Home Office: The Merge Is On--TVs, PCs, and Multimedia
Tivo, Tivo copycats, and that funny smell coming from your PC.Steve Bass
I was trapped inside a Dilbert cartoon. My editor, clueless as ever, couldn't believe I wanted to write about television. "It's not television," I shouted at the e-mail, "it's about PCs and TVs and DVDs and wireless networking--and how they're all coming together." It took a while, but I'm beginning to understand why he was promoted. (Oh, yeah, like your boss is a crackerjack. Right.)
The deal is that there are dozens of cool devices and gee-whiz ways to entertain yourself--and conduct business--in both your home office and your living room. This week I've got articles, personal experiences, and projects for you to explore, so dig in.
What Do You Want to Watch Today?
My editor, finicky as ever, is concerned that you've been in a coma for the last year, and you don't know about TiVo. So here's a quick review: TiVo is a gadget that lets you take complete control over how you watch television. It connects to your television and satellite dish or cable service, and records your shows on a hard drive.
Even if you use a TiVo, you may not know about the tremendous community of TiVo hackers. These people are having a ball adding larger hard drives and finding hidden programming codes (and no, I'm not talking about getting free service).
It turns out TiVo Series 2 owners can spend $99 and connect the device to their PCs. It's a blessing for users wanting to use the TiVo to, say, listen to MP3s or look at photos residing on a PC. There's more to read in "TiVo Gets Networked."
TiVo Copycats
Sharp is jumping onto the bandwagon with a broadband home audiovisual server that, like TiVo, is Linux-based. Read more about it in "Sharp Unveils Well-Connected Home Server."
Not to be outdone, Toshiba also announced a TiVo-like product--but wait until you get a load of the hard drive (and the price). To find out more, go to "Newest Gadgets Dress to Impress" and scroll down to the "High-Tech TV" heading.
From viewing the stats on "Dig This" hits, I'm guessing some of you have lots of time on your hands. If that's your situation, try rolling your own TiVo. You can do it (I have one in the works) and we have all the details in "Step-By-Step: Turn Your PC Into a Personal Video Recorder."
Dig This: Whatsamatter, bunky, your PC giving you trouble? First there's a popping sound, then the power supply burps, and blammo--your computer stops working. Maybe a power surge or a short on the system board? Nope, guess again...
A TV Tuner, a Video Recorder, and Thou
Not too many years ago, I was a happy camper with a PC in my office and TVs in the living room and bedroom. Life's changed. Look around now and you'll see overlap, lots of it. Take a few minutes and read a couple of stories filed by the lucky PC World editors who went to January's Consumer Electronics Show. Start with "Future Gear: They Made It." Scroll down to "The Year of the Living Room" and read Sean Captain's take on the Windows XP Media Center. Then read "Sonicblue Unveils Networked DVD Player" to see what the next player in line has to offer.
You haven't had enough? Fine with me, I have more to show you. In "Future Gear: PC on the HiFi, and the TV," Sean Captain details little devices that wirelessly beam music and images your PC to your TV.
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