iTV vs. Microsoft Media Center vs. PS3: The Big Battle of 2007

Last week I suggested Sony was getting better and almost as if Sony wanted to prove me wrong they released their financials which certainly didn't support my conclusion. Still, financials are generally a lagging indicator of both improvements and problems, because they reflect past events rather than future trends.

However, last week was a preparation for this week, where we'll discuss next year's battle for your digital living room and explore what we are likely to see when three of the most powerful vendors, in their respective spaces, run at each other with their top offerings.

After last week, we know all there is to know about the PS3. And with Vista RC2 testing well underway, we know a great deal about the Vista Media Center; however, we don't know that much about the iTV, so I'll be making a lot of assumption,s which may not turn out to be accurate. We believe there are several things that Apple is intentionally not disclosing about the device to maintain the mystery and allow excitement to properly build at launch.

PS3: Great games, marginal media

If there was a company that should win this fight it would be Sony. They have been in the CE business for decades and should know exactly what the market wants and the company should be able to do the best job of supplying it. Known for stunning designs and a solid premium brand, their PS2 product dominates gaming and the PlayStation has taken on all comers to generally win its segment that is until Microsoft entered the game.

Sony's traditional problem is the inability to compete as a company and it is known more for the crippling infighting between divisions than its successes lately. Even though, of the three, it is the only one that actually owns Media, something that should provide a huge advantage, its concerns over media theft have traditionally crippled Sony offerings by making them way too difficult to use. Still, as noted last week, I think Sony is getting better.

Looking at the PS3, it will launch with more gaming titles than the Xbox 360 did, but a year late, so the Xbox 360 is actually expected to have at least three times the installed base by the end of 2007. Studies in Japan have indicated that the Nintendo Wii should outsell the PS3 for most of the year. Going from the leading position to dead last will clearly be a problem.

However, this is about media and the PS3 is positioned as a media powerhouse. Unfortunately, at least initially, it doesn't live up to that promise. It does have HDMI out for easy initial set up and it integrates well with the PSP providing a unique remote watching capability for some media. But it won't work with media storage products; it won't even integrate with Sony's own Media Center, which actually does integrate with the Xbox 360. To get media onto the device you either have to buy it from the Sony Music store or bring it over on CDs or Flash Memory (only the most expensive PS3 has flash memory slots). In short, it really isn't a product ready for todays networked home.

It does have Blu-ray, some Media Centers will as well, though both Microsoft and Intel back HD-DVD. It may be the cheapest way to get a Blu-ray player in 2006, but Blu-ray content; particularly good Blu-ray content is hard to come by. You also have to pay extra for the remote that makes the Blu-ray drive work properly which seems counter-intuitive to me given how expensive this box currently is.

When I saw the design at E3 last year I thought it was best of class, but now it has been around for a year and it is starting to look dated to me. Xbox followed the Apple model of remaining secret until launch and, at least to me, its looks and those of the Wii look fresher. Both the iTV and true Media Centers look like they belong in a Stereo cabinet, the PS3 lacks an amp and ideally should match with a Sony receiver, which it does not. In fact, the two products - the console and the receiver - look like they came from different companies.

One final comment, yes, they lowered the price of this in Japan. Last year there were Xbox 360s selling upwards of $2K in some bundles due to the shortage and you would think the same would be true of the Sony, particularly in the Japan market, where it will be dramatically short in supply. The fact that they are even concerned about the launch price under those circumstances is a big red flag.

Media Center PC

For this I actually built a Media Center PC using Windows Vista RC2. Using the Ahanix MCE701 case, an AMD 4200+ dual-core processor, an Nvidia based motherboard and ATI graphics I was able to build decent box for under $1000 suggesting you should be able to buy one from someone else, next year, similarly configured for approximately the same price. This makes it the most expensive solution (if you don't have to buy a new PC to get the iTV to work right).

In terms of games, this will use the Xbox wired joysticks and accessories and it will play Windows games, many of which will have Xbox 360 variants.

The Media Center is a true PVR and can record shows but, if a set top box is involved, you generally have to use an IR blaster right now. Vista will support cable card but the experience with Tivo and Cable Card has been ugly with the cable companies seemingly doing all they can to destroy the user experience. For instance, the content you record using Tivo Cable Card isn't portable.

Right now, it works extremely well with Home Media servers (Network Attached Storage devices) and it will broadcast to an Xbox 360 and a number of media extenders. It works seamlessly with "Plays For Sure" media players from a variety of vendors and both TV and movies seem to move easily though I still find I can't live in the ten foot interface for Sync which is kind of aggravating. HD content remains a problem and HDMI interfaces for PCs aren't yet available but may make it by product launch.

There are a number of third party content providers that work with Media Center but iTunes isn't one of them. Full Media Center integration isn't yet cooked in RC2, so working with Urge, which is built into Vista, currently requires the user to leave the Media Center interface.

Third party support for Media Center remains strong and the Intel Viiv based version currently appears to be the most capable of the potential Vista offerings. We are, as yet, unable to test the Vista Viiv capabilities but, on paper, they do address some of the current Vista complexity issues.

Still, while somewhat rough around the edges, the new Vista Media Center is arguably the most capable product of all three but it pays the typical Microsoft penalty of also being relatively complex to set up and use - and it is also the most expensive. Finally, it is also the only one you can build yourself and that allows a level of customization that is also unmatched by the other offerings.

In terms of single box capability, the Media Center, on paper, is the product to beat but ease of use isn't its strength.