During CES 2008, HP had announced that their MediaSmart HDTV’s would be upgraded at some point this year to include Media Center Extender technology. Well folks - that day has finally arrived. HP today announced that they are the first company to integrate Media Center Extender technology into an “Internet-connected TV.” This feature will be available on all new HP MediaSmart TVs and will be automatically provided to all owners of second generation MediaSmart TV’s.

What does this mean for current owners of second generation MediaSmart TV owners? Your TV sets will be able to connect to Windows Vista Home Premium and Vista Ultimate PCs and deliver (nearly) the same Media Center experience on the PC but via the TV set - AND you won’t have to physically connect the PC to the TV set.

If you don’t have an HP MediaSmart TV, don’t worry about it. HP is still planning to release a standalone Media Center Extender device in the form of the “MediaSmart Connect”.

As far as MediaSmart TVs are concerned, the sets have three HDMI ports, wired and wireless connectivity, and support for other UPnP and DLNA compliant devices. The update is available via a firmware upgrade which will be accessible via the Internet by the MediaSmart TV. Models SL4278N and SL4778N can be upgraded via the Internet accessible upgrade.

[Check it out]

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