eWEEK content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.
Microsoft on April 4 unveiled a Windows CE add-on intended to simplify the development of next-generation DVRs (digital video recorders) and IP STBs (Internet protocol set-top boxes).
The free “Networked Media Device Feature Pack” aims to overcome the early lead of embedded Linux—pioneered by TiVo—in the rapidly growing consumer DVR/IP-STB market.
“Networked media devices” (NMDs) are consumer electronics products that are characterized by the “consumption and transport of media,” Makund Ghangurde, group product manager for Microsofts mobile and embedded division, told WindowsForDevices.
Unlike Media Center PCs, NMDs do not create or edit media, Ghangurde noted.
Typical applications are expected to include networked TVs, DVRs, and digital media adapters. NMDs are, generally speaking, non-mobile consumer electronics devices—not to be confused with Microsofts Windows Mobile-based Portable Media Center category of devices.
While TiVo dominates the DVR market, Windows CE has seen growing success in STBs and digital media adapter consumer products from companies such as Linksys, Hewlett-Packard, and others.