Linux home entertainment

Stan Beer
Wednesday, 13 October 2004 10:00

Both home entertainment and computer technology have taken great strides in the past 25 years. In that time, we have seen the proliferation of PCs, VCRs, DVDs, CDs, PDAs, mobile phones, broadband internet and wireless communications, among other things.

With all these great advances in technology and home entertainment, it's a wonder that we still haven't quite managed to bring it all together. Yes, we are now living in the age of home theatre for enthusiasts who don't mind juggling six remote controls for six different boxes. However, we haven't yet reached the age of plug and play home theatre for the average low tech lounge lizard - until now.

The Home Media Centre (HMC) from Development One (D1), a Melbourne based software and hardware developer and technology integrator, is a device that makes a pretty decent effort of putting it all together. About the size of two shoe boxes on top of each other, in theory, all you need to do is connect the HMC to a standard TV and you effectively enter a new dimension of entertainment.

The first thing you see on the TV screen is a crisp, dead simple menu, scrollable with a remote control, that allows you to choose between six functions: TV, DVD, Videos, Music, Pictures and Weather. The main keys to the system are its permanent internet connection and its hefty magnetic disc storage capacity of between 80G and 250G (320G and 500G are coming). This combination enables the user to browse a menu of all TV programs playing on free to air and (if connected) cable channels for days ahead and select programs for recording on to the hard drive. The locally developed Linux-based software smarts in the HMC allows users to program the device to record their favorite shows, regardless of the channel or time. If a show appears regularly, it's a snap to program the system to record the show each time it appears. If the user has a particular movie that he wants to record but has no idea of when or on what channel it is going to play next, the HMC can be programmed to record the movie the first time it appears on any channel. All the programming information is stored and served in real time from the D1 server, as are real time weather reports.

Once recorded, TV shows and movies can be fast forwarded, skipped and rewound as with a tape based or DVD system. There is also an easy to use and powerful system for editing out ads. Movies can be viewed in a variety of perspectives as with DVD players, except that for those who prefer wide screen cinematic format, but hate the annoying black bands at the top and bottom of the screen, the HMC has the ability to zoom in and eliminate the black bands without turning the actors into tall skinny bean stalks. Some of the early users we spoke to have claimed that the HMC has actually altered their TV viewing habits, allowing them to design and program their own TV week around the times that suit them rather than the other way round.

Aside from its powerful TV programming capabilities, the HMC can be programmed to be a home music centre, with ample capacity to store an entire music collection on its hard drive. The system can play a variety of formats, including MP3, and enables the user to create play lists, albums and genres. In effect the HMC is a programmable juke box, which obviates the need for a stackable CD player.

In addition to its high powered sight and sound capabilities, the HMC is also a conventional DVD player, can download home videos and store digital photographs.

To sum things up in a nutshell, the HMC comes as close as any device currently available on the market to laying claim to the title of the complete home entertainment centre. With this device, owning separate CD, DVD and VCR units makes little sense and there is nothing else that comes close to offering the TV programming capabilities. For some, the price of $1899 for a base model unit may at first glance seem a little hefty. However, for something that's one of a kind, with the potential to provide countless hours of free entertainment, the price is actually relatively small change. The HMC is in stock at pleasure tech retailer Mobion for those in the mood to splash their cash.