I'd not bought into the HD-DVD vs Blu-Ray war. Not because I thought one standard was better than the other, but because over the last couple of years I've become more and more convinced that over the wire and over the air distribution are going to dominate.

In the US with Comcast and Verizon pushing speeds (12Mbps and 50Mbps are fairly common for Cable and Fiber respectively) and despite the grandstanding about net neutrality and p2p on-demand video is growing - you only have to look at Netflix, AppleTV and the Xbox Marketplace to see that.

Rather than jump on the Blu-Ray bandwagon with the demise of HD-DVD Microsoft are betting on downloads as the way forward. As long as the infrastructure continues to advance and the ISPs and record/music business don't spoil it for everyone I think it bodes for a great future...

It looks like the portable music player saga is going to be painful either way. Ignoring the fact that they both use proprietary connectors instead of doing something smart like using a miniUSB connector they both have some rough edges that I'm not too excited about.

Apart from needing the bloated and invasive iTunes the Nano is unfortunately inching ahead at the moment.

First factor in its favor is totally unrelated to anything Apple related... it's simply the fact that the Last.FM application can scrobble what I listen to and feed it back to their service. Sure, it requires another app to be running and that's not exactly optimal but I've got psychological investment in the Last.FM data and while I'd love to join the Social I don't want it to be at the expense of that. The app does support WMP but not the Zune desktop app or music played on the Zune itself.

Second negative for the Zune is the account tag. You may remember I ran into some problems with my XBox Live account when I moved from AU to US. Well, it turns out my Gamertag was used to "reserve" a Zune tag and... I can't log in with my AU LiveID (because it's not supported in that region), and I can't transfer the tag to my new LiveID because.... well, if anyone has a good reason please let me know. So it means, like with the XBox, I can't use "Offbeatmammal" as my online identity and have to create something else - a problem I don't have if I just get another iPod.

On the general desktop bloat... Vista comes with WMP and it's a fairly good music/video player. Why do I need a second player from MS? I actually think the Zune desktop client is pretty cool (installed it and had a play today) but it makes me wonder why we didn't put the effort into improving the one core product... unless we've written the Zune client so I could run it on the Mac (I'd like to see OSX support to help the Zune reach out to that market. I can use Fusion or Parallels but it is a barrier for some adoption)

I've read in some places that the Zune and Media Center integration isn't that smooth. Not really an issue for me as I use mostly SlimServer for our home audio though it would be nice to be able to sync recorded TV shows etc to the eventual winner.

Oh, and while the Zune has WiFi (not sure how useful it'll actually be) the iPod can be docked and output movies to a TV... now that would be useful when traveling (though I'd probably have my laptop and be able to use that)

No closer to a decision... need to make it before the next plane trip though ;)

My trusty old iPod is finally dying on me... battery doesn't even last through a flight to San Francisco any more!

I'm not a huge fan of carrying multiple devices - if I had my way I'd just stick music onto the 4GB microSDHD card in my T-Mo Shadow but the non-standard speaker connection (the phone headset isn't really hi-fi!) and the battery life mean I probably won't want to do that with a full day of travel.

So, the top 2 tiny music players are the iPod Nano and the Zune Flash. Both are 8gb, about the same size and match on a bunch of features (the iPod screen is a bit bigger, the Zune has an FM tuner etc)

iPod means I'm stuck installing iTunes which is a horrible piece of software (I like it on the Mac, but on the PC it just doesn't play well) vs the Zune which has a great desktop client from what folks tell me.

I have iPod accessories (car adapter, home stereo adapter with remote control) but we don't use them that often these days (Satellite radio and a 6 CD stacker in-dash in the car, and Logitech Squeezebox streaming music at home), I don't buy DRM music so iTunes Music Store and MS Marketplace are not really going to be much influence.

Guess I'll have to see which fits the hand better and make a choice. Of check out what Creative and others have

I mentioned the very cool BigScreen Pictures the other day, well in related and very exciting news a DelicateGenius has a couple of licenses for both the Photo and Weather apps to give away.

The competition ends on Jan 30th so you'd better hurry... but even if you don't win check it out (there's a free trial for all-comers)

Although there's been a bit of news recently about Dave Winers new FlickrFan product for the Mac Mini it's not the break-through technology that folks have been touting it as. It's pretty neat and certainly offers some value to the very small Mac Mini user base.

But there's nothing new under the sun. Before I left Australia I was running some of the BigScreenGlobal add-ins for my Media Center (news, weather etc).

Today a DelicateGenius and FrankArr both gave me the scoop on version 2 (that's right, the second generation) of the BigScreenPictures app which lets you use Media Center (either the Media Center Edition version of WinXP or the functionality included in Premium and Ultimate versions of Vista) to display a photostream from Flickr (and other data sources) on your high def TV.

I guess because it's running on Microsoft technology and Niall doesn't have quite the same blogsphere presence BigScreenPictures (which doesn't have quite the same catchy name as FlickrFan I'll admit) probably won't get as much attention, thought it certainly deserves it. Give it a try, and while you're there check out some of their other great apps.

I'll leave the last word to Loren Feldman.

I was pretty excited with the December update to the Xbox360 Dashboard that provided some additional codec support but after using it for a while I'm less sure that it's solved my problems.

For a start the big downer is that, unlike with a Media Center, I still can't use the system to view archived DVDs - that means we still have to expose the physical media to scratches if our daughter wants to watch Barbie rather than have her able to stream it from a remote location (or she has to use the Media Center in the living room which does support DVD Library mode).

The other frustrating thing is that some archived content still refuses to play back - though it's encoded with the same codec as content that's fine. It also appears that I need to be logged in to play back content (though this may be a limitation brought on my my current Gamertag not being US) - which means if my daughter is watching something she still gets messages popping up from folks who think it's me logged in.

Here's hoping the next Dashboard update brings some more Media goodness (though I am questioning the value of a noisy and power hungry Xbox360 as a component in our home entertainment setup.... maybe a dedicated Media Center extender would be better).

In the meantime we're supplementing support with TVersity. This transcodes on the fly the content we're having codec issues with (it runs on the Windows Home Server where the content is archived) and is pretty reliable. Again, it currently doesn't support archived DVDs and it's not a native WHS add-in (but there are enhancement requests being considered for both). For Wii users TVersity (like Orb) provide a very good Media Experience using the built in Opera browser to render a Flash user interface - on the Xbox360 TVersity etc are limited to the simple folder hierarchy and text listing.

Just in time for Christmas there's an update to the Xbox360 firmware. I know I spotted it way after the Delicate Genius but the same thing grabbed our attention... improved codec support.

We're using the Windows Home Server tucked away upstairs for most of our file storage now and so, using the Media Connect capabilities of WHS, this now lets us use the Xbox360 as almost a first class media citizen.

It's not quite perfect - we still have some content that the Media Center with it's variously sourced codec packs plays without a hiccup that the Xbox won't touch, and of course archived DVDs (gotta try and keep 'em scratch free somehow because there's no replacement warranty) which again Vista Media Center is fine with.

As I'm not much of a gamer the rest of the update didn't make me rush to get it, but having more reasons to have the Xbox in the living room as part of a real family entertainment solution is a great move. Here's hoping we get more media support in coming releases.

I don't mean we should all start trying to inspire revolution in some far away place (though who knows what the power of thought can do) ... I mean it's time for the humble remote control in our living room to actually catch up with some of the technology advances and become a productive member of society.

I use a Logitech Harmony 880 remote. I've had it for a while and I think it's a really neat idea, but it's so let down by the things it's trying to control and how they play well with the remote and each other (or more to the point... how they don't).

Remember back in the day how the remote involved your Dad telling you to get up and change the channel by turning the dial on the TV (okay, maybe I'm older than you!).

Then came push button channel changing, followed around the time of the VCR (anyone remember VHS vs Betamax?) by wired remotes (and the wire was always too short).

The freedom brought by IrDA finally cutting the cord was, sadly, the end of any major advances in the underlying technology of the remote control.

Sure, my TV, Cable Set Top Box, DVD/VCR, XBox360, Squeezebox and Z-5500 amp/speakers all respond to remote control signals (in fact my LG DVD/VHS is really dumb because it incorrectly responds to signals meant for the Squeezebox) and if it wasn't for the Harmony I'd have a lot more batteries to buy!

But the control isn't perfect. For instance my TV doesn't allow the Harmony to send a specific source (eg HDMI1), you have to cycle through them. Which would be fine if it was always a fixed progression but it's "smart"... a source is inactive it disappears from the cycle. Even the Media Center with all it's processing power doesn't do any sort of two-way communication (though both it and the Squeezebox have IrBlaster capabilities they could make use of as a return path...)

The other pain is if things are out of sync with how the harmony thinks they're set up then it gets confused and turns things off that sound be on, or selects the wrong audio source or something. Now 99% of the time I don't blame Logitech (though for some reason they don't quite have the options figured out in the setup process for the Z-5500 audio sources)... I blame the future for not being here when it was promised.

Back in 2005 I remember reading wonderful proclamations from the ZigBee folks that their wonderful new low power radio mesh technology would be in consumer electronics within a couple of years...

... well, I'm still waiting.

Where are the smart remotes that can query device status before asking them to do something? Where are the programming interfaces so when I power up my Squeezebox via the web interface from another room it can query the Z-5500 amp and ask it to change to the right input and effect? Where are the really smart devices that can shut down everything apart from the ZigBee receiver (really saving some power) until they are needed.

Put that technology into consumer electronics, wire it up to a smart remote like a Harmony 1000 and I'll be very happy (the Harmony does support "Z-Wave", which appears to be Logitechs implementation of ZigBee but they're almost too embarrassed to talk about it!).

I just got a new set of speakers for the living room. While they're not high end audio for a family room where ease of use is pretty important the Logitech Z-5500 seem to fit right in.

Of course out of the box all the cables are the wrong length and we're going to have to move some stuff around but it was really easy to get it set up and wired into the main audio source via digital co-ax and the Media Center PC via the (supplied) 3x3.5mm adapters. Unfortunately (and if I'd have read the small print) there's no optical links (or co-ax) where supplied so I've got to pick one up tomorrow to finish getting the TV and XBox360 all plugged in.

I love the wireless remote. It's a big step up on what we had in the living room for the first few months.

The Z-5500s are replacing a Z4 2.1 setup (also Logitech) which have now been banished down to the rumpus room where Rhiannon has her PC, the washing machine and my elliptical all live. The main reason for them going down there is to let me not have to reply on the iPod when I'm working out, and let Rhiannon stream music from upstairs when she's doing her homework.

For cheaper, low-end speakers the sound from the Z4s have impressed me over the last few months. The subwoofer makes that little bit of difference over the usual run of the mill "PC" speakers and it's robust enough to have taken a few knocks so I'm hoping they'll do well in the rougher environment downstairs.

So for both the living room and rumpus downstairs music is a pretty important part of the equation. With three of us living here with fairly varied musical tastes (if you look at my Last.FM listing it's very different to Storms!).

We could have solved the problem with CD players and physical disks but it all seemed too messy and low-tech, and with the Windows Home Server sitting upstairs a fairly obvious solution was to install SqueezeCenter and get a couple of SqueezeBoxes.

The SqueezeCenter (frankly I prefer it's previous name of SlimServer, but since Logitech has purchased SlimDevices they've gone through a bit of a re-branding) runs quietly upstairs merrily cataloguing and of our CDs that we rip to the network and allows us to play them back on either Squeezebox (independently if upstairs and downstairs are catering to different people) or synchronized so you can wander around the house and not miss a beat.

You can control the Squeezeboxes either from their own remotes, or a Logitech Harmony remote, via a web browser (the SqueezeCenter has a Web interface to control the players) or various 3rd party utilities. We use all four methods depending on who is doing what where!

Annoyingly even though Logitech have purchased SlimDevices they have not yet released any integrated products. I would love to see the Squeezebox able to control the speakers (on/off, select the correct input source etc) - especially with the top-of-the-line Z-5500s, but both they and the Z4s have control inputs so I hope we'll see something on the market that uses the SqueezeBox IrBlaster connection to directly control the speakers. As it is, when I'm done on the Elliptical I have to turn a couple of things off, instead of just one.

The other annoyance with the Z-5500s is that they're not that smart. When there's no input for (say) a couple of minutes I'd want them to go into standby, and wake up when there is input. They seem to auto-select based on a hierarchy (optical, coax digital then analogue) which is cool but it would be neat for me to be able to pre-define that (say) the coax input should always be Dolby Digital music and the XBo360x/TV optical input should always optimize for TV/Movie. I guess that's another price point though.

Oh, and while I love the Squeezebox because when it's off the screen dims (or goes completely blank - that's user configurable) both the speakers display a garish blue light when they are on, and the Z-5500s have a red glow when they are in standby mode.

Although my Media Center has been a well behaved and loyal companion these last couple of years it does sometimes do weird things that I only discover by accident after the fact.

Luckily that looks like it won't be the case any more... Ian Dixon has written what sounds like a very near little utility to monitor the health of many aspects of the Media Center.

I hope to be able to try it out soon....

As I'm often away from home (and the girls are not that technical!) having it alert me via a remote method - email or Windows Live Messenger Alerts would be fantastic - then I know I've got to remote in and fix something.