The BBC launched their experience in the UK Online Spotlight today, marking a total of 100 experiences worldwide availabile in Online Spotlight. My boss, Andrew, was pretty happy about this -- he's from the UK and quite happy we now have an offering where the people speak proper English.

I feel extremely lucky to work on a team which has produced a platform with the power and flexibility to enable content owners, designers and developers to create experiences for their customers. To the Media Center Team: Thanks! You guys are amazing!

I was thinking about it on the way home from work today...

We provide a platform where broadcasters can create entirely new channels delivered over the web to your television. Check out MTV Overdrive for Media Center. It's totally interactive and on demand. They have created a channel where the user gets to define the channel content. They are going to follow up with virtual channels for VH1, Comedy Central and mtvU early next year.

Have you ever been at work when you hear about a cool TV show airing later that evening, and won't be home in time to watch or record? We provide a platform which allows you to schedule recordings of TV shows from any place on the planet with an internet connection and web browser. The platform will leverage the cable, satellite, or antenna connection you probably already have in your home.

When you get home, you can watch those TV shows in your choice of rooms via Media Center Extenders. My wife and I do this all the time. We start watching a recorded TV show in the family room, pause it, go downstairs to the bedroom, fire up the MCX and pick up the show EXACTLY where we left off.

Oh, and the platform also allows you to enjoy MTV Overdrive for Media Center (or just about any other Online Spotlight experience) in any room courtesy of those same Media Center Extenders.

Want to check out a podcast or video blog on your stereo or TV? Newsgator Media Center Edition allows you to enjoy that long tail content using a remote control. Oh, it works on Media Center Extenders as well in any room of your house.

You can sync pictures, videos, music AND those recorded TV shows your choice of Portable Media Centers.

Developer enthusiast communities have formed around our platform, and they are a passionate group of folks. Media Center doesn't have the feature you want? Connect. Create. Share.

Cool.

I spent about an hour chatting about the next generation of our platform with one of our Software Design Engineers.

We've just been warming up...

I left comments over on his blog this time rather than summarizing here -- his latest is a good read...

FrontRow, One More Time

Everyone seems quite taken with the new video service in iTunes (and viewable in Front Row).  Hmmmmm -- how do we let people know about the great content available via Online Spotlight...?

I'm usually reticent to say things like this, but here goes...

I *think* I will be able to share some special news on Thursday / Friday which will contrast the approaches taken by Apple and Microsoft nicely. No promises, but stay tuned.

Oh, how I wish I spoke other languages outside of English (and C#). I just know some of the comments over at the german MacTechNews are good.  Even the flames look interesting, at least in German.

I found a really nice resource which explains the Media Center value proposition. At 4 minutes 45 seconds it is probably the best marketing piece I've seen us produce.  It answers one simple question...

What is a Media Center PC?

Note: Macromedia Flash Player Plug In Required.

Om Malik quotes me on his blog with Microsoft Media Center Vs Apple FrontRow.

He laments his problems with the digital video recorder (DVR) features of Media Center, which to date he hasn't gotten to play nice with his Comcast set top box.* He believes we 'overreached' by including the DVR feature in Media Center and makes the following suggestion:

'So what should Microsoft do? Two things. First release a Media Center XP Lite. Free. Basically help turn most of the newer PCs into simple devices for aggregating photos, watching DVDs, streaming music and playing back downloadable videos.'

Om states he 'would gladly pay $49.95' for a standalone version of Apple Front Row according to his I Want My FrontRow-on-TV post. I wonder why he would advise us to give away software which has a good bit more consumer value? Has he called for Apple to drop the price of the iPod by some significant amount because someone else shipped a competing MP3 player? Hopefully Om will elaborate further, because right now this makes zero sense from a business perspective.

Anywho...

I hope Om knows he can get a Media Center PC today without a TV tuner and thus fulfill his desire for a 'lite' version of Media Center on par with the Apple Front Row features (i.e. Photos, DVD, Music, Videos) for *considerably* less than a comparably equipped iMac with Front Row.

* My family uses a dual tuner Media Center with two Comcast set top boxes via IR blasting on a regular basis. While I have seen IR blasting issues (wrong channel recorded) they have been extremely rare in my experience.

I've been following the Apple’s Media Center PC End Around post over at http://www.applematters.com.  It's sort of like watching a very loooonnnnng tennis volley. 'Apple copied Microsoft.'  'No, Microsoft copied Apple.'

Back...forth...back...forth...back...forth...ad nauseum.

Note: I've used and owned Apple products over the years, starting with the original Mac way back when (actually even before with an Apple IIe back in elementary school -- Beagle Bros, peek and poke were my middle name). I also managed a graphics art house with Macs, Windows PCs and SparcStations all living happily together on the same network. I'm not one of these 'Macs suck' kind of people. To the contrary, I believe Apple makes good products, even if I happen to work at Microsoft.

Here are a couple of thoughts I've been noodling over the last couple of weeks...

1) It was a no-brainer for Apple to port it's iPod application over to Mac operating system and hook it up to a remote control. The interface has been tried and tested on millions of iPods.  It's low hanging fruit -- they probably didn't have to invest a ton of money to get the feature in their OS.  Microsoft kinda / sorta did the same thing, only in reverse order with the Media Center first, Portable Media Center second.

2) Porting the iPod application over to the OS is further evidence of the iPod halo effect Apple has been hoping for whereby strong sales of iPods translate into equally strong sales of Macs. It remains to be seen if there is actually a halo effect. I don't think so. The price inequities between a Windows PC and Mac are far greater than iPod vs. any other portable player, and I'm willing to bet there are more iPods connected to Windows PCs than iPods connected to Macs.

Update: I have added a chart which is the basis for my *opinion* there is no halo effect: http://www.retrosight.com/mediacenter/Apple_iPod_and_Mac_Sales.png. Read the comments for context.

3) Steve Jobs comparing the Apple remote control with the Media Center remote control was nothing but sheer marketing brilliance. It's totally not about which remote control is better. Not at all. By making this comparison, Steve Jobs gave the illusion the two products were on equal footing EXCEPT for the remote. All things being equal, Joe Consumer will choose the remote with 6 buttons instead of 40.

Michael Bohlin, a Microsoft Business Development Manager over in Sweden working with Online Spotlight partners sent this to a bunch of people this morning. I thought is was pretty cool and asked if I could reproduce here. Michael said yes. Enjoy!

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A day in a traveller’s life:

I start the morning by unplugging my portable device (PMC, SmartPhone, DAP..) from my Windows XP Media Center computer on my way to the airport. While waiting for the gate to open I sit down and I watch the latest news broadcast and parts of yesterday evening episode of Lost. When on the plane and the seatbelt signs has been turned off I go to my music library and select the latest technology update from CNET before I tune in to some soft music  and enjoy the flight.

When arriving at the hotel I log-in to my remote TV service and schedule what I want to record this evening and for the upcoming days. I go to work and when I get back in the evening I log-in to my remote service and stream the recorded TV show over a secure line and the last thing I do before I go to bed is listening to some music and watching some family photos from the same remote service.

How?

1. I schedule everything I want to record as usual on my Media Center PC.
2. I install a podcast application like iPodderX and have it pull the latest from CNET and put it in My Music library under podcasts (this way it will always be available and synched).
3. I create an account at TvOnTime which enables me to remote which recordings I want to have on my Media Center PC.
4. I create an account at Orb Networks which exposes my shared media folders to my account when logged in (not uploaded only listings). When I log-in to orb.com I can choose any content available on my Media Center PC and have it streamed over https (it generates an asx-file) to my laptop wherever I am in the world assuming that I have decent bandwidth available >300kbps (it will adjust, but 400 gives a good TV image). 

This is nothing futuristic! Try it today!

In the near future with Xbox360 and TV’s you will be able to access all media in-house no matter where it is stored. Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) which has been driven by DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance (which Microsoft is contributor to) has starting to see daylight. UPnP will give us non routable access to our in-house devices. This means that you today would be able to walk up to a speaker and select what music you want to listen to without knowing where it comes from except that it is either an internet service you have or it is stored somewhere in-house on your Set-top box, Xbox360, DVD Recorder, TV, PC, Media Center PC, etc.

Did you know that if you connect a portable music player which has the “Plays For Sure” logo like iRiver, Creative, Samsung Rio etc. (www.playsforsure.com) they will be able to play through your Xbox360 to the TV speakers or whatever you have it hooked up to. It can also of course synchronize with music library that you might have on the Xbox360 already. MTP (Media Transfer Protocol) is a technology that is royalty free that anyone who wants to be able to synch audio, video, tv, photos etc. between itself and portable devices can download and implement no matter what OS.

This is nothing futuristic! Try it today!

Philips TV’s does today come in versions called “Connected Planet” which accesses all your PC’s in-house.

Goal

Any piece of content that comes into the household should be able to be played out anywhere in the household and depending on the rules that applies to the copyright etc. you might be able to synch it to a portable device. Notice that we are not trying to move things around the house; we focus on playing it out remotely to whatever device you’re using.

A Possible Future?

• It won’t be long before making digital backup copies of DVD’s to your hard drive is a legal reality.
• It won’t be long before we will be able to buy full DVD movies over the web.
• It won’t be long before operators can manage WindowsCE based Set-top boxes with Microsoft Operations Manager.
• It won’t be long before Windows Vista will be the premium place to manage digital media content on huge storage devices in your house.

May the streams be with you!

Stephen Smyth is VP of media at news agency, Reuters. He recently spoke to [itvt]'s Tracy Swedlow about Reuters' various interactive video services (which include an interactive TV channel on the Microsoft Media Center that was nominated for an Emmy Award this year for "Outstanding Achievement for Non-Program-Specific Enhanced or Interactive Television"), about the importance of interactivity to the company's consumer services strategy, about the company's interactive TV design philosophy, about its interest in video search, about its future ITV plans, and more.

http://www.itvt.com/wviwowitvtissue6.36.html#interview.01

I had the good fortune of working with Stephen and others at Reuters (like Tom Nguyen, Christopher Burtt, Matthew Waldman and Nic Fulton among others) on their video service currently in Online Spotlight. This is a 'must read' if you are interested in bringing a video blog or interactive TV experience to Media Center consumers. There are two things I especially like about the Reuters experience...

1. They were the first service we had that grokked widescreen (as you will see in many of the interview screenshots).
2. They are a great example of the power of our global platform (write once / run everywhere).  You can get the Reuters service today from Online Spotlight in the United States, Belgium, Netherlands, Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Austria, Germany, Italy, Korea and they are expanding to other geographies soon.

David Fleischman (Release Program Manager) and Peter Rosser (Software Design Engineer) have joined the ranks of bloggers from the Media Center Team.

So, what made each of you decide to start a blog?

Nishant Murarka, a Software Test Engineer on the Media Center team, is a home theater wizard.  He takes the complexities of home theater audio and explains it in such a way even I can understand. If you are interested in hooking your Media Center PC up to your sound system, his article Connect an A/V receiver to your Media Center PC is invaluable.  I wonder whose home is pictured in Figure 10...?

While our Windows Vista Community Technology Preview program is a mere two months old, we have already seen the benefit of letting the masses weigh in with feedback. Some of it very complimentary, some of it not so much. Good and bad, all of this feedback is very valuable to us in delivering the best Media Center experience possible.

Paul Thurrott is out with his latest review of Windows Vista based on pre-Beta 2 bits and bytes and really takes us to task for the new user experience and interface.

First of all, let me say while Windows Vista build 5231 does give you a sneak peek into Media Center it's not what we consider to be the 'best foot forward' build. Take anything you see, hear or experience yourself with regards to Media Center with a grain of salt until it is actually launched. That's when the all of the features will be in place and you will get a true sense for the user experience look and feel.  In the meantime, keep the feedback coming on pre-release builds.

Also, expect changes to take place between this build and RTM -- so all the usual caveats apply (what I'm about to tell you may or may not be in the final release of the product...blah...blah...blah.  You've heard this, yes? Yes. Good, let's move on.).

That said...

The first seven paragraphs of Paul’s review are mostly all negative comments without specifics. We can't really action on those, unfortunately. Feedback is always welcome  -- honest to goodness, we really do want to hear the good, the bad and the ugly.  Feedback with actionable specifics is even better.

Taken at face value, I suspect his comments are mostly a fear of change -- Media Center is now on its fourth version and Paul probably feels as though it's in a good place; Don't fix what isn't broke, so to speak. I can sympathize. My wife gives me plenty of unvarnished opinions when I bring home builds with new or different features for us to try. Heck, sometimes even I get sick of the level and pace of change (just ask my co-workers).

In one of these seven paragraphs, Paul suggests the overall usability of Media Center in Windows Vista is seriously in doubt.  I don't think so, but I'm willing to take a closer look.

For the record, I'm not a usability engineer or a designer.  I have spent lots of time with those two teams here in eHome, and some amount of their knowledge has rubbed off on me while working with them in conjunction with partners in Online Spotlight. My goal with this post is to provide more information for the features Paul references so the community can evaluate with more context.

Let's get some apple to apple screenshot comparisons to use as the basis for our review and evaluations. All of these come from the exact same build Paul uses in his review (5231). Click on them to get a larger version.

Start Menu

Music Library

A basic indicator of usability is the number of steps necessary to accomplish a given task. Generally speaking, it is better for the user to take as few steps as possible to accomplish a task.  I'm going to focus on two tasks Paul specifically calls out in his review: Search and Playlists.

For these tests we will start at the same place in the Start Menu...

• 'My Music' in the current released version of Media Center ('Emerald').
• 'Music Library' in the Windows Vista version of Media Center.

I believe the static screenshots above will allow you to count these for yourself...

How many steps does it take to view Playlists?

Current = Select My Music --> Down Button --> Down Button --> Select Playlists (4 Steps)
Media Center for Windows Vista = Right --> Select Playlists (2 Steps)

How many steps does it take to be able to search music?

There are actually two paths...

Current = Select My Music --> Up --> Select Search (3 Steps)
Media Center for Windows Vista = Left --> Select Search (2 Steps)

or

Current = Select My Music --> Down --> Down --> Down --> Down --> Down --> Select Search (7 Steps)
Media Center for Windows Vista = Right --> Right --> Right --> Select Search (4 Steps)

As you can see, the end user can get to these features with fewer steps in Media Center for Windows Vista, and that's a good thing for usability. These same efficiency gains are present in many other features as well.  In fact, the Start Menu itself represents a fairly dramatic step in efficiency since it puts more features at the top level of Media Center.  Does that mean the new paradigm is definitely usable? No. The data suggests it's more usable, but this single test is not enough for a definitive statement. Luckily, our usability team has been working interactively with a mix of experienced and non-experienced Media Center users to evaluate these approaches.

With regards to the Music Library feature, Paul states...

'Instead of the simplicity and beauty, we get ... ah... a jumbled mess of album art, arranged horizontally, not vertically (Figure).'

The screenshot Paul references in his review with '(Figure)' might make it appear that way -- but it's missing key metadata which I know should be present.  I theorize this is due to...

1. The fact this is pre-beta software.
2. The machine might not have been setup properly and / or is experiencing issues.

The screenshots I've posted above and below are an accurate reflection of features as presented in build 5231. Based on those, what do you think?  Love it or hate it?  Why?  Leave comments for us to read.

Another way of looking at usability is the ability of the user to easily find and identify items in their library. I will admit this test is more subjective than our first, but I think you will see the goodness we have introduced for the end user. Again, let's take a look at the screenshots above.

I can see more albums at a time...

Current = 12
Windows Vista = 27

I can get more detail (metadata) about those albums...

Current = Album Art, Album Title, Album Artist (3 Items)
Windows Vista = Album Art, Album Title, Album Artist, Number of Tracks, Total Time of Tracks, Album Year (6 Items)

And I have more sorting options at my fingertips (especially nice for those, like Thomas Hawk, with large libraries)...

Current = Album, Artists, Songs, Genres (4 Choices)
Windows Vista = Artist, Artists, Year, Provider, Date Added, Genres, Title, Year, Rating, Composers (10 Choices)

So, the net is I can see 225% more of my library at one time, get 200% more information about each album in my library and sort that library in 250% more ways. And the beautiful thing: None of text or images had to shrink in size to accomplish these improvements -- they are nearly (if not exactly) the same size.

Moving on, Paul calls out 'weird tilting and fading of the album art.' This actually isn't new.  We have tilting in the current version of Media Center.  For example, with the context sensitive More Information button illustrated here.

It *is* more pronounced or noticeable in this build of Media Center for Windows Vista. The team has been and is taking a close look at the right balance for this visual styling. What you don't see in these static screenshots is the animation from non-tilt to tilt, which provides a ton of context -- it makes much more sense once you experience the animation first hand. For those of you testing build 5231 now, feel free to leave feedback in the comments on the tilting feature -- we will be sure to read.

You don't actually have to select a sorting option with the OK button to accomplish basic sorting.  As you navigate the choices left and right Media Center 'auto previews' what the choice looks like in the background. Once you move down from the choice we animate the preview to front and center.  You can accomplish richer sorting by selecting the options with the OK button. Again, the animations provide wonderful context for the sorting -- without it, static screenshots only tell half the story.

Here are two examples of those options (sans animations, unfortunately, but hopefully they give you a better picture of the feature).

Example 1: Navigating the default sorting options.

Music Library Default View

I move up to navigate the sorting options to the left and right.  The sorting option grows larger and brighter while the library 'tilts' to help me keep track of where focus is moving and prepares to preview the sort.

I navigate right to the artist sorting option. The 'tilted' preview automatically changes.

Here I have navigated down from the sorting option.  The tilted preview automatically snaps to front and center, and the artist name grows larger and brighter.

Example 2: Navigating richer sorting options.

Music Library Default View

Here I have navigated up to the sorting options...

...and selected one of them with the remote OK button to get additional sorting options.  In this case, I'm going to sort by year.

Here is the view of my music library view after selecting to sort by year.

After reading Paul’s review and my thoughts here, what do you think...?

Are we on the right track, or have things gone horribly awry?

Leave comments for the team to read -- we value your feedback.