Google’s quietly introduced a (Windows-only) media server gadget:
Google Media server is about exposing content from your local compute(s) via UPnP protocol for devices on your home network. Google desktop is looking for content on you computer and network (if it is configured to do so). Google Media server uses Google desktop index.
Of course, being Google, they offer the ability to stream the web content under their control (YouTube and PicasaWeb) from PC to UPnP devices – in addition to the non-DRMed photos, videos, and music residing on your computer. As an occasional Connect360 user, this forum note caught my eye:
At time of development the only way to connect the XBox 360 to a UPnP server, was to have a service that is only found on Microsoft services and for the server itself to be claimed to be made by microsoft. Legal would not allow us to pretend to be microsoft (although there are other servers out there that do).
It’s quite interesting to see Google dabbling in this arena – I wonder where they’re going to take it. In the current state, it’s purely a geek toy… (via Last100)