Pinnacle Systems Inc. announced a new product aimed to help consumers enjoy their PC-based music, photos and video on the television in their living room. Pinnacle ShowCenter is a set-top device that connects to wireless and wired home local area networks (LAN) and enables streaming of multimedia files from any PC on the network to any television or home entertainment system in the house. ShowCenter is accessed through a user-friendly graphical user interface on the living room TV, which makes it easy for consumers to navigate, access and play their PC-based digital files on the home stereo and/or television.
"Pinnacle ShowCenter demonstrates a powerful new usage model for the digital home," said David L. Brown general manager of the Solutions Enabling division at Intel. "By utilizing the power of Intel Pentium 4 processors with Hyper Threading Technology, Pinnacle Systems enables the networked PC to become the central point in the home for sharing, organizing and archiving music, photos and home videos."
"ShowCenter helps bridge the digital media gap that currently exists between the computer and the television. We are solving the problem of how consumers manage and find their digital content and then get it from their PC to the living room," added Bill Loesch, vp of engineering and technology for the Business and Consumer division at Pinnacle Systems. "The market for downloading and creating digital content is expanding rapidly. ShowCenter solves the problem of how to use this digital content in the rooms where a PC is not located."
Pinnacle ShowCenter includes easy-to-use Windows-based PC software to manage multimedia files on the computer and a network-connected set-top box with remote control. ShowCenter's PC software is a universal media management and database tool that lets users organize and easily locate their digital files, create, and play music play-lists and run photo slideshows. The software application also gives users comprehensive import and export functionality such as the ability to burn CDs and DVDs.
Pinnacle ShowCenter is expected to be available in fall 2003 for an estimated street price of $299; ShowCenter will be available through the Pinnacle e-store at www.pinnaclesys.com, as well as leading consumer electronics, PC and Internet retailers.
Pinnacle Systems provides broadcasters and consumers with cutting-edge digital media creation, storage, and play back solutions for use at home, in the studio and on the air. Pinnacle Systems' award- winning digital media solutions are in use around the world for broadcast, video editing, DVD and CDR authoring and on the Internet. The company has received eight prestigious Emmy Awards for its technical innovations and carries this commitment throughout all of its product lines.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
