TVedia Media Front-End Reviewed

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HTPC enthusiast Eirik Solheim spent some time with TVedia and came away very impressed, despite the software’s lack of DVR functionality. However… What immediately caught my eye was the Amazon affiliate advertising built into the interface (in addition to the $35 software fee). I exchanged a few emails with Eirik who informed me the “feature” is optional and sent along a screenshot showing how users can toggle the ads. It’s an interesting strategy and well executed given TVedia’s spartan interface and disable options.

Eirik writes: TVedia is a media center frontend with some extremely interesting networking functionality and a very nice interface for YouTube, Google Video, Flickr, LastFM and other media related web sites. I recently gave it a run on my Windows Media Center Edition box. So far this is one of the most interesting products I have seen in this space for a long time! The music library, networking and online features are way better than what I am used to in MCE.

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4 thoughts on “TVedia Media Front-End Reviewed”

  1. It’s software for an HTPC which will organize all your home media such as videos, pictures, and MP3s. It’s like Wndows MCE, FrontRow, or Media Lobby. You can control it via remote.

  2. As mentioned here, the ads are optional and the main product is a powerful media library with a frontend that is tailored for use with a remote on a TV screen.

    The fact that they include optional commercials is an interesting approach and could be even more powerful if they where context sensitive based on your own playback history or LastFM profile.

    I didn’t find the ads very intrusive. If the software was free I would actually accept ads like these.

  3. The DVD/CD info box on the home page uses your viewing/listening history to figure out your top 3 favorite genres (not LastFM profile), and show DVDs and CDs belong to those genres more often than the others. This feature is never meant to generate a lot of revenue for us, it’s more for the benefit of the users who want to keep updated, and the main menu page would look less graphically appealing without it. As erikso mentioned, you can turn it off easily.

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