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Virgin Launches Not Quite ‘Free TV’
Virgin Media wants a slice of the T and has launched a new service targeting people in non-cable areas of the UK.
Called Virgin Free TV it
involves a tiny set-top box capable of bringing you 40 free-to-air channels
once you sign up for Virgin’s 8Mb broadband and Talk Anytime phone bundle at
£199.99 a month. There’s also a £40 set-up charge if you opt for the
broadband service only. So, as you can see, it’s not actually free but works
out at around £280 a year.
It is a very small set-top box
though at 19 x 9cms – about the same size
as a ‘ye olde video cassette’. It comes with a remote control and a very handy
remote extender, which will allow you
to hide this away in a press and still be able to change channels. Here are the
key features of the service:
* over 40 free-to-air TV
channels and over 25 digital radio stations
* an easy to use eight-day,
Virgin branded, on-screen TV guide
* high quality reception plus
access to interactive content via the red button
* customer service support
online and over the phone
* plug 'n' play installation
* low power consumption using
just 1/15th of the energy of a standard 60W lightbulb
Philip Snalune, managing director of non-cable at Virgin Media, said:
“Launching a basic TV service into non-cable areas enables us to expand
availability of our quadplay of broadband, phone, mobile and TV. This is just
the first step and our aim is to offer more advanced TV services across the UK
throughout 2008. The digital switchover is just around the corner and we can
now offer consumers across the UK a simple and low-cost way of making the
digital leap, even if they can't get cable services."
Sky Launches Video-on-Demand Service
Sky has introduced a free video-on-demand service that will store up to 30 hours of week-ahead programmes, movies and music highlights on a Sky HD set-up box.
Called
Anytime On TV, uses space on the HDD inside the set-top box, which is not
accessible for recording, to store a range of programmes that Sky viewers might
want to see and add to their regular schedule of things to record. 
The content
is added to a user’s service overnight and they will have up to seven days to
view the programmes or add them to their planner. Newer programmes will be
added after that period, replacing older ones.
The service is only available to Sky HD customers for now but the broadcaster said it will roll it out to all Sky+ customers with newer set-top boxes. There will be an option for other customers, not subscribing to premium channels, to pay for certain programmes they see on the service.
Programmes, which will be in high defintion (HD) where possible, will come from a variety
of channels including Sky One, Sky Movies, Sky Arts, National Geographic, Sky
Sports, Disney, Biography and others.
Fold-Away Home Cinema
BTX Technologies is out to prove the opposite by launching an innovative
series of portable projector screens which fold away when you are done. The
NUVU series, 
once removed from the handy bag just pops into the correct shape
in a matter of seconds and folds away just as easily once you’ve finished that
10-hour Lord of the Rings marathon.
You can hang the larger ones on the walls using a permanent fixture or
use a separate magnetic hanging set for £60. The screens come in 16:9 widescreen,
regular 4:3 and self-standing table-top models for easy presentations. Screen sizes range from 40ins to 88ins.
For anyone that wants to try out
the cinema-at-home experience without destroying the living room, this could be
a safe, first step.
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Al Gore Beams DIY TV To The UK
The former US vice president and eco-warrior, Al Gore, is to launch his TV
channel in the UK where programmes made by the viewers will be aired.
Called Current TV, the channel already reaches 40 million people in the
US, mainly in the 18-34-year old bracket, and 10 million UK viewers will now
have access too.
Available through Sky and Virgin
Media, Current TV will feature short, non-fiction content from three to eight
minutes long, called Pods, many made by viewers. 
The majority of the content
will come from sources not generally tapped by regular TV stations. For
instance, a third will come from video subscriptions via the Internet which are
first cleared by the TV execs, while the rest is voted on by the general public.
There will be news bulletins on the half-hour and Google will be
providing access to its top searches. Gore has assured people that the channel
will not push the green agenda, nor will it endorse any political stance.
He was quoted as saying: “This is not going to be a political or
ideological channel - it's more revolutionary than that.”
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Sky+ Boxes Break 2 Million Barrier
The announcement is also significant in showing that a growing number of
UK TV viewers want more control over what they watch, when they watch it and
how they record it using hard disk drive (HDD) recorders.
With 2 million boxes out there, Sky estimates that it means 5 million
viewers are now able to pause and rewind live TV, record two programmes at once
and set the box to record every episode of their favourite shows. Jeremy
Darroch, Sky's Chief Financial Officer, said:
"Passing the milestone of 2 million Sky+ boxes keeps us on track to
break through our target of 25% penetration well ahead of schedule (2010).”
New research from Sky also 
highlighted what TV Sky+ users are recording with
all their new-fangled functionality. Drama is the most popular genre recorded
(39.3%) followed by documentaries (14.9%), entertainment (13.0%) and movies
(9.5%).
Across all channels, time-shifting accounts for an average of 12.2% of
total viewing through Sky+ boxes. You can expect this to rise as more and more
homes chuck out their videos and opt for some form of HDD recorder.
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Make Your iPod Sporty On The Cheap
Back in the summer, Apple and Nike got together to create a sporting
combo, made up of Apple’s iPod Sport Kit (£19) and special Nike trainers (£60+)
embedded with wireless sensors. You could then input and monitor your training
sessions via the menus and then download the data to compare performances on a
PC or Mac. Think of it as a virtual trainer.
The only snag was that you had to buy an expensive pair of Nike
trainers. 
Now, SwitchEasy is allowing iPod owners to do the same with its
RunAway device at a fraction of the cost, around £10 or less.
Keep your old trainers, buy the Sport Kit and attach the RunAway widget to your trainers, which will keep your sensors safe from the elements. Comes in six colours. So simple, so cheap.
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BT Vision Opens For Business
BT’s big drive to grab itself a piece of the broadband TV market is
finally underway. The telecoms operator has unveiled exactly what will be on
offer with BT Vision as its steps into the arena with TV heavyweights, Sky, BBC, NTL and
others. It’s unique proposition is that
it has no monthly fee, as it will be included with newer BT Total Broadband
contracts.
Yesterday BBC took the wraps off its high-definition sports line-up for
2007 and, unsurprisingly, BT Vision is making sports the key offering of its
own broadband TV line-up. From next year, BT will offer 75 per cent of all FA
Premiership games 
and some of the main Scottish Premiership games through a
deal with Setanta Sport and others. They will be made up of a mix of live and
‘near-live’ matches but, disappointingly, they will not kick off until the
summer.
You will need a new set-top box from BT called the V-Box, a digital video recorder (DVR), capable of storing up to 80 hours of content. BT will be giving the £199 box away free to new and
existing customers that sign up for an 18-month broadband contract. That said,
there is an installation fee of £60 and a connection charge of £30. Apart from
sport, BT Vision viewers will get the 40+ Freeview channels. Ian Livingston, BT
Retail chief executive claimed:
“BT Vision is all about giving control to the viewer – control over what
they watch, when they watch it and how they pay for it. We believe that
broadband can transform television and take it into a new era. BT Vision is
ideal for people who want more choice than Freeview delivers but who want that
extra choice without being tied to a pricey, long-term subscription.”
Video-on-Demand services are patchy right now but movies will cost from
£1.99-£2.99, while TV programme replays will cost 99p and live concerts £2.99.
Read more here.
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BBC Issues High-Def Sports Timetable
Sports in HD is one of the key selling points for the Beeb’s fledgling
high-def TV service as it goes head-to head with Sky and NTL in the next
generation TV wars. Kick-off will take place at the start of January y with the
major 
FA Cup weekend games from the third round. High def coverage will extend
for the whole competition.
Six Nations rugby will also be on show with all of the England, Wales
and Scotland games being broadcast alongside BBC One’s coverage. The fixture
list looks like this:
* Saturday February 3: 16.00pm, England vs Scotland.
* Sunday February 4: 15.00pm, Wales vs Ireland
* Saturday February 10: 13.30, England vs Italy, and 15.30pm Scotland vs
Wales
* Saturday February 24: 15.00pm, Scotland vs Italy
* March 10: 13.30pm Scotland vs Ireland
* March 11: 15.00pm England vs France
* March 17: 20.00pm Wales vs England
Even if you're not a sports fan, it's a good way to test the performance of your new HDTV and it's a welcome brreak from all that National Geographic stuff.
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HANNspree Launches TVs For Sports Fanatics
HANNspree likes to be a little different when it comes to designing TVs
and its new Sports Line is a perfect example. Why have a boring old flat screen
TV for watching football when you can watch it on a football? Literally.
Football fanatics can now get their kicks with the HANNSdribbling 9.6in
LCD TV. 
Not only is it shaped like a football, the outside is made from genuine
football leather.
If the beautiful game is not your cup of tea, you can take a peek at
the HANNSgolf 15in high defintion LCD
TV, complete with ball dimples, a base comprised of two iron club and a an
oversized green golf tee for the stand.
Basketball lovers can check out the table-top or wall-mountable
HANNSball.champions 15in LCD TV. It can be swivelled through 360 degrees and,
like the football, is made from basketball leather.
The football, golf and basketball TVs should cost £299, £389 and £459,
respectively. That said, the prices Amazon UK are charging are a lot higher.
Portable Atlus headphones from Sony
Not everyone likes tiny little earphones or the newer breed of noise cancelling in-ear earplugs. In fact, there are quite a few people that still think – and many are right – that full-sized headphones are the way to go for superior sound.
Sony’s
Atlus stereo headphones will no doubt appeal then. 
The new Atlus MDR-D777LP are good-looking full sized headphones but
they have also been designed for life on the go with collapsible earpieces.
They sport 80KHz driver units that are aligned parallel with the ear for a
‘more natural’ and wider sound field.
One clever touch is an Ambient Sound-In
Switch which allows you to hear outside noise, which is important if you use
them for commuting, cycling or running. These are due out in the coming month and will set you back around £75. More
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