The Big Picture on Small Screen Players

Portable Media Centers

For years, Microsoft has been trying to crowbar its way out of your PC and into your entertainment center. Don't look now, but the scheme is no longer a dream.

Late last year, Microsoft introduced a portable version of its Media Center operating system. Devices running Portable Media Center have a look and feel that's consistent with systems running Windows XP Media Center, but they work with both Media Center and vanilla Windows XP PCs (ideally, you should be running Windows Media Player 10, which features automatic file synchronization between PC and PMC handhelds, and facilitates copying files to a PMC handheld).

PCs running the Media Center OS are optimized for capturing audio and video content (for example, all Media Center systems have a built-in TV-tuner card for recording TV). The Media Center OS also makes it easy to manage your digital media library, and to use your PC as a home server that can send audio and video over a wireless network to any XP-powered notebook or Windows Mobile-based device such as a PDA or smart phone.

While Creative's $499 Zen Portable Media Center, Samsung's $499 YH-999, and IRiver's $500 PMP-120 differ in style, features, and functions, each one shares a common and very familiar graphical user interface, explains James Bernard, lead product manager for Windows Mobile Group. These units use Windows Media Player 10 to organize, store, play, and transfer content; you don't have to learn or install any other programs. "Any digital file that can be played in Windows Media Player 10--music, video, or a still image--can be synched to a Portable Media Center," says Bernard.

In addition to sharing a common operating system, all the Portable Media Centers lack the ability to record directly from a TV, cable or satellite box, DVD player, or VCR. In fact, the units don't even have a video-input jack. Microsoft's philosophy: You already have recording devices, such as a personal video recorder or a VCR, and you don't need another. Instead, all video content comes from a Windows Media Center PC or a Windows XP PC (with--or without--a third-party TV tuner from companies such as ATI Technologies and Hauppauge Computer Works, along with PVR software such as SnapStream Beyond TV 3.

With both the Windows Media Center PC and the Windows XP scenarios, electronic programming guides record and store programs, which can be played on a computer or transferred to a Portable Media Center. But even if you don't have a Media Center PC or a TV tuner inside your XP system, you can still store and play TV on any Windows XP PC--provided you have TiVo.

Subscribers with a TiVo Series 2 DVR can now beam recorded shows over a wireless home network to any Windows XP PC using its TiVoToGo Transfer service. TiVo recorded content is played via Windows Media Player. An alliance with Microsoft is in the works: Sometime this spring, you will be able to transfer these TiVo-recorded programs from your XP PC to any Portable Media Center. (Note: No release date has been specified yet.)

Once inside your XP PC, any TiVo or other recorded program can be "transcoded" into the Window Media Video format and then moved to the PMC. (Note: If you have video other than TiVoToGo or WMV files, it still has to be transcoded.) While the TiVo-to-PC conversion process is admittedly time-consuming, it can be scheduled for off-hours. You also don't need to know anything about file conversion. (See "Portable Media Center: What Files Can I Play?" to see a list of all media file types supported by Portable Media Centers.)

Not all content needs to be converted. Specially formatted Portable Media Center content is available from Microsoft partners such as CinemaNow that offers over 200 pay-for-view rental and download-to-own titles.

Another subscription service, MSN Video Downloads (currently in beta), includes Portable Media Center-formatted content from more than a dozen sources--including CNBC, the Food Network, Fox Sports, Major League Baseball, and MSNBC. According to Microsoft's Bernard, additional content providers will be announced throughout the year.