TVSquad

So you've got a PC running Windows Media Center in the living room, but you'd like to be able to watch stored recordings on other PCs in the house. Sure, you could set up a system of media center extenders, but what if you're running MCE on those machines as well? Wouldn't it be nice to just share files over the network?

Doug Knox has developed a program that lets you do just that. MCE 2005 - Share Recorded TV does just what its name suggests, it lets you share recorded programs between Windows MCE 2005 machines. It has not been tested on Vista yet.

In order to share videos, all you have to do is check a tab that says "allow other Media Center PCs to access yoru Recorded TV Content," add a list of shared folders, and reboot. On the machine you'd like to use to watch those files, you run the same program and add the shared folders.

[via Ian Dixon]

Now, knowing me - and just reading that title - you'd think this article was something perverted, but believe it or not, it's a little on the technical side. The Starz premium cable channel has just launched a new service named Vongo, hoping to be the "iTunes for movies." You can download and install the program for free and have access to a number of movies, TV shows, and concerts on up to three portable media devices. There is a $9.99 subscription fee, which allows you to download as many of their offerings as possible. On top of that, there's also a $3.99 charge for "first run" movies that have just been released. This announcement comes just in time for the Consumer Electronic Show (CES), starting this week in Las Vegas, and is, I'm sure, timed to give those new devices a little extra "presence" there.

Personally, I love my Windows Portable Media Player and Windows Media Center Edition PC, so I can't wait to play with this new service more. I just downloaded it a couple of minutes ago, and will get back to you in a week or so and let you know what I think of it. In the meantime, let me know what you think.