Microsoft invited us, with a few others, to tour the eHome team office and lab's and of all the great things we saw -- pictured in the gallery -- the one that got us the most excited was to see the rumored DirecTV
HDPC-20 USB tuner in action. Our dreams were a little dashed though, as we were reminded on numerous occasions that although Microsoft tests lots of hardware, not everything makes it to market. So in other words, the presence of any hardware in the lab is no way an announcement of future products. But this here tuner wasn't the only thing we saw, as there were even a few indications that DISH Network was being tested as well, and while we did see
DISH multi-switches and a
DISH TV screen up on a Media Center PC, we didn't see any specific DISH equipment connected to Media Center. This could mean the tuners are internal or maybe the tuners were just cleared out before we came through. More pictures of the HDPC-20 in action after the jump.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ordeith @ Nov 19th 2008 1:53PM
the "presence" of any hardware in the lab.
presents is confusing. please fix.
Ordeith @ Nov 19th 2008 1:54PM
Unless of course they are gifting their lab hardware, which would be cool :)
david @ Nov 19th 2008 1:54PM
". . . the presents of any hardware in the lab, is no way an announcement of future products"
Uh, wait a minute, they gave you gifts while you were there too? Isn't it early for Christmas?
ryan @ Nov 19th 2008 2:02PM
Is that an Apple TV I see on pic 1 of the gallery?
Microsoft, you make me laugh.
The Fuzz 53 @ Nov 19th 2008 2:29PM
I want one, damn it!
The Fuzz 53 @ Nov 19th 2008 2:35PM
Isn't that 360 in Pic #2 a fire hazard?
John Chapman @ Nov 19th 2008 2:36PM
While you were they, did you notice if the DirecTV tuner will require something like the Digital Cable key for the ATI tuners?
Brad @ Nov 19th 2008 2:58PM
The more I see of W7MC, the more I think that it looks pretty damn cool.
I hope I get one of the beta invites...
Eric @ Nov 19th 2008 3:20PM
Why wait for Windows Media Center, it has been done for years now with SageTV, a $70 program installed over windows xp or vista.
masteroffm @ Nov 19th 2008 3:35PM
native support for DirecTV? dont think so there bub.
ub @ Nov 19th 2008 3:27PM
In the last photo you can see the labels on the machine it says: NTSC, ATSC, DVB-S/T. DVB-S is the format that Dish Network uses.
Rob @ Nov 19th 2008 3:36PM
Thanks for the pictures.
Alton Marschall @ Nov 19th 2008 3:46PM
Ben how long before a full write up on youe ehome trip?
Darren Merrill @ Nov 19th 2008 3:49PM
"TV with DISH Network" (picture 24) ... Hmmm...
Patrick @ Nov 19th 2008 4:16PM
you'd think the guys at microsoft could come up with a more elegant-looking rack-mounted 360... (pic 2)
SlappyWag @ Nov 19th 2008 8:16PM
"you'd think the guys at microsoft could come up with a more elegant-looking rack-mounted 360... (pic 2)"
You clearly know nothing about product testing. "Pretty" installations and pretty test labs are generally the lowest priority on any test manager's agenda, because they are generally a huge waste of time and resources that is better spent on actually testing the product. That's not to say that there aren't some test managers who have showcase installations, because there are. The overlying theme is generally "function over form", and this rings true throughout most the test industry. Also, this method is more real-world than you can possibly imagine, since 99% of the end users will not have a more elegant (if any) solution.
By the way, that test lab is immaculate compared to some others I have seen. I have personally rebuilt three labs that looked like MONKEYS originally wired it.
Payload @ Nov 19th 2008 5:38PM
Slap forhead, "They could have had a V8"
shawnmos @ Nov 19th 2008 8:06PM
All those pictures and none show the new media center in action.
Slack @ Nov 19th 2008 8:07PM
Great - looks really simple. I'll take two - one for each grandparent.
But don't forget - with D you won't "Own" that 350.00 DVR - it's a "lease upgrade" that ropes you into a two tear contract. And the 35.00 monthly sat bill blooms to 120.00 with all the "fees".
This is just plain silly. They can do 90% of what this group tied together in their own DVR.
I REALLY HOPE THE RECESSION TEACHES DIRECTV THAT THEY CAN'T TREAT THEIR CUSTOMERS LIKE CRAP AND GET AWAY WITH IT.
Lessthantito @ Nov 19th 2008 10:33PM
What are the gray things on top of the Xbox 360's are they some kind of HDD's?
joek112 @ Nov 19th 2008 8:35PM
Okay Ben, I'll bite.. and listen to your podcast this week to get the details of your trip.... Please spill the beans and give us the details of your trip and the DirecTV intergration!!
......And I though the HDPC-20 was dead.... silly me.
AndyS @ Nov 20th 2008 12:16AM
If DirectTV is reading this, if you make this available to us custom PC builders instead of only having them available on the pre-built PCs from Dell, HP, etc, this will almost certainly get me to switch from Comcast. I'm sure there are others like me.
thecount @ Nov 20th 2008 10:32AM
Anyone know what going on with the hard drives on these Elites in http://www.engadgethd.com/photos/tour-of-microsofts-ehome-labs/1169901/
solidunit @ Nov 20th 2008 4:00PM
Those arent eliltes, they're devkit 360's. The devkits have tumor like hard drive attachments on them.
jkabaseball @ Nov 20th 2008 12:48PM
If you look at pic 9, you can see the back of them. It looks like it has 2 USB type A ports on the back. There are NO hard drives attached to those XBoxes, and they have the new upgrade. Don't you need atleast 512 MB for the new update? There aren't any memory cards in those slots. It also doesn't look like anything is attached where the Hard drive goes. Can't do anything but guess, maybe HD built in soon? Maybe direct TV to xbox?
gcap @ Nov 23rd 2008 6:16PM
Any sign of Cisco or Motorola SDV adapters in the lab ;) ??
Ben @ Nov 23rd 2008 6:17PM
Nope, but it was a big lab and I could've easily missed them.
David Batten @ Jan 13th 2009 7:44PM
lolz at the duct tape on the Xbox360's IR receiver. I had to do that, too, until I switched to an RF remote for the HTPC.