Still on an Xbox theme, I've been reading a few articles about the Microsoft Music Mixer. This is a kind of karaoke game which allows you to sing along with songs that are stored on the Xbox's hard drive. It also has the ability to display digital photos that are stored on the Xbox too. You can either rip the music to the Xbox via its built in optical drive, or, more interestingly, Microsoft have released a small downloadable application which allows you to transfer your digital music and photos to the hard drive from your Windows XP PC across an ethernet network. Okay. This is definitely a step in the right direction, but it still falls short of what I want - streaming music.

I want Microsoft to release an Xbox version of Windows Media Player, which has the same functionality as the PC version and allows you to stream your music files from your desktop machine across a network to the Xbox. The Xbox could then play the music back through your hi-fi using its built in optical digital connection (or even bog standard stereo phono connections - I'm not really fussy).

There are already home-brew applications that do exactly this, but because they're not "official" products, they won't run on the Xbox without you first having it chipped, which involves opening up the case and resoldering some of the circuitry. Which is something I'm not prepared to do. Then you have to download the source code and compile it before installing it on your newly-modded Xbox. It's not exactly easy is it?

What I want is for Xbox Media Player to be a free download (like the PC version of Windows Media Player already is) either via your PC and install it across your network, or you could download it via Xbox Live, or you could even go to your local games shop and purchase it for about £20 if necessary. Once installed to the Xbox's hard drive it would just appear on the dashboard and be navigated using the Xbox controller. They've proved they can do this with Xbox Live, so surely this would be SUCH an easy thing for Microsoft to do? This would save me the hassle of buying a separate network media adapter, which means more expense and another box of tricks in my lounge. Everyone keeps harping on about convergence, so let's get on with it!

I notice that Microsoft have released a dedicated wi-fi adapter for the Xbox, in case you want to use the console online but can't run an ethernet cable to it from your router. It's a good idea, but I have a few problems with it. Firstly, it's designed to match the Xbox, but really this isn't particularly necessary as you'll probably tuck it away out of sight. Secondly, it runs at 802.11g speed (54 Mbps) which is completely unnecessary as it will only be used to access broadband which at the very most only runs at 2Mbps, meaning that the other 52 Mbps will be entirely redundant. Thirdly, it costs about £100, which is a lot more than very similar products from other manufacturers, just for the privilege of it saying "Xbox" on it.

All of this is entirely academic for my setup anyway, because the broadband router is about 30cm away from the xbox. A nice short bit of CAT5 should do the trick very nicely. But I'll also need an Xbox Live starter kit, and some compatible games! I think I'll hang fire for a week or two.

Well this is a pleasant surprise - the price on the iPaq 2210 has gone down again! It's now £223. I think I'd better order one before the price starts going back up again.

I've put some thought into revising my gadget wish list, and it now reads as follows:
1) HP iPaq 2210 - to keep my life in order
2) Tascam US122 computer music interface - to record guitar and sax into my PC
3) 256MB Hi-speed compactflash card - for my digital camera and PDA
4) 2000mAh rechargeable batteries and charger - for my digital camera
5) Sony in-ear headphones - for my nice new Zen NX

I think the cheapest that I can find the HP iPaq 2210 is at globalpositioningsystems.co.uk. They're flogging it for £235 including P&P. Which is good, as other places are asking £300 for it.

Well, the mobile phone had a sudden spurt of activity in the last three hours of the auction, and finally went for £60, which is a very pleasant surprise. I was beginning to think that it wouldn't sell.

I bought a bluetooth headset for my new phone today. I feel very "Mission Impossible" when wearing it. Either that or like a receptionist.

Whoa! That was quite intense. My iPaq bundle that I was selling on eBay didn't get many bids, but the price did keep going up steadily! It went from £50 to £90, then to £110, and finally ended up at £132. Which isn't bad at all. Now we'll just have to wait and see what the mobile phone goes for - but at the moment it still hasn't got any bids at all. But there's still time.

The idea of making money out of stuff that I don't want any more is quite appealing - so I thought I'd try and flog my old mobile phone. It'll only sit in a drawer gathering dust, so I might as well try and get some more cash for my new Pocket PC fund. Other Nokia 8310s are selling for about £50, which is respectable enough. The whole thing is still scary though. I don't know why it unnerves me so much, but it does. But not enough to stop me!

Well I've been and gone and done it. I've put my Pocket PC and all the accessories for it on eBay. If you want to, you can have a look at it here. The auction's open for five days, and I've put a reserve price on of £80. I'm hoping that it'll go for over £100, but I suppose we'll have to wait and see.

I'm thinking about trying my luck in the scary world of eBay. I really want a new Pocket PC, but I'm loathed to buy a new one until I've sold my existing one. I realise that I could just use the one I've got until it completely breaks down, but my love of all things new and shiny is compelling me to get a more up-to-date model, and so I need to sell the old one in order to raise some funds. eBay seems like it might work, but to be honest I'm a bit daunted by the whole thing. It seems like it might be a nerve-wracking experience...