EKS OTUS DJ controller - mix your digital files on a touch-sensitive unit

By

Dave Walker

on February 1, 2008 Comments (0)

I'm a traditionalist when it comes to DJing - records and 'proper' decks are essential. But that approach is very much in decline, with DJs less keen to risk losing their collection in pubs and clubs - instead using something like the EKS OTUS DJ controller.

It certainly looks like a stylish piece of kit, with a 7.5” jog wheel at its heart for controlling your virtual records, as well as pitch control, start/stop, cueing and...well just about everything you would expect from a traditional deck, but using a touchscreen-style set-up.

It's getting the official launch in March, so should be on the market for the summer. No pricing available as yet.

EKS (via Born Rich)

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Top Up TV+ DTR now available with 250GB hard drive

By

Andy Merrett

on January 23, 2008 Comments (0)

The Top Up TV+ digital TV recorder (DTR) isn't a new concept — we were talking about it last year and it's been on the cards since late 2006 — but now Top Up TV has announced a 250GB version, meaning even more space to record Freeview programmes.

By now, I'm assuming everyone knows what the main features of a DTR are (if not, go back to that last article and read). Suffice it to say that this model does all the things you'd expect a dual-tuner Freeview DTR to do. It also continues to give you access to the PictureBox service for £5 a month, offering a choice of seven blockbuster movies each day, plus the usual benefits of the Top Up TV service.

This 250GB model will give you up to 180 hours of recording, which suggests that there's some fairly decent compression going on in there, though it will depend on the encoding of the original broadcast.

Argos are now selling three flavours of TUTV+ DTR. For £129.99 you can get the 250GB model with a month's trial of Top Up TV Anytime. For £149.99 you also get one month of Setanta Sports. Alternatively, the original 160GB box is now £99.99.

They should also be available to buy from the Top Up TV website

OFCOM upgrading the digital TV system - HD could be here by 2009

By

Gary Cutlack

on November 22, 2007 Comments (0)

Telly bosses at OFCOM have announced proposals to change the digital TV broadcast standard - which could allow HD channels to arrive well before the analogue switch-off is done.

The new digital TV broadcast standard includes a change to the more efficient MPEG4 picture encoding system, which along with a few other measures, will lead to a doubling of available TV capacity using the same old system we have now.

OFCOM's currently asking the public service broadcasters how they'd use this new space before dishing it out - so hopefully it'll be used for a small number of HD channels, rather than another 20 rubbish quiz phone-in stations presented by morons.

Good news - although we'll all need new digital TV boxes to decode any future HD channels. Perhaps now might be a good time to buy shares in Dixons.

(Via HDTV UK)

T5 to offer PC gaming on TVs - via set-top boxes

By

Dave Walker

on November 10, 2007 Comments (0)

Certain operators offer basic gaming on TVs, but T5 aims to take this a step further - offering PC games via set-top boxes using a 'virtual console'.

Virtual means no software or installation, with PC games offered like video-on-demand by operators from central servers, transmitting MPEG compressed video channels to users' boxes. All you have to do is change channel.

According to T5, there's a lot of interest in the gaming idea from both media providers and gaming firms - so expect them on your TV very soon.

Virgin Media introduces 'greener' bike-based engineers

By

Dave Walker

on October 30, 2007 Comments (2)

The number of Virgin Media vans on the road could be drastically cut, replaced by 'faster and greener' engineers for home visits.

The bikes will be introduced initially in London, with the belief that bikers can beat traffic congestion and clock up more appointments. Virgin estimates that a bike would spend a third of the time travelling from job to job than a van, as well as using a third of the fuel that a van would use during a year. If successful, the scheme will be rolled out in other major cities.

Hopefully the company will also get on its bike to fix the issues relating to its broadband speeds. Tech Digest has received a number of complaints about Virgin's downloads speeds, particularly at peak times. And as a customer myself, I can sympathise - as I rarely get anything near acceptable speeds during daytime hours..

Virgin Media

Babel TV - Freeview PVR, internet and online storage from one box

By

Dave Walker

on October 25, 2007 Comments (0)

Peter Dawe and Mark Turner were pioneers of the commercial internet with Pipex and Demon - and now they're back with Babel TV, which mixes digital TV with web browsing, using your existing broadband connection.

Essentially, this is a set-top box for Freeview, with PVR functionality to record shows or pause live TV. But there's more to this black box - including internet access via your TV and existing broadband connection (wireless keyboard and 'pointer' included). That means you can browse and stream video from YouTube-type sites.

There's also connectivity for your devices (for downloading and uploading your media), the opportunity for VoIP calling and the option to buy secure online storage at £1 per month for 1GB. Babel also points out that everything is handled server side, so you don't need to worry about security updates, browser errors and the like.

Babel TV boxes will be available online from November 6th priced at £295. Sounds interesting - I'm sure we'll be getting the hands-on before the launch.

Babel TV

Sky goes for Picnic - flexible broadband, phone and TV for terrestrial users

By

Dave Walker

on October 1, 2007

Sky has announced Picnic - but no sandwiches and soft drinks here, this is Sky's attempt to sell broadband, telephone and digital terrestrial television under a new brand to those who don't fancy a dish.

It's all about choice, take your pic(k) from any of the three services, all at a set price, with broadband offered up to 16MB and the TV package offering the likes of Sky Sports 1, Sky Movies, Sky One, a children's channel and a factual channel, plus all the Freeview channels.

TVonics MFR-200: smallest, simplest to connect DVB-T set top box

By

Andy Merrett

on September 7, 2007

TVonics has announced what it claims to be the world's smallest and easiest to connect DVB-T set top box.

It's the size of a matchbox, and connects via the standard aerial connector rather than requiring a SCART connection (there'd barely be room on the box). It's designed primarily for second TVs, those which lack SCART sockets, or where space is limited, and while an aerial connection could give a poorer quality signal than a SCART connection, it could prove useful for converting less important TVs around the home.

Once plugged in, it auto-scans for digital TV (Freeview) channels. The user simply tunes an unused TV channel into the box to view the channels.

Features include full MHEG5 1.06 digital text, 8 day EPG, DVB subtitles and audio description processing, and it comes with an ergonomic remote control handset.

It's more eco-friendly, too, consuming just 5W in use, and 2W in standby mode. It's also able to supply power to an active set top antenna, if required — could be useful for bedsits and other rooms where there's no access to an external aerial.

It will retail at £45 in the UK. No product image is available yet.

TVOnics

Tiscali goes nationwide with broadband TV service

By

Stuart Dredge

on September 3, 2007

Digital TV's not just about Freeview, Sky or Virgin Media any more. Tiscali has announced that its Tiscali TV service has gone nationwide, and is aiming to sign up half a million users by the end of this year.

The service will offer more than 80 channels, including Sky 1 (that means Lost and 24 - stop weeping Virgin Media customers...). The basic package will cost £19.99 including broadband and a phone line, although sports fans will be able to pay £22 extra a month for Sky's sports channels too.

Up until now, Tiscali TV has only been available in London, so the nationwide rollout will prove just how popular broadband-delivered TV could be here in the UK, along with rival services like BT Vision.

Tiscali TV website

IFA 07: LG DVR Pause and Play TV and PC users

By

Alexandra Roumbas

on August 30, 2007

For those of you into your pause and play TV, LG also had new 160GB DVRs with dual digital tuners on display. Each will naturally allow you to watch one program while recording another. They've got Freeview Playback Certification from the UK's Digital TV group, so you can record subtitles and closed captions, in addition to video and audio, as well as intelligently schedule recording times in case a TV programme over-runs.

The PC users amongst you might want to check these more computer-orientated products- the first being a dual format external optical drive, featuring a 6x Blu-Ray disc rewriter and 3x HD-DVD reading, as well as lightscribe technology for labelling compatible discs. Also of interest to PC users were the new 20-inch and 22-inch LCD models, dubbed the L206WU and L227WT respectively both featuring a contrast of 5000:1 and a new Digital Fine Contrast ratio to improve response times.

Ofcom survey: overall TV watching down, digital and HD up

By

Andy Merrett

on August 24, 2007

The latest Communications Market Report from Ofcom shows that, overall, Britons are watching slightly less TV than last year, down 4% to 3 hours and 36 minutes per day, but that viewers are watching more digital terrestrial, satellite, and high definition content.

Digital TV of some kind is now in four out of five UK households, while for those 450,000 homes who have access to some kind of high definition content, 33% of their viewing time is spent watching it.

Echoing similar studies in the US, it seems that a significant proportion (43%) of those who do have high definition TV are viewing more as a result , particularly premium content such as films and sport.

Evesham introduces Freeview DTR250 - twin tuners and 250GB drive

By

Dave Walker

on August 21, 2007 Comments (1)

If you happen to be a complete nerd (like myself), you might record you favourite TV shows and films onto a HDD, then archive onto DVD for possible later viewing. The modern equivalent of hoarding piles of old videos if you like. Or if you are slightly more normal, you might just want to record then delete your shows. And that's where the Evesham Freeview DTR250 comes in.

It's a halfway house between a DVD/HDD recorder and a Freeview box. The DTR250 gives you access to all free-to-air digital TV channels and radio stations, but adds in a 250GB HDD to record an extensive amount of TV programmes in digital quality. Selecting shows for viewing and recording is via EPG (full 7-day) and you can watch something else whilst recording with the twin tuners. There's also pause and rewind of live TV and a full remote control.

The DTR250 is available now for £169.99

Find out more

Goodmans launches Freeview 80GB/160GB digital recorders

By

Dave Walker

on August 13, 2007 Comments (1)

Goodmans has launched two Freeview decoders with hard drive storage - the GHD8020F2 and the GHD1621F2.

Think of them as a halfway house between digital boxes and DVD recorders - you get a choice of drive (80GB or 160GB) to record up to 70 hours of digital TV. And with a twin tuner on the 160GB GHD1621F2, you can record one channel whilst watching another. Other features include one-touch set up, access to all the Freeview channels via EPG, a pause/rewind function for live TV and Series Linkage for recording a full run of a show.

Available on the high street, prices start at £130.

Find out more

Top Up TV offers Premiership football package for £9.99 per month

By

Dave Walker

on August 9, 2007 Comments (1)

If you happen to have been living under a rock, you'll be one of the few that doesn't realise that the English Premiership kicks off this weekend - and the options for the armchair fan just keep on growing.

The latest to tempt you is Top Up TV, which is offering its Top Up TV+ DTR for £99.99 and a football package in conjunction with Setanta Sports for £9.99 per month, giving access to 46 English Premiership football matches in the 2007/2008 season, along with a selection of Euro games and other premium sports coverage.

And there's the DTR, which we have covered before, offering twin digital tuners, pause/rewind/catch-up and a 160GB hard drive. You can sign up for the deal now.

Top Up TV

Humax first to pass Freeview Playback Group 2 standard for DTRs

By

Andy Merrett

on August 3, 2007 Comments (3)

Humax has announced that it's the first digital TV recorder (DTR manufacturer to pass the Freeview Playback Group 2 standard.

In English, that means that its PVR-9200TB and PVR-9200TS models guarantee users the following features:

Series link: Allows viewers to programme the DTR to automatically record every episode of a series

Virgin to launch free sports channel - Setanta Sports News

By

Dave Walker

on July 26, 2007

Virgin Media and Setanta Sports have confirmed they are working together to launch a new TV channel, Setanta Sports News. And it's free to Virgin Media subscribers.

Sounding not unlike a rival's sports news channel, Setanta Sports News promises breaking news, action and comment and analysis from across the world of sport.Michael O'Rourke, co-founder of Setanta Sports, said: "Setanta Sports News will engage directly with fans on their level and bring them stories and issues that really matter to them. It will be a powerful new voice in sports news. With a full spectrum of live location reports, interviews, studio-based experts and discussion shows, this is a channel with genuine appeal to real sport fans."

Book a doctor's appointment through your TV

By

Dave Walker

on July 23, 2007

Trying to get a doctor's appointment - that usually means a sold 30 minutes on the phone trying to get through, then being offered something in three days time - when you're probably feeling better. There's not a lot you can do about the second point, but the first could soon be replaced by a click of a TV remote.

Yes, after a successful pilot scheme, thousands of patients could soon be able to book an appointment via digital TV. Over 1,100 surgeries could now offer the service, which allows patients to make, amend and cancel appointments through digital TV and mobile phones - making life easier and reducing the number of missed appointments.

The service can be accessed through the Looking Local portal on the interactive menus on Sky, cable and Freeview boxes with a modem or broadband connection. You can also access via mobile phones with net access.

Digital TV website

Via BBC

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Virgin Media and Setanta Sports offer 'free' sports channels - and that includes the Premier League

By

Dave Walker

on July 20, 2007 Comments (3)

Football is still the battleground for pay TV in the UK, with the latest deal offering 'free' sports channels if you sign up with Virgin Media.

It's a joint offer between Virgin Media and Setanta Sports, throwing in the sport as part of Virgin Media's XL basic TV package – priced from £38.50. If you do, you get live coverage from over 250 'showcase events' a year, including Barclays Premier League, Clydesdale Bank Scottish Premier League, US PGA Tour golf, European League football and rugby and horse racing from around the country.

Virgin reckons that's a saving of £110 against a similar package from Sky, but you'll need to look at the fineprint to see if that's really the case. You can sign up from today at the Virgin Media website

Find out more

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Top Up TV+ digital television recorder goes on general sale. Or is it free?

By

Dave Walker

on July 3, 2007

A few weeks back, I reported that 'selected customers' were being offered free Top Up TV+ boxes, despite the boxes being offered for sale on the site. Well, it seems like that two-tier world is still in operation, with news that the Top Up TV+ boxes are now for sale on the high street as well as online. Price? Still £139.

That doesn't represent bad value if you want the service - you get a 160GB drive (around 120 hours of recording), which offers access to the usual Freeview, as well as the option of a subscription to the premium channels the service offers, including Setanta Sports (which has a number of Premiership games, plus other leading sporting events). The box itself allows viewers to pause, rewind live TV as well as record two channels at the same time. The Top Up TV Anytime service also offers a range of premium shows to watch for up to seven days after transmission.

All good - but when you know some people are getting a box for free, it's not quite the same.

Top Up TV

Virgin Media announces its own TV channel - Virgin 1

By

Dave Walker

on June 13, 2007 Comments (1)

Well, it makes sense. If one of your main providers (Sky) is pulling channels, you might as well start your own. And that's what Virgin seems to be doing with the launch of Virgin 1.

Arriving this autumn, Virgin 1 will offer newly-commissioned and newly-acquired shows, as well as hit shows that it already has the rights to show. And it's TV for all, promising to launch on Freeview, Virgin Media and digital satellite. The line-up of shows will be announced in the near future. And as an added bonus, it promises to go on-demand with it - via broadband and Virgin Media's existing network.

Jonathan Webb, Managing Director of Virgin Media Television, said: "I want Virgin 1 and the newly-reinvigorated LIVING to be two of the top ten TV channels by switchover. Virgin 1 will shake up multi-channel and free to air TV, and start liberating viewers from the linear schedule. It will be a creative tour de force and a cutting-edge example of any time, any place content. VMtv has huge support from Virgin Media and Richard Branson who agree that Virgin 1 is what UK audiences have been waiting for."

Virgin Media