Microsoft Corp. has named the winner of its Windows Media Center Ultimate Install Contest. The announcement was made at a Microsoft-sponsored luncheon at the Electronic House Expo in Long Beach. The winning entry, submitted by Tyler Jennings of Imperium Smart Systems LLC, was for a family that was looking for a solution to integrate all their pictures, music, home videos, TV and DVDs into one simple interface. Based in Herriman, Utah, Imperium Smart Systems is a custom electronics design and installation firm specializing in whole-home services and solutions. "We are honored to be named the winner in this contest," said Tyler Jennings, president of Imperium Smart Systems. "Windows Media Center is a terrific platform for custom installations, and we worked hard to create a unique, functional and successful deployment to provide our customer with a whole-house entertainment solution that benefits their life." A unique opportunity for custom installers, this design contest sought to find the residential ...

Pinnacle Systems, Inc. has announced the Pinnacle ShowCenter® 250HD, a robust plug-and-play digital media adapter that enables users to link any home entertainment center with all of their networked PCs and NAS (network-attached storage) devices. ShowCenter 250HD is targeted at PC users with large digital media collections who want to enjoy this content on their home entertainment system (especially those with HDTVs).

Microsoft Corp. is exhibiting at CEDIA EXPO 2007 to build direct relationships with custom installers and illustrate the growing CEDIA channel support for home entertainment and automation systems based on the Microsoft® Windows® Media Center platform.

Imagine you made an enormous investment in time and money to rip your entire collection of music and movies onto your computer's hard drive, or more likely an external drive or storage device. The power of having such a vast collection of movies and music at your fingertips is the unadulterated sex appeal behind the idea of PC convergence. There is motivation to buy networking devices and media center PCs loaded with software from computer companies over more black-box gear from traditional home theater companies. You could potentially transmit a DVD through your wireless system to your den. You could maybe even access a few albums from your hotel room's Internet connection during a trip to Hong Kong, enabling you to have some new music on your iPod for the long flight home. You could also whip up a custom playlist for your themed dinner party. You would be the king of all ...

Exceptional Innovation, makers of Life|ware, announces the launch of a new line of Life|media servers, optimized for complete digital entertainment experiences and comprehensive home automation.