Windows Everywhere
Imperium Smart Systems wins Microsoft’s Ultimate Install Competition for the best Media Center implementation
January 2008 By Brian Ploskina
There aren’t many advantages in this business when you’re young. No experience. No cadre of current customers to market to. And you’re just beginning to make the mistakes most of your competition has already committed and learned from. But there’s one distinct advantage Tyler Jennings and his team of fellow twentysomethings at Imperium Smart Systems in Herriman, Utah, have: Starting from a clean slate, the group can adopt the latest technology earlier than anyone else, and install it quickly.
This fall, the company was rewarded for its ingenuity, winning the Windows Media Center Ultimate Install Competition. Announced at the 2007 CEDIA EXPO, the contest was designed to bring out the best of the best in home theater technologies that incorporate Windows Media Center. And if Todd Rutherford, lead program manager for the Media Center team at Microsoft, learned anything, it’s that the contest committee had set its sights quite low. No one expected the level of accomplishment they witnessed in the Imperium submission.
“The thing that impressed me most was the completeness of the installation and that it used Media Center as the primary interface throughout the house,” Rutherford says. Whereas most integrators working with Media Center use it as the primary source for home theater applications, Imperium made Media Center the only interface the customer used for home theater, home audio, environmental controls, security cameras, the whole nine yards. “The user was very immersed in the Media Center environment. It really featured the power of Media Center. It extended it to be much more.”
Each entry submitted to the contest was judged based on the following criteria:
• Use of Windows Media Center as the primary user interface for media consumption
• Use of Windows Media Center experiences (for example, television, music, video, pictures and DVD library)
• Integration with other, non-PC consumer electronics devices
• Ability to create a seamless user experience
• Creativity and originality
Imperium’s customer was looking for a solution to integrate all their pictures, music, home videos, TV and DVDs into one simple interface. “There wasn’t a piece that was left out,” Jennings says. “We did everything that he would want to do with his CDs, DVDs, pictures, Internet access, gaming, environmental controls, surveillance, weather forecasts, everything.” Jennings says using Windows Media Center as the platform that controls it all is what put Imperium over the top. But he gave credit to the customer, who was adamant about exploiting new technology. “The homeowner was always up for the latest and greatest so we were able to introduce him to those things and he got excited,” Jennings said. “That helped a lot.”
This fall, the company was rewarded for its ingenuity, winning the Windows Media Center Ultimate Install Competition. Announced at the 2007 CEDIA EXPO, the contest was designed to bring out the best of the best in home theater technologies that incorporate Windows Media Center. And if Todd Rutherford, lead program manager for the Media Center team at Microsoft, learned anything, it’s that the contest committee had set its sights quite low. No one expected the level of accomplishment they witnessed in the Imperium submission.
“The thing that impressed me most was the completeness of the installation and that it used Media Center as the primary interface throughout the house,” Rutherford says. Whereas most integrators working with Media Center use it as the primary source for home theater applications, Imperium made Media Center the only interface the customer used for home theater, home audio, environmental controls, security cameras, the whole nine yards. “The user was very immersed in the Media Center environment. It really featured the power of Media Center. It extended it to be much more.”
Each entry submitted to the contest was judged based on the following criteria:
• Use of Windows Media Center as the primary user interface for media consumption
• Use of Windows Media Center experiences (for example, television, music, video, pictures and DVD library)
• Integration with other, non-PC consumer electronics devices
• Ability to create a seamless user experience
• Creativity and originality
Imperium’s customer was looking for a solution to integrate all their pictures, music, home videos, TV and DVDs into one simple interface. “There wasn’t a piece that was left out,” Jennings says. “We did everything that he would want to do with his CDs, DVDs, pictures, Internet access, gaming, environmental controls, surveillance, weather forecasts, everything.” Jennings says using Windows Media Center as the platform that controls it all is what put Imperium over the top. But he gave credit to the customer, who was adamant about exploiting new technology. “The homeowner was always up for the latest and greatest so we were able to introduce him to those things and he got excited,” Jennings said. “That helped a lot.”
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