Promised 40 GB versions should hold even more. The test Zen's 20 GB hard drive holds lots of music and video, though your mileage will vary. ATI Technologies, Hauppauge Computer Works, NVIDIA, Pinnacle and software maker SnapStream are announcing that this fall they’ll be releasing new tuner cards and programs that will enable Windows OS users to record television content into Windows Media format and make it automatically ready for transfer to a PMC. To help that along, there are a few other announcements accompanying Microsoft's. But any Windows computer owner who has a tuner card or those with Media Center computers can easily transfer their recorded videos to the PMC. Competitor Archos’ products can - and that's a big plus. It cannot record audio or video from an outside source such as a TV tuner or cable box. It gets all of its information from a Windows XP computer (and only an XP computer). ![]() ![]() You can turn this feature off, of course, but the fully automatic feature is the easiest.Īs I've stated, the Zen PMC is a playback unit only. When you plug your Portable Media Center (via USB cord) into any computer equipped with Windows Media Player 10, the computer will automatically recognize the PMC and begin synchronizing all your music, videos and photos. At 5.6 by 3.2 by 1.0 inches and a whopping 11.7 ounces, the Zen is much larger than an iPod - and that's not surprising, given the 3.8 inch color video screen. I’ve been playing with the Zen, Creative’s version of the Portable Media Center. The Portable Media Center is an audio/video playback only device that allows you to take your recorded and downloaded music (hopefully from the MSN Music store) plus your videos (hopefully from something like a Media Center computer) along with you when you travel. Finally, the first generation of those devices is here. The company wanted its portable device to be an extension of the Media Center OS. Currently a second generation product, Media Center allows you to use your computer as a TiVo of sorts: recording and watching TV programs and videos at your leisure.Īt the same time, Microsoft was also working on portable hardware. Microsoft’s work centered more on the home computer - and video -– with a Media Center Edition of the Windows operating system. In real terms, Apple added photo, music and video editing software to its computers. The heads of Microsoft and Apple each tried to impart his personal vision of the future: computers controlling everything throughout the home, especially media. MSNBC itself is a Microsoft - NBC joint venture.)Ī few years back, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs conducted the battle of the keynote speeches. Eventually, the volumes should be about the same. MSN says loading the store with all the available songs will take a little time. ![]() While the test version is now live, don't expect to see as many songs as you will on iTunes. Which service you use may come down to which store offers you the best special deals on the songs you want. (ITunes, in contrast, uses a proprietary format.) Pricing is pretty similar to iTunes and the other online music stores, however: 99 cents per song, $9.99 for most albums. Songs will be available for download in the Windows Media format, which Microsoft likes to point out is supported by multiple portable devices. The store goes online in a test version today. Microsoft is hoping to shake that up, -– especially if the 8 million people who get Internet access from MSN take the plunge and start renting their music via the MSN Music store. There are a few choices (Wal-Mart, CinemaNow, Musicmatch, MusicNow and Napster), but Microsoft is hoping that you choose their new MSN Music store.Īpple’s iTunes is the industry standard. In the upper right hand corner is where you can visit the Digital Media Mall and chose which online music store you’d like to rent music and videos from. I prefer non-compressed music files, but that’s an entire separate discussion. ![]() Of course, Microsoft still says their proprietary Windows Media compression format sounds better. In the past you had to buy/get/obtain your own MP3 ripping software, or use someone else’s software. WMP 10 now allows you to rip music in the MP3 format, not just Microsoft's proprietary format. The improvements include tabs with titles that finally make sense: names like Now Playing, Library, Rip, Burn and Guide. The big improvement here is that the software’s interface has been upgraded to allow for easier navigation and use.
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