New Samsung MediaLive Streaming Digital Content To Your TV

The HDTV market leader in US, Samsung has announced the launch of its new home media adaptor, dubbed as MediaLive, which designed to deliver digital content (including HD content) in real-time from Windows Media Center on PC running Windows Vista Home Premium or Windows Vista Ultimate operating systems to 2008-model Samsung HDTV with an HDMI-CEC connection, supporting variety of video, audio, and image codecs including AC3, H.264, JPEG, MPEG2, MPEG4, WMA, and WMV.

“The PC is quickly becoming the hub for entertainment in the home and Samsung’s MediaLive gives consumers the freedom to enjoy and manage movies, photos, and music on the bigger screen of an HDTV,” said John Revie, Vice President of Visual Display Marketing at Samsung Electronics America. “Samsung’s MediaLive opens up a constantly expanding world of content for consumers, adding yet another connectivity option to the latest Samsung HDTVs.”

According to the release, “Beyond streaming personal entertainment, Samsung’s MediaLive gives consumers access to a wide range of entertainment options including online services such as Vongo, MovieLink, Showtime TV, XM Radio, and FOX Sports, as well as the ability to browse through top news stories from Reuters and NPR. Additionally, in the U.S., Windows Media Center features the Internet TV beta program, which offers access to viral videos, news stories, movie trailers, sports clips, cast interviews, movie concerts and more. For access to live and recorded TV through the Samsung MediaLive, a simple TV tuner can be connected to the PC, turning it into a powerful DVR with the ability to watch and record favorite television shows and movies. In conjunction with FOX Sports, consumers are able to access SportsLounge to quickly view up-to-date sports scores, statistics and schedules – a perfect tool for any fantasy sports fan.”

“Microsoft is pleased to be working with an industry leader such as Samsung, which shares our commitment to expanding TV entertainment options through Windows Media Center,” said Ron Pessner, General Manager of the Connected TV Division at Microsoft Corp. “We’re seeing the industry recognize the value of delivering these types of integrated solutions that allow consumers to extend pictures, music and more from their Windows Vista Home Premium- or Ultimate-based PC to the TV.”

The new Samsung MediaLive device which connects to PC through RJ45 connected LAN cable or (wirelessly) integrated 802.11 a/b/g/n receiver is expected to be available in coming August 2008 for about $200.