Over the last release Micrrosoft has released some images of Vista media center remotes, with the latest iteration actually looking quite nice. Long Zheng recently published this little tidbit in a post:
On May 29 (today, for those of you living in a black hole), Microsoft has been granted the design patent for a Media Center remote design which has been previously showcased in the official Windows Vista Product Guide, but has not been confirmed as of yet.
Microsoft has not yet updated the generic Vista remote control for OEMs to distribute with new computers. No release date exists yet for this remote though hopefully something will be announced this summer.
Other vendors also have Vista media center remotes scheduled for release this summer. Ricavision has announced they will be shipping their Rica 100 Media Center Remote this August for a price of $299 (ouch!). According to the Ricavision website:
The RICA100 features more Microsoft-recommended buttons, mainly for better control of the Windows Media Center in Windows Vista. The new buttons include REC TV button for viewing recorded TV on the PC, LIVE TV button for viewing live TV on the PC, and a DVD MENU button. The PLAY and PAUSE buttons are now compatible with Media Center Extender requirements. Also, Teletext buttons are added to meet the European market requirements. These buttons can be used as software defined buttons for other markets.
Why does everything have to be so expensive? I guess the Sideshow integration is expensive to implement, especially with the Rica 100’s nice LCD screen. Hopefully Microsoft’s remote will not be marketed as a high end item.
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July 8th, 2007 at 12:15 am
[...] Recently, I have been considering buying a Sonos Digital Music System in order to stream digital audio throughout my house. Eos’s solution seems cheaper but I am not sure it is for me. First of all, I do not have an iPod. On top of the $299 for the Eos wireless speakers, I would need to buy an iPod. Also, I would be limited by the size of the iPod storage. I am also holding out hope for Vista Media Center remotes with Sideshow. [...]
July 11th, 2007 at 1:45 am
[...] Hopefully we will being to see more Vista Media Center remotes start to hit the market. In this light, Trust has announced the release of their Wireless Vista Remote Control, which appears only available outside the U.S. I assume that the remote will be eventually available in the U.S., though that is just a guess. The remote looks fairly basic, with no Sideshow LCD screen. [...]
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