Home Entertainment Systems Closer Together

By Julia Hall

There's an interesting new type of gadget that is specifically designed to bridge the gap between the home computer an the home entertainment system. This is a gap that the computer industry has been trying to bridge for years- at least since the early nineteen nineties- and maybe before in some way or another. In the past these efforts have failed for a number of reasons. For one thing, many people believe that the home office is where the computer belongs while the living room is where the home entertainment system belongs and the two shouldn't mix. While some of us might like the idea of being able to relax on the couch or in our favorite easy chair while typing emails and getting work done, most Americans seem to want to keep their work and relaxation separate. Of course, computers have increasingly served as sources of entertainment, but people are still unwilling to bring their computers into the living room, and the cabling and other complications of bringing the content of computers from the office to the living room- without moving the actual box of the computer- has proven to be too difficult for most casual users to manage. Recent developments in technology have been paving the way for the computer's entrance into the living room though. For example, it's already their in the form of digital TV receivers, DVD players, Digital Video Recorders, and video game systems. While none of these devices has the outward appearance of home computer systems or the same type of interface, they do utilize computer technology nonetheless. The increasing number of multimedia applications on home computer systems are also paving the way toward the computer's acceptance into the living room as well. For example, most of the newest operating systems come with software for editing digital photos, recording video, editing video, and ripping CD's. All of this media could easily make its way to the home entertainment system, and would be much more enjoyable there for whole families than it would be on the home computer system hidden away in the office.

Now, while most people still seem unwilling to accept the home computer into the home entertainment center, there are a variety of newer gadgets that will bring the contents of home computer systems into the living room while leaving the actual computer in the home office where it apparently belongs. The newest example is the Apple TV which is a set top box that can wirelessly receive a variety of different media from an Apple or Windows computer. This media includes digital photos, music, and video with resolutions of up to 720p- which is high enough to qualify as HDTV. The main problem with the Apple TV is that it will only feed files from the iTunes folder on the computer and it's difficult to add files to the iTunes folder without downloading them directly from the iTunes website.

Fortunately the Apple TV isn't the only answer as it is also possible to do similar things with newer versions of TiVo and Amazon's Unbox service. The TiVo system uses Ethernet cabling instead of a wireless connection.

One alternative to these devices is to get a media center. Media centers are essentially home computer systems that pretend to be home entertainment equipment. They're primarily sold as high end, stand alone DVR's, but they also have all of the functions of home computer systems built in. Right now they're available with Windows and Linux operating systems.

With gadgets like these, perhaps we'll soon see the home computer merge with the home entertainment system.

This article is for consumers looking for information on new technology. It provides a resource for finding the Best Direct TV Deals, and any great Direct TV Specials that are currently available.