WinHEC 2005: Day 2

Home Entertainment

One of the hot topics at this year's WinHEC is Home Entertainment computers. There are more than fifteen presentations related to the concept of the PC as a media/home entertainment device. To hear Microsoft and others speak, this is the Next Big Thing (TM) in home computers. Our view is a little more pragmatic, but let's first cover what's being said and what it means to the end user.



In the broadest view, Microsoft sees the PC as a device capable of replacing nearly all of the current devices that might be used in a Home Theater A/V system. Just add a decent amplifier and speakers, and you're set. Digital TV, music, movies, photos, PVR... everything can be done by a single PC! Naturally, all of this will be provided by a PC running a Windows OS, and the "PlaysForSure" (PFS) initiative is designed to guarantee that compatible content will always work on a system without any special effort required by the user. While nearly all of this is currently possible, there are still hurdles to overcome. The biggest problem right now is with the content. Put simply, the content providers are nervous about trusting the PC - and PC users - with their product. We'll have more to say on that in a bit, but first let's talk about Microsoft's solutions for the market.



When Microsoft talks about Home Entertainment, they're not just talking about PCs running MCE 2005 or XP Pro with a TV tuner. They have a lot of solutions, including the launch of a new WebTV box (now called MSN TV), IPTV units, PVR devices, and the more traditional HTPC. The first three of these devices are intended to be built by OEMs with no user serviceable parts, while the last one is just a PC connected in some fashion to your living room. All of the devices have the potential to interoperate (depending on the OEM's decisions), so that the main HTPC could function as a content server for the rest of the home. Xbox as well as the future Xbox 360 also fit within the home entertainment market, although less was said about these devices, presumably because they are in essence direct competitors to what the vendors might produce.



The basic building blocks of a home entertainment device are straight forward. You have the OS, connectivity, and the supported formats. On top of that are the content protection mechanisms and finally the user interface. In the above slide, we get the Microsoft solution to all of these requirements. Obviously, MS feels that Windows CE provides a good solution to all these requirements. They did however acknowledge that CE is not the only option, and vendors are free to pursue their own solutions. Beyond that, though, most of the talk was related to Windows MCE, CE, XP, and/or Longhorn and how they could meet these needs.