Xbox Media Center–a lauded cross-platform solution for streaming media–has just gotten a neat new name for its OSX version called “Plex.” (That’s short for “cineplex.”) But we know how it is. You use Front Row and think it’s great. Before you go back into your Apple shell, check out this Aeon skin for Plex. Currently in alpha release, it features a fluid wallpaper effect รก la iPod coupled with the simplicity of Delicious Library‘s shelf organisation. Our own Brian Lam said to me, “I’ve never seen a Media Centre UI look so nice.” I have to agree. (Well, I actually do agree. But I think that I have to agree, too.) Here’s a massive gallery of shots from Plex running Aeon:
[Plex and Aeon via Crunchgear]
I’m a huge fan of home media servers, but the enduring problem with them is that the available network media streaming appliances have, by and large, sucked. The Xbox 360 recently received a firmware update that improved its capabilities, but a hacked Xbox running Xbox Media Center (XBMC) is still probably the best product available for the job.
CNET, however, has recently published a review of the Linksys DMA2200 that might have me changing my mind on that. It supports all the codecs that people are actually interested in using (Divx, Xvid, Windows Media, H.264 and MPEG1, 2 and 4), which is not something that can be said of, say, the Apple TV. It can stream and control live TV from a PC, effectively turning your PC into a remote PVR. It also supports 802.11n networking, which is enough to do HD over wireless.
Anyway, if you’re interested in knowing more, just follow the link. [CNET]
Xbox Media Center, which was originally a media center for some console whose name we can’t remember, has finally come to Macs. Why would you need this when FrontRow or other media centers work just fine natively? As the XBMC team (and loyal fans) can attest to, the codec support, usability and functionality is higher than even the Xbox 360 when it comes to playing back downloaded content. 9 to 5 Mac has an interview with one of the developers on the 0.1 version. [9to5mac]
