portable media center
for a first iteration, the creative zen portable media center delivers on the promise of pmcs and windows media player 10 .
bottom line: for a first iteration, the creative zen portable media center delivers on the promise of pmcs and windows media player 10 .
for a first iteration, the creative zen portable media center is polished and for the most part delivers on the promise of pmcs and the new windows media player 10 .
we don' t normally dedicate a lot of time to new hardware and gadgets, but we love a good media center, so it' s great to see how solid the zune hd actually is as a portable media center. head over to gizmodo for their full rundown. [ gizmodo ]
the portable version of media center is seen as a natural extension of the platform. the idea frequently touted of how it might be used is that you record your favourite show in the evening on your media center pc, and copy it across to your portable media player to watch on the train to work in the morning. iriver even includes a protective case in the box so you can keep it safe in your bag .
eight months after its announcement, the creative zen pmc is finally here. despite its bulk, the player is solid, but it' s the microsoft portable media center software that deserves most of the praise .
intuitive onscreen interface; big and colorful screen; solid battery life; impressive integration with windows media player 10. 0 and windows xp media center edition (mce) .
i was attracting stares on the train. and it wasn' t because i had snagged a seat in the crowded car; it was because of the device in my hands: a shiny new creative zen portable media center .
it’s not often that microsoft consigns an os to the recycle bin but it was revealed this week that the software colossus has deep - sixed the portable media centre .
our siblings - in - tech over at gizmodo have gotten their hands on microsoft' s new zune hd (available next month), and apart from looking like a solid digital media player and web browser, zune hd has one more surprise up its sleeve: it' s also an impressive portable media center .
the $ 499 handheld multimedia player is the first device based on microsoft' s new portable media center platform. i found a lot to like about the zen, but i' m not convinced i' d be willing to shell out the cash to buy one .
the sleek black plastic of the case and display reflects the polish of the creative zen portable media center, a well - finished first pass at a pmc. but the polish is also the biggest drawback: the reflective screen bounces back room light and fingerprints as well as the images .
microsoft updated the pmc to a slicker version 2. 0 in early 2006 to “enable partners to build smaller less expensive and more competitive devices” according to microsoft employee david bono who confirmed the pmc’s death notice in the a newsgroup posting (on urltoken center. portable) this week .
the portable media centre os was written using the same windows ce framework as windows mobile but with an interface modelled on that of the windows xp media centre. the first pmc players were introduced by launch partners creative and samsung with toshiba later joining their ranks and were intended as go - anywhere companion to your multimedia - packed xp computer .
all pmcs require a windows xp or windows xp media center edition pc. you connect the device to your pc via usb 2. 0 and transfer content using microsoft' s newly - released windows media player 10. i tested out the creative zen on a pc running windows xp pro and found it easy to install (though my pc wouldn' t recognize the pmc before i upgraded to windows media player 10) .
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( wmp10). the zen pmc is designed as the portable counterpart to wmp10 and its library; therefore, the majority of content on the device can mirror your pc, though typically in a more compressed form. this includes everything from mp3s to jpeg photos to movie downloads to home movies. throw a windows xp media center edition (mce) pc into the mix, and the zen pmc turns into a portable playback - only tivo - like device, as it will allow you to watch your recorded mce broadcasts on the road. those without an mce pc can still record and transfer tv using a tv - tuner card and third - party software .
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if you use a pmc with a tv - connected media center pc (or even a standard xp - based pc with a tv tuner card) it becomes a much more useful device. you can record television programs and transfer them to your pmc to watch while you commute or travel .
portable media centers, or pmcs, display still images and play audio and video (including tv programs and full - length movies) stored on their hard drive. they do not feature wireless connectivity and they do not stream video or audio. the creative zen is shipping now; pmcs from samsung and iriver are due later this year .
the zen pmc' s controls are highlighted by the windows - icon - clad start button, which instantly takes you to the top menu. given the feature - laden device' s deep menu options, the button is critical for comfortable navigation and will be found on all pmcs and media center edition remotes .
the players went beyond the mandatory syncing with windows media player to load tunes and photos — they could also download and replay video content recorded on your media centre system. however with so few people running a true media centre pc in the first place most buyers found the pmcs to be over - engineered (and over - priced) for more modest mainstream needs .
over the past year microsoft has clearly been focusing its efforts on strengthening its hold on the place in your home that it sees as its future – the lounge. several media center pcs have made their way into the trustedreviews labs over the past few months and with the improvements found in the 2005 version of the operating system things certainly seem to be coming together .
of course the key advantage of a microsoft product is that it’s likely to have a decent interface. we have the linux based iriver pmp - 140 in the office to play with, and the interface on that is really not great at all. conversely, the interface for windows media center 2005 is fantastic to use, and it’s pretty good on the pmc - 120 too .
pmcs support several content formats, including windows media video, windows media audio, mp3, and jpeg. the device and included software also make it easy to convert files in other formats - - mpeg, mpeg2, mpa, wav, and avi, for example - - into formats you can use .
the toughest part about building a digital media delivery device is striking the balance between making a secure platform content producers can trust, while at the same time offering consumers more freedom with their media than they’ve previously had. swing too far in one direction, and no one will buy into it; go too far the other way and out come the lawyers. has microsoft gotten the balance right, and are the new pvps based around windows media technology something to put on your holiday wish list? turn the page to find out .
microsoft’s windows media player strategy has been leading up to today, where the company formally unveils the new windows media player. as its partners begin to ship their personal video players (pvps), microsoft is betting big on subscription - based content models, though company officials did acknowledge that they expect content illicitly downloaded from p2p networks to help drive early adoption .
unlike music files, video content isn' t exactly spilling out of the woodwork. you can purchase or rent specially formatted movies from sources such as cinemanow (which is conveniently integrated into wmp10) and mlb. com, load up your own home movies, or watch tv broadcasts that you' ve recorded with your media center pc. if you have tons of content that you' ve downloaded from p2p apps, it' s likely that a number of those files won' t be supported without a third - party decoder .
bulky design; lacks a built - in kickstand; reflective screen not ideal for outdoors use; no audio - or video - recording capabilities; works with windows xp and windows media player 10. 0 only .
but microsoft clearly considers pmc to be yesterday’s platform. bono (the microsoft staffer not the rock star) says that from now on microsoft will focus its “product and marketing resources on building media experiences on connected windows mobile powered devices” .
an all - new windows mobile os would likely combine the technology subsets of those devices along with enhanced multimedia capabilities in the same way that windows vista integrated xp’s bolt - on tablet and media centre editions into the core operating system .
the iriver pmc - 120 offers a 3. 5in screen with a resolution of 320 x 240 and a 20gb hard disk, providing a theoretical maximum of 80 hours of video storage if recorded at native resolution at 500kps. iriver has experience of producing portable media players with its pmp - 120 and pmp - 140 linux based devices having been available for some months. the pmps offer support for avi, asf, and versions three, four and five of the divx codec – without any need for transcoding. by contrast, this unit, the pmc - 120, only supports video files encoded in wmv format – though as a microsoft device that’s hardly a surprise. it also supports mp3 and wma audio and jpeg images. you can import other video formats aside from wmv, but they have to first be transcoded using windows media player 10. this inevitably means that the pmc - 120 doesn’t offer drag - and - drop convenience with many of the video files you are likely to already have on your pc .
the zen also features a / v out slots that let you connect the device to a tv to watch a movie or television show. unfortunately, watching stored video on my 27 - inch television wasn' t pleasant, as the image appeared distorted. it reminded me of watching video recorded on an old vhs tape. but the zen is really meant for mobile use, and it does that job fairly well. still, i' m not convinced it' s worth the money for most people. frequent travelers or tv lovers (especially those with a media center pc) might find it to be a dream device, but for the rest of us the price is just too high .
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as any user of windows mobile can attest the platform’s pocket media player remains one of its most lack - lustre components. video synchronisation is limited to an eclectic mix of formats which must meet arcane encoding specs and there’s no ability to whip up even a simple mp3 playlist on the fly .
the zen is also one of the first devices to support microsoft' s new windows media digital rights management 10 (formerly code - named janus), which will let you transfer subscription - based content from your pc to another janus - compliant device. should your subscription run out, the content also expires on the player .
playing back audio, video, and still images on the zen was a breeze. the device powers on in less than 5 seconds, and the opening screen shows a basic start menu that lets you choose from
my tv ,
my music ,
my pictures ,
or
my videos .
select one, and you can browse through your media collection and play back your files. the zen includes both a headphone jack and a built - in external speaker. the included earbuds are serviceable, and the speaker will do in a pinch, but you' ll really want better quality headphones to best enjoy the audio .
to transfer content to the zen, i selected the
sync
tab in wmp 10. from there, the app presented me a screen split in two; on the left i could build a list of content i wanted to transfer to the zen, and on the right i could select the zen itself (you also have the option of syncing content to your cd or dvd drive, or other forms of removable media storage). then, with one click, the sync began. transferring a three - hour baseball game (a 469mb wmv file) i downloaded from urltoken (a microsoft content partner) took just a few minutes. you can also set wmp 10 to sync content automatically .
oh creative: your fat form factor felt so great stretching my jeans pocket … or not .
introduced in early 2004 the pmc was intended to combat the seemingly unstoppable ipod by combining microsoft’s strengths in os development and pc penetration and its relationships with the heavy hitters of the hardware world .
however when microsoft moved onto phase 2 of their ipod - smashing campaign with the development of the zune (built by pmc partner toshiba) it chose to bypass the pmc in favour of writing a new os — albeit one based on the same ce foundation as the pmc and its pda and smartphone sibling windows mobile .
asked about the implications for their existing pmc - based gigabeat range a toshiba spokesperson told urltoken that “toshiba will continue to support the pmc operating system through our gigabeat range” with microsoft continuing to work with toshiba as they’re classified as an ‘existing partner’ .
the timetable could be right for a significant pmc - inspired overhaul of the player in the forthcoming windows mobile 7 os codenamed ‘photon’ .
being built on the new windows ce 6 framework photon is rumoured to be the release which will unify the windows mobile platform as a single os rather than the current offering of three versions for three different types of products — pdas pda - phone combo devices and smartphones (devices without a pda touchscreen) .
putwindows mobile 6 has already taken a step away from being device - specific by branding the different flavours of the os as classic standard and professional .
then again considering vista’s laggard performance and substantially increased hardware hit we wonder if an uber - os for mobile devices would be a good thing. . ?
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the left half of the zen pmc includes a circular four - way navigational pad with a nested select button and an essential back key. the right half has two dedicated volume buttons and another circular controller for play / pause, forward, and rewind commands. you' ll experience a tactile pop with each press, along with an accompanying and strangely appealing system chime, which is on by default. along with a power button, four numbered keys line the top of the unit and are designated as programmable presets. pressing one takes you directly to your favorite movie (complete with a bookmark), song, album, artist, or photo. we like this thoughtful feature, as we all know how difficult it is to fish for content in a 20gb sea. except for the start key, which lights up green, and the preset buttons, all keys are backlit in a dim and mystic blue when activated. expect to use both hands for most operations. once in a while, you' ll catch yourself erringly pressing the play button with your right hand instead of the left - handed select. aside from this, the controls are extremely intuitive, thanks in big part to the windows interface (more on this later) .
a power port resides on the device' s left side, and a hold switch, an a / v - out jack, and an
intelligent
headphone jack line the right side. a dock - style usb 2. 0 connector is located on the zen pmc' s bottom side. the silver backside features a removable lithium - ion polymer battery. it' s important to note that unlike many pvps out on the market, the zen pmc lacks a built - in kickstand to prop itself up. instead, the device ships with a carrying case with a flap cover that substitutes as a stand. the case is worth bringing along on your travels since holding the zen pmc to watch a movie for an extended period of time can be taxing on your hands, your arms, and your neck .
you' ll also find a tiny speaker on the bottom - right corner of the zen pmc. surprisingly, it doesn' t sound terrible and tinny. and if your headphones accidentally pull out of its jack, the system saves you from potential embarrassment and mutes the audio .
our chief design complaint is the zen pmc' s sheer bulk. granted, it has a terrific screen indoors and swiss army knife - like functionality, but its thickness just doesn' t feel right, especially when used for audio. creative claims that the device is small enough to fit comfortably in your pocket. our advice: don' t wear tight jeans. the zen pmc would also be better off with a docking cradle, which will be available as an optional accessory in october .
the zen pmc ships with an a / v line - out cable, a proprietary usb 2. 0 cable, a carrying case with a built - in stand, a pair of earphones, a quick start guide, an install cd, and an inconvenient two - line - and - a - brick - style power adapter .
all this content may sound nice, but what formats does the zen pmc actually support? all pmcs support wmv (versions 7, 8 and 9) at 320x240 pixels, 30 frames per second, and with a constant bit rate of up to 800kbps. similarly, all pmc devices can play back wma (including protected wma, wma lossless, and wma voice), mp3, and jpeg files. if you have other types of files, such as mpeg, mpeg - 2, dvr - ms (microsoft recorded tv), tiff, wav, avi, and so on, they need to be transcoded into a compatible pmc format and size. this may sound confusing, but never fear, wmp10 takes care of all the transcoding automatically in the background so that the files are ready to roll the next time you sync the device. the original files remain untouched, and in most cases, you won' t even know it' s happening. it' s important to note that popular file formats such as mpeg - 4 and divx are not compatible with the zen pmc unless you' ve purchased a third - party decoder plug - in for wmp10. pmc oems can add support for other formats .
while transcoding content decreases quality, that' s not necessarily a bad thing in the pmc' s case. imagine trying to transfer 85 hours of video or tens of thousands of photos from your pc to the pmc. without reformatting, you' ll quickly run out of space. where the decrease in quality will show up is when you hook up the zen pmc to a tv (ntsc or pal) .
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all will have common features required by microsoft, including minimum specs for hard drives, display, and resolution. the shipping zen i tested had a 20gb hard drive and a 3. 8 - inch display with a screen resolution of 320 by 240. the zen, which is about twice the size and weight of my ipod, feels sturdy and features firm, shiny buttons and a shiny black case. unfortunately, that shine can cause light to reflect off the screen at times, making images hard to see .
however i wasn' t entirely pleased by the way wmp 10 managed the zen. first, it was hard to find the correct software button to safely disconnect the pmc from my computer - - there was no equivalent of the
eject ipod
button found in itunes. i had to manually shut down the device using the icon in my system tray. second: when i built a playlist of songs using wmp 10 and then tried to transfer it to the pmc, only the songs on the list were transferred - - not the playlist itself .
the zen includes a removable rechargeable lithium ion battery. creative says the battery will power up to 22 hours of audio playback or 7 hours of video playback between charges .
video quality was mixed, depending on the source. movies from cinemanow were crystal clear, but the baseball game i downloaded would occasionally blur, much the way streaming video appears on my pc. despite its small size the screen proved easy to see, even when watching big - picture events like a baseball game .
creative creative' s new pmc is handy for playing back audio and video on the go, but it sure is pricey. $ 499 urltoken
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“who can play what, where, how many times? ” those eight words encompass most of the tussle that’s come to be known as digital rights management (drm) .
okay, so it’s more complicated than that, but this phrase does convey the crux of the problem. it’s an issue that often pits consumers against producers, and quite often neither side is playing fair. the riaa has its lawyers. users have kazaa. content producers often act like thugs, using their lawyers as muscle, and some consumers act like thieves, downloading as much “free” content from p2p networks as they possibly can. can anyone negotiate a truce between these two sides? is anyone foolish enough to even try? if that truce takes the form of legally downloadable content with some playback restrictions, the answer is yes .
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screen is susceptible to glare and smudges. recorded video looks bad on a full - size tv. no kickstand .
the unit measures 3. 2 by 5. 7 by 1. 1 inches (hwd) and weighs 0. 8 pounds. our early production unit delivered exceptional battery life: 7 hours, 25 minutes when playing video. the controls have a solid feel and didn' t require too much pressure to manipulate. volume buttons, however, are confusing: the up button (a speaker icon and a plus sign) makes sense. but the down button shows a minus sign and a tiny speaker icon facing left; the combination looks like a right - facing arrow. on the top of the unit, four buttons for presets work like buttons on a car radio: they take you to a favorite playlist, video, slide show, or what have you (essentially, the
my grandchildren
button) .
on our hands - on tests, audio and photo playback worked well. you can start music playing, then start a slide show, and the music continues playing in the background. with video, we found an occasional stutter, but not enough to detract from the overall enjoyment. there is a composite video output (rca jacks, not s - video for video) so you can hook up to a tvbut the unit' s 320 - by - 240 resolution video does not look good on a typical tv, and the occasional artifact looks worse spread across 32 inches. the biggest impediment to extended video watching is the lack of a kickstand to prop the unit up on a desk or tray table; both the iriver and samsung pmcs have them, and we suspect users will demand a fix from creative. synchronization is via a proprietary usb connector. creative plans to offer a docking module for about $ 40 (not available for testing), and we' d recommend adding that .
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for a cutting - edge piece of technology the pmc looks fairly mundane. riyad described it as utilitarian, which is a fair description. it does a job but you’re not going to be impressed by it in the same way you will be when you hold something like a sony psp. the device weighs 10. 2oz / 289g, which isn’t super - light but feels right for a device like this. the 3. 5in diagonal screen sits in the centre with the controls on either side. on the under side of the pmc is a hold key, so you can avoid accidental button presses. though it’s nothing special to look at, build quality is reasonable, aside from some dubious points like an easily losable flap covering a docking connector. currently there’s nothing to connect the docking port to but iriver informed me that it’s there, “for possible future accessories or upgrades” .
getting to the crux if the matter, it has to be said that there are a couple of major issues with the display. first, it has a 4: 3 aspect ratio. surely somebody should have told microsoft that widescreen is really quite popular these days. all major tv programmes are now recorded and broadcast in widescreen, so a 4: 3 screen is a big disappointment. things get even worse once you try to import widescreen content but we’ll get onto that particular debacle later .
quality wise, the screen is decent but nothing to write home about. it is bright enough but it’s not at all vibrant. though the screen isnt’ that big, at the relatively low resolution you can make out the chicken - wire effect of the lcd on the screen as you watch. even worse, viewing angles are poor. to get the best from the screen you need to be looking directly at it so if you want to share the viewing experience then both of you will see a poor image. there is a two - position stand at least, so you can rest it on a flat surface in front of you without you having to hold it.
portable media center ( pmc ) is a defunct hard drive-based portable media player ( pmp ) platform developed by microsoft . announced at the 2003 consumer electronics show ( ces ) , and released in early 2004 , it was originally positioned as a competitor to apple 's ipod . the platform was conceived in line with microsoft 's windows media center strategy , where the idea was to have a single media management interface that would be used on both pcs and in consumer devices , including televisions and handhelds . the strategy was developed by microsoft 's windows embedded group in partnership with the ehome division , which formed in february 2001 and started partnerships with companies like samsung with the goal to " develop new technologies so consumers can enjoy whole-home entertainment , communications and control experiences where , when and however they want them " and " develop an entire ecosystem of pcs , digital devices , intelligent home appliances and services that will easily and cost-effectively transform average households into next-generation digital homes . " the windows media center name was created with the release of a windows xp product edition , windows xp media center edition , geared towards this ecosystem . codenamed media2go , it was later rebranded as windows mobile software for portable media centers , before being named portable media center . its operating system was a specialized version of windows ce , . in 2007 , microsoft discontinued licensing the platform . the first portable media center product released was the creative 's zen portable media center . all pmcs are able to play audio files in mp3 and display images in jpeg . also , they support microsoft 's proprietary formats : windows media audio ( wma ) and windows media video ( wmv ) . other video formats will either be supported by each individual pmc , or transcoded though windows media player . media transfer protocol ( mtp ) is used for transferring data . all players use a graphical user interface ( gui ) modeled after media center , a software portal bundled with windows xp media center edition . manufacturers include creative , philips , iriver , samsung , and toshiba . the portable media center was succeeded by zune , and served as the basis for its software . zune had similar aims to provide a unifying media platform across pcs , devices , and televisions ( 3-screen strategy ) . 
portable media center (pmc) is a defunct hard drive-based portable media player (pmp) platform developed by microsoft. announced at the 2003 consumer electronics show (ces), and released in early 2004, it was originally positioned as a competitor to apple's ipod. the platform was conceived in line with microsoft's windows media center strategy, where the idea was to have a single media management interface that would be used on both pcs and in consumer devices, including televisions and handhelds. the strategy was developed by microsoft's windows embedded group in partnership with the ehome division, which formed in february 2001 and started partnerships with companies like samsung with the goal to " develop new technologies so consumers can enjoy whole-home entertainment, communications and control experiences where, when and however they want them " and " develop an entire ecosystem of pcs, digital devices, intelligent home appliances and services that will easily and cost-effectively transform average households into next-generation digital homes. " the windows media center name was created with the release of a windows xp product edition, windows xp media center edition, geared towards this ecosystem. codenamed media2go, it was later rebranded as windows mobile software for portable media centers, before being named portable media center. its operating system was a specialized version of windows ce,. in 2007, microsoft discontinued licensing the platform. the first portable media center product released was the creative's zen portable media center. all pmcs are able to play audio files in mp3 and display images in jpeg. also, they support microsoft's proprietary formats: windows media audio (wma) and windows media video (wmv). other video formats will either be supported by each individual pmc, or transcoded though windows media player. media transfer protocol (mtp) is used for transferring data. all players use a graphical user interface (gui) modeled after media center, a software portal bundled with windows xp media center edition. manufacturers include creative, philips, iriver, samsung, and toshiba. the portable media center was succeeded by zune, and served as the basis for its software. zune had similar aims to provide a unifying media platform across pcs, devices, and televisions (3-screen strategy).
portable media center (pmc) is a defunct hard drive-based portable media player (pmp) platform developed by microsoft. announced at the 2003 consumer electronics show (ces), and released in early 2004, it was originally positioned as a competitor to apple's ipod. the platform was conceived in line with microsoft's windows media center strategy, where the idea was to have a single media management interface that would be used on both pcs and in consumer devices, including televisions and handhelds. the strategy was developed by microsoft's windows embedded group in partnership with the ehome division, which formed in february 2001 and started partnerships with companies like samsung with the goal to " develop new technologies so consumers can enjoy whole-home entertainment, communications and control experiences where, when and however they want them " and " develop an entire ecosystem of pcs, digital devices, intelligent home appliances and services that will easily and cost-effectively transform average households into next-generation digital homes. " the windows media center name was created with the release of a windows xp product edition, windows xp media center edition, geared towards this ecosystem. codenamed media2go, it was later rebranded as windows mobile software for portable media centers, before being named portable media center. its operating system was a specialized version of windows ce,. in 2007, microsoft discontinued licensing the platform. the first portable media center product released was the creative's zen portable media center. all pmcs are able to play audio files in mp3 and display images in jpeg. also, they support microsoft's proprietary formats: windows media audio (wma) and windows media video (wmv). other video formats will either be supported by each individual pmc, or transcoded though windows media player. media transfer protocol (mtp) is used for transferring data. all players use a graphical user interface (gui) modeled after media center, a software portal bundled with windows xp media center edition. manufacturers include creative, philips, iriver, samsung, and toshiba. the portable media center was succeeded by zune, and served as the basis for its software. zune had similar aims to provide a unifying media platform across pcs, devices, and televisions (3-screen strategy).