Here's the formula for the gadget of the year: a device that delivers Internet video on the TV. It sounds simple, but no one has really cracked this market, which should be huge.
Microsoft Corp. has supplied hardware partners like Cisco Systems Inc. and D-Link Corp. with updated software and blueprints for the Extender for Windows Media Center, a box you put in your entertainment center and connect to your TV.
You control the extender with a remote, gaining access not only to the movies, music and photos stored on the PC, but also some free web videos and subscription movie services.
The extender can connect to a router via Wi-Fi or wired Ethernet, but the connection between the router and the PC is equally important.