Microsoft will announce Media Center 2005 one month from today. If you want to be surprised just go away, otherwise, read on. It seems evolutionary, not revolutionary, with one big exception. The biggest thing they added was the concept of media center extenders, or specifically one of them called XBox. Yes, with a kit, the XBox becomes an extension of your media center PC. If you thought we were joking when we said MS doesn't care about games with the XBox, here is your proof. They want to own your entertainment, it just so happens that the easiest way is through a console. Sony should be very very afraid. What it does is let you take an XBox and play back all your MCPC media on the screen the console is connected to. One thing the XBox does not support though is HD content, anything you have on the full MCPC will be downgraded to normal quality for XBox playback, but it should occur seamlessly on the fly.

Since I have an HP PC with Microsoft 2004 Media Center Edition I have been following the news on the Extender Kit for quite some time. Originally reported to hit shelves in July 2004, I have been chomping at the bit to get a hold of one. However, if you are not one to wait any longer then Gateway may have just what you need.

With the Gateway Connected DVD Player not only can you play your DVD's, you can take advantage of it's built in wireless networking card and stream any media from your Media Center PC right to your Television. With an incredibly easy to use interface I am quite surprised these are not more popular. Of course I have seen other devices out there that do the same thing, however I have not seen any with an interface as complete as Gateways.