HP to Sell Linux-Based Home Media Hub

LAS VEGAS--Hewlett-Packard plans to start selling a home media hub based on the open-source Linux operating system later this year. The company hopes that the product will replace consumer electronics devices such as VCRs and DVD players in living rooms.

The device will be the industry's first high-definition television (HDTV) media hub, combining the capabilities of HDTV, a digital cable set-top box, and a dual-tuner digital video recorder (DVR), HP said in a statement. Users will be able to store and manage digital photos, music, TV, and video on the media hub.

The as-yet unnamed and unpriced product will be marketed as a consumer electronics device, not a PC, and will come with a music information service that provides song titles, CD artwork, and other information; an update service; and an HP-designed electronic programming guide for recording video, the company said.

The media hub, announced today at the 2005 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) here, is one element in HP's plans to gain a bigger share of the home entertainment market. Also in 2005, HP expects to introduce 17 new HDTVs and home theater projectors.

TiVo Toppler?

With its media hub, HP is taking on DVR specialist TiVo and traditional consumer electronics makers such as Sony. The new product offers many of the features of Microsoft's Windows XP Media Center Edition, which HP also sells.

HP is a key partner with Microsoft in efforts to make the PC the media and entertainment hub for the home. HP has been selling PCs equipped with Windows XP Media Center since the launch of the product in 2002. At CES this year, HP will show some Media Center Edition products, the company said.

This is not the first time that HP has broken ranks with Microsoft. At last year's CES, HP announced that it would sell its own IPod music player, under an agreement with Apple Computer.

Unlike Media Center PCs, the HP media hub won't have the functionality of a traditional PC. It won't have a keyboard either, but it will be have a remote control. In addition, it can be networked to access media stored on home computers, and it will have features that enable users to create their own slide shows combining personal digital photos and videos with music, according to HP.

"The Media Center PC is designed for people who are pretty comfortable with the PC environment and want that in their living room," said HP spokesperson Pat Kinley. "The media hub is designed for people who want more of a traditional living-room experience and want to move into the digital world."

Confusion Possibilities

Though HP offers a lot of different options to consumers, having such a wide variety of products risks confusing users and poses other challenges, said Michael Gartenberg, vice president and research director at Jupiter Research in New York.

"In addition to selling Media Center PCs, HP is now also going to sell this Linux-based device, and they are also supporting Apple's technology via IPod and ITunes. They are going to have to make this all work together," he said. "Also, how are they going to explain all this to consumers and articulate their message? This is complicated if you're centered on just one set of technologies. Combining all of this in an articulated vision has the potential to be very confusing."

HP's Kinley said that the company's goal was to make all the products work together, though she provided no details on how HP proposed to achieve that goal.

Microsoft chairman and chief software architect Bill Gates is slated to deliver his view of the consumer electronics market in a keynote speech at CES tonight. HP chairman and CEO Carly Fiorina is scheduled to address the CES audience on Friday.

For more CES coverage, see PC World's CES news page or our CES staff blog.