not the only ones.

From the article:

What should be music to the ears of the MPAA though is that 79 percent said they weren't interested in actually copying DVDs and that 40 percent said they'd be more likely to buy DVDs if they could copy ‘em. All interesting stuff, but everything has a price and that price seems to be about $60, which is the amount most would be willing to pay for DVD ripping software.

So, people would buy more if they could back them up to a hard drive? Well, that’s not what we’ve been told at all! People who want to copy DVDs only want to steal them and give them to friends ya know. Yeah.

As stated in the article, it would be nice if this made the MPAA stop their ridiculous practices but I won’t be holding my breath.

Thanks to @VinylFreak from twitter for finding this on EngadgetHD. It seems that MS is advertising to fill a new position within the Zune team.

From the article:

A recent Zune job posting says the boys down Redmond-town are looking for someone to come up with "innovative user interfaces for delivering a rich, deep interactive media consumption experience in a living room environment." That sounds to us like integration of the Zune software team into the ConnectedTV division is starting to kick into gear — the listing also specifically mentions on-demand audio and video content, which seem like a natural direction for ZunePass.

We can only hope that we might be seeing a glimmer of hope at getting Zune integration with Media Center. Since being split from the hardware team and moved in with eHome, we’ve all been thinking about it. Someone in the community who wants this and can do the job should apply ASAP!

Ian has opened up this year’s Ultimate Enthusiast Contest and if you’re running Media Center, it’s time to show off your system. This year, the contest is all about integration. It’s all about how you get your media throughout your home and what devices you use to do it.

From Ian’s post:

I want to show off how Windows Media Center integrates with systems like Windows Home Server, DLNA devices and other components. Last year we had some fanatics setups with some great screens but this year its more about the complete solution. Once again money is not the key, its about clever use of Windows Media Center and other technologies.

It seems that there have already been some entries, including fully integrated wall hanging PC. Be sure to get your entries in soon as the contest will end on April 27th. I’m really interested in seeing how other Media Center enthusiasts run their homes and the interesting solutions that have been developed. Good Luck!

This comes courtesy of Phil Lozen who writes Living in High Def. Microsoft has today launched a new Sports channel which will provide access to various sporting events.

According to CNet, Microsoft has secured rights to Fox Sports, CBSSports.com and MSNBC sports coverage.

From the article:

The new sports channel goes live Thursday and is available in Windows Vista Home, Premium and Ultimate. The new channel will only be available in the United States.

The replays of the NCAA tournament games will replay within hours of the live action and be commercial free as I understand it. WMC will also offer clips of game highlights.

This is great news for all the sports fans out there. While you won’t be watching live though this service, if the game you want to see doesn’t play in your area this could be a great help! The Cnet article lists the feature being available in Windows Vista Premium and Ultimate. I’ll do my best to check and see if it’s showing up in Windows 7 Media Center and report back here.

Thanks again to Phil!

Originally published on Entertainment 2.0.

Most of the people who are in the gadget/MCE/geek community have already heard that the Zune team has been split into separate hardware and software teams. I’ve read this story on several blogs and it’s really nothing new.

When I went over to the Zune Insider Blog a bit ago, I realized that getting the Zune and Media Center integration that we want might actually be more of a possibility than I thought.

From the blog post:

Hi folks – Some of you might have read today’s report on CNET about the Zune re-organization. If you haven’t already seen it, click to hear from the new head of the Zune business, Enrique Rodriguez, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s TV business and now Zune.

If you’re pressed for time, here’s the short version:

• We are combining the Zune software team with the Connected TV organization (Windows Media Center, Mediaroom) to create a single group focused on creating software and services that enable great entertainment experiences across the PC, TV, mobile phones and Zune devices.

• The Zune device hardware team joined the mobile communications business group to create a center of excellence in portable hardware. This will bring people who live and breathe hardware together.

• The priority now is to focus on delivering against our current product roadmaps across each team in the new organization. That means new software, services and devices for Zune customers.