Mediaboss Marketing

An online retailer took the wraps off the new Linksys Wireless A/G Media Center Extender a bit early last week. Today Linksys has officially announced its release. The WMCE54AG connects to wireless-a, wireless-g or wired Ethernet to share digital movies, TV shows, pictures or music on their Windows Media Center PC. A remote control allows you to control the menus on TV to easily find what you are looking for. It will be available towards the end of October for $300 USD.

See press release below.

Using a Wireless-A, Wireless-G, or wired Ethernet connection, the Media Center Extender streams homemade or downloaded premium movies and digital photos stored on a Windows Media Center PC to TVs around the home for the whole family to enjoy. A digital music collection or Internet radio station can play in full glory through a stereo system, freed from those little computer speakers. Users can also watch and pause live TV shows or record them digitally for viewing later.

The Media Center Extender sits by a home stereo and television and connects to them using standard consumer electronic cables such as RCA connectors. It then communicates with the Media Center PC via a home network using Wireless-A or Wireless-G networking or if users prefer, it can be connected by use of 10/100 Ethernet cabling. Using the remote control and the user-friendly menus on your TV, users can quickly find the digital movies, TV shows, pictures or music on their Windows Media Center PC. Users can even chat with friends through Microsoft Windows Messenger while watching movies on the same screen.

Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 harnesses the power of the PC to enable consumers to enjoy their digital photos, music, videos and recorded TV like never before, said Will Poole, senior vice president of the Windows Client Business Group. Microsofts vision for creating and enjoying digital entertainment in the home is further enhanced through the innovation of companies such as Linksys which offers customers the freedom and flexibility to extend their digital entertainment anywhere throughout the home.

In the latest home networking report by market research firm In-Stat/MDR, titled Digital Domicile 2004: Home Networking Hits the Big Time said, the continued need for broadband sharing and a growing interest in entertainment networking will drive the total value of equipment with a home networking connection of some type from $8.3 billion in 2004 to $17.1 billion by 2008. The emergence of media networking continues to be the most exciting part of the home networking market. We expect Microsofts Media Center Extender technology to accelerate this trend going forward into 2005.

Moving media content around the home is becoming a popular application for wireless networks, said Mike Wagner, Linksys director of world wide marketing. Working closely with Microsoft, we are now able to stream premium content over the network so consumers can take their digital content from the PC and enjoy it in the comfort of their living room where the whole family can share the experience. What users can do with the new Wireless A/G Media Center Extender: * Choose the digital video content you want to watch, and select where and when you want to watch it

* Watch home or downloaded digital movies and browse digital pictures on a television.

* Watch and record TV shows. Record by series, actor, category and more.

* Comes equipped with a free on screen program guide that tells users what is on TV.

See more here:
Linksys New Wireless A/G Media Center Extender

Roku announced major upgrades to its popular media streamers on Tuesday. The flagship Roku 3 ($100) gets an all-new remote control with an integrated mic that can be used for voice searches, and the new Roku 2 ($70) is now based on the same hardware as its more-expensive sibling.

The new Roku 2s remote, however, doesnt support voice search, and it loses the headphone jack that it currently has (the Roku 3s remote retains this feature, which is useful for private listening). The Roku 1 and the Roku Streaming Stick ($50 each) remain the same, apart from new software features that will be common to the entire lineup (and all other Roku players manufactured since 2011).

Why this matters:Roku is slugging it out withAmazon,Apple, andGoogleto lead the media-streaming space, and consumers are reaping the benefits from this healthy competition. It's unfortunate to see a productlosea featureI'm referring to the headphone jack on the Roku 2's remote, in this casebut the faster hardware under the hood should more than make up for that.

We focused on two key areas, Roku chief marketing office Matthew Anderson told me in a briefing last week, the next stage of search and discovery, and hardware enhancements to the Roku 2 and the Roku 3.

To use voice search on the Roku 3s remote, you hold down the search button and speak.A circled-mic icon in the user interface pulses with each word until you release the button, to provide visual feedback that your search terms have been acknowledged.

You can search by title, actor, or director. The Roku will respond by listing all the content available on Roku that matches your criteria. After the primary search term, search results are listed in reverse order of cost, so that free content is listed first.

The new Roku 2 will no longer have a headphone jack in its remote control. And while the hardware can support the voice-search feature that comes with the Roku 3's remote, Roku doesn't plan to sell that remote solo.

The Roku 3's new voice-search remote is compatible with the new Roku 2 (the cheaper box is built using the same hardware as the Roku 3, after all), but Anderson said the company currently has no plans to sell the new remote separately. Well look at offering the remote separately if the market demands it, he said. The new remote will not work with the Roku 1 or the Roku Streaming Stick.

All four Roku models will get software updates, including the new search functionality (apart from voice recognition). Another new software feature, Roku Feed, lets you follow new movies that are currently in theaters but not yet available on Roku. Movies garner the most attention while theyre in theaters (and shortly before), so this feature lets you track as many films as youd like and be notified as soon as they become available on one of Rokus channels.

"Follow" a movie and you'll receive as soon as it becomes available for streaming on a Roku channel.

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Major Roku upgrades include voice search for $100 Roku 3, new hardware for $70 Roku 2

Unvarnished and strategic: Tony Abbott with US President Barack Obama. Photo: Andrew Meares

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has appointed a new personal photographer, part of a growing trend among Australia's politicians to exert greater control over their image.

Mike Baird and his wife Kerryn in the shot arranged by Tony Story. Photo: Twitter

News Corp photographer Brad Hunter will join Mr Abbott's media staff later this month, raising concerns that news photographers will gain less direct access to the prime minister.

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Although it has long been a fixture in US politics, Mr Abbott broke new ground when he employed a former press gallery cameraman to his staff after the election, a move that frustrated television crews who found themselves forced to rely on footage provided by Mr Abbott's press office.

It was not uncommon for the weekend television news to have only Mr Abbott's weekly video message, recorded by his staff and distributed on a Sunday, to use in bulletins.

The videos were also distributed on social media, but it is often still photography that resonates best on the medium.

NSW Premier Mike Baird, mimicking US President Barack Obama, posted abeautiful black-and-white picture of himself with his wife, Kerryn, on social media on the night of his election win last month.

What looked like an impromptu, private moment away from the hubbub of the victory party was actually arranged by his digital media specialist, Tony Story, and came with a carefully crafted message: "Thank you NSW. I love this state. We will work for you, every day, for the next 4 years."

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Picture this: Why image is everything for our politicians

Russian Trolls and State media control
Sophia Kornienko discusses how the russian media is using the western media to open up another front in the new cold war. Also how there is an organised and state sponsored organisation of...

By: Broadcast Amsterdam

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Russian Trolls and State media control - Video

BEIJING Memo to U.S. media executives: If you do a photo op in the headquarters of Chinas state-run Xinhua news agency, be prepared for some surprises.

Gary Pruitt, CEO and president of the Associated Press, learned that this week following a March 27 meeting with his counterpart, Xinhua President Cai Mingzhao.

During his visit, Pruitt shook hands, posed for photos and toured Xinhuas social media operations center. On Monday, Xinhua published a story saying the worlds two leading news agencies . . . have agreed to strengthen cooperation in social media.

Xinhuas story triggered a buzz in media circles. Some netizens were aghast that AP might use its social media platforms to promote content from a government propaganda organ.

The only problem? The story wasnt true, at least according to AP.

There is no social media sharing arrangement planned between AP and Xinhua, said Paul Colford, the Associated Press media relations director, in a statement late Wednesday.

Colford didnt respond when asked if AP would be seeking a correction from Xinhua. He characterized the Beijing visit as part of a routine exchange between the two news agencies. AP executives, he said, told Xinhua leaders that if they visited our headquarters in New York we would be happy to give a similar tour.

How and why Xinhua announced a deal that wasnt a deal isnt entirely clear. Attempts to interview Xinhuas Cai Mingzhao were unsuccessful Thursday. McClatchy was also unable to interview Pruitt, who previously had served as CEO of McClatchy.

The Associated Press, a not-for-profit news agency owned by U.S. newspapers and broadcasters, has been steadily growing its business in China. In 2012, AP signed its first commercial contract with Xinhua, allowing the Chinese news agency to sell AP photos in China, so it wasnt unfathomable that new deals might be in the works.

Even so, some media observers in Asia were immediately suspicious of Xinhuas report, given the Chinese news agencys record of hyping its global stature and distorting other information.

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AP denies Chinas claims it is partnering on social media