LG no longer selling 15,000 3DTVs to Sky TV, Britons breathe a sigh of indifference
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted March 17th 2010 11:21AM
posted March 17th 2010 11:21AM
Why is this man so down? Is it the crooked hat? Or the long hours spent with the same flat expression on his face? No, the fact of the matter is that Sky's plan to outfit pubs the breadth and width of the island nation with 3D televisions has fallen flat. Yesterday LG announced that the satellite provider had purchased some 15,000 sets with the hope of hooking folks on the technology before launching its in-home service later in the year, but now the company's pulling back, instead saying that deal involves the channel selling pubs 3DTVs through a third party. And we're sure that pub owners are going to jump at the chance to buy expensive new displays and scores of 3D glasses so customers can drop them in pitchers and / or break them while playing darts or whatever goes on over there in the land of Pete Doherty and excessive surveillance. LG's statement is after the break.
LG Electronics UK (LG), a leader and technology innovator in consumer electronics and appliances, clarifies its agreement to supply TVs for British Sky Broadcasting Group's (Sky) forthcoming 3D TV service.
LG is currently working with Sky to bring 3D TV to pubs and clubs throughout the UK and Ireland. LG will supply 3D TVs nationwide to support the launch of Sky 3D, Europe's first 3D TV channel. The channel goes live in pubs and clubs from April 2010.
A previous release issued on 16th March 2010 referenced a commercial deal to supply 15,000 3D TVs to Sky.
LG Electronics UK would like to further clarify the situation. The figure of 15,000 3D TVs is inaccurate. Sky is helping support its commercial customers purchase TVs direct from a UK third party.
"Supporting the roll out of Sky 3D represents a great opportunity for both LG and Sky to bring ground-breaking technology to the UK public and a significant step forward in our desire to showcase the latest TV technology in action" said an LG spokesman.
LG is currently working with Sky to bring 3D TV to pubs and clubs throughout the UK and Ireland. LG will supply 3D TVs nationwide to support the launch of Sky 3D, Europe's first 3D TV channel. The channel goes live in pubs and clubs from April 2010.
A previous release issued on 16th March 2010 referenced a commercial deal to supply 15,000 3D TVs to Sky.
LG Electronics UK would like to further clarify the situation. The figure of 15,000 3D TVs is inaccurate. Sky is helping support its commercial customers purchase TVs direct from a UK third party.
"Supporting the roll out of Sky 3D represents a great opportunity for both LG and Sky to bring ground-breaking technology to the UK public and a significant step forward in our desire to showcase the latest TV technology in action" said an LG spokesman.
What rifle do those guys carry? Anyone?
@Agent007
ak47
@Agent007
SA 80?
@CJisohsocool That doesn't look like an ak-47 in the picture.
@CJisohsocool
lol, is that the only rifle name you know?
but yeah, pretty sure its an SA80. I used to use the cadet version many years ago ;)
@Okjeff171
AK-47 in disguise. The economy hit hard than it looks.
@Prospero
It was a joke :( geez u guys r so uptight lol.
@Agent007 Rumors say they switched to BB guns, after some guards complained about the guns being to heavy.
@onlymyrailgun
It hit so hard that I dropped the "er" from "harder".
@Agent007 SA80 A2
@sgtjay finally a man who knows his guns...I'll take an SA80 over a 3D tv anyday
@Agent007
SA80, L85A2 variant.
Its a pretty distinctive weapon, only be used by a small minority of forces outside the UK. Its a more efficient design than the US's M16 and its variants (in terms of better bolt placement, bullpup design - the SA80 is shorter than an M16, but has a longer barrel). And the latest A2 variant is pretty reliable too.
I'm personally waiting for the LSAT program to finish up. Caseless rounds are the future :).
Dammit, this is terrible news. How are we going to have excessive surveillance on our football now?
3D is a farce...all these giants are trying to dump on us .. am not liking it :(
@njsrikar agreed
Britons?! That would be "British" if you don't mind.
Thank you
@HarpoonJoe
'Britons' is technically correct though.
@Craig
Only in as much as "Yank" or "Yankee" is technically correct while referring to Americans.
Not that I'm making a song and a dance about it, with me being Welsh and all makes me somewhat more of a "Briton" than some other British people.
@HarpoonJoe Briton is perfectly fine, the BBC use it all the time to describe someone from the British Isles. I don't mind being called a Briton, it's better than a limey.
@HarpoonJoe
"Britons" is acutally the historical term used. Its a more specific term directed at those with ancestral heritage (i.e. celtic) in the UK.
I would use the term "native" to describe it - but that would be incorrect. The Celts originated from the area around India, we've been invaded by just about every country from Europe, our royal family is German with a French heritage...
We're about as mongrel a country as you can get. So in that sense "Briton" is not an entirely correct usage.
Still, I like the term and its neither here nor there.
Rule Britania! My house, 11am tomorrow for tea and crumpets!
Yorkshire Tea, gold blend -- naturally. Not some cheap PG Tips or Tetley, bleugh!
Careful, Engadget. You are being watched, in 3D!
It's definitely not an AK-47, I know that much. That's pretty badass that those guards carry fully automatic rifles, I guess we Americans are used to seeing them in cartoons with old muzzle-loaders.
@Agent007
When they're not on guard duty, the Coldstream Guards function like a normal military unit, so they have training with modern rifles.
@humphreybogart
photoshop.
I think that the best tech for a setting like a pub are the 3DTVs that don't require glasses.
they would not stand there and let you put the glasses on unless there not guard duty
Sky sell to Ireland as well as the whole of the UK.
so by calling it "the land of Pete Doherty", you calling us all druggies?
...nice
meh, as long as its in HD i'm not fussed...
Americans really need to realise that surviellence in Briton really isn't as bad as they say it is...
Does the UK still have that annual fee for owning a television and the surveillance vans that roam the streets with TV detectors to make sure people are paying?
If so, maybe the Brits are worried that the addition of another dimension to their television viewing would result in an increased fee.
(Just because you don't notice the surveillance anymore doesn't mean it isn't there.)
@Releaux
Yep, we've still got the ~£140 TV license.
And stop joking about a higher fee for 3DTV: the idiots in charge will think it's a great idea.
@Releaux
The TV License means the BBC is independant. Completely. Its not sponsored by anything, no advertisements, and no government control either. It has a regulatory body to ensure it operates correctly.
The BBC is funded by the British people and is in service for the British people. Its a reliable source of news (because you know its completely independant, no financial interests in anything) and does some amazing documentaries to boot too (Dr Brian Cox is a freaking genious).
@maty Don't come in here with your facts and common sense explanations trying to derail my snarky comments. Don't you know how the Internet works? ;-)
I like the BBC quite a bit. Is the regulatory body elected, appointed? By whom? I'm not trying to contradict you, I'm just genetically predisposed to hear "government" when I hear "regulatory."
Also, my joke about the extra dimension costing more just became a lot more likely if you've got a forced-funding model for a public service (we call those "government taxes" here) and need to pay for the equipment outlay...
@Releaux
Regardless of regulation, having lived in America for a time I would have at the time been happy to pay (as would many of my American friends) the compulsory £140 for a service like the BBC. Trying to watch a 1h program in the US is intolerable. The program is actually under 35mins long, it’s broken up with 5-6 infuriating adverts and when the program is running you are continually annoyed with pop-up ads about what’s on next or is coming soon!
Who wouldn’t pay £140 per year for 9 high quality TV and 11 radio channels which are all nonbiased, non-political, ad free, break free and pop-up free.
As for 3DTV in Pubs, this move is a clear indication that SKY is going to show the World Cup this June in 3D. Hence the rush in getting pubs to sign up now. 3D football will fill the pubs in June and July and launch 3D with a bang in the UK and Ireland.
@yek I made no comment on value. My intent was simply to point out that a compulsory payment, demanded by an organization with "regulatory oversight" is normally referred to as a tax. I understand that there's supposedly no government connection, but I'd still like to know who the regulators are, how they're selected, who they serve, etc. because I don't know and I like to learn.
We actually have a similar setup here in the US. A small portion of cable franchise fees goes to fund C-SPAN which operates as an independent, non-profit organization. So, your money gets you the BBC, my money gets me a bunch of Congressmen wishing some constituent a happy birthday or coming up with some way to support something without actually going on record as having supported it. In fact, the most entertaining thing on C-SPAN is your parliament.
Considering that, yes, I'd love to get what BBC provides for less than US$20 a month. I disagree that BBC is without bias or that it is a non-political organization, but compared to many other networks (Fox, CNN, PBS, etc.), it's much easier to filter out.
Please read my comments again without your knickers in a twist and you'll see that I'm not poking fun at British citizens, the BBC, or cousin Algernon playing darts down at the pub. I'm poking fun at the continual creep of taxation and fees that we all enjoy at the hands of our "civil servants," often for a return of questionable value.
My initial comment about surveillance was directed as a response to GeorgeRobo; it's hard for me to accept that surveillance there isn't so bad when you have vans roaming the streets to check if you have a television and are researching a massive network of microphones that detect whether or not a person's voice indicates they're about to become violent. The comment's intent was to point out that we (humans) stop seeing the erosion of liberty, privacy, and common sense after a time and from a different perspective, it's often horrifying. You folks in Europe have made quite a sport out of pointing out the things that we Americans don't pay much attention to that you find distasteful. Case in point: our ad-driven television model.
Actually, the average program length per hour is currently around 42 minutes. This number has gotten smaller over the past 50 years - advertising initially took up about 15% of a typical programming hour, it's now hovering around 28-32%. "Reality" television has made this worse, since it's not the advertising wasting my time, but the show itself. Shows like The Biggest Loser or [YOUR COUNTRY HERE] Idol run for 2 hours and have about 18 minutes of actual content.
I suspect with the ongoing march of DVRs, Internet viewing, etc., though, that advertising will morph into something different. Everything old is new again, and the kids of 90210 will soon be smoking Winston cigarettes.
Glorious 3-dimensional cigarettes.
/Sheesh, come in here to make a friendly jab at our best friend...
and in related news, LG executives sold millions of shares yesterday before closing...
Breadth AND the width? Aren't they pretty much the same thing?
We don't do pitchers. Sharing is strictly un-British.
Pathetic idea in the 1st place.3D is pointless.