Ian Dixon (and others) - Microsoft Home in London, UK
- Posted: Sep 07, 2005 at 11:36 PM
- 41,446 Views
- 24 Comments
Download
How do I download the videos?
- To download, right click the file type you would like and pick “Save target as…” or “Save link as…”
Why should I download videos from Channel9?
- It's an easy way to save the videos you like locally.
- You can save the videos in order to watch them offline.
- If all you want is to hear the audio, you can download the MP3!
Which version should I choose?
- If you want to view the video on your PC, Xbox or Media Center, download the High Quality WMV file (this is the highest quality version we have available).
- If you'd like a lower bitrate version, to reduce the download time or cost, then choose the Medium Quality WMV file.
- If you have a Zune, WP7, iPhone, iPad, or iPod device, choose the low or medium MP4 file.
- If you just want to hear the audio of the video, choose the MP3 file.
Right click “Save as…”
- Mid Quality WMV (Lo-band, Mobile)
- WMV (WMV Video)
Ian Dixon starts this one off. He's not a Microsoft employee but has
a great podcast that talks about the Windows Media Center. We met up with him at the Microsoft Home in London. That's a showcase for Microsoft technologies. After talking with Ian we walk through the home and get a tour. Since this home is by invitation
only, it's an exclusive chance to get a look. Don't miss the cool gadgets including a mirror that has a monitor built in.
Comments Closed
Comments have been closed since this content was published more than 30 days ago, but if you'd like to continue the conversation,
please create a new thread in our Forums,
or
Contact Us and let us know.
Follow the Discussion
PS. Ian doesn't look like his avatar.
You mean better looking?
So how do I get hold of one of those CD's, so that I can get a list of the products featured in the house.
(Not that I can afford all those lovely toys at the moment)
My CD is at home so I can't remeber exactly was on it but the main content on the CD was a nice video they put together of the home in action which you can watch here
http://www.microsoft.com/uk/mhome/
Ian did you see the number of network ports in the corner of the living room; there were about 20 of them grouped together.
i swear scoble looked at the spv c500/htc typhoon and noticed the orange logo on it. seemed like the camera did a double take
anyone know much about c600/tornado btw?
its funny, US and UK have adopted things quite differently.
UK seems more mobile based with text messaging etc.
US seems more entertainment based by the impression i get
Excellent. Thanks very much for the link.
No problem
Hey I updated my Avatar
Robert/Ian how was the sound production of all those media centers? I have my pc in my bedroom and it produces a hell of a lot of sound. (and generates alot of heat; it's about 27 degrees (C) now in here with only my pc on and outside being well under 20 degrees :O and about ~22 inside the rest of the house), having that many devices on must do the same I guess or are they using heatpipes or something similar?.
Scoble if you read over 1000 feeds a day and had not heard of the speaker that uses a surface to project sound I am really surprised at what you are subscribing to.
I admit that the big screen was for demonstration purposes only (I hope) in the kitchen but the computer in the corner was a joke - hardly fitting into its surroundings. They should have plumed for an LG internet fridge (LG GRD-267DTU) with all that built in. Further I would like to comment on Tesco; indeed its the only retailer that makes a profit online but its food is crap, even most of its finest range is poor. It would be better to allow local butchers, bakers and farms to have first bidding when searching for ingredients, nothing like ordering organic locally grown meat to go in that 50K fridge, this is Notting Hill right!
The doorbell feature was a disappointment in the living room, it should have had a wireless video link to see who was there. Large stately homes have had this for years because their drive ways are so far from the front door, some company should make this for the masses. Why not have the biometrics centrally stored so the door could be opened with a finger much like the teenagers room PC was logged in with biometrics.
I would have liked to see her switch lights on and off via the telly like she said it could, do some IM with messenger via the telly and view local CCTV feeds via the telly.
I don’t believe the sole purpose of the bedroom was just a mirror, that’s a bit weak. The mirror unfortunately only had about a third of itself operational, all of it should have been, from other mirrors I have seen this is possible. The mirror should also be voice activated instead of another controller, and turned on/off via voice commands or by clapping.
I would expect that there be a central home PC server, so that not every room had to have an individual MCE boxes (I believe this is what extenders are for), this would allow music playing to follow me around the house, via input from sensors that can detect where I am, seamlessly while shutting of speakers in rooms I am not present in.
The digital photo frame is a bit old hat and I was disappointed not to see it wirelessly linked to MCE to constantly display images/video form a central PC. I would have liked to see the frames image change based on a proximity sensor; not just on the distance the person is form it but also change according to the person(s) viewing/present - which would wirelessly recognise who I was and get images from my phone and display them automatically or on command
As for the child’s room it was good to see a complete solution and the progress made with online homework submissions. I particularly liked the pocket money idea, where a young member of the family can spend tender as if they had an electronic account, which is often a hurdle when accessing services online. I did not think much of the box that downloaded music, I think all that should be done through MCE.
I also expected more in the way of communication, you know there are (albeit expensive) 3D star wars like displays that would be good for communicating if only MSN IM took advantage of them or prices came down:
http://www.actuality-systems.com/
Well done Ian D. for plugging Orb and the BBC.
Samuel, UK
the pc's that they used were very low noise. You can get a lot of Media Center PC's that are amost silent and produce very little heat.
While it was a PR demo that demo Robert got, it was the exact demo all guests to the house got and having been on the tour a couple of times I can say Robert got the exact tour that everybody got
Samuel, there could have been a lot more, like Extenders and servers etc.
But the point of the home was it was stuff that is available now and affordable now, so extenders could not be in an neither could the cool photo display you talked about.
Maybe as the market matures and more products come out it'll get better or maybe someone will open a house with disregard for cost and really pass across what a digital home can amount to.
so the products have to be affordable , the location was more convenient than any thing else as well as being a real family's home
they can use my house next time
Yes it was, there are two version the one shows was a full mirror with the screen in the bottom part and a half size one that was all screen but was a mirror when the screen was off
Both for the geek and non-geek
Remove this comment
Remove this thread
close