I was lucky enough to be included in a very small group of alpha testers for the upcoming meta 2.0 metadata manager – ‘lucky’ being an understatement as this application is going to astound you.

My initial look came around 2 months ago and it was pretty rough around the edges and had very little functionality.  I saw this change dramatically over the following few weeks, up until today, where it is finally available in a state that I have been allowed to write about.

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Windows Media Center 7 will get an updated Netflix interface according to this article over at AppScout.com.  There was quite a bit of excitement when it was introduced a few months ago for Vista, but lost a lot of its luster when it was found to not support extenders and, well, just not have that many options available.  The 7MC version still doesn’t support extenders (although a plugin does exist for the XBOX360) and I don’t think it will support anything the old Vista version does, but it is touch-screen enabled.  Yay.

There’s a video on the page I’ve linked to.  If you want to watch it, skip ahead about 1 hour to get to the parts you actually want to see.

So I just stumbled across another streaming web application called Zinc, and it looks pretty good.  It’s designed for TV viewing and states that it is Media Center-compatible remote friendly.

Zinc is a free product from ZeeVee.com and basically organizes all the free TV content online in one place.  It even can tie into your Netflix account.

I decided to give this a try and see how I could integrate it into my own Media Center menu, so I downloaded the Windows version of the application and installed.  During the install, it runs a hardware compatiblility test to make sure it’s up to the task.

I then decided not to take the first run and instead fired up MC Menu Mender so that I could incorporate Zinc into my Media Center menu.  I took a look at the properties for the created shortcut for Zinc on my desktop and just copied it into the path for the new entry point in MC Menu Mender, added the necessary arguments and copied the logo for Zinc off of the website.  Since Zinc states complete Media Center remote compatibility, I decided to not enable “Use wrapper” for now.  We’ll see how it goes!

Upon starting up Media Center, I was presented by my newly created Zinc entry point in the Pictures+Videos strip…right where I put it.

I gave it a click and voila!  Success!

The first thing I did was link my Netflix account, which prompts you for confirmation.

After that, I’m met with a poster view of available titles.  Take note of all the sorting options available in various parts of the screen.  It’s very nice.  I also noticed that navigation was very smooth and not clunky like most other web interfaces.

Upon logging out of Neflix, I’m met with the initial screen again.  So, I decided to take a look at some of the available channels (FOX, in this example).

All the available shows are presented with the number of episodes.  You can also add your favorite shows here.

Drilling down further gives you the episode views where they are sorted by latest release (newest to oldest).

After selecting an episode, I was prompted to install the Zinc player.  Why this wasn’t installed with the application I’ll never know.  But, for the sake of review, I do so.  Also notice the remote support at the bottom right.

Upon installing and presenting me with a sample for playback, I was ready to roll.

Nice.  The picture is pretty good and I encountered no stuttering or other artifacts during playback.

Next, I decided to take a look at the available settings.  Here you can set Zinc up with local media folders, add other applications for launch, set a few Zinc system settings (enable fullscreen, watched video status, clear cache, etc.), and grab updates.

I decided to add a media folder so that I could check out the local media option.

This began a scan for all available media and it began showing up under the Local Content menu (notice the available thumbnail at the top right – this is generated by Zinc).  I did notice that only AVI files had been detected during the scan.  It’s going to be a disappointment if it does not allow playback of MP4, MKV, etc.  AVI is actually a small percentage of my collection.  On the other hand, I don’t plan on using Zinc for local media.

There are other views available also.

Thumb view:

Thumb detail:

Finally, selecting Zv HDTV presents you with loads of videos related to Zinc and other ZeeVee products,  in case you’re interested.

Upon exiting I was returned to the desktop and all I had to do was hit the Green Button to bring Media Center back to the foreground again.

All in all, I’d say Zinc is one of, if not the, best web apps out there for centralizing streaming media.  I found it much easier to use than Hulu (which it includes also).  The biggest knocks against it for me were the lack of metadata for local media and the overall lack of content.  When I say lack of content, I mean it in comparison to some of the other options like SecondRun.tv.  There’s still plenty to keep you busy though.  Not being integrated within Media Center may also be a turnoff for many of you, but it’s really not all that bad.  Especially if you’ve tried the Hulu desktop application and tried using it with a remote.  First indications also lead me to believe it does not have local support for MP4 and MKV…at least. Other formats may also not be supported.

Check it out…it’s free!

Integrating within Media Center:

I just wanted to make a point on adding the Zinc application with MC Menu Mender.  Your path will be the exact installation path to the Zv.exe .  In the arguments box, you must enter -zviewer or it will not work.  The logo I used is this one:

Just download and use!

I know I haven’t been around much lately, but I’ve been way too busy with life (good thing).  I did want to bring this breaking news before I run back off into obscurity.

Microsoft just announced that Netflix is now an official part of the Vista Media Center experience.  While there is unfortunately no extender support, this is still a huge addition to those of us who have WatchNow!

You can read more about it over at TGB in this announcement.

This is supposed to be an automatic update that is pushed out over the next 48 hours.  I have not yet received it, but I’m watching quite impatiently for it.

Here’s a nice little video showing it in action:

Netflix for VMC

I didn’t even know this existed, but then again, I don’t own any extender hardware or a MediaSmart TV either.  Anyway, vmcPlayIt is the latest plugin from eluttmann over at the Green Button forums.

vmcPlayIt is an all-in-one VMC client for the PlayOn media server software that provides Netflix WatchNow, Hulu, YouTube and many broadcast stations that host online streaming content (like FOX, CBS, etc.).  It connects to this server and provides a one-stop location for all streaming needs!

32-bit and 64-bit versions are available on the official site.