Feels like I've become a Windows Media Center only blog lately. Heck, Microsoft seems to be the only company releasing cool shit right now. $200 HD DVD usb drive, Vista Ultimate, Extender, Cablecard support, MCML, WPF/E, Zune and now, while catching up on my blogroll, I read that our friends over at Engadget have information about a new Vista Media Center remote made by Ricavision. It features integrated SideShow technology via a built-in 2.5-inch QVGA LCD. Engadget also reports that this remote will be priced about $200 -- which I think is a perfect price point if true. It's on my list of devices to check out when I'm at CES this January.

So Apple announced iTV a few months back. How are they going to top all Vista MCE's capabilities in their 1.0 release? I'd love to hear from all you Apple fanatics (specifically you, Mike D).

I was checking out CyberLink's website today and noticed that they finally released their HD DVD & BluRay playback software. This was the final missing link to getting the Vista MCE box and XBOX 360 HD DVD drive to display HD content on my projector. The wait is almost over as it's downloading right now, all 112.7MB of it.

I emailed Charlie Owen over at MSFT about information on how to get the 3rd party applications to work in Vista MCE. He replied back with this helpful link.

With 42-50" screens fast becoming the norm here in America, why not separate yourself from the Jones with a FogScreen? The FogScreen makes objects seem to appear and move in thin air -- you can even walk through it! The best part about this system is that it works with all video projectors and since it uses a dry fog (although still made with ordinary water), you don't have to worry about getting your room all wet. Apparently, you can also shot a different video image on each side of the screen. For more information check out FogScreen website. Girl not included.

This morning, I got so close to getting Vista to playback a HD DVD from the XBOX 360 HD DVD addon drive. However, after running the Cyberlink HD Advisor, it reported that I'm not ready yet. A new HDCP enabled Nvidia 7950 graphics card should be arriving today (or tomorrow) -- that should make everything green. I'm not sure about the graphics driver. I can't seem to find a Purevideo HD driver for Vista (only XP)... so I might be S.O.L. until one is released. We'll have to wait until the new graphics card arrives to be sure.