In this video, Dan gets his hands on a tiny tiny digital TV reciever "designed for people who don't want big freeview boxes". It's got very simple, very small design, with just enough space to plug in the appropriate cables. Decent UI too. But don't take my word for it, watch the video and take Dan's. It's £60, and it's available now.

TVonics

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What would companies be doing if they weren't out surverying the public and, indeed, what would the public be doing if they weren't out being stopped by people with clipboards outside Dixons?

Today is the turn of NDS to push their products on the world by giving us the results on the "just how wonderful the DVR is" survey and as it goes, I very much agree - well, to a point but to that point later. For now, prepare to have your mind blown with a volley of statistics.

Staring from September 15 you'll be able to scrutinise the skin of your favourite pop star in more detail than ever before, as MTV and its parent company Viacom launch an HD music channel for quite a chunk of Europe.

The new channel is called MTVNHD, a pretty complex yet descriptive way of saying MTV Networks High Definition. Initially shaming Britney Spears in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Poland and Sweden, the channel will feature "new music" and "programming for kids," all in English-language to make churning out "content" easier on the hard-working production teams.

Samsung will, so it is believed, announce a deal with Yahoo to include a series of web apps with its refreshed HDTV range at this week's IFA tech show.

The apps, powered by Yahoo Widgets and operating under the name Widget Channel, will let you augment your TV-watching experience, having all sorts of little windows popping up to give you news feeds, tell you what the weather is doing outside and let you watch share prices plummet throughout that afternoon's episode of Countdown.

Sharp has introduced two new digital TV recorders (DTRs), the TU-R252H (pictured) and TU-R162H.

The TU-R252H boasts a 250GB hard drive, while the TU-R162H has a more modest 160GB drive. The larger capacity model can also upscale standard definition content to 1080i resolution and connects to a TV via its HDMI port.

Much to our disappointment (but certainly not surprise) Sony confirmed following its E3 press conference that the newly unveiled PlayStation Store TV and Movies download service would not be hitting European shores until next year. Maybe. But don't fret, telly loving gamers out there, Sony has something in the way of a consolation prize: Sony PlayTV. And it's landing in a little less than two months.

PlayTV is a dual digital tuner accessory for the PS3 with accompanying software. With it you'll be able to record TV directly to your PS3 hard drive for later viewing. Or you can copy them across to your PSP for viewing on the move.

Freeview has announced that its Freeview Playback service will now be called Freeview+. It's something Chris thought would be a better name back in 2006 when the service launched, because any DVR with the feature does for Freeview what Sky+ does for Sky, or V+ does for Virgin.

According to Freeview's Director of Marketing Communications, Rob Farmer, there are already over a third of a million Freeview digital TV recorders in UK households, with the market growing 76% each year. Manufacturers include Humax, Goodmans, LG, Sony and Sharp and Tvonics.

Some extremely clever man has been working away on improving the Wii's iPlayer, creating his own solution to the rather clunky and slow official Wii implementation of the Beeb's streaming telly service.

Moaning that the Wii's slightly duff Opera browser simply hasn't got the right screen resolution to handle the BBC's default text and layout, the creator has simplified the design, bumped up the font size and generally "Apple-ised" the look and feel of iPlayer so it's quicker to operate and easier to find your way around.

Point your Wii at http://defaced.co.uk/wiiplayer and give WiiPlayer a go. It won't work on your PC. And you still need to be based in the UK to use the service. We don't pay our license fees so that you overseas lot can watch our telly for free on the internet, you know. That's what Bittorrent is for.

(Via Defaced and Dave)

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Panasonic has launched its new all-in-one Blu-ray burner and PVR in the Australian market, claiming it to be the first recorder on the continent.

The DMR-BW500 boasts some impressive features, including a 500GB hard drive, twin TV tuners, Blu-ray burner, and full PVR functionality including up to an eight hour buffer for live TV.

Amazon's big boss Jeff Bezos, speaking at the D6 conference, said the retail behemoth is planning to launch its own online video rental service rather soon.

That's pretty much all he said on the matter, although he pointed out you'd be buying movies individually on an "a la carte" basis rather than paying a subscription, then watching via a streaming service instead of having a physical download. Jeff also said it'll be aimed primarily at PC users, presumably the lucrative bored-at-work crowd.

"We're very serious about the video business, but it is much more difficult because there are so many market participants," Jeff added, making it sound like he's already hedging his bets a bit. That really is all he said about it. He didn't even give it a name or say if Warner Brothers is onboard.

(Via AllThingsD)

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Sharp is to launch three new AQUOS combo units in Japan, featuring a Blu-ray player and Digital Video Recorder plus digital and analogue TV tuners.

Available with three hard drive sizes -- 250GB, 500GB, or 1TB -- they record to the hard drive in the MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 format in any of three different bitrates (4.8, 8, and 12Mbps), so users can choose what quality to record at and, consequently, how much content can be stored.

It might be less than keen on the online version, but Virgin Media obviously has no objections to a TV-based version of the BBC iPlayer.

Virgin Media customers using BBC iPlayer on the box will be able to watch full screen pictures of the last seven days' TV at 'full quality' without the need for downloading. Initially it is through a red button on the screen, with EPG access to be added this summer.

Malcolm Wall, CEO of Content at Virgin Media, said: "The enormous success of iPlayer online has demonstrated the desire TV viewers have for viewing quality programmes at a time that suits them, and now it's available from the comfort of the living room. Virgin Media is proud to be working with the BBC to continue to lead this revolution in TV viewing."

Virgin Media

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Sony has introduced a new range of recorders featuring hard drives and DVD writers. The RDR-HXD1095 is the flagship model, boasting a 500GB drive, analogue and digital TV tuners, and BRAVIA Sync which allows it to be controlled from the same remote control as a Sony BRAVIA TV.

Yesterday, Amazon.co.uk dropped the ball and became the source of a very promising Sony PlayTV rumour. A listing, since retracted, put a release date of 31st July on the system and a price tag of £60.

PlayTV is an upcoming accessory for PlayStation 3 that adds digital telly to your console, effectively turning it into a HDD recorder.

The PS3's ability to stream content via WiFi or across the internet direct to a handheld Sony PSP also makes it a potentially excellent means of accessing your recording on the go as well. Essentially you need never miss an episode of Corrie ever again.

Sony was quick to deny the leaked information, opting for that seldom heard party line of "We have yet to announce a release date and price for PlayTV, and do not comment on rumour or speculation."

Sagem has announced the launch of two eco-friendly set top boxes. The ITD58NG ECO and ITD59NG ECO both offer basic Freeview functionality, including Electronic Programme Guide (EPG), and connect to your telly via SCART.

Poor old Apple. Everyone wants to invent a "killer" to take out its products - and the next cold-blooded assassin is video rental chain Blockbuster.

Blockbuster is developing a video-streaming set-top-box to rival (KILL!) Apple's shopping/streaming/watching Apple TV system, according to The News.

Rumoured to be announced some time this month, the Blockbuster gadget is based around the Movielink (not available in the UK) service BB bought last year, which currently lets people - legally, for once - watch movies on their PCs. Coming as a separate, standalone TV box, the Blockbuster system, when it eventually arrives, will also have the growing Xbox 360 download service to contend with as well as the Apple mafia.

Not to mention 'Bittorrent'. We predict a painful and protracted financial failure.

(Via Reuters)

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As part of its commitment to increasing Blu-ray market share, Sony is to roll out a couple of Blu-ray equipped PVRs to the Japanese market at the end of this month.

The BDZ-A70 and BDZ-T90 both feature integrated hard drives (320GB and 500GB respectively), two digital tuners and an analogue tuner, and the usual PVR functionality.

Maplin has offered up its own PVR into the crowded marketplace, a 250GB twin Freeview tuner recorder.

It offers the usual PVR functionality, storing up to 160 hours of programming, and features a seven day EPG, dual SCART output, 5.1 digital audio output, and analogue stereo output.

Available until April 15th at £99.99, £149.99 thereafter, from Maplin.

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Apple may well add digital video recorder functionality to its third generation of the Apple TV, according to the analyst Shaw Wu from American Technology Research.

This would turn the product offering into a "real business" rather than just a "hobby", and could be a real money-spinner for Apple.

To be honest, DVRs aren't hugely exciting now -- the functionality is great, of course, but in the UK every telecoms company and broadcaster is offering the service already. Would a DVR-enabled Apple TV be able to break in to the UK market in a big way? I'm not convinced.

(Via HDTV UK)

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With visions of "that's amazing" broadband adverts running around my head, I'm reporting on Tiscali's venture into the world of PVR. The Tiscali+ PVR offers all the usual functionality, with a modest 160GB hard drive, access to on-demand films, BBC iPlayer and 4oD content, plus the possibility of catch-up content from ITV and Channel 5 in due course.

It has three built-in digital tuners, so you can record two programmes while watching a third -- that beats the BT Vision box and many other dual-tuner standalone PVRs, though of course you need to find three programmes worth watching at the same time to take advantage of that (this is Freeview, you know).

It connects up to the phone line, presumably to ensure that you really are a Tiscali customer, and for downloading on-demand content.

The box itself costs a subsidised £50, and new customers will need to sign up to a 12-month contract.

(Via Web User)

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