Designing a Proper Home Media System

Over the last couple of days I’ve had a lot of time to think about the design goals for a home media system. I firmly believe we possess all the technological bits and pieces to make this system a reality but I have yet to find anyone having published an article describing a real-world implementation.

The design goals are:

I want to be able to view live and recorded HD cable (including premium channels) via a CableCard box on every TV in the house. I’d also like to be able to switch to satellite or OTA HDTV if I choose in the future.
I want to be able to set up recording timers from any TV, computer, or device in the house. I’d also like to be able to do this remotely via the internet or telephone.
I want to be able to share recorded programs between TVs. For example, if I record CNBC’s “Mad Money” from my office then I’d like to be able to watch the recording on another TV upstairs in the evening. I’d also be able to record a movie off HBO-HD in my family room and be able to watch the recording later in my home theater.
I don’t want stacks of equipment next to every TV. Instead I want a client/server architecture (or more appropriately extender/media-center/storage-server architecture) and put it as much as possible in an equipment room.
I’d like access to my entire library of CD, DVD, and Blu-Ray titles instaneously on any device in the house without loss of quality. If displayed on a smartphone then I’m happy to have it transcoded to a lower bitrate.
I’d like to be able to view pictures, movies (regardless of codec), music (regardless of codec), and other content stored on a storage server on any display in the house. Adding content should be easy.
I’d like to be able to pause a show/movie/music (either live, recorded, or stored media, internet TV, and HD/XM/internet/regular radio) on any playback device in the home and pick up from where I left off on another playback device.
I’d like to be able to send recorded shows to my smartphone, portable music/video player, or laptop for viewing at another time. I’d to the player to know how far I was into the show just like a car CD player begins playing a song from where it left off when I turn off the ignition. When I return the device to the home network it should sync playback info so I can pick-up for where I left off again.
I’d like to be able to view all of the content (live TV, recorded TV, movies, music, media files, internet TV, and HD/XM/internet/regular radio) anywhere I have an internet connection.
I’d like to be able to burn and/or archive the shows onto another storage media as I determine.
I’d like to be able to easily mirror the video content on either a subset or all of the displays in the house.
I’d like to be able to easily mirror the audio content on either a subset or all of the multi-room speakers and audio systems in the house.
I’d like to able to control this system via a home automation system (Crestron) and remotely when I’m not on the premises.
I’d like to be able to selectively display caller-ID, weather, smarthome statistics, security camera feeds (triggered by a doorbell for example), and any other info on a display-by-display basis based on any triggering criteria desired. I’d also like these triggers to be able to lower the volume or perform other actions.
I’d like the less technically inclined people to be able to run the system without supervision or fear of ruining the system itself.

I think this would satisfy my requirements but I’m sure there are things missing. Is there anything else you’d add or remove from this list? Let me know in the comments below.

August 5, 2009 | Filed Under General, Tech/Gadgets | 4 Comments

YouTube: The Anatomy of a Home Theater

This is a quick video titled “The Anatomy of a Home Theater” I put together of us putting up the home theater over the last few days. It’s not fully ready yet. We are waiting for custom red-colored theater curtains to be completed that will eventually surround the screen. We’ll also be adding/replacing a few pieces of equipment in the set up. Stay tuned!

June 16, 2009 | Filed Under Tech/Gadgets | Leave a Comment

Nokia E71x Day 5: Bluetooth, Google Maps, YouTube, Web Browsing, and VoIP

Day 5 with my Nokia E71x involved Bluetooth, Google Maps, YouTube, web browsing, and VoIP.

Bluetooth

Old Nokia handsets including the E61 and 6620 always had trouble with in-car Bluetooth systems. For example, the E61 pairs properly and shows caller-id information but does not show battery status, network signal strength, and has trouble with calls dialed from the phone which are then transferred to the car’s Bluetooth system. Unfortunately different sets of features work in different cars. This is one place where Sony Ericsson had always been ahead of Nokia. I’m happy to report the E71x paired properly, shows caller-id, battery status, network signal strength, and has no trouble transferring calls back and forth. I tried it the E71x in several German and Japanese cars with 100% success.

Google Maps/GPS

I’ve spent a great deal of time in London during my medical training. The culture behind navigation systems is very different in London when compared to America. Nearly every driver in London has a portable navigation unit (either dedicated or PDA/phone) from manufacturers like TomTom. More often people use their mobile phones with navigation software rather than dedicated units. This is where I became accustomed to running TomTom on the E61. Although I have built-in navigation systems in all the cars in the garage here in the United States, I still find having navigation installed on my mobile phone to be invaluable for the times when I’m in a friend’s car or a rental. Its infinitely more useful and the maps are cheaper to update than buying a new DVD every year for every car in the garage. With that said, I haven’t been able to install TomTom on the E71x. I certainly hope a compatible version is released.

In the mean time I used Google Maps via a download from Google’s website to test the GPS capability of the E71x. I’m happy to report the device can grab a GPS signal quite quickly and pinpointed my location on a map. It works. However, I’m wouldn’t be able to use Google’s software for turn-by-turn directions because it wasn’t designed for this purpose. For example, it lacks voice prompts and updates its position in large jumps while a car is moving so it would be very easy to miss a road. This is a shortcoming in the Google Maps application and not a hardware issue with the E71x.

YouTube

On the old E61, I cannot play YouTube videos in the default Nokia web browser. While using the E71x, I accidentally clicked a YouTube link on Google News only to have a video open and play in the default browser. It was quite impressive. Video and audio quality were about what I’d expect from a mobile device. Interestingly going to YouTube will play videos using both the built-in Real Player and via Adobe Flash in the browser. Google also has a Nokia-specific YouTube application that can be downloaded from Google’s site. It allows for search and video playback. Again, all of this was to my pleasant surprise.

Web Browsing

The default Nokia browser handles most things okay but fails on some sites. For example, I was attempting to view a menu for an Italian restaurant we were planning on heading to for dinner this past Friday. The Nokia browser would consistently crash and not allow me to go any further than seeing the site’s home page. Eventually I installed Sky Fire which allowed me to get a bit further but it also got stuck. The site works fine on an iPhone. Ultimately I had to resort to using my laptop. This may be a special case because many other websites worked perfectly between the two browsers but I’m really hoping we see some major improvements from Nokia and AT&T in this area.

VoIP

VoIP is the first area of disappointment from this handset. I’ve tried installing both Truphone and Vopium only to be thwarted due to various issues. I’ve contacted both organizations in the hopes of finding a solution. I will post an update when I hear back from them.

AT&T has locked down the E71x in nearly every respect. This is what exists on the device:

Menu –> Settings –> Config –> Connection –> Sip Configuration

I was able to register my Gizmo SIP VoIP account and get a successful “Registered” response but there is no “Internet Tel.” application like the Nokia E61 which configures how the phone deals with incoming SIP calls. Furthermore, there is no default call choice between GSM and SIP calls on the E71x as seen on the E61. Lastly, phonebook entries no longer give a call choice between voice, video, and internet (aka VoIP/SIP) telephone calls. It seems like the only option to run VoIP on this handset will require installing a third-party application like Gizmo, Fring, or Nimbuzz that tunnels VoIP/SIP data through a third-party website. The problem being that VoIP call quality drops through the extra jumps.

This is unacceptable. The tightly integrated VoIP/SIP client on the Nokia E61 and unlocked E71 (not AT&T’s E71x) is one of the most amazing developments in telephony in the last decade. Nokia took a chance and it sold geeks like me to recommend Nokia to our friends and family in the United States even though there is stiff competition from the iPhone and Blackberry. Without the built-in VoIP/SIP client the iPhone, Blackberry, and the new Palm Pre suddenly become viable choices because the same VoIP compromises have to be made on those devices. Actually, to be fair the Blackberry has no SIP stack and the Palm Pre is too new to have anything written for it yet. Lastly, Windows Mobile has a built-in SIP stack but nearly every handset maker removes it so third-party software or a hack is needed to get VoIP working. So in actuality the choice is between an iPhone and a Nokia. Even then the a non-jail-broken iPhone can only use VoIP over wireless but not 3G. The Nokia E71x even without a working native SIP client can still tunnel VoIP over 3G (and wireless) using third party apps but a pristine Nokia E71 can do it all natively. Hence why Nokia phones are my first choice.

In the specific case of the E71x I suspect AT&T removed all the VoIP/SIP features to continue milking customers for everything they can. Unfortunately, I understand the new unlocked Nokia N97 also lacks a built-in VoIP/SIP client as seen in the N96. Nokia claims a VoIP/SIP API is available for anyone who wants to write their own application but no one has released any software. If Nokia does not offer a native VoIP/SIP client via a firmware update in those phones, then the Nokia E61 may be the last Nokia I ever own. Nokia, I know you’re reading this post, so listen up. Put a user accessible SIP client like you have on the E61 and E71 (not E71x) and users like me will continue to recommend your stellar phones. Don’t turn your backs on us now.