A senior – very senior – executive of Microsoft opened his Seattle-area home to a handful of reporters in November for an unprecedented tour of his automated home, powered by several Windows Media Centers and Lifeware home automation software.
The Microsoft exec, who wishes to remain anonymous to protect his family’s privacy, set out a few years ago to build an 11,000 square-foot house laden with technology that would be “easy to use,” especially for his wife.
“She’s tolerated for a long time my experimentation,” he says.
He wondered if he could create an automated home where, “if a person walked in off the street, could they turn on the lights?”
And could he create such a solution using off-the-shelf Microsoft technology? Indeed, he could.
The exec boasted that his home system has “no custom hardware and virtually no custom software.” What’s more, said the lifelong tinkerer, his home automation/entertainment system is “competitive, I think, with everything I’ve seen in home automation.”
Installed by the local Magnolia Home Theater, the home technology includes nine big-screen TVs, and four Media Center computers, plus a handful of in-wall Lifeware touchscreens, a Russound whole-house audio system and 14 thermostat zones provided by Aprilaire.
The computers run behind the scenes, feeding content to each TV via Xbox 360s, which serve as Media Center Extenders. Almost everything you can access from a Media Center directly – recorded TV, photos, music, movies and automation scenes – is available through the Extenders.
Each Media Center has four cable tuners, accommodating “basically every one that wants to watch live TV in a separate room,” the homeowner says.
The set-up is especially appealing to guests staying in either of the home’s two guest rooms. “They can record their own shows,” says the Microsoft exec.
The One Piece of Custom Software: Tweaks for DRM
The one special tweak performed for the executive’s home involves a (legal) work-around for limitations associated with digital rights management (DRM).
Only Media Center Extenders – not other PCs on the network – can access protected TV content. In other words, the content is locked in the PC that recorded it.
Today, only five active Extenders can be linked to a single Media Center (although Lifeware and Niveus have shown solutions for 10 Extenders).
This home had 11 Extenders. If one “room” recorded an HBO special, the show could only be viewed by the four other TVs/Extenders linked to the Media Center.
What about the five other TVs? They could not access the show. The solution? Custom software that automatically replicates the recordings on the other Media Center machines.
Whats wrong with using 3rd party apps like transcode and My movies?
Why does he need a Russound system? Oh I forgot MCE doesn’t do multiroom - but it would be good if it did! imagine a whole house party mode or follow me mode using extenders!!
Also look at the software for this stuff. The media center communicator 3.1 is awesome. Website onev.com
Just to clarify things a bit - The installation described here was designed, engineered and installed by the staff of Magnolia Audio/Video Design Center (eCIS) in Seattle. BestBuy/MHT was not involved in this project.
Martin, I asked him that very thing since Definitive is such a powerhouse out there (and I respect them greatly).
The homeowner says he looked at Definitive but he was dead set on this product combo, which is not supported by Definitive.
Name:
Email:
Remember my personal information
Notify me of follow-up comments?
Please answer the question below:
Type the 2nd letter of the word "speaker":
Electronic House is now available in a digital edition. Learn more.
I got mine at www.professionalav.com and it works great.
Slideshow
View Slideshow
Stay up-to-date with home electronics. 
Weekly email offers tips, info and product news.
Get the content that's important to you.
To Dave Helland… Great job re Magnolia A/V in this project! It is nice to know that ya folks have it in ya it is just really frustrating to see computers at Best Buy and almost NOTHING PC based in the Magnolia boutique within the same store. When I go to the PC folks at Best But about HTPCs they send me to Magnolia, when I go to Magnolia re HTPCs they send me to the computer department. They do not have a referral program in place (like Home Depot) and as a customer I end up walking out. The irony is that something like a WHS or VMC could do both and bridge the gap between the computer (geek squad) folks and a/v (magnolia)… I guess the consumers will have to wait for a fix. i would love to help close that gap Again, great job, I overly passionate about this and thus my new year’s day rant… Ping me on facebook or linkedin.com if you want to connect to discuss more…. Thanks for the clarifications and A++ job.