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Ian's digital lifestyle and Windows Media Center Blog
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Another busy week on TheDigitalLifestyle.com, the server decided to fill all the available disk space causing it to go down on Friday just I was travelling back from Microsoft, fortunately Richard Miller sent me an email and with the EEE PC and Internet Connection Sharing I was able to sort it out from the M40 motorway, andway here is a roundup of the posts from the last week or so: UK Windows Media Center / Digital Lifestyle Meetup Would you be interesting in meeting like minded enthusiast at meetup next year? I am planning a event in the UK for Windows Media Center, Windows Home Server and other digital lifestyle products enthusiast to meetup share tips and stories,see some of... Freeview are planning to launch a HD service in the UK next year starting with Granada (my local region). In the press release Ilse Howling, Managing Director of Freeview said "With Freeview on PS3 and Media Center and HD just around the corner,... Olcay Buyan sent me details of a new Windows Media Center application for Germany called moreTV. The addin is a Vista Media Center application for their remote recording server that is already available for STB. The app adds extra services to Media Center... Microsoft have let me know I have the honour of being a Windows Media Center MVP for another year. It’s great being part of the such vibrant and lively community and the reason why I keep doing the blog and the podcast. As I said when I got renewed last... Listen Here (mp3) This week on the show I am talking to Roland Graham from CEA about the Consumer Electronics Association Mark of excellence award , this is an award presented by CEA’s TechHome Division to honour outstanding achievement in custom home... PCmag have an interesting article on Windows Media Center TV Pack, it highlights the features, the pitfalls and how to install TV Pack. Adam Thursby points out it has some good information on how to get CleanQAM working well. Checkout the rest of... There is a new MSNBC addin for Windows Media Center user in US and Canada, I haven’t been able to try it myself but according to Brandon LeBlanc on The Windows Experience Blog it gives you quick access to the latest election news, top stories and weather.... The Mark Of Excellence awards are not something I have have talked about before on the blog but seeing how a lot of the entries relate to Windows Media Center I thought it was worth a mention. There are some interesting categories that will be interesting... I am not the most tidy of people and when building up a Media Center system over a period of time the cables and components have got a little messy so to help with the WAF I bought a new cabinet. I am currently using Windows Home Server, a home brew Media... dBpoweramp has released RipNAS essentials for Windows Home Server users. As the name might imply, RipNAS enables CD ripping directly to your WHS. Even HP's MediaSmart Server! From dBpoweramp.com: RipNAS Essentials™ is an ideal companion to any Windows... I often wish for an all in combination box of Windows Media Center and Windows Home Server, Adam Thursby and Philip Churchill both spotted a project to build a combined box based on two motherboard. It has two Micro ATX boards, one for Vista and one for...
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One of the most popular Media Center applications is coming to Windows Home Server, My Movies for Windows Home Server works as a server for My Movies client applications and includes a fully automated Disk Copier. It also works as a meta-data provider for other applications like Microsoft’s DVD Library,Niveus Movie Library, Open Media Library, Media Portal, and soon XBMC without the need for installing the My Movies client. I will have some more details on it soon and I will have My Movies developer Brian Binnerup on The Media Center Show soon to explain all about it      
www.mymovies.dk
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Would you be interesting in meeting like minded enthusiast at meetup next year? I am planning a event in the UK for Windows Media Center, Windows Home Server and other digital lifestyle products enthusiast to meetup share tips and stories,see some of the latest hardware and show off some of the interesting projects the community has been working on. I am sure we can get some free food together and maybe some swag too. The sessions could range from the basics for newcomers to advanced topics like home automation and maybe even linking Media Center with Robotics. It could also be an opportunity to give some feedback to Microsoft, what we like and what really bugs us! So I want to know: - Would you come?
- Where should it be?
- What would you like to see shown off?
- Would you like to show off some of your projects?
- What kind of products should we focus on?
Either leave a comment on this post or send me an email Ian at thedigitallifestyle dotcom and if there is enough interest I can start planning it.
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Freeview are planning to launch a HD service in the UK next year starting with Granada (my local region). In the press release Ilse Howling, Managing Director of Freeview said "With Freeview on PS3 and Media Center and HD just around the corner, being a Freeview viewer is now more exciting than ever.” Last month the TV Feature pack edition of Windows Media Center was officially given the Freeview seal of approval and hopefully Media Center will be able to receive the HD content once it starts broadcasting. I am pretty sure Freeview HD is going to be using H.264 for the HD channels so Media Center would need to support that standard and at the moment it doesn’t (even with the TV Feature Pack), whether it could be added and the TV card manufactures like Hauppauge come out with compatible tuners remains to be seen More info on Techradar 
Picture from TechRadar
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Olcay Buyan sent me details of a new Windows Media Center application for Germany called moreTV. The addin is a Vista Media Center application for their remote recording server that is already available for STB. The app adds extra services to Media Center like Personalized and Editorial Recommendations, search buddy, automatic keyword recording and a premium EPG for all German channels. moreTV also adds a web based and mobile EPG. Features: - 14-day EPG using Premium Data featuring genre filter, list view, etc
- Personalized and Editorial Recommendations moreTV recommends for each user the highlights of the day and personalized recommendations
- Search Buddy
- All shows related to a user-defined keyword are automatically recorded.
- Remote Recording: Schedule recordings from anywhere in the world using an Internet-PC or an iPhone
2 Electronic Program Guide (EPG) - 14-day Premium EPG for all german channels
- Advanced filter and search options
- Series recording assistants
- Advanced overview screen
- including thumbnail
- Rich metadata information, like genre and description
- Detail screen
Have a look at Olcay’s blog for all the details. It looks an interesting addin and will be available soon, no details on fees yet. 
Screenshots from Olcay’s blog
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Microsoft have let me know I have the honour of being a Windows Media Center MVP for another year. It’s great being part of the such vibrant and lively  community and the reason why I keep doing the blog and the podcast. As I said when I got renewed last year “I am still passionate about Windows Media Center and the possibility for the platform has for the future, it is great being part of the Media Center community and I am enjoying building the community around TheDigitalLifestyle.com”
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PCmag have an interesting article on Windows Media Center TV Pack, it highlights the features, the pitfalls and how to install TV Pack. Adam Thursby points out it has some good information on how to get CleanQAM working well. Checkout the rest of the article on HERE What's the neatest feature in Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system? The answer is simple: Windows Media Center. And the good news is that the media-centric interface just got its biggest overhaul since Vista launched. The Windows Media Center TV Pack 2008 software lets PCs receive high-definition cable content without requiring specially certified systems (though CableCARDs are required for premium, encrypted content). That means high-def cable for the rest of us! The TV Pack was released on July 16, replacing the existing Media Center code in Vista with a new version—6.1.1000.18273. Here's the bad news (or, maybe, not-so-great news): It's an OEM-only upgrade, so you can't download it through Windows Update or from Microsoft.com. It's intended for release to manufacturers only, and there's no guarantee they'll offer it as an upgrade to current users. In fact, there are only a handful of places on Microsoft's collection of Web sites that mention it at all; visit Media Center's main digs on the corporate portal and you can't even tell that there's been an upgrade. With even less fanfare (not so much as a press release), the company officially launched TV Pack at this year's CEDIA (Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association) show in September, where manufacturers such as Life|ware and Niveus Media released computers with the new code.
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There is a new MSNBC addin for Windows Media Center user in US and Canada, I haven’t been able to try it myself but according to Brandon LeBlanc on The  Windows Experience Blog it gives you quick access to the latest election news, top stories and weather. I love these kind of addins because you can quickly get an update on the world without leaving Media Center, I have been hoping that the BBC would come up this kind of application for UK users but alas nothing yet. Checkout Brandon’s post for all the details and US users should see the title show up in the TV + Movies menu.  
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The Mark Of Excellence awards are not something I have have talked about before on the blog but seeing how a lot of the entries relate to Windows Media Center I thought it was worth a mention. There are some interesting categories that will be interesting to watch like Best Software Application and UI innervations. Last year Lifeware won an award for their Media Center based system. I will have more on the awards on this weeks The Media Center Show AWARDS HONORING CUSTOM HOME ELECTRONICS Call for Submissions Runs October 1 Through November 14 Arlington, Va., October 1, 2008 – The Consumer Electronics Association today opened entries for the 2009 Mark of Excellence Awards, presented by CEA’s TechHome Division to honor outstanding achievement in custom home electronics products, services and installation. Winners will be announced at an awards dinner on Friday, March 13, 2009 at the Rosen Centre Hotel, during the tenth annual Electronic House Expo (EHX) Spring 2009, which returns to the Orange County Convention center in Orlando, Florida, March 10-14. Award entries will be accepted until November 14, 2008, and will be reviewed by a panel of industry experts and submitted in two categories: Supplier and Systems Integrators. New sub-categories this year include Best Software Application, Best Universal Design Home and Best Community Home of the Year. “We look forward to receiving this year’s entries for the most innovative products in custom home electronics,” said Karen Chupka, senior vice president of conferences and events, CEA. “We are continually impressed by the quality of product submissions as our Mark of Excellence Awards Program becomes more popular every year.” To help with the entry submission process, CEA will use a time-saving entry portal collaboration system, powered by mBLAST, that allows co-workers to combine their separate nominations and pre-populate basic nominee information. To submit products for the 2009 Mark of Excellence Awards program, review evaluation criteria or learn about our new manufacturer scholarship program, log onto www.CE.org/MarkofExcellence
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I am not the most tidy of people and when building up a Media Center system over a period of time the cables and components have got a little messy so to help with the WAF I bought a new cabinet. I am currently using Windows Home Server, a home brew Media Center PC and HP’s TouchSmart IQ500 all serving out content to Extenders so I wanted to get as much as I could in to a cabinet with the exception of the TouchSmart which could sit on top. I found a nice looking cabinet at a local store and now this has got all my kit in to it so my wife is happy. I did add some ventilation to the back of the unit as it was getting a little warm in there. Before:  
After:  
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I often wish for an all in combination box of Windows Media Center and Windows Home Server, Adam Thursby and Philip Churchill both spotted a project to build a combined box based on two motherboard. It has two Micro ATX boards, one for Vista and one for Windows Home Server with two power supplies and a selection of drives. Its an impressive feet to get both systems in one case, checkout the video showing how it’s done and more details on the original post 
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Vidabox are now shipping RoomClientHD media extender (not a Windows Media Center Extender) thay offers Blu-ray and DVD streaming. No price information at the moment and it does require a Vidabox server. I will have Vidabox on a future show so if you have any questions for them let me know
More details on Vidabox's website and info from CE Pro
09.29.2008 — VidaBox is now shipping its RoomClientHD media extender that offers Blu-ray and DVD streaming.
RoomClientHD connects to any HD or SD TV via HDMI, DVI or VGA cables and offers 1080p upscaling/playback of all content.
It also supports lossless audio codecs and has an option for a built-in Blu-ray drive for local playback.
RoomClientHD comes preconfigured with Microsoft Vista Home Premium and a Media Center user interface.
VidaBox says the user needs Cat5e/6 cabling and one of the company's
media servers for RoomClientHD to work. VidaBox recently introduced its
RACK24 Server that has 22TB of storage.
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I have lots of short video clips taken with my camera so I was very pleased to see of clipShow beta for Windows Media Center. clipShow is a Windows Vista Media Center application that provides the ability to view a personal video collection in a slide-show type fashion. It features a "clip" capability that can play continuous random clips of video media (customizable by 30 seconds, 60 seconds, 90 seconds, or the entire video). It also provides the capability to create custom playlists from the Media Center video library. In addition it also can organize a video media collection by common tags stored in the video file metadata, and allow clips to be played by those tags. It looks like an application that I could put to use as most of the video clips never get shown unlike my photos which are display on a digital photo frame. The application and source code are available on codeplex in 32bit and 64bit flavours, don’t forgot that it’s only a beta. 
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Looks like an interesting new application from Niveus who are doing some great development work on Media Center platform and it looks like this application is not just for to Niveus customers. I think over the weekend I will give it a try Easily search through entire media catalogues and select Internet content utilizing the unified Niveus Search tool, now available for download.  Milpitas, CA – September 26, 2008 – Niveus Media, Inc. announces beta availability of the new unified Niveus Search, which enables easy retrieval of content accessible across the local network and Internet. The patent-pending Niveus Search offers Windows Vista ® Media Center users an easy-to-use, 10’ interface that provides an all encompassing scan of both the Media Center and Internet sources.
No longer do Media Center users have to scroll through lengthy catalogues trying to locate a certain movie, TV program, song, etc. Utilizing the unified Niveus Search yields visual results of the electronic program guide, recorded TV, music, photos, videos, and web-based content, from sources such as NetflixÒ, FlickrÒ, and Live365 Internet radio. Additionally, for the less decisive that aren’t sure what to watch or listen to, by entering keywords of interest, Search will return a number of related results from across its sources.  Accessing and using the Niveus Search tool is simple and can be easily accomplished with the use of only a remote control. By selecting “New Search” via the Search icon on the Windows Media Center strip, users can enter keywords with the remote control (T9) or the onscreen keypad. Search then reveals results in a compelling gallery, with cover art, movie posters, icons, pictures, or other supported visual formats. The user can then click play, slideshow, or schedule a recording based on the type of result(s) returned. Previous searches can be found through a Previous Searches icon on the Media Center menu.
Now available via the Niveus Software Labs webpage, Niveus Search is being released as beta for all Windows Vista Media Center users for an undetermined amount of time to gather feedback, field results, and suggestions. Niveus will continue to release improvements to Niveus Search beta via the Niveus Software Labs and intends to release a production version of Niveus Search to the Windows Media Center community when ready. Niveus Search will be supported by the user community in thenew Niveus Software Labs Forum. Select screenshots can be viewed through the Niveus Software Labs by selecting the screenshots tab.
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Melloware the developers of Intelliremote have let me know that they have updated their application and added full wireless keyboard and mouse support. So from your iPhone or iPod Touch you can not only control Media Center and other application you can also use it as wireless keyboard. The iPhone application is a free to existing customer and the PC server is $24, more details from Intelliremote 
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If you have a Mac network and where wondering how to integrate Windows Media Center into your network then this article from hackaday.com explains how to do it. The article takes you step by step through the process from the Mac side as well as the changes needed to get Media Center working. Personally I prefer to use Windows Home Server with my network but it’s nice to have the option MCE, as it’s commonly referred to, can play back DVDs, music, videos, and broadcast TV all from one interface using a single remote. We wanted to build a home network that would centralize all our media, provide Time Machine backups for the Apple computers, and also act as a bittorrent client and print server. We knew we could easily set up another Windows machine to act like a server, but Time Machine only supports writing to Mac formatted drives. There is information out there that shows how to get around this, but we didn’t want to risk our backups using unsupported methods. Running a NAS box was out as well for the same reason Thanks to b3nz0n8 for the tip 
Pictures from Hackaday
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As you add more and more addins to your Windows Home Server you may find that it needs a memory upgrade and for self-built boxes that is easy to do but for HP MediaSmart customers adding memory would void the warranty but today HP announced that they are changing the warranty policy to enable existing and future customers to upgrade their MediaSmart servers without voiding the warranty Details from HP: HP customers can now upgrade the memory on HP MediaSmart Servers without voiding the HP warranty. Based on customer feedback, HP will now offer a path for consumers to upgrade the memory on the HP MediaSmart Server without voiding the hardware warranty. HP customer feedback and research shows that some customers are installing multiple add-ins and/or additional software to the MediaSmart Server, which can lead to a need for additional memory. Details Upgrading the memory, in and of itself, will not void the warranty on the MediaSmart Server. Damage to any part of the MediaSmart Server during the upgrade may violate the warranty, however, leaving the cost for repairs the responsibility of the customer. Customers should perform a backup to an external device before adding additional memory. HP is only providing information on a customer memory upgrade path at this time, and customers will not be able to send their MediaSmart Server to HP to perform the upgrade. Customers may be able to find technical assistance for the memory upgrade, however HP is not recommending or training authorized resellers to conduct the memory upgrade on a MediaSmart Server. HP has not qualified any particular DIMMs, but compatible memory includes 1GB or 2GB - DDR2 667 MHz DIMMs. Customers should not upgrade beyond 2 GB of memory. Other than disk drives, HP does not support any other hardware upgrade paths, such as processor upgrades, on the MediaSmart Server.
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A new beta of ngRC V2 has been released, this is the next generation Remote Control that turns your iPhone/iPod Touch or PSP in to a WiFi enabled remote. You can control Vista Media Center or XP Media Center plus it can control your Extender sessions. You can also browse your music library, add to playlists and play tracks from the remote. 
Features: - Full feature remote control (replacement for IR, let you control your media center over WiFi)
- Useable on all iPhones, iPod Touch, PSP, PC, Tablet PC (everything that is Browser-Capable)
- Extender Support (control every extender from every room, with only one remote control)
- Music-Library-Search (Browse your media center music library by Album, Artist, Playlist, Genre, Title, view Album Details, Title-Details, etc…), filter music by keyword.
- Play selected music
- Add selected music to playlists
- Show actual playing title
- Show actual playing playlist
- Nice Covert-Art display (mirror-effect)
- Direct Jump from Home-Screen to TV Guide, Recordings, Pictures, Videos
The application is free and can be downloaded from Sourceforge (along with the source code) More details on the ngRC blog < 
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I wish I could have made it over to the PDC this year as it looks like it will be the first public airing for Windows 7 . Attendee’s will be given a pre-beta copy of Windows 7 and I expect a lot of Windows 7 features will be talked about at the show. I am also looking forward to hearing about Live Mesh as I think that is going to be a very interesting platform for developers and end users. It will be interesting to see which build of Windows Media Center will be in the beta, it may not be in the build at all. Early builds of Vista didn’t have the Media Center components enabled so that could be the case this time or it could have the TV Feature Pack build, maybe even the next version of Media Center! We will have to wait till October 27th to find out.
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According to Ben at EngadgetHD the new Samsung Media Center Extender has a release date of October 15th on Amazon. Like I have said before it’s a nice looking extender but it’s limited to selected Samsung HD TVs 
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If your looking for a standalone Digital Cable Tuner then your options have been limited but Chris Lanier is reporting that Cannon PC are by offering both internal and external Digital Cable Tuners online. At $300 and $315 it may be an interesting option for adding a extra tuner to your system but don’t forget as Chris points out you need a CableCARD ready PC for it to work. More details on Chris Lanier’s blog.
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Ben Drawbaugh at EngadgetHD asks an interesting question “What’s the most you’d pay for the ultimate HTPC?”, he has put up a vote page for you to have your say. The wide range of computers that can pull duty as a HTPC varies wildly from $500 all the way up to $25,000, but at what point are you getting the best money can buy, or just throwing money away? Many in these parts like to role there own, while others spend the big bucks on the latest Nievus system. So we're asking, what's the most you'd pay for the ultimate HTPC? We're not talking about the whole setup here, just the main unit, so digital cable tuners would be included, but not media streamers like Microsoft's Extenders. What we really want to know is, assuming these high dollar systems do actually offer the best possible solution, are they even worth it at their high price? Would you pay less than £500, $3000 or go all out and have no limit. You can vote HERE, for me I would say under $1000 $2000 (EDIT I was thinking in £ and not $) would get you a good system to build on top of with Extenders
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Derek Flickinger sent me a link to an article about the ATSC group choosing H.264 for DTV transmission. Derek wondered if this was the reason why H.264 support was dropped from TV Feature Pack as Microsoft knowing about the impending change would not want to put pack out knowing they would have to change it again. Maybe it’s not the reason but it looks like H.264 is going to be the standard for digital TV in future and Media Center will have to support it at some point WASHINGTON, September 2008 - The Advanced Television Systems Committee, Inc. has approved and published A/72 which details the methodology to utilize Advanced Video Coding (AVC) within an ATSC DTV transmission. AVC, which was developed by the ITU-T Video Coding Experts Group together with the ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group, is also known as H.264 and MPEG-4 Part 10. The A/72 Standard defines constraints with respect to AVC, compression format restraints, low delay and still picture modes, and bit stream specifications. In addition it specifies how CEA-708 closed captions are to be carried in an AVC bit stream. The new standard is in two parts, Part 1 is titled "Video System and Characteristics of AVC in the ATSC Digital Television System," and "Part 2" AVC Video Transport Subsystem Characteristics." "AVC compression provides increased efficiency and flexibility", said ATSC President Mark Richer. "The new standard will be especially important for those countries which have not yet implemented digital television. AVC will also be used with standards in development such as ATSC-M/H for mobile and handheld applications and ATSC-NRT for non-real-time delivery of programming." Read the rest of article
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I am always on the lookout for new applications for Windows Media Center and combine a Vista Media Center application with drink and your on a winner! My Drinks is a Vista Media Center version of the XP version from a couple of years ago and it has been re-written in Media Center Markup Language. According to the developer the database has over 6000 drinks in it and you can browse by drink or ingredient. I had a quick play and it works pretty well. You can download the app from http://www.quinndows.net and is freeware   
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With the talk of a headless Windows Media Center System Richard Miller reminded me of Microsoft’s last attempt at a CE Media Center device. The LG LRM-519 was a Set To Box device with Windows Media Center as a UI. It could download the EPG data over the internet or via dial up (after you paid a one time subscription fee) and looked like it would be a popular device. For the time it has some interesting features: (taken from Sean Alexander’s blog) - Network media DVR/DVD recorder, burns all major DVD formats (DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, DVD+R double-layer)
 - Progressive Scan DVD Playback
- Built-in Ethernet, 802.11a/g network connections
- Compatible with MPEG, Windows Media Audio and Video (WMA/WMV), MP3 audio, and JPEG images
- Supports PlaysforSure Services (Napster, MSN Music, CinemaNow, MovieLink etc.)
- Supports Windows Media Connect for browsing and enjoying Music, Photos, and Videos over home networks from Windows XP PCs.
- Supports Sync of recorded TV programs back to the PC for transfer to mobile devices.
- Microsoft Electronic Programming Guide
- 160GB hard drive, expandable via USB 2.0 external HDDs- keep slapping them on :)
- Single-tuner, supports all services via S-Video etc. (same as retail TiVo)
- USB connectivity to portable hard disks, media players, and card readers
- Available at retail, Fall 2005
I did see one on Microsoft’s stand at CES in 2006 but since then I have heard nothing about the device. On paper it looks like it should have been a success but it seems to have disappeared without a trace. Did you buy one or did you consider one and why do you think it didn’t take off? Is there a market for a device like this now? The headless device Chris Lanier was talking about was a server and not a client device like this but it’s not a million miles of what was done in the past (on the LG box you could send content back to the XP machine) Checkout the video demo of the unit from 2005 and the original web site
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Over on CE Pro they have an article on why Windows Media Center needs an Alliance and an Installer Channel. I talked with Intel's Greg Schlechter a director of the announced Media Center Integrators Alliance last week on show (#172), I think the alliance is a great idea if it focuses attention on Media Center as long as the focus does not switch to much to the custom installer channel away from the enthusiasts. Innovations from the custom channel can get passed down to the standard build that we enthusiasts get but there are many innovations coming from the community that need recognising. As Ed Bott said in his post Microsoft have a difficult balancing act with balancing the needs of OEMs and enthusiast. Anyway back to the post, CE Pro have details the aims of the Media Center Integrators Alliance and how it can benefit the members and the CE installers. Windows Media Center definitely has mass-market potential, but it's going to take some time before the general population embraces the platform for home entertainment.
That's the conclusion of PC-centric Microsoft, Intel, AMD and HP, who recently joined CE channel players Crestron, Lifeware and Niveus to form the Media Center Integrator Alliance (MCIA). Why Media Center Needs an Alliance and an Installer Channel
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Ed Bott has been reflecting on the dilemma that Microsoft has around supporting enthusiast and OEMs and how the the limited distribution of TV Feature Pack has upset. Ed looks back at the history of Windows Media Center and digs in to the story of TV Feature Pack. As ever with Ed it makes a good read… I’ve been digging into that story for the past month or so, including some hands-on tests of the TV Pack running in Windows Vista. In the gallery that accompanies this post, I have an in-depth look at the TV Pack in operation. In this post, I want to focus on the disconnect between the Media Center development team and its community. What we have here, according to the most vocal critics in the Media Center community, is a failure. What we really have here, I think, is a failure to communicate.
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Good friend Steven Hughes and previous guest on the show has put together an interesting event for CES, I am signed up: Austin, TX —Sept. 17, 2008— The 2009 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the world's largest consumer technology tradeshow, marks the launch of  CntrStg, (www.cntrstg.com, pronounced "CenterStage"), an independent blogger lounge designed to promote focused discussions and improved communication on the topics that matter most to both bloggers and technology companies. Not only will CntrStg be the single place for bloggers and corporations to meet face-to-face during CES 2009, it is expected to become a standard feature of all large industry events and tradeshows. Founded by 15-year veteran blogger Steven Hughes, and fellow online community leaders, Eric Hicks, Mike Temporale and Johan van Mierlo, CntrStg is a proactive, community-led effort that strives to match up influential bloggers with representatives of products and companies in order to drive meaningful interaction, discussion and word-of-mouth referral. CntrStg actively represents the wants and needs of bloggers, allowing them to better interact with companies, their products and associated messages. CntrStg also provides a centralized, controlled environment for companies and product managers to share their message with interested and engaged audiences through direct, meaningful interaction. CntrStg is not only a lounge for bloggers to relax, but also a place to network and get work done. Most important, CntrStg features a presentation space that enables companies chosen by the community to speak on topics and products that are important to them. Sponsored by HP, CntrStg provides a location for corporate marketers to make live announcements to bloggers who will then share the news with established audiences. "The bloggers and influencers are the ones who drive the buzz and get CES news out to the buying public," said Hughes. "CntrStg ensures a steady flow of content to bloggers and secures a ready outlet for companies' news. Through the setting and process we have designed, CntrStg places the spotlight on both those presenting, as well as the influencers attending, by providing focused discussions and improving communication." CntrStg attendees will select the companies to present at CntrStg by polling the community, ensuring all interactions return value to both the blogging community and the selected product marketers. By s | |
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