Microsoft released a Windows Media Services (WMS) package for Windows Server 2008 June CTP this week. Bill Staples, who runs the Web Server engineering teams at Microsoft, says the package is now supported on the Web SKU, though the download page says some features (such as the WMS Cache/Proxy plug-in) are not supported.

From the download page:

Use this release of Windows Media Services to test a Windows Media server running the Windows Server 2008 (June CTP) operating system in a test environment. Microsoft Windows Media Services is an industrial-strength platform for streaming live or on-demand audio and video content over the Internet or an intranet.

Here is the WMS package download, and more information on the June CTP.

The BBC has announced a launch date for iPlayer, it’s on demand TV service. Starting July 27th, users will be able to use the software to download popular BBC content seven days after its first transmission. Nothing has changed on the technology front - it will still be Windows-only initially, and it will still use Windows Media DRM (the BBC website says it will work with Windows Media Player 10 or above). The application will be improved too:

Over time other features will be added to the iPlayer including live streaming of programmes, the BBC Radio Player and “series stacking”, which will allow users to download episodes from series retrospectively.

Director General Mark Thompson compared the launch of iPlayer to the launch of color television (which the BBC introduced 40 years ago) in terms of its impact. I think that remains to be seen, but the BBC could indeed be on to something.

I was reading some blog posts about the launch date news, and came across Tim Anderson’s post. He’s excited for the software, but worries that using Microsoft technology could doom the software:

This aspect bothers me as well, not only because of cross-platform issues, but because I question whether Microsoft is able to deliver DRM that just works.

Umm, can you give me an example of any other DRM that “just works”? I don’t think you can use DRM and “just works” in the same sentence, at least not from the consumer’s point of view. Like the Open Source Consortium, I think Tim has picked the wrong enemy.

The news that Weedshare has closed its doors isn’t new, evidently, but I just came across it today (more coverage lately for some reason). I remember hearing about it once before, but even I needed a refresher on just what the service was all about, so here you go:

Weedshare was a digital download platform that used “viral” DRM in combination with a multi-level marketing approach to sell content of indie musicians. Musicians could distribute Weedshare files through their own website, official download locations and P2P networks. Users could listen to a file three times before purchasing it.

Interesting idea, I suppose, but choosing to use DRM put the nail in the coffin right from the get-go. Weedshare used Windows Media Audio files, meaning that the music could only be played with software and devices that supported Microsoft’s DRM schemes. Many reports make it sound like Microsoft is responsible for Weedshare’s demise:

Weedshare was smoked by Microsoft, whose latest version of Windows Media Player was incompatible with Weedshare files.

There is no information on the issues and attempts of SML to convert or translate Weedshare files to be compatible with Microsoft’s latest software.

As with all things however, there is another side to the story:

CD Baby was supposedly Weedshare’s largest content provider, with 60.000 titles available at the end of 2004. Still, 15 months later, CD Baby artists had only made a total of 1348 dollars, which means that Weedshare sold less than 3000 songs of the CD Baby catalogue during that time.

Sounds kind of like Weedshare was going nowhere fast and simply blamed its woes on Windows Media Player 11. The lack of mainstream coverage would seem to support this.

Very late last night Microsoft announced the managed beta of Windows Live Photo Gallery (WLPG). It’s an example of the renewed Software+Services focus of Windows Live. According to Brandon LeBlanc at the Windows Experience Blog, WLPG “includes all of the features of Windows Photo Gallery in Windows Vista” while also adding some new functionality and integrating with Windows Live services.

If it really does include all of the features of the previous app, then that means it should support the HD Photo (formerly known as Windows Media Photo) format. If that’s true, then WLPG might be the first widespread bit of software to include support for the fledgling photo format. Version 3 of the .NET Framework includes support for HD Photo, but it will take applications for support to really take off. As WLPG will run on both Windows Vista and Windows XP, it could go a long way to promoting HD Photo as a format.

Too bad the beta is closed - I’d love to try it out! In the meantime, check out the screenshots and other information Brandon posted.

According the folks at ZuneScene, Microsoft is hard at work on the next generation hard drive Zune code-named “Scorpio” which itself is the big brother of “Draco,” a flash-based device. From a “source inside the hallowed halls of Microsoft”:

The source indicated the storage capacity is 80GB for Scorpio. We challenged that and asked if he was sure there would be no 100 or 120 GB Zune. The answer was blunt: “No, it will be 80″. Perhaps the most exciting news is that mass production of Scorpio will begin at the very end of July.

The timeline for launch is thus the 2007 holidays.

Bottom line - if you’ve been holding out for a revision to the Zune, it sounds like you won’t have to wait much longer!

An update rollup for Windows Vista Media Center users has been released. It fixes a couple issues affecting the Vista Home Premium and Vista Ultimate platforms, both x86 and x64. These include:

• Windows Media Center does not correctly configure a combo TV tuner that supports both ATSC and NTSC signals on a Windows Vista-based computer (KB929011)
• When you resize the Windows Media Center window in Windows Vista, video playback may stop (KB932753)
• You cannot hear the audio in Live TV or on a DVD in Windows Media Center after you wake a computer that is running Windows Vista Home Premium or Windows Vista Ultimate (KB931967)
• Several fixes for the Media Center Extensibility Platform
• An update to the Digital Cable Card component to provide better support for interaction between the digital cable tuner, the CableCARD, and Media Center

The knowledge base article for the update is here, and the download is here.

You may have heard that the BBC recently decided to use the Windows Media format for its on demand service, called iPlayer. It seems that decision has come under fire from an advocacy group called the Open Source Consortium (OSC) who feel that the BBC is unfairly locking the public into Microsoft products. From The Register:

The OSC compared the situation to the European Commission’s prosecution of Microsoft over its bundling of Windows Media Player with Windows. That case was initiated in 2004 by complaints from other vendors, and resulted in European courts imposing a record fine on Redmond, which it is still appealing against.

The same situation that resulted in Windows XP Edition N? That version of the operating system, which ships without Windows Media Player, has been a complete dud with “roughly 1500 units shipped to OEMS, and no reported sales to consumers.” I don’t think the comparison is accurate at all. This is about DRM, not vendor lock-in.

The main reason the BBC decided to go with Windows Media, it seems, was because the format’s DRM features can enable content to become unviewable after 30 days. That was specified by the BBC Trust as a requirement for iPlayer. I am absolutely not a fan of DRM, and I think that’s a very unfortunate requirement indeed.

The OSC thinks DRM-free downloads would be more in the public interest, and I agree with them on that point. I think it’s a shame they have to spin the argument as “being locked in to Microsoft formats” however. The BBC could very well have chosen Apple’s DRM scheme if they had felt it would work for them.

The long and short of it is that the OSC should be fighting DRM, not Microsoft.

Sounds like Microsoft is trying to become a big player in China’s living rooms with their investment last week in Sichuan Changhong Electric Co. Ltd., one of China’s largest TV makers. The USD $12.3 million investment ensures that Changhong will develop TVs and other products that can hook up to the Internet.

The deal is about Microsoft’s software, not hardware:

Current versions of Windows are capable of connecting a TV with the Internet, and these types of systems are already available in China.

Changhong’s own M10 Living Room Entertainment Center is an example. Based on Windows XP Media Center Edition, the M10 is designed to connect with a television and comes with a remote control and wireless keyboard, allowing users to access music, videos and the Internet from a couch instead of a desk.

I think Microsoft is simply trying to make some new friends in the emerging Chinese marketplace. If the Changhong deal goes well, it’ll definitely give a boost to both Windows Media Center and the recently announced Mediaroom too.

Microsoft also signed an agreement with Shanghai Media Group (SMG) last week. Financial terms were not disclosed, but SMG agreed to “use Microsoft products across its new-media division, which includes Internet video, IPTV and mobile television.”

I expect we’ll hear more from Microsoft in China very soon!

One of the tech industry blogs that I consider to be a “must read” is Mashable. Not only do they offer a ton of very timely news, they have some great analysis too, which generally leads to healthy discussion. The latest such post is entitled No Download Required: 30+ Apps That Are Killing Microsoft. Inside, author Ben Gold details new online competitors for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and even Windows itself.

Notably absent from the list of applications is Windows Media Player.

Perhaps this is because it is more difficult to make an online media playing application than an online word processor. Or, perhaps it is because Windows Media Player is a pretty decent application. I have some issues with version 11, but generally speaking, it’s a solid piece of software.

WMP is fast, has pretty good codec support, and handles large libraries of media very well. It integrates with a number of online stores, and synchronizes with mobile devices superbly. Ripping and burning CDs is also a pretty good experience inside WMP.

And yet it could be so much more! If I were Microsoft, I’d treat the Mashable post as a call to action for the WMP team. Take WMP to the next level by extending it to the web before the competition beats you to it! Here’s an example of what I mean: make a Facebook application and WMP plugin that displays what I’m listening to on my profile page, just like the plugin for Windows Live Messenger. Or revamp the wmplugins.com site and integrate it into the application itself.

And please, please do something about the lack of podcasting support. That should be priority #1!

I think the Zune is a very good first entry into the market for Microsoft, but there’s no way I’d be tattooing the Zune logo on my body, let alone more than once! Yet someone did. You’ve probably heard about “mszunefan” by now - here he is with his two tattoos:

It turns out that getting those tattoos was a good investment! According to Engadget, Microsoft has decided to fly its biggest Zune fan out to Redmond to meet the Zune team! He’ll also do an interview for Microsoft’s Channel 10.

If I were mszunefan I’d be thinking “who’s laughing now?” Heheh…well done sir.

Will the second-generation Zune get a boost in storage space? A bigger hard drive is probably a good bet anyway, but this news from Samsung sort of makes it more likely:

Featuring the highest available capacity in the 1.8” form factor (120GB) and fastest speed (4200rpm) for notebook performance, Samsung’s N2 Series drives usher in a new era of advanced capability and enhanced reliability.

The new drives will fit in a Zune and share the same connection type as current drives, according to Zune-Online.com.

Bring on the larger capacity Zunes!

StreamingMedia.com posted an interview today with Ben Waggoner, program manager for Microsoft’s codecs division. The interview touches on the differences between Windows Media Video 9 and VC-1, as well as how Silverlight relates to Flash. Here’s what he had to say about Silverlight and codecs:

[Silverlight’s] native A/V capabilities are chiefly Windows Media-based supporting WMV 9/VC-1, WMV 7 and 8 for video, and WMA and MP3 for audio. For streaming support, it uses Windows Media Services in Windows 2003 Server, and really starts to “sing” with the improvements coming in our new Windows Server, code-named “Longhorn”.

I haven’t seen any demos of the Windows Media Services improvements in Longhorn, but I haven’t spent much time looking either. Perhaps it’s time to dig something up - Ben definitely makes it sound intriguing!

Check out the full interview for much more.

If you were looking forward to the next version of Windows Media Center, I have bad news for you - it looks like the project has been delayed. The update, which is believed to go by the Fiji codename, looks to be stalled according to Chris Lanier:

The beta program, which many of you may have registered for isn’t exactly moving along. The invites that were supposed to be sent out on May 31th have gone no where fast. This leads me to think that the target ship date for Fiji is no where close. 

Chris suggests that Fiji may not see the light of day until late 2008. Ars Technica picked up the story too, and mentioned that DirecTV support, HD-DVD playback, and improved support for CableCARD are all rumored features of the update.

Of course, one should keep in mind that Microsoft has not officially described Fiji as a Media Center-specific update. There seems to be something of a lockdown at Microsoft when it comes to future versions of Windows, so it could very well turn out that Fiji is actually Vista SP1 or something like that.

Either way, it looks like Windows Media Center fans will have to wait a while for new stuff on the software side of things.

There are hundreds and hundreds of Microsoft bloggers out there on the Internets, yet very few (if any) focus on Windows Media and related technologies. Heck, there are very few bloggers in general that post about Windows Media stuff! The very lofty aim of this blog is to change that.

First, an introduction! My name is Mack, and I usually blog here. I run a small software company called Paramagnus with my friend and business partner Dickson. In September 2006 we launched Podcast Spot, a hosting service for podcasters. One of the really cool things we do is automatic media conversion, so we’ve spent quite a bit of time mucking around with Windows Media and other audio and video formats. I am not anti-Apple or anything, but I don’t own an iPod, nor do I use iTunes. I have a Creative Zen Touch, an Xbox, an Xbox 360, and I use Windows Media Player 11 (which I reviewed here) pretty much exclusively.

I look forward to bringing you news, updates, tips, tricks and other thoughts related to Windows Media. If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact me! On with the blog