Pika-Boo, Where are You? 3rd Party Media Center Extenders MIA
Posted Mon, 26 Feb 2007 18:19:10 EST by Michael Wolf
Ever since Microsoft announced its Media Center Extender partner program at WinHEC 2006 in May of last year, Pika (the code-name for Media Center Extender v2), has been "on its way" but has yet to really arrive. Microsoft, which has partnered with Sigma Designs for the processor (the EM8622L) for the Media Center Extender reference designs, has only seen one Pika-enabled product enter the market, its own Xbox 360. Partner based Pika designs are largely MIA. Vista has been out for a month now and we have yet to see any other Pika products ship. At CES 2007, Sigma announced that D-Link, Sony and Netgear were all shipping "Digital Media Extender" products, but none of these were, as far as I could tell, Pika products.
Looking back at the first generation of Media Center Extender products - the HP x5400 and the Linksys WMCE54AG - both lived short lives due to the high price points and lack of consumer demand. Part of the reason Linksys delivered their own digital media adapters (DMAs) as a hedge against its own WMCE54AG was the fact the product was an extremely expensive box to build. Combine the high price of producing the box with the fact that there were only, at the most, a couple million Media Centers in the market at the time, and these products didn't have much of a shot from the get-go.
But what about now? Fast forward and there are over 30 million Media Center PCs in consumers' homes, Vista has just shipped (where all Vista Premium and Ultimate editions have Media Center built in), so you have to ask: where the heck is Pika? Apple TV is shipping in March and while Microsoft is seeing some nice traction with the Xbox 360, but you have to wonder what is behind the dearth of products? Even HP, ever the consumate partner for Microsoft in these matters, didn't make its new Media Smart TV a Media Center Extender.