For the past three years, DirecTV fans have been holding their breath in anticipation of a new tuner to link the service to Windows Media Center. Announced at CES in 2006 (!), the HDPC-20 promised just that connectivity, but it's been mired in development ever since. If you believe what you read on the Internet, support for the device was planned, then retracted, from the Windows Media Center TV Pack. But over the weekend, ZDNet's Ed Bott discovered a signed driver for this device in the pre-beta build of Windows 7 distributed at PDC, and that plus the forthcoming support for H.264 playback may mean the tuner's release is imminent.

According to Ed's Blog on ZDNet, "H.264 support is a prerequisite for full satellite support, both here in the U.S. and overseas. The presence of a signed driver in this beta build suggests that DirecTV's hardware is ready to go--or at least ready to test. That's excellent news for digital media enthusiasts looking for an alternative to CableCARD tuners, which have a well-deserved reputation for being flaky and expensive.

Release at CES, or at least a public announcement/demonstration, seems like a logical next step for the company. And judging by the enthusiastic comments on Media Center fan site The Green Button, the sooner the better.