Also, don’t be surprised when the Amazon listing still has it priced at $199. The $20 discount will be applied at check-out. We’ve already confirmed that it does indeed knock the price down to $179 before you click the final button to place your order.

Click here to download episode #95

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Top News

• Here comes Yahoo’s own Web browser — Axis via cnet
• Microsoft Launches So.Cl, A Social Network that Combines Web Search with Social Sharing via Lifehacker
• Historic Facebook debut falls short of expectations via Reuters
• Facebook Camera makes its debut via cnet
• Facebook pushes App Center with easy app installs via cnet

Afterburner

• Mozilla Webmaker Aims to Teach You to Code and Change You from Web Consumer to Creator via Lifehacker
• Windows 8 Secrets: Internet Explorer 10 will Ship with Adobe Flash via WithinWindows
• HP lays off 27,000 employees in restructuring move via Arstechnica
• Test Drive Begins Beta Rollout on Android Phones via Amazon
• TiVo focusing on whole-home viewing with IP, streaming boxes via cnet
• Google Chrome Overtakes Internet Explorer as the Number One Browser via Lifehacker

thEndUsr Stories

• Apple Receives Regulatory Approval for 20-Megawatt Solar Farm at North Carolina Data Center cia MacRumors
• Fox, CBS, NBC Sue Dish Network Over AutoHop Ad-Skipper via HollyWoodReporter
• Plantronics Go Headphones

Tip of the Week: Subscribe to Cable Internet? Cable Providers Are Teaming Up to Give You Free Wi-Fi All Over Town

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Click here to download episode #94

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Top News

• Google Launches Knowledge Graph To Provide Answers, Not Just Links via SearchEngineLand
• Windows RT browser exclusion draws attention from European, US regulators via theVerge

Afterburner

• Dawn of a new wireless: first 802.11ac router available today via ArsTechnica
• Windows 8 Mail, Calendar, People, Messaging, and other apps updated for Release Preview via theVerge
• “Swiss Army knife for QuickTime” Perian turning off the lights via ArsTechnica
• Windows 8 Pro PC Upgrade Cost Is Just $15 via WinSuperSite
• Netflix launches sexy new web-based video player via GigaOm

thEndUsr Stories

• Comcast suspends 250GB data cap—for now via Ars
• Verizon Clarifies: Unlimited Data Plans to Die Slow Death via New York Times
• Microsoft Gives Windows a Clean Sweep via AllThingsD
• Android fragmentation: one developer encounters 3,997 devices via Ars
• Multiple Nexus devices could be a game-changer for Google and Android via AndroidCentral
• What to do with a broken Magsafe adapter?
• GreenTech Got a deck? Solar panels now a plug-in appliance via Crave

Tip of the Week:  Chrome Now Syncs Open Tabs Across Your Devices via Lifehacker
Invention kit for banana pianos, alphabet soup keyboards via Crave

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The intro music is a song called Rogue by Raw Stiles

Here’s a quick way to find out which of your Recorded TV files are protected.

Instructions

Open Your Recorded TV library  in Windows Explorer. This library may include files from multiple locations if you’ve added folders to your TV library through Media Center. Display the files in Detail view. Right-click any column heading, and then click More on the shortcut menu.

In the pop-up window, scroll through the list of file details and select Protected. Click OK to apply the change.

You may need to scroll to the right to see the Protected flag, which appears as a column of Yes/No values. Click the column heading to sort by the Protected flag and see all your protected shows together.

With all the protected shows sorted together, it should be easy to select and copy the unprotected shows to your new HTPC. Now clear your calendar to watch all of those copy protected shows before completely retiring your old Media Center.

Click here to download episode #93

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Top News

• HP announces Envy ultrabooks, ‘sleekbooks,’ business-targeted EliteBook Folio via Crave
• RIM takes the wraps off BlackBerry 10 OS, shows off camera and keyboard via Crave
• BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha: Shape of RIM’s future phones? via Crave
• Samsung Galaxy S III packs 4.8-inch display, runs Android 4.0 via Ars
• Microsoft deal allows B&N to go toe-to-toe with Amazon and Apple via Crave
• Barnes & Noble to add NFC chips to Nooks via Crave

Afterburner

• Netherlands First Country in Europe With Net Neutrality via Bof.nl
• Google gets license to test drive autonomous cars on Nevada roads via ArsTechnica
• Dell Announces A Linux Laptop Designed for Developers via devopsangle
• Apple trims prices on refurbished iPads via cnet
• Samsung OLED will retail for $9,000 via cnet
• AT&T Mobility CEO: Family data plan coming soon (scoop) via cnet
• AT&T is branching out to home security you can control with your smartphone or tablet. Here’s how it’ll look. via cnet
• Google+ Hangouts On Air: broadcast your conversation to the world via Google
• Google+: A Mobile App With Sense and Soul via Google

thEndUsr Stories

• iOS app success is a lottery: 60% (or more) of developers don’t break even via Ars
• DVD playback and Windows Media Center in Windows via Microsoft
• Chris’ move to Windows Phone
• Free Modlet Offer for NYC Residents to Save Air Conditioner Power This Summer via Ecogeek

Tip of the Week:  Add Hands-Free Reading to Any Web Page with HandsFread

Feedback? You can call us at 1-877-856-4933 or visit our Facebook page.

Here’s the rundown of this week’s show:

After a week off (and before another week off, slackers) we jump in with the not so surprising news that media pirates are moving to digital. We also look at CBS and Time Warner CEO’s comments about wanting Hulu to authenticate to cable subscribers. We look at the $99 Xbox and Matt’s getting data caps. We throw in an Underworld:Evolution review for good measure.

Blu-ray releases for May 8, 15.

Click here to download Episode 109!

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The intro music is a song called Rogue by Raw Stiles

Acquiring either the Windows 8 Media Center Pack or the Windows 8 Pro Pack gives you Media Center, including DVD playback (in Media Center, not in Media Player), broadcast TV recording and playback (DBV-T/S, ISDB-S/T, DMBH, and ATSC), and VOB file playback.

Do you notice anything missing from that list? If you’re a cable television subscriber in the United States, and this list is exhaustive, you will no longer have any way of recording cable television content on your Windows Media Center. Both ClearQAM and CableCARD are missing from the list of supported TV tuners in this article. If you’re a European customer, DVB-C (the European cable standard), is also absent from this list.

Is it possible that we’re getting worked up for nothing here? Maybe this list wasn’t meant to be exhaustive. Maybe Microsoft meant to only list over-the-air style TV tuners. The biggest cause for concern is the obvious amount of pain-staking effort Microsoft has put into carefully choosing each and every single word in the articles posted on the Building Windows 8 blog. If there is one gem of hope against that thought, it is that they misspelled one of the standards. The European standard is DVB, not DBV.

For what it’s worth, we hope we’re wrong. Many of the writers at the DMZ have, and love, CableCARD tuners. We would be very disappointed to see support dry up for them. Although, we probably wouldn’t be as disappointed as Ceton, SiliconDust, and Hauppauge.

UPDATE

On Saturday morning Microsoft posted a follow-up to their earlier article to answer some questions around DVD playback in Windows 8. We’re just going to assume that one of the last questions they answered was a direct response to us.

Will CableCard and other devices continue to work with Media Center in Windows 8?
Yes, there is no change in hardware supported between Windows 7 and Windows 8.

Let’s not even bother with what was announced two weeks ago as it probably just makes the situation more confusing. Instead, let’s get to the point. For consumer PCs there are essentially two versions of Windows 8. The first is Windows 8, which is the basic version, and is most similar to Windows 7 Home Premium. The other version is Windows 8 Pro. In order to run Windows Media Center within Windows 8 you need to have Windows 8 Pro, but that isn’t enough, and the Pro version doesn’t need to be the version you start with at all. There are two paths to get to Windows 8 Media Center.

Path 1 : Start with Windows 8 Pro

If the computer that you want to use Windows Media Center on already has Windows 8 Pro then all you need is an add-on pack. This was discussed in the April 16th post, and pondered in greater detail by our own Jon Deutsch. The major detail released for this path is the name of the add-on pack. It will be called the Windows 8 Media Center Pack. Purchase and install this add-on and your Windows 8 Pro computer will now have Windows Media Center.

Path 2 : Start with Windows 8

This is the path that we didn’t know about before. One of the big concerns previously was that most consumer PCs would come with this version of Windows and those users wouldn’t have an easy path to getting Windows Media Center. Microsoft has created a path though, and it’s very similar to the one laid out for Pro users. If you have Windows 8 you’ll need to purchase and install a software add-on pack. This pack is called the Windows 8 Pro Pack. Once you’ve done this you will not only have Media Center on your computer, but you’ll also have all of the features of Windows 8 Pro. To put it plainly, you will purchase one add-on pack that upgrades your computer to Windows 8 Pro and includes the Windows 8 Media Center Pack.

How and How Much?

So the next question you might be wondering is how to obtain these add-on packs, and how much are they going to cost you. The first answer is actually pretty simple. From within Windows, in the Control Panel, there will be a section called Add Features to Windows 8. If you go to that section you’ll be able to purchase the add-on pack that you’re looking for. This will be a very similar process to the Windows Anytime Upgrade that was present in Windows 7. So how much will it cost? That we still don’t know, but who would we be not to speculate? When the add-on pack concept was first announced with regards to Windows 8 Pro it was described as “economical”. To us, that sounds like a price less than $50. We hope it will be somewhere in the range of $9.99 to $19.99 though. That’s of course if you’re simply looking to add Windows Media Center to Windows 8 Pro. We have to assume that the Windows 8 Pro Pack, the one required for standard Windows 8 users, will cost significantly more. Often times in the past there has been about a $100 premium to upgrade between versions, so it wouldn’t be outside the realm of possibility to see the Windows 8 Pro Pack come in around $99-$149. This is one area where Microsoft could radically change from their previous model. For all we know Windows 8 might only cost $29.99 and Windows 8 Pro might only be $49.99. As with everything else related to Windows 8 though, we won’t know for sure until it’s announced officially by Microsoft.

Conclusion

Hopefully the options are a little more clear to you if, like us, you’re considering the upgrade to Windows 8 and you still want to have Windows Media Center. It should be noted, but we’ll break these details down in a separate post, that some features, such as the ability to watch DVDs, will only be available if you have upgraded to Windows 8 with Media Center. So while some of us are still upset about having to pay extra for something that was included with Windows 7, at least we understand our options for getting there now.

Click here to download episode #176

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The intro music is a song called Rogue by Raw Stiles

Most believed that the apps would only work alongside Ceton’s Q DVR, but in today’s announcement they stated that they will work with any Windows 7 Media Center! They will also be releasing the companion apps into beta soon. The apps are being developed for Windows Phone 7, iOS, and Android. You can register for the beta today, and selection for the beta will happen on or before May 25th. When signing up for the app beta you’ll also have the ability to sign up to beta test the forthcoming Ceton Extender.

The beta process for the Ceton Extender will involve paying the MSRP for the box, which has yet to be announced. You’ll receive the box ahead of everyone else, and while it will be final hardware it will come pre-installed with beta software. At the end of the beta you’ll keep the extender and be updated to the final software. So while you’ll still be paying the same amount for the Ceton Extender that regular customers will, you’ll be getting your hands on it a lot earlier, and you’ll have a hand in improving it. The beta selection for the extender will be on or before July 15th. To clarify, when you sign up for the beta of the companion apps you’ll have the option of expressing interest in participating in the beta for the extender. You won’t be under any commitment to purchase one.

We’ll have the guys from Ceton on Entertainment 2.0 this week to discuss today’s announcement. You can listen in live at 8pm Eastern on our live show page. Feel free to leave your questions for Ceton in the comments on this post.

To signup for the beta head on over to http://beta.cetoncorp.com.

Ceton Companion App Features:

• Multiple platforms
• iPhone (iOS 4.1+)
• Android (2.2+)
• Windows Phone 7 (Mango)
• Works on any Windows 7 HTPC
• Browse all of your Media Center libraries
• Videos
• Music
• Photos
• Movies
• Start playback of content on multiple devices
• Manage and schedule recordings
• Rich meta data for movies and television
• Browse premieres of upcoming television shows
• Universally search movies, TV, guide, and more
• A whole lot more!

Crapware

First things first. This device has a pretty small amount of on-board storage and no options for adding to that with external cards. After learning what apps I want to use and what apps I don’t need, I’ve started to cull. It turns out that Nokia and T-Mobile have both “customized” the phone by adding some of their exclusive apps.

While most of Nokia’s apps add value, T-Mobile’s apps are largely expendable. T-Mobile TV is a paid subscription mobile video app that looks and works nothing like a Windows Phone app but was instead likely ported from some other platform. Uninstalled. Slacker Radio is a service I don’t use. Uninstalled. TeleNav GPS Nav is a paid subscription navigation service that is redundant to Nokia’s very good (and free) turn-by-turn Nokia Drive app. Uninstalled.

The Weather Channel app is pre-loaded on the phone, but I almost immediately swapped it for the less heavily branded and better designed AccuWeather.com app. And Netflix is pre-loaded, too, but I can’t imagine ever watching a movie or TV show on this size screen now that I own a tablet.

Pictures

The Nokia Lumia 710 has a decent 5 MP camera with a flash. Perhaps more importantly, it has a dedicated camera button that you can use to both wake the device into camera mode and take pictures. The phone also takes 720p HD video.

Like iCloud for iOS and Instant Upload for Android, you can automatically upload photographs to your Microsoft SkyDrive account as you take them. Like iCloud with Apple TV, you can view these photos on Media Center as they’re uploaded. We posted a Media Center quick tip earlier this week with easy instructions on how you can set this up. With Nokia’s beta Play To app, you can also stream pictures and videos from your phone to a compatible Play To target (e.g., an Xbox in extender mode).

Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 Connector software for Mac can sync pictures to your phone from iPhoto or Aperture. You can choose from albums and events in your library. Connector can also optionally sync the pictures and videos you’ve taken from your phone to your Mac. That’s something you still can’t do with iTunes and an iPhone.

Syncing to iPhoto is a bit cumbersome since it launches iPhoto every time it finds new pictures and videos to offload, and even though you specify the name of the event for your pictures, it creates a new one (with that same name) every time.

Skype

Microsoft released its official Skype app for Windows Phone last week, and it seems like a huge missed opportunity. I talked about this—more like ranted about this—quite a bit on the latest episode of Entertainment 2.0, but I’m still scratching my head, trying to understand what Microsoft has been doing with Skype for the last year.

Google has its Google Voice product baked into the core of Android phones, and Microsoft’s failure to do the same for Windows Phone with Skype just baffles me. Skype is a premier brand, and they seem to be wasting it.

With Skype for Windows phone, you can make voice and video calls and send instant messages to other Skype users. It does not work with Bluetooth. You cannot send SMS messages. You cannot receive Skype calls unless you have the app open and active. One more time for effect: You cannot receive Skype calls unless the app is open and active.

Ridiculous. But the biggest missed opportunity here is that Skype contacts don’t integrate with your People hub in any way. Microsoft intentionally designed a phone platform that provides for integration with third party directory services, but it is either not extensible enough to support Skype or Microsoft just decided not to take advantage of this capability for Skype—the leading consumer VoIP platform. That they own.

Ridiculous.

Other Apps

For the most part, the major apps that you’d expect on a phone platform are available in one form or another. As I mentioned in last week’s review, Google’s presence is all but nonexistent, but there are numerous apps that take advantage of Google’s APIs to make Google services available to Windows Phone owners.

There are a couple of great apps I’ve come to like a lot. Foursquare has a very good app. Sports Tracker is a great activity monitor for running, walking, and exercise tracking. Evernote and OneNote give me access to saved snippets, and the rest of the Office suite gives me access—even the ability to edit—Microsoft Office documents. I also like Amazon’s ubiquitous Kindle app, Spotify, and OpenTable.

There’s no official app for GetGlue (and the third party app is crap—it’s just a wrapper to GetGlue’s mobile web site that’s actually harder to use than the site itself). There’s no Google+ app, but their mobile site works fairly well in IE. There’s no app for my bank, no apps for my favorite airlines, and no Pandora.

TripIt has an app that’s compete crap—it’s less capable than TripIt’s own mobile site, and it seems to have been developed by someone who’s never read Microsoft’s Windows Phone user experience guidelines. There are several third-party TripIt apps that are far better than TripIt’s own. I’ve chosen My Trips.

I’ve realized pretty quickly that there are many crap apps out there. Metro introduces a new way of thinking about user experience and UI design, and a lot of developers clearly just don’t get it or haven’t bothered trying. I’ve passed over or already uninstalled numerous apps that have offended my UX sensibilities.

To Unlock or Not

I realized last week that I haven’t been receiving text messages sent to my old number since I can forward calls but not text messages. Between that and the disappointing service that I get in my neighborhood and home from T-Mobile, I decided to try unlocking the phone so I could swap in my old AT&T SIM card.

I quickly learned that while my AT&T SIM gave me a working device with my old number and much better phone service, I couldn’t get any data service. It turns out that T-Mobile and AT&T use different 3G bands, so I had a decision to make: better, more convenient phone service, or data service. I chose data. But hey…now I have an unlocked phone. That’s good, right?

Headset

I’ve been spoiled by the hardware ecosystem that’s grown up around the iPhone and iOS devices. I can go to pretty much any corner store and pick up a cheap set of earphones that work with an iPhone for calls. Nowadays many of them can even control music and trigger voice prompts.

Nokia’s Lumia 710 doesn’t come with earphones. So I tried using some old iPhone headphones I have lying around. I can listen to music, of course, but I can’t use them for phone calls or voice prompts, and the buttons don’t seems to control anything on the Lumia.

I went to Nokia’s web site. Nokia’s documentation for the Lumia says “you can connect a compatible headset or compatible headphones to your phone.” They don’t, in any way, define compatible. Nokia lists two Monster-branded (read: expensive) options on nokia.com, the cheapest of which is about $90. Not gonna happen.

So I contacted Nokia support to find out what headsets might be compatible. They told me that the only headphones they know will work with the Lumia phones are those listed on their web site…for about $90 and $200, respectively. They do not offer a less expensive alternative, and they don’t have any information about any other compatible products.

If for no other reason than to say that they promote safe driving, Nokia should either offer an inexpensive headset for the Lumia or be prepared to recommend some compatible options. Bluetooth? Well that would be an option, but Nokia’s own product manual recommends using Bluetooth sparingly to conserve battery life. And Skype won’t work with Bluetooth, remember?

The Experiment Continues

When I started this experiment, I said I’d use the Windows Phone for two weeks, then I’d decide whether to continue using it for another two before making the big decision: stick with my iPhone or switch.

I’m two weeks in, and at this point I see no reason not to keep going. Sure, this week was bumpier than last, between my frustration over Microsoft’s Skype swing-and-a-miss, a mixed bag of app support for services I use, and my astonishment over Nokia’s failure to either offer or recommend an affordable headset. But there’s still a lot that I like about this phone and this OS.

Next week introduces an added challenge: I’m traveling for business. I’ll undoubtedly turn to my mobile devices for different needs than I might at home and around town. I should also get a much better sense of this thing’s battery life.

Related

• Preparing for the Great Windows Phone Experiment
• The Windows Phone Experiment: Week One

Click here to download episode #92

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Top News

• Introducing Google Drive… yes, really via Google
• Google back in the smartphone sales game: unlocked Galaxy Nexus HSPA+ (GSM) available for $399 via Engadget
• The first Intel smartphone: comfortably mid-range, eminently credible, and quietly revolutionary via Ars
• SkyDrive for Windows app to launch alongside new paid storage options in the coming weeks via theVerge
• SkyDrive for Windows and OS X Lion app now available with new paid storage plans via theVerge

Afterburner

• Gigabit WiFi? 802.11ac router makes it possible, starting in May via ArsTechnica
• Precise Pangolin rolls out: Ubuntu 12.04 released, introduces Unity HUD via ArsTechnica
• Near-Final Version of Windows 8 Due in Early June via AllThingsD

thEndUsr Stories

• iPhone compatible smart watch gets $100,000 on Kickstarter in under 2 hours
• Apple: Mixing tablet, notebook like merging toaster, fridge via GeekWire
• Intel’s Ivy Bridge will offer ’20 percent more performance with 20 percent less average power’ via Engadget
• How a console firmware update could make a small dent in our energy problem
• Tesla and SolarCity Team Up to Create Solar-Powered, Off-Grid Homes via EcoGeek

Tip of the Week: Amazon releases “Send to Kindle” desktop software for the Mac via Lifehacker
Hackers turn MIT building into giant Tetris game via Crave