What are the chances it will work with project Natal features? It would give a whole new meaning to channel surfing :)

i'm kind of confused as to what is and actually not going to be available.  at&t just installed fiber optic cable on my street and offered me uverse.  would this media room technology allow me to not have a att box and record and watch tv on my media center tv?  if so, i'll sign up with att.  if not, i'll stick with cable. 

Allegedly MC will use the MR2.0 tuners and record TV to a local drive, however it is not yet available and no announcements have been officially made.

 We don't know if AT&T will choose to implement all of the features of Mediaroom 2.0, but since they have already announced they will allow Xbox360 to be used as a STB, I think the chances are good that they will follow through with the rest.

You may or may not be required to have a DVR in your installation, but I think it is a good idea to have one as a backup.  It is much more reliable than Media Center, especially if you are prone to tinkering. 

 Mediaroom 2.0 will let you watch and record TV directly in Media Center over the network.  I have always wanted to get a tuner pool set up with my STBs and WHS in a closet, and was interested in the possibility of doing this eventually with the HDPVR and DVBLogic's server software.  With Mediaroom I won't have to bother, because I won't need STBs or even tuners to get premium HD channels.  Any PC on the network will be able to watch live TV, so there would be little need to choose an extender over something like a $200 Revo.

There will also be a Mediaroom tab on the main menu which will go to the Mediaroom interface.  In this mode the Media Center will act like a client STB, with the ability to watch and schedule recordings on the Uverse DVR.  If the DRM requires that recordings of restricted content only be played on the pc that made them, then you can schedule those shows on the DVR and watch from any PC, with the extra step of going to the Mediaroom tab.

If you are happy with cable, there isn't any need to switch now.  You can wait and see what happens.  However you may find it worthwhile to switch anyway because of better rates and internet speeds.  If you are trying to decide whether to get a Ceton tuner or switch to Uverse, then you should definately wait.  If they offer it, Mediaroom 2.0 will be a much better option than cable card.

Thanks for the detailed response.  i'm intrigued by UVserse in general, mainly because i've always had cable before.  a DirectTV tuner for Media Center would be the ideal solution for me however, since i'd love to be able to get the NFL Sunday Ticket (not to mention the NFL network)

so I had my uverse installed yesterday, now I wait patiently for mediaroom 2.0 to be rolled out.  the installer said that a lot of people have been asking him about it.  also little side note, ATT states that you need to have a 3 prong grounded outlet for installation.  complete and utter BS.  the gateway, DVR, and STBs all run off 12 volt power bricks, with the power bricks only being 2 prong.  also the gateway is friggin HUGE.  12 x 10 inches, its bigger than the STBs and the DVR.  only thing that really bugs me about it right now is that you cant pause, ff, rw on the client boxes, only the DVR.

I got Mediaroom 2.0 with Telus here in Canada last Friday.  They are dispatching a tech on Monday to take away the 2nd set top box I ordered prior to the Telus XBOX 360 announcement.  They require a tech on-site to configure your 360 to marry it to your primary PVR.  They originally wanted to charge me $100 for the service call.  Needless to say, I spoke to retentions and had that reversed.

I understand the need to dispatch a tech... kinda... but they're also charging $5/mo for the extra STB (which is a console which I already own).  I find this pretty crappy.  The agent claimed it had to do with licensing charges and such, but I find that hard to believe.  It's a cash grab, pure and simple.  But it's less than the $10/mo STB rental which I was gonna to pay, and it's 1 less piece of junk connected to the TV, so I suppose I can live with the $5/mo.

I think Microsoft is on the right track in a big way with this.  Long overdue, and it gives them a big head start on Google and Apple who are both dabbling in this space.

These kind of announcements at CES are fun for the inner geek, but Microsoft should more prominently advertise that they are providing these services to the consumer. The percentage of people using these services that are aware of the work Microsoft has done is so small. Everyone things they are responsible for bloated operating systems, but what if they knew their TV services were supported by Microsoft.

 http://htpctechreview.blogspot.com/

 I've been eagerly awaiting this feature, but haven't been able to find any recent information about it.  Does anyone know if AT&T is even close to allowing a Windows 7 HTPC to function as a STB?

 Wow... if they implement this in my area and increase the # of HD tuners to at least 3, it may keep me from buying a Ceton tuner.

jwilliam

 I've been eagerly awaiting this feature, but haven't been able to find any recent information about it.  Does anyone know if AT&T is even close to allowing a Windows 7 HTPC to function as a STB?

I'm waiting too.  Uverse is destroying the cable companies here in Houston and this could very well be the nail in the coffin.

jwilliam

Does anyone know if AT&T is even close to allowing a Windows 7 HTPC to function as a STB?

Crickets!!!    Any word on the street yet?

 I didn't expect anything until after the XBOX as STB happened, and that has only been a month.  Maybe we will hear something at CES, and see it next summer.  Since AT&T hasn't announced it, I'm not getting my hopes up for a wait less than a year.  Since they went forward with the XBOX integration, I am optimistic that they will do Media Center as well.

It will be great if AT&T really does this.  It's a pain keeping that STB awake, though I found a way to do it with a USBUIRT and LM Remote.

OK this was announced well over a year ago.

 Is AT&T ever going to deploy Mediaroom 2.0, or has this been put on hold (or shelved)?

I'm having a flashback to this debacle.  http://msmvps.com/blogs/chrisl/archive/2006/01/05/80418.aspx  please tell me that's not going to happen again.

The miniscule hard drive on my Uverse DVR stays full.  I would like to just record my shows on my MCE box which has adequate disk space.

 Faron