Media Extender Links PC to TV

Here's the formula for the gadget of the year: a device that delivers Internet video on the TV. It sounds simple, but no one has really cracked this market, which should be huge.

Apple Inc., Sony Corp., Netgear Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Netflix Inc. are some of the big tech names angling in on it.

Not to be outdone, Microsoft Corp. has supplied hardware partners like Cisco Systems Inc. and D-Link Corp. with updated software and blueprints for the Extender for Windows Media Center, a box you put in your entertainment center and connect to your TV.

You control the extender with a remote, gaining access not only to the movies, music and photos stored on the PC, but also some free web videos and subscription movie services.

The first generation of extenders came out in 2005 for use with Windows XP, causing little excitement. The updated boxes, which work only with Windows Vista, started coming out in January.

Unfortunately, it's likely this generation of extenders will be met with as little enthusiasm as the first one. Maybe some other company, like Apple, will be the one to really spark people's interest in this category.

The main flaw is Microsoft's approach: it makes the software, and lets others build the hardware and provide services like web video. It's nice of Microsoft to let others get a piece of the action, but it makes for a poorly integrated mess of a system. You can't afford that in this category, which consumers are only just figuring out.

And speaking of figuring things out, Apple didn't exactly help by naming its competing extender, which came out last year, 'Apple TV'. But that device is dead easy to use, because Apple makes the software and the hardware. It sells the movies that play on it.

The remotes for these devices are perhaps the best illustration of their differences. Apple TV's remote has six buttons. The DMA 2200's remote has 48, many of them with cryptic little symbols. There's a large numeric keypad, while the oft-used Back button is tiny.

Apple TV lets you watch iTunes movies and YouTube videos. The Windows extender shows some clips selected by Microsoft, and works with Web movie rental services like Vongo, each of which has its own, sometimes confusing interface.

The funny thing is that Microsoft does have its own online video rental service that's easy to use and works well, but it's only for the Xbox360 game console.

The 360 also can do everything an extender can, and it's only a little more expensive, so it looks like a good value. But the console's cooling fans sound like a miniature vacuum cleaner, so it's understandable if people who are not gamers balk at it.

Unlike most Xbox 360 models and the Apple TV, the extenders don't have their own hard drives – all the content is streamed from the PC the moment before it's shown on the TV set. That means the speed of the connection is critical.

The extender can connect to a router via Wi-Fi or wired Ethernet, but the connection between the router and the PC is equally important.

Data Logger.

A data logger (also datalogger or Data recorder) is an electronic device that records data over time or in relation to location either with a built in instrument or sensor or via external instruments and sensors. Increasingly, but not entirely, they are based on a digital processor (or computer). They generally are small, battery powered and portable.

Basically three types of instruments are commonly used for collecting and storing data. They are

1) Real-Time Data Acquisition Systems

2) Chart Recorders and

3)Dataloggers

Data loggers are normally more economical than chart recorders. They offer more flexibility and are available with a greater variety of input types. Most data loggers collect data which may be directly transferred to a computer. Although this option is available with some recorders, it normally adds significant expense to the recorder price.

Data acquisition systems offer a great deal of flexibility and are certainly attractive when high sample rates are required, however, since they require connection or installation into a computer, the computer must also be present and active when collecting the data. Data loggers can collect data independently of a computer. Data is normally collected in non-volatile memory for later download to a computer. The computer does not need to be present during the data collection process. This makes them ideally suited for applications requiring portability.

Data loggers vary between general purpose types for a range of measurement applications to very specific devices for measuring in one environment only. It is common for general purpose types to be programmable however many remain as static machines with only a limited number of changeable parameters.

The recording duration is dependent on the memory capacity of the data logger and the desired sample rate. To determine the duration divide the memory capacity (number of samples the device can record) by the sample rate. As an example assume that a given data logger can store 10,000 samples. If it is desired to record 2 samples every minute, the data logger can run for 10,000/2 or 5,000 minutes (about 3.5 days). If the sample rate was cut in half (1 sample per minute), the recording period would double to 7 days.

1.1 Data logger Types:

a. Miniature Single Input Data Loggers:

Miniature single input data loggers are generally low cost loggers dedicated to a specific input type. These types of data loggers are often used in the transportation industry. A typical application would be to include a temperature data logger in a shipment of food products to insure that the food temperature does not exceed acceptable limits.

In addition to temperature miniature data loggers are available for a large variety of input types.

b. Fixed Mount Multi-Channel Data Loggers:

Fixed input loggers have a fixed number of input channels which are generally dedicated for a specific type of input. OMEGA offers fixed input data loggers ranging from one to 8 channels.

c. Handheld Multi-Channel Data Loggers:

Handheld multi-channel loggers are commonly used in applications where the data logger is to be carried from one location to another.

They are also commonly used in benchtop or laboratory environments. In addition to storing data internally some models even contain on board printers which can produce an immediate hardcopy of the data.

d. Modular Data Loggers:

A modular data logger is configurable and expandable through the use of plug-in modules. The modules are normally field configurable and the user has the option of adding as many channels to satisfy the application requirement.

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