Engadget’s Stephen Speicher has an excellent interview with Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore, who runs the eHome division that produces Media Center. I encourage you to read the whole thing. For those who are too busy, I’ve summarized some of the key bits about CableCARD and Media Center here.
CableCARD-ready Media Center PCs will be available after Windows Vista launches. How will the process work?
When you are shopping for a new PC after Vista launches, you’ll have the choice to buy one that is “Digital Cable Ready” and includes the right hardware for you to attach your coax cable from the wall right into your PC. Slap a cable card in and then get all of the great premium High-Definition content like HBO or Showtime or ESPN — all those things that cable makes available today, but requires a set-top box.
Only new PCs?
Yes, it will be only new PCs. .. [T]he cable industry wanted a way to know that any particular PC that was sold as “Digital Cable Ready” would absolutely be able to deliver on the wide range of things that you couldn’t predict with certainty would happen on a home-built PC. … [A]ny vendor that wants to build an OCUR [Open Cable Unidirectional Receiver] device has to take it through a certification process at CableLabs which is well-defined. They have a number of certification waves that happen at scheduled times every year. It’s a published test suite that it has to pass. So, that has to happen for the device that receives cable and translates cable conditional access from the CableCARD to Windows Media DRM. … [T]he entire system as shipped by the OEM has to be, for the purposes of this discussion, “certified.” The PC vendor has to notify CableLabs of the model of the PC that will be “Digital Cable Ready” and indicate that its entire system from the graphics card to the OCUR will support what is needed for things like the Emergency Broadcast System.
What does the certification process involve?
[T]he OCUR component must be certified, and it has to be built into a system that the OEM can essentially self-certify. By self-certification what that means is that it must meet a set of requirements that includes the way that things get displayed like Emergency Broadcast System and closed captioning, that the minimum content protection requirements are met, and that the system functions together as advertised as you would expect from a “Digital Cable Ready” device. The OEM then basically sends a letter to CableLabs indicating that a particular system is one that they have self-certified and can be shipped as a “Digital Cable Ready” PC.
What about system makers who don’t have the size or clout of a Dell or HP?
The smallest of OEMs that license Windows through the System Builder Kit (which you can essentially buy today as an enthusiast user) – those folks are not eligible to do self-certification with CableLabs. So the small PC vendors, as yet, can’t do this. We hope to get that process fixed in time, but as we’re at version one for the time-being it’ll be the OEMs which are a step up in size from that. That includes lots of small OEMs but generally not the mom and pop shops that do PC repair and occasionally build PCs.
Multiple tuners are supported, with multiple OCUR devices.
And what about DirecTV?
We haven’t announced the specific timeframe around when the DirecTV products will be available. … The basic idea is very similar [to the CableCARD/OCUR implementation], which is that you can get essentially a receiver device that is a DirecTV receiver and connect it through some digital connection to your PC. [Doing so] lets you get all the great value from the DirecTV service, including High-Definition. If you subscribe to NFL Sunday Ticket, you’ll be able to get that. All that good stuff.
My take? It’s progress, but it’s also a further fragmentation of the digital living room and a step backwards for users. I’ll have more to say later.
16 comments ↓
“[T]he cable industry wanted a way to know that any particular PC that was sold as “Digital Cable Ready” would absolutely be able to deliver on the wide range of things that you couldn’t predict with certainty would happen on a home-built PC.”
Translation: By certifying hardware, we can guarantee the entertainment and cable industry that it will successfully restrict fair-use rights such as time shifting or copying to other formats (e.g., Video iPod). Consumers will voluntarily agree to surrendering these rights because it will be in the license agreement and because they basically have no other choice. Companies that try to break ranks and restore these rights to consumers will be hit with a DMCA suit.
Here’s a question, will Cablecard in my MCE actually work?
I tried Cablecard in my new Samsung DLP television and it was hideous. It worked great the first 5 minutes the TV was on, then the entire television would stop responding to commands and the only way to get it back was to UNPLUG the television. Samsung blamed the Cablecard, my cable company blamed the TV and Cablecard in general.
These problems need to get worked out before I even think of putting this in my MCE.
I agree with Dave. That whole speech is a euphemism for restricting our fair-use rights and squeezing us for every last penny. What about us DIY’ers that MADE media center succeed in the last 4 years?? We are being screwed.
What a scam. Small vendord are squeezed out. Oh btw DIY HTPC just died.
It should be becoming cheaper, easier, and more consumer friendly to record, transcode, and pay for cable/media access. But the EXACT opposite is happening.
I guess Microsoft is happy though. Apparantly they are happy as long as they can play middleman no matter how badly it hurts consumers.
I’m not happy.
I think that saying that small vendors are squeezed out is a bit misleading. Yes, the smallest vendors might not qualify. However, personally I find it quite encouraging that this won’t be limited to Sony, Dell, HP, etc. OEMs won’t need deep pockets and big names to get this done.
you really think small vendors will have the clout to add the neccesary hardware at competive prices to build a cable card ready system? MS and cablelabs won’t technically restrict them (for fear of lawsuits) but in reality they’ll be shut out.
MS is doing everything possible to hand back the tiny share of the living room they currently have back to the cable companies.
Send to your senator…
A title for this letter: How you can build a living room media PC, for only $50,000.
I would sincerely appreciate your office reviewing the actions of cable companies (CableLabs) and Microsoft as they begin the process of supporting Cablecard technology on home media center pc’s. While the original intent of cablecard technology was to force cable companies into opening the set top box market and allow cable customers a greater choice of innovative set top boxes, CableLabs and Microsoft have recently established an agreement which would require a $50,000 ‘certification’ and ‘approval’ of each version of the home media pc. This approval is done only in CableLab facilities, and on their time schedule which will favor larger Original Equipment Manufacturer’s (OEM). Ironically, CableLabs and Microsoft are now using the cablecard to once again eliminate competition.
By Microsoft’s own admission, this agreement will have a negative effect on smaller OEM companies, and completely eliminates the ability of boutique and ‘do-it-yourself’ builders to create a media center pc. Jim Allchin, co-president of Microsoft’s Platforms, Products and Services Division, has stated that Microsoft will fight for the smaller OEM’s, but the terms of the agreement certainly do not indicate such.
Currently, more than 60% of Americans subscribe to cablet television, and 31% of cable subscribers pay a fee to access premium cable channels such as HBO or Showtime. Microsoft currently has approximately 90+% of the desktop market. So how does this agreement benefit the two parties?
As part of the agreement, CableLabs and Microsoft agreed to make Windows Media Center a ‘certified platform’, but still require the OEM testing. A cynic might say that Microsoft accomplished it’s goal of extending it’s Windows monopoly into the home media center pc and eliminating all non-windows competition. Indeed, CableLabs has not indicated that they will certify Linux or any other alternative pc platform for cablecard usage. In turn, by agreeing to the onerous and expensive certification process, Microsoft has ensured that CableLab companies will see less competition for their set top boxes and control of viewer choices. In the estimation of online bloggers such as Thomas Hawk, who has discussed this with Microsoft’s Jim Allchin, this agreement may result in only 5 OEM’s introducing a ‘certified’ media center PC. 150 small media center OEM’s will no longer be able to offer wood cases, wireless ‘rat nest free’ designs, and other innovations. Without good design and choice, digital convergence will suffer and American’s will be more restricted in their access to alternative media and platforms.
My own motivation is simple. I have currently been designing a media center PC which offer not only better design and performance, but also is much more user friendly for handicapped persons such as my brother - and aging seniors such as my parents. Additionally, being in environmentally friendly construction by training, I have designed this system to also work better with off-grid and residential solar pv based systems by integrating a specific power supply for greater efficiency and compatibility. If I am allowed to say so, I also happen to think that my design looks great - think more ‘guitar shape’ rather than grey metal dell box. It surely looks nicer than a Comcast or TIVO box. And while Microsoft might like to see my design, they probably consider my lack of success an acceptable compromise for freezing out Linux from the ‘digital living room’.
Alas, given the severe up front cost of the sytem, I will not be able to offer this product commercially, nor even build a single unit for my brother’s or parent’s use. I cannot use Linux media center capabilities, as Cablecard is not supported, and cable company set top boxes do not offer the design flexibility of a pc. As of June 2007, set top boxes will not even be required to offer video streams via a Firewire connection to the cable set top box. Quite simply, my only choice is to buy a standard box from a top tier OEM media center which is supporting only Microsoft. Digital convergence has relied on intense competition to offer greater choice to consumers, but this choice will now suffer the results of such an exclusive agreement.
In closing, I feel this agreement to be thinly veiled collusion. The stated intent of ensuring ‘copyright protection’ does not justify $50,000 of investigation. Both the platform, Windows and ATI/AMD cablecard products, have internal mechanisms such as Digital Rights Management and encrypted High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) which simply do not allow copying of either the file or streamed data. Given this adequate protection, I feel that this agreement and certification cost has been artificially inflated to eliminate individuals and small OEM’s from offering these products, or even creating them for personal use. This agreement between companies that have a majority of Americans as their customers, serves to monopolize media offerings, lock out competition, and is in principle the antithesis of the ‘garage success story’ that has created the PC industry.
I appreciate your consideration and look forward to your response. I will also be creating an online petition and ask whether your office would be interested in reviewing the results.
A cynic might say that Microsoft accomplished it’s goal of extending it’s Windows monopoly into the home media center pc and eliminating all non-windows competition. Indeed, CableLabs has not indicated that they will certify Linux or any other alternative pc platform for cablecard usage. In turn, by agreeing to the onerous and expensive certification process, Microsoft has ensured that CableLab companies will see less competition for their set top boxes and control of viewer choices.
While the original intent of cablecard technology was to force cable companies into opening the set top box market and allow cable customers a greater choice of innovative set top boxes, CableLabs and Microsoft have recently established an agreement which would require a $50,000 ‘certification’ and ‘approval’ of each version of the home media pc.
Well I have this to say, the big wigs can phrase it however they want (restricting our fair-use rights so F them) but in the end it is Technology waiting to be hacked. So in the meantime I am like a kid at a closed candy store, hurry and open already!
So if we already have custom built media center pcs. Will this mean all we have to do is buy a pcmcia adapter card. Put that adapter in a empty PCI slot, then put the card in. Finally update Media Center, and presto we have cable delievered HD broadcasts and digital channels?
That would be quite the trick! Sadly, the answer is no. The CableCARD uses PCMCIA format, but it requires its own supporting electronics to handle decryption. The jury is still out on whether people like us will be able to buy add-on hardware and use it. The official answer appears to be no, but unofficial channels may be available. We’ll have to wait and see.
This seems reminiscent of when M$ first came out with MCE back in the day. I wanted to build one so bad just so I could have a DVR that I could say I built, but it was locked down to OEMs like Dell and HP and so on with MCE 02 and 04. I know some of it was M$ being lazy about making a standard like they did with MCE 2005 but also their fears that it could be hacked by the enthusiasts. On the other hand, as StrongBad might say, “MCE 02 and 04 PCs sold crapfully”, making me wonder if this is why M$ opened up the distribution channels and made standards so ma and pa shops and enthusiasts could build MCE 2005 HTPCs. So we could also hold out hope that if the big wigs and policy makers ignore our cries of frustration that the Cablecard exclusivity deal will dissolve and M$ will do something like they did with XP MCE 2005 as far as opening it up to all OEMs and enthusiasts to build MCE PCs that could buy the certified tuner and OS and DIY.
Well, again I hope sales are so crappy they open it up and stop the B$ that it is about standardization so we can all build a cablecard DVR HTPC. If it was really about the stupid emergency broadcast system being so important they would have slapped M$ around for not putting similar assurances into any MCE 200x OS versions. I’ll stop now, this is frustrating thinking about how they are trying to castrate us.
I don’t necessarily want to get rid of my set top box. I do like how you can directly connect the cable directly from the wall to the pc, but I would be just as happy if they made a pci card that supported component/hdmi/dvi capture cards that were media center compatible. Then I could just record the signal from my set top box. I agree with all though, one bonus is that it would eliminate electricty costs if I didn’t have to have a set top box and a htpc. I would much rather just plug my cable into my computer for HD television and internet also eliminating the cable modem…
Put a Firewire or USB cable card on the market for $99 , I’ll buy it if I can hook it up to my MCE with out any hacking. Plus I’ll even give Comcast $30 more a month. I think both cable company and Microsoft and Cablelabs all win. I have 2TB of storage I want to record to but it sits empty as this debacle continues as I can only record local channels on my MCE since I refuse to rent the box that comcast has.
What we need is for the cable companies to blow up their cable tv alltogether and create their own web-based television. open up the lines for total-internet so everyone would have 100mb+ connections, and we all watch our tv streamed live over the net to our house. still uses the cable company, they still get paid and we get the type of internet other foreign high-tech countries do. oh well, they are just going to bend over and take it from ATT when they can deliver HDTV over their cellphone networks anyway. once that happens, land-line internet will only be useful for games.
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