MediaCentral 2.5
equinux
Price: $29.95 (volume licensing available)
Pros: Online Content, Games, Internet Radio, Skype Integration, customizable.
Cons: Cost, no inherent support for RSS.
by Michael Sanders, 1st Lt, USAF
Walk into any big-box store and what is one of the first things any self-respecting geek looks for? Big screen TV's of course. I know plenty of people who paid boat-loads of money so that they could sit in front of 52 inches (or more) of DLP, LCD or Plasma goodness and what do they watch on these glorious High-Definition windows to the world? Standard definition content!
Everyday, products are released hoping to work their way into our living-rooms and onto our TV's, that will connect them to the music and movies stored on our Mac's hard-drive. I for one, am excited. For starters it will help solve that eternal question, "what do you want to watch tonight?" Don't get me wrong, I love my office chair, but anything that transitions me to my much-more-comfortable couch is a step in the right direction.
Apple has been moving in that direction for a long time with the Mac mini, FrontRow, and now the AppleTV. However, Apple is not the only company with these lofty aspirations. equinux is a high-profile Mac software developer and their Media Central (MC) offering can transform your Mac into a multimedia powerhouse.
MC is a simple intuitive interface (think FrontRow) that connects you to even more than just your stored movies, pictures, and music. The developers at equinux have crammed a lot into MC - which is good since FrontRow has moved in to dominate the market for basic media functions. MC turns your Mac into the ultimate home theater system with support for Skype, numerous audio, video, IPTV, TV, IP radio, game (Flash games only) and multimedia formats.
MC is a one-stop-shop for a lot of what you already browse the internet for, with dedicated links to Google Video's top 100 list, YouTube's most watched list, Apple's movie trailers, and Flickr photo content. MC also includes tight integration with Apple's .mac service, so any content you are sharing or that you subscribe to (photocasts) online can be accessed quickly and easily.
For those of you who watch TV online MC has you covered too. Organized by language, MC includes many IPTV stations. You do have to install Real Player and Windows Media components to watch the included channels, but you can also add your own feeds to MC by just copying the .asf/.ram/.sdp files to the ~/MyMediaCentral/MyIPTV folder created when you install MC.
So let's say you don't much care for streaming TV, but you have a DVB-T adaptor (Europe, Asia, Africa) for your Mac, you're in luck because MC has been designed with you in mind. MC can display the DVB-T feeds along with an electronic program guide so you can know exactly what's on and when. Not only that, MC also works with a number of remote controls so you can lean back while you enjoy your favorite program.
MC handles all your standard media as well. Pop in a DVD or access local video_ts folders with crisp, clear playback, including support for Dolby Digital Surround Sound. If you like to store various media on CD's or DVD's no problem, MC will auto-sort your content and display all of it in the appropriate categories.
For the deployed military member MC is a nice application to have around. Turning your already capable portable Mac into an even easier to use mobile entertainment center. MC is an easy and clean way to access your movies, music, podcasts, pictures, TV, Radio, games and Skype buddy list. Granted a lot of MC's features rely on an active internet connection, but with a little mission planning you can load your Mac up to keep you entertained for most of your deployment and impress everyone in your unit along the way.
However, when you factor out all the features that rely on the intarweb, MC looks quite expensive compared to some of its free competition (CenterStage, iTheater, FrontRow, etc.). Still, if you'd like a solution for incorporating your Mac into a home theater - especially if it doesn't support FrontRow, MediaCentral may be a great option for you.
System Requirements:
* Apple Macintosh G4 1GHz or Intel Mac
* Mac OS X 10.4 or higher
* An active internet connection