MS looking to sell MediaRoom

[makryger]

http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/27/eric ... mediaroom/

Media room i would have thought is a good steady source of income for Microsoft... Too bad they're selling it. MediaRoom, for those new to the htpc world, used WMC as a basis for MediaRoom.

Obligatory "another nail in the coffin for media center" discussion... Go!

[Embiggens]

...and MS finds a way to put one more egg in their Xbox basket.

[foxwood]

That might be the best thing that could happen to MediaRoom. Ericsson is a company with a good track record in the sort of large infrastructure projects that MediaRoom is targetted at - Cable companies rolling out technologies to thousands of homes in a market at a time. They're used to dealing with Telecoms companies, which is what most cable companies are (or are trying to be), and they are far better at dealing with different international markets than Microsoft seems to be most of the time.

[dmagerl]

This has the possibility of being very bad news for media center.

As long as MS had Mediaroom, there was an incentive to keep the guide servers up and running. Now there is no reason to keep providing guide data to WMC users.

[foxwood]

As long as MS had Mediaroom, there was an incentive to keep the guide servers up and running. Now there is no reason to keep providing guide data to WMC users.

If MediaRoom relies on the same Guide Servers that WMC does, then Ericsson has just as much incentive to keep the guide data available as MS ever did. If MediaRoom doesn't use the same GuideServers (and why would it, given that it's tailored to a particular CableCos offerings) then it doesn't make any difference to MS keeping the Guide servers up and running.

[dmagerl]

I was just assuming that the guide servers were the same, there's no reason they couldnt be. If they are, and if Erickson takes them over, I can envision them being only for Mediaroom, or Erickson charging for WMC guide data.

[foxwood]

I was just assuming that the guide servers were the same, there's no reason they couldnt be.

So you're crying doom without even knowing how the technology works?

You might as well say "Tomorrow is Thursday - now there is no reason to keep providing guide data to WMC users".

I really don't understand this deep-seated urge to be Chicken Little that some people seem to have.

If you don't know how something works, just ask, don't assume that any change spells doom!

[milli260876]

The guide data is shot anyway, maybe Ericsson will improve it....

[woodyl]

Hmm.. why do you say that the guide data is broken? I've never had any problem with it.

[foxwood]

Hmm.. why do you say that the guide data is broken? I've never had any problem with it.

milli260876 is based in the UK. The guide data that Microsoft makes available in other markets outside the US is often not particularly good.

[richard1980]

Even the US guide data isn't as good as it could be. As an example, WMC routinely records random episodes of MythBusters because Discovery Channel listings are frequently missing episode-specific information. Even when there is episode-specific information, there are still other guide data problems that cause WMC to record when it shouldn't. Between May 1 and May 5, WMC recorded the same episode of MythBusters four times ("JATO Rocket Car: Mission Accomplished?", OAD May 1, 2013).