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Ho-Hum Announcement: Media Center Gadgets for SideShow Released

By Alexander Grundner | October 23rd, 2008 Interest Level: SMOKING HOT


It’s with great pride the Windows SideShow Team announces that they’ve released a Media Center SideShow Gadget [64-bit] that can access your PC’s TV programming guide, allow you to browse and play music, browse photos, and list what’s currently playing on your PC. Now, if only SideShow enabled photo frames, remotes, and laptops were available, I think people would be a little more excited. Personally, I think these types of gadgets make the most sense for photo frames and remotes – not so much for desktops like the Dell XPS 420 (if you’re in front of your desktop, wouldn’t you just want to use the PC’s monitor instead?). [via]

Alternative Tech: Windows Sidebar Gadgets (highlight: Webguide)

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Alexander Grundner is the Editor & Publisher of eHomeUpgrade. He has been following "Digital Home" developments since 2003. He's also a fan of cross-platform, open development software and industry standards related to media, networking, and the web. You can catch his daily tech musings on Twitter: @agrundner.
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  • Resource: Windows SideShow for Windows Mobile Developer Preview [Published 6/2/2008]. This looks like the most recent release for those curious about getting SideShow gadgets running on Windows Mobile. Notice: it IS a developer preview -- not a full public release.

    Overview
    Windows® SideShow™ for Windows Mobile® is an application for Windows Mobile 5 and Windows Mobile 6 Pocket PCs and Smartphones that allows you to use your Windows Mobile device as a Bluetooth SideShow-compatible device. This enables you to use your phone as an extra window into your PC. You can both access your computer’s information from your Pocket PC or Smartphone, and control the computer through a gadget interface. While the phone is out of range, or when your computer is off, you can continue to view content sent to the phone previously. This makes it easy to send information to the phone that you'll need later on.

    The developer preview is an English-only release.

    System Requirements

    * Supported Operating Systems: Windows Server 2008; Windows Vista Business; Windows Vista Enterprise; Windows Vista Home Premium; Windows Vista Ultimate

    * A Bluetooth-capable Windows Mobile 5, Windows Mobile 6 Standard, or Windows Mobile 6 Professional device with the .NET Compact Framework 2.0 installed.

    * A Bluetooth-enabled PC. Note: this release is not compatible with computers running Toshiba Bluetooth drivers. See the “Troubleshooting” section below for more information.
  • Mike
    Does this ACTUALLY work if you install sideshow for windows mobile and then install this sideshow gadget? I would love to get this working on my phone, it would currently be the only excuse to install vista again (although i'm not a fan of vista MCE anyways).
  • Valid point. I'm curious how well SideShow Gadgets translate to the Windows Mobile platform. I think what ultimately needs to happen -- at least for Windows Mobile and Windows Media Center -- is for Microsoft to release a native Windows Mobile app for Wi-Fi enabled phones/handhelds that offers both a universal MCE remote and SideShow functionality combined. In essence, a soft version of the Ricavision VAVE100 remote.
  • Jen
    Well since you can use a Windows Mobile phone (and there's a LOT of those out there already) to run sideshow, this is actually a quite plausible and useful feature. For people with a media center hooked up to their HDTVs, now if they just want to listen to music they don't have to turn on their display!
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