Microsoft Makes DVD Player for Windows 10 Free for Some

While many mobile devices today don't have DVD Drives built in anymore, most desktop units still do and if you want to be able to play DVD's on you computer it may cost you to do so on your newly purchased or upgraded Windows 10 machine.

You can download Microsoft's DVD Player for Windows 10 from the Windows Store for free unless...

• Your using Windows Enterprise
• If you do a clean install of Windows 10 instead of an upgrade, again you don't get it free

The player app is free only for Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1 users that had Media Center on their machines prior to an upgrade to Windows 10. You also need to upgrade during the free period that Microsoft has outlined. Otherwise you will will have to open your wallet and shell out $14.99 in the Windows Store.

If you don't want to pay, try downloading the free VLC media player for Windows. This is an open source product that you can donate to and they currently have a player that supports Windows 10.

What! No DVD Player in Windows 8!

Listening to Windows Weekly this morning I find out that the new Windows 8 coming out will not natively support DVD playback. Referencing a blog entry from Building Windows 8 – Making Windows Media Center available in Windows 8, Steven Sinofsky first discusses their motivation behind breaking out Media Center but he puts one small mention in that Windows Media Player will not support DVD playback.

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Given the changing landscape, the cost of decoder licensing, and the importance of a straight forward edition plan, we’ve decided to make Windows Media Center available to Windows 8 customers via the Add Features to Windows 8 control panel (formerly known as Windows Anytime Upgrade). This ensures that customers who are interested in Media Center have a convenient way to get it.Windows Media Player will continue to be available in all editions, but without DVD playback support. For optical discs playback on new Windows 8 devices, we are going to rely on the many quality solutions on the market, which provide great experiences for both DVD and Blu-ray.

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Microsoft is going to rely on third party programmers to offer applications and CODECs to support DVD playback but will offer Windows Media Center which will have this support as an additional cost through a Windows Upgrade portal. You can purchase this in one of two paths. You will either have Windows 8 (home version) or Windows 8 Pro as a starting point from an OEM build or an upgrade path. You will need to install Windows 8 Pro Pack if you are starting with Windows 8 or, Windows 8 Media Center Pack if you are starting from Windows 8 Pro. The end result will be a product designated as Windows 8 Pro with Media Center. (see graphic below)

You still won’t be able to play DVD’s in Windows Media Player, but you will in Window Media Center. This is a pretty big deal if you consume your movies though your DVD collection or other DVD sources but with the general push these days towards streaming media sources then maybe this isn’t such a big deal. We just need to see these sources offer a much larger collection then it currently does. There are several sources for free CODEC’s that does offer DVD access so all is not lost, but it is just another step that we shouldn’t have to be subjected to.

Lee Mathews writes in his article DVD playback removed from Windows 8? Not exactly 

The Softies cite several reasons, including declining DVD sales and the shift to alternatives like iTunes, Hulu, and Netflix as reasoning for this. There are other considerations at work, too. Manufacturers are going to push Ultrabooks and tablets even harder when Windows 8 arrives, and those tend to ship without an optical drive. If Microsoft stops paying for a playback license you’re probably never going to use, it allows them to shave a few bucks off the price of Windows 8 without any loss of functionality to end users.

If you purchase a Windows 8 system that has a DVD recorder, I would be surprised if it doesn’t come bundled with the required CODEC’s and players to allow you to use it with your DVD Collection. So the only real problem  is going to be for those individuals that are doing upgrades to their own machines or building their own machines and installing an OEM copy of Windows 8 on that new system. If you are doing those things, then you are probably able to also find a solution for this issue as well.

QNAP adds iOS streaming via WiFI and 3G

While this is the headline streaming through the technology blogs, QNAP (Quality Network Appliance Provider) has a great inventory of products to choose from for your network storage needs. While this announcement highlights some of the neat features in their latest home designed appliances that provide digital media streaming to more of your devices in your home, they are much, much more than a home media streaming company.

The QNAP TS-x12 Turbo NAS Product line provides an All-in-one NAS Server with iSCSI for SOHO and Home Users. The TS-412 appliance supports a 3-bay hot swappable  system with RAID 0/1/56/5+Hot Spare and JBOD. It also supports both 2.5” and 3.5” drives as well.

If you are looking for a repository for all of your Home Entertainment needs to share Photos, Music Movies and Videos, you can do worse than this device. With support for PS3, Xbox 360 or other network media players you will be able to stream full HD 1080p movies to your TV or Projector. You can even provide access to your digital media over the Internet by web browsers or iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad or Android mobile devices.

Of course you will have file share and backup of all your network devices as with most NAS compatible devices. With DLNA and iTunes Server support.The NAS features high-speed data transfer of exceeding 70MB/s, fast enough to support multiple 1080p HD streams. The whisper-quiet design brings you the best cinema-grade home theater experience right in your living room.

QMobile is an application dedicated to iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, and Android users. You can view and play Terabytes of photos, music, and video files on the NAS by QMobile from anywhere regardless of the actual storage size of your mobile devices. You can also upload photos to QNAP NAS straightway from your iPhone for instant sharing.

If you are using a Surveillance system at home you can easily use this NAS device as a central storage area for your IP cameras. The Surveillance Station of QNAP NAS enables you to connect to multiple IP-based security cameras for real-time monitoring, recording, and playback. It supports leading network camera brands such as AXIS, D-Link, IPUX, LevelOne, Linksys, Panasonic, and VIVOTEK. By using particular models, you can use two-way video and audio monitoring and recording, and smart PTZ control to control the monitoring direction of the IP cameras by a web browser.

Versatility seems to be the watch word with these new devices by QNAP.

Check Out this Windows 7 Media Center Guide

I came across the How-To Geek’s tutorial for Windows 7 Media Center users and I had to share it with you. In this How-To Guide you’ll find a collection of tips, tricks and tutorials for using WMC in Windows 7. The guide features everything from getting started with your TV Tuner setup to using add-ins like Boxee and so much more. The article is really long, but definitely worth checking out, even if you’re already a Media Center user. You may be surprised to find something you didn’t know!

For example, did you know you can set up event reminders, use parental controls, connect Windows Media Center to Windows Home Server, read RSS feeds in Media Center, or tweet from Media Center?  Those are just a few of the features covered in this detailed guide. You can read the rest of it here.

How To Build an Awesome $500 Windows Home Server - Tested

It was a little convoluted path on how I got to this great technology website that has a wealth of information on it about, well, Technology. They have great How-To Videos and blog posts describing how to make technology items to add to your life, software that makes your products work better or smarter and general information about which is the best products to buy to meet the price/performance ratio best choice.

Click to read more ...

More Media Center for the Masses

Microsoft has released to manufacturing (RTM) its new version of Windows Embedded Standard 7. Not jumping up and down? Well, this product when incorporated into your TV’s and other desktop devices will enable them to be better integrated into all of your media centric systems in your home including, well, your Windows 7 based PC’s through the magic of Windows Media Center. Read on to see what else it can do.

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Adding the finishing touch to your backed up movies in Media Center

I pretty much have it down to a science on how I can backup my movies to my Media Center Movie Directory so that all of my DVD’s are now available on demand from any of my Media Center Devices. The one piece that was missing was the addition of all of the Metadata about the movie that Media Center allows you to access if it has been collected for the movie.

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Looking forward to the May release of the Ceton InfiniTV 4 quad-tuner card.

One of the roadblocks you may have run into when trying to use your PC as a DVR (Digital Video Recorder) has been getting digital content directly into your PC without having to use external digital convertor devices. Prior to this new product from Ceton you had to purchase four single tuner cards and rent r separate CableCARDS from your local cable provider. This could easily cost upwards of $1000 to purchase the tuner cards and an additonal cost of $96 - $288/year for the CableCARD rental.

With the Ceton InfiniTV 4 tuner card you pay $399 for the tuner and $2-$6/month for the CableCARD rental. 

Ceton states that it will work with any US Cable System to receive all SD and HD digital cable channels without needing a separate set-top box. So with all that said, this product looks like a great addition to your Media Center to take it up another notch. More on this product once it is released.