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I know about it but haven't experienced it yet

12 (34.3%)

I've used it

2 (5.7%)

I use it frequently

4 (11.4%)

Not relevant for me

6 (17.1%)

Not aware of it at all

11 (31.4%)

Total Members Voted: 34

[JimH]

At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) a year ago, Intel announced thier grand plan for distribution and playback of media.  It was called Viiv (rhymes with five).  Tom Cruise helped out.

Are you aware of it?  Have you used it?

[KingSparta]

never heard of it, never seen it on TV

it sounds to me that the Viiv was built more for Windows Vista

PCs based on Intel® Viiv™ technology are built with Intel's high performance dual-core processors, chipsets, networking silicon, and special software.

Intel® Viiv™ Software version 1.5 supports Microsoft* Windows* XP Media Center Edition 2005 Update Rollup 2.

Intel® Viiv™ Software version 1.6 supports Microsoft Windows Vista* Home Premium and Windows Vista* Ultimate (32-bit).

Maybe it is too soon?

http://www.intel.com/personal/our-technology/viiv/index.htm?cid=cim:ggl|dig_hom_viiv|k426F|s

[jmone]

Yawn....the only time it has impacted me is on a Vista PC Build as I get a "Unknown Device" that needs a driver from Viiv to support an Instant On feature in the BIOS.  The "fix" from Intel is to turn it off in BIOS (I just ignore it).

[benn600]

I remember watching the CES show (from dl.tv's feed) and thinking how it could be revolutionary.  Lol.  Now that you mention it, I haven't really ever seen or used it at all.  I vividly remember watching all those keynotes and now looking back...lol.

[datdude]

It looks like it is just a way for Intel to try and make money other than from chips.  I don't think viiv actually has any technology or services that can't be found elsewhere, but I could be wrong as I haven't looked it over much.

[Rob L]

Hm, well, apparently, I'm the only one so far who has used it.

I have a Sony Vaio XL-100, so I've had a Viiv PC for about a year now.
And I don't get it. I still don't actually know what it's giving me!

I do get some nice video clips that explain it to me. Apparently it's about media and stuff. I hadn't realised I was part of an elite. Finally :-)

[benn600]

I think Intel didn't realize it when they released Viiv but Media Center obsoleted Viiv a while ago.

[Wile E. One]

I sell computers for a living, and I can say that of the several hundred computers I've sold over the last year or so since Intel released their Viiv technology, NOT ONE single person has ever bought the computer because of Viiv. Actually, AMD have faired about as well with their AMD LIVE... so it seems as if both are equally irrelevant in most people's lives.

[glynor]

I've read some articles about how AMD's Live is actually doing a slight bit better than VIIV, as far as manufacturer support.

Both initiatives seemed to me to be little about actual product features, and more about "platforming" (ala-Centrino) and marketing gimmicks.  They both used all off the shelf technologies that could have been assembled easily before and after Intel decided to give it a fancy marketing name.

[InflatableMouse]

I've heard about it but it seems to me this is something I shouldn't really need to care about. Viiv seems to me as the fancy follow-up of SSE & MMX. It's not like I wake up one morning and think "hey, let me enjoy my cup of coffee over some Viiv". It's not like I pick an application based on Viiv support. It's not like what I do is so dependent on Viiv that I can't do without it. Hell I don't even know what it can mean for me and I am on the bleeding edge of technology streaming full HD to my TV set and playing all my music streaming. Obviously I don't need it. I watch several TV series in HD streaming. hell I can't remember the last time I actually played a dvd or cd .... Now that's a lie but I wish it wasn't 

I don't think mediacenter pc's are the future, streaming is IMO. HTPC's are nice but I think the hype is already passing. I think Mediacenter extenders have a greater future. Right now it's only the xbox but I think we are going to see stand alone devices or built in support for extenders. I think upnp client devices have a similar maybe even greater future (given its open source nature and M$ isn't). I am sure we are going to see these applications built in more and more like in TV's and (HD)DVD players etc. I've already seen TV's with upnp clients built in (think it was Acer) and my current receiver supports upnp. Now how does Viiv fit in my future???

[glynor]

th' Inq just had some fun at AMD Live's expense: http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=38205

Of course, they also said:

although we must say it's quite some time since we heard murmurs of Intel's equivalent plot, Viiv.

[InflatableMouse]

I sometimes wonder if the AMD and Intel guys are reading stuff like that.

[BartMan01]

th' Inq just had some fun at AMD Live's expense: http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=38205

Of course, they also said:

Got to love descriptions full of 'management speech'.  It's like reading your horoscope, it's vague and worded so that no matter what the product actually turns out to be then it meets the 'description'.  Heck, just a faster processor would give more seamless enjoyment of a/v content.

[benn600]

How about no DRM, high quality recordings, and great production.  Try the old fashioned method of providing great content and entertainment.  Luckily for me, I am not restricted by DRM at all (currently).  I have all my CDs & DVDs ripped and accessible to me at any second.  Unfortunately, HD stuff will change a lot of my processes but I'll just have to wait.  There is a threshold of content quality at which essentially most of our computers here become obsolete.  We have three identical computers that were purchased online which seem to be "used" business computers.  They are all 2.4 GHz and that is a great improvement in speed from what we had before.

Anyway, they are fast enough for everything they need them for...and were very cheap...but hd content probably won't play well, if at all, so that and the fact that we don't have a ""true"" HD television...whatever that means.  We have some 1600x1200 monitors, which is close, but I guess I'd have to have at least 1920x1080 to have HD...forgetting 720p.  All I know is that upgrading to the newest stuff would be costly.  And lots of my current players wouldn't even touch HD...like my Xbox media center, etc.

Just a few of the many barriers to entry for me.

[JimH]

bump

[acheslow]

Disclaimer: I work for Intel, not in the Digital Home Group but with that group. There are actually a number of features in Viiv PCs that aren't very well explained or marketed but which I think are a lot more valuable than the freeware that AMD bundles in AMD Live. The most useful to me is that I can stream content from my Viiv PC to a Viiv DMA (like a DirecTV STB) and it 'just works' -- the two are verified to automatically find and configure themselves, and the Viiv PC transparently transcodes files that the DMA wouldn't otherwise be able to play if it were connected to a non-Viiv PC. Both can also access online media that is not available when connected to a non-Viiv PC. Intel has also invested a lot to try to free people from restrictive DRMs by building transcryption, for instance between WM-DRM and DTCP-IP. I think many people confuse Intel's work in this area and think that Intel is enforcing DRM where it doesn't exist, but in fact Intel is really just trying to provide open standards-based options where DRM already exists and can't be avoided. Then there are lots of performance enhancements around networking, power management, etc, but these are even more transparent to most consumers. I think the main thing that is lacking in Viiv is the marketing behind it, because Intel is focusing more on the top-level Core 2 Duo brand for now.

[mlefebvre]

So that's what I got when I bought my HP computer with Viiv? Didn't know that....

(Goes to show how important it was for me when I bought the machine LOL!)

Michel.

[JimH]

Disclaimer: I work for Intel, not in the Digital Home Group but with that group. There are actually a number of features in Viiv PCs that aren't very well explained or marketed but which I think are a lot more valuable than the freeware that AMD bundles in AMD Live. The most useful to me is that I can stream content from my Viiv PC to a Viiv DMA (like a DirecTV STB) and it 'just works' -- the two are verified to automatically find and configure themselves, and the Viiv PC transparently transcodes files that the DMA wouldn't otherwise be able to play if it were connected to a non-Viiv PC. Both can also access online media that is not available when connected to a non-Viiv PC. Intel has also invested a lot to try to free people from restrictive DRMs by building transcryption, for instance between WM-DRM and DTCP-IP. I think many people confuse Intel's work in this area and think that Intel is enforcing DRM where it doesn't exist, but in fact Intel is really just trying to provide open standards-based options where DRM already exists and can't be avoided. Then there are lots of performance enhancements around networking, power management, etc, but these are even more transparent to most consumers.

Thanks very much for posting.

I think the main thing that is lacking in Viiv is the marketing behind it, because Intel is focusing more on the top-level Core 2 Duo brand for now.

I completely agree.  If they would just explain it, as you have, to consumers, it would have a chance.

Thanks again.