Xbox 360 fully compatible Media Center 2005!
Wow this is really the news I was expecting from Microsoft. So for many will make a huge difference between the PS3 as a game console and the Xbox as a full entertainment experience. This is what I like features, not necessarily the teraflops
Make sense now to buy an Xbox 360. I want one of those now :-)
"At the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2005 in Los Angeles, Microsoft Corp. today announced it will release a free software update to Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005 that will enable customers to take advantage of the Media Center Extender technologies built into Xbox 360 (TM) gaming systems to access and enjoy digital entertainment anywhere in the home. Every Xbox 360 will have Media Center Extender functionality built in and available out of the box. The Media Center Extender functionality, coupled with the software update for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, will provide customers with seamless access to digital music, video, photos, and standard and high-definition television and movies on Media Center Edition 2005-based PCs through any Xbox 360 game console in the house."
"The Xbox 360 MCX experience will be driven by the remote control that comes with the device. Users must have an XP Media Center Edition 2005-based PC to drive the experience, and Microsoft will ship a free software update, codenamed Emerald, that will update XP Media Center 2005 to support the new Xbox 360 features. These features include full HDTV support for both live TV and recorded TV. That means that the MCX experience in Xbox 360 will be able to stream HDTV broadcasts over a home network, a capability today's Extenders lack. Furthermore, the Xbox 360 MCX will include the full Media Center user experience and not the stripped down version seen on today's Extenders. That means you get the full fidelity of the Media Center experience, complete with animations, transitions during photos slideshows, and so on. For many users, the Xbox 360 MCX will even look nicer than the default UI on a Media Center PC, a first for any Extender."
Source: DigitalMediathoughts