Product Reviews

MediaCentral from Equinux is a Front Row alternative that brings a host of options to the Mac user searching for a full media centre setup. Whereas Front Row provides access to iLife content, MediaCentral brings into play several other media options, offering a more rounded experience.

MediaCentral offers all the same options as Front Row and apes, almost identically, the layout and user interface, making it easy to pick up and use. It has extended the Front Row metaphor to include access to Internet video, such as the feeds from the BBC News 24 site and the Top Ten Google videos. Furthermore, if you own a TV tuner, you can access television channels, although there's no recording option or access to scheduling services such as TVTV, so it can't be used as a PVR. You do, however, get the standard now-and-next readout information that the digital signal carries with it. One of the most impressive features is Skype integration. If someone calls you, everything is put on hold

ADVERTISEMENT

and you can converse without worry. You can even call contacts from within MediaCentral without having to leave your seat.

There is also a range of games, such as a Space Invaders-style game, and a game that looks suspiciously like Pong, called Ping. A selection of radio stations can be pulled in from iTunes and you can add your own by placing the .pls or .m3u stream files into the My Radio folder on your Mac.

MediaCentral so closely mimics Front Row that if you have a Front Row-enabled Mac, you'll immediately be at home with all the software's applications. As an added bonus, once MediaCentral has been installed, it is possible to change the default blue backgrounds and menus to any colour scheme you want from the System Preferences pane. You can also edit the modules loaded at launch from the same pane. If you don't want to use Skype, just disable it from the menu and it will be dropped from the options list.

You can also use the MediaCentral application with the Apple Remote, which makes this software even more compelling. It supports the most popular digital TV tuner from Miglia and Terratec. If you don't have a Mac with infrared support or you just don't like the Apple Remote, MediaCentral is also compatible with various third-party add-ons.

If you want to have a Mac in your living room and find Front Row too restricting, MediaCentral fills the gap perfectly. It lacks a recording function for the TV, which is disappointing, but the rest of it offers such a rich interface and user experience that we can live without that for now.