v6
Latest
Virgin V6: how to get the most out of your set-top box
Researched and written by Nicholas Fearn In the home TV entertainment market, Sky and Virgin have been competing with each other for years. Then came the rise of streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, and suddenly everything changed. To stay ahead of the curve, Sky launched the Q set-top box, which offers on-demand shows and a multi-room viewing experience. For while, it was the only next-generation box available and easily beat the traditional TiVo box offered by Virgin Media. However, Virgin Media is now taking the fight to its biggest rival with the V6. The V6 is Virgin Media's smallest, smartest and fastest TV box yet. It's half the size of the company's previous TiVo box, it comes with 10 times more power, 4K support, HDR output, an intelligent multi-room system and other cool features. Whether you already own one or are looking to upgrade, here's how you can get the most out of the V6 box. Virgin TV Anywhere app The Virgin TV Anywhere app, which is available for Android and iOS devices, brings some cool features to the V6. For instance, you can watch live TV shows and on-demand boxsets anywhere in your home. You just have to have to ensure your box is connected to a WiFi connection. As is the case with the Sky Q, you can also watch selected recordings around your home and offline. What's also neat is that you can set, cancel and delete recordings using the app, which is useful when you're out and about. While the V6 does come with a remote, you have the ability to control the box with the app too. It adopts a gesture-controlled system, so you can go through shows and menus seamlessly. To enable this, you need to make sure the box's standby settings are set as Connected Low Power or Always On. Record six shows simultaneously It can be pretty annoying when you want to record several programmes, but they end up clashing. You can avoid this situation, to a point, with the V6 as the box is capable of recording six shows simultaneously. What's more, you can do this while watching a seventh recording, or you can stream a show through a service like Netflix or Amazon Prime. You don't have to worry about memory, either. The 1TB box supports 500 hours of SD recordings and 100 hours of HD recordings. A smarter remote Like Sky Q, the V6 comes with a beefed-up remote. It uses RF technology, so you don't have to constantly point it at the box in order for it to work. That means you can hide the box away in a cupboard, as opposed to having it on show. It's pretty easy to end up losing technology, so you'll be happy to know that the box comes with a 'find my remote' feature. All you have to do is press a special button on the box, and the remote will start beeping. Movie store and children's channel Sky has always been known for its large variety of shows, movies and rentals it offers, but Virgin is slowly catching up. With the V6, you can get direct access to the new Virgin Media Store. Here, you can purchase popular TV shows and movies. If you do end up downloading one, you'll be sent a copy of the DVD in the post as well. That's something Sky has offered for a while now, so it's great to see Virgin doing the same thing. There's also a kids' channel too, which blocks out adult-focused ads and shows. Ultra HD ready Unlike previous Virgin TV boxes, the V6 supports 4K television. That means you can watch and stream shows in Ultra HD. As well as Virgin content, the Netflix and YouTube apps also offer 4K support. To ensure that you get the best picture, all V6 boxes sport HDR. Multi-room Multi-room support means you can start watching a programme in one room, and continue it in another. That's pretty useful if you end up leaving your living room to, say, make a cup of coffee and happen to have a TV in your kitchen. Recordings can also be resumed on a mobile device through the Virgin TV Anywhere app. Intelligent search Looking for a specific TV show or movie can be a pain, but this is something you can avoid with the V6's smart search feature. You can access it by clicking a dedicated button on the remote. Then you'll be able to search for content across all of Virgin's apps. SeriesLink+ is another useful feature available on the V6. It lets you look for TV shows across a variety of apps and see which episodes are available to download. You can also find out shows you've already recorded or downloaded, helping you avoid duplicate content.
Virgin V6: This is Virgin Media's 4K TV box
We've known for a while that Virgin Media has been working on a new set-top box, but information on the next-generation hardware has been hard to come by. Thankfully, the company has begun teasing various aspects of what is believed to be its answer to Sky Q, today sharing both a photo of the box and a name: Virgin TV V6. Virgin Media has confirmed that like its predecessors, the V6 will support TiVo software and formally launch later this year.
Freebox v6 Revolution set-top box brings calling, TV and gaming together
Pay-TV operators have been tossing out "quadruple play" bundles for the better part of three years now, but we dare say that none of 'em have come close to nailing it like this. France's own Free, a well-known ISP in the nation, has just introduced the Freebox v6 Revolution, a newfangled set-top box designed by Philippe Starck and engineered to handle just about all of your home entertainment needs. It's stuffed with 250GB of hard drive space, an internal 802.11n WiFi module, Blu-ray drive, inbuilt web browser and Intel's Atom CE4100 media processor. It also ships with a motion-sensing remote, and in short, it's designed to provide live / streaming television options, internet (fiber or DSL is supported), gaming (via a streaming service similar to OnLive) and at-home calling to boot. Free's also planning to dabble in mobile telephony starting in 2012, hence the plans for a quadruple play offering in the not-too-distant future. We're told that a joystick (presumably for getting your game on) is thrown in, as are a pair of powerline adapters in order to easily network it through your abode's power network. The Revolution is up for pre-order now, and depending on how long you've had your current Free STB, it could cost as little as €59.99 or as much as €119.99. The "basic" Freebox service will run €29.99, and once Free goes mobile in 2012, you can add a mobile line for another €29.99. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
RTI busts out V6 / A8 matrix switchers and CP-1680 audio amp
These are primarily for the pros, so we'll keep it short and sheet. RTI is getting set to unveil a trio of new products at CEDIA, the first of which routes eight analog audio and eight composite video sources to eight individual zones. Needless to say, that's the A8 Audio Distribution Matrix Switcher we're referring to. The V6 Video Distribution Matrix Switcher can switch six component and composite video sources between six varying zones, while the CP-1680 Multi-Channel Audio Amplifier provides audio through 16 channels at 80-watts each. Pricing has yet to be divulged, but feel free to venture on past the break for the whole release. %Gallery-30206%
T-Mobile kills PEBL, slashes prices on other Motos
'Tis the changing of the guard in both T-Mobile's and Motorola's lineup, it seems. The PEBL U6, once a heavily-advertised T-Mobile exclusive, has apparently been given its walking papers to make room for the newer, more RAZR-like RIZR Z3. That's not to say the U6 is history -- far from it, in fact, with Motorola still offering it direct from its own site -- but this officially marks the end of the original PEBL's carrier availability in the US. Along with the discontinuation, several RAZRs have been deeply discounted from $50 down to $30 on contract, perhaps signaling the beginning of the end for the V3. Believe us, there's not a dry eye in the house.
Motorola teams up with Ferrari for MotoRAZR MAXX V6
Although it's passing the checkered flag quite a few laps later than the McLaren-branded handsets we've seen of late, Ferrari has utilized that long-standing partnership with Motorola to kick out a flashy limited edition MotoRAZR MAXX, dubbed the V6 Ferrari. Although it's not like Ferrari to stop with just six cylinders, this handset sports a sleek, black finish, an unmistakable yellow Ferrari logo, two-megapixel camera, VGA webcam for video telephony, 50MB of internal memory, microSD expansion slot, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, USB 2.0 connectivity, and "OTA PC syncing" to boot. Additionally, you'll find HSDPA, EDGE, and GPRS options, and for that extra luxurious touch, you'll hear an F1 "roar" each time you switch the device on, images of the Ferrari F430 engine on the mini external display, and a Ferrari automobile on the internal display. So if you've been scouting the perfect mobile to accompany that newly-purchased piece of Italian engineering, you can snag the MotoRAZR MAXX V6 Ferrari in five undisclosed (but fairly easy to guess) continents starting tomorrow, and while the €490 ($633) pricetag might turn off the average joe, at least you get a swank red leather carrying case to keep this thing in tip-top shape. Click on through for a wide open shot.[Via Cellularmania, thanks The Infamous]
Telstra rolls deep with Motorola RAZR MAXX
There's still no sign of when exactly we might be able to get our grubby American paws on a Verizon-branded MAXX, but Australia's Telstra Mobile is gearing up to deliver the Christmas goodies a little early this year. As a refresher, the V6 MAXX takes the reigns as king of the RAZR hill, rocking some mighty speedy HSDPA, a 2 megapixel external and VGA internal cam, 50MB of user memory, QVGA main display and touch-sensitive external controls. The launch of the MAXX down under dovetails nicely with Telstra's recent launch of their nationwide "Next G" HSDPA network; best of all, it sounds like you should be able to march into your local shop before too long and pick 'er up. We're beet red with jealousy, but if anyone has the chance to check it out, drop us a line in comments and let us know the verdict![Thanks, Jewburg]
Vodafone announces blockbuster 31-phone lineup
So, this actually went down a couple days ago, and we've been sitting here trying to process all the information ever since. The idea of any carrier -- let alone a non-Japanese one -- announcing thirty-one handsets in one fell swoop simply boggles our mortal minds. We take it so seriously, in fact, that we liken it to the discovery of penicillin or man landing on the moon; if a US carrier were to launch 31 handsets at once, we wouldn't be surprised to see it on the front page of every newspaper in North America. Alas, this isn't Cingular or Verizon with the announcement -- it's Vodafone, so let's get down to business. First up, Nokia is bringing six phones to the party: the 6070, 6151, 6234, 6288, 7390, and the N73; all but the 6070 are 3G, and you get your choice of cams ranging from VGA all the way up to the N73's monster 3.2-megapixel shooter. LG will be contributing its KU800 (a Chocolate variant) and L600V, both with 3G data. Motorola rolls deep with four models, the MAXX, V1100 (an HSDPA-capable Vodafone exclusive), MOTOKRZR K1, and V3xx. Sagem's got the my600V and my800V -- both lower-end 3G devices -- and the super simple myC5-3. We're starting to get a little fatigued here, but let's keep going; Sharp has their 770SH and EDGE-only GX29 in store with 1.3-megapixel and VGA cams, respectively. Sony Ericsson brings their K310i, K610i, K800i Cyber-shot, V630i (another Voda exclusive, hence the "V," we're guessing), and W850i Walkman phones, though no mention of the P990. Samsung wins the title of "World's Most Phones Launched By A Single Manufacturer In This Particular Vodafone Announcement," dropping the X510V, X680V, Z400V, Z540V, Z560V, Z720V, ZV40, and ZV50. Last -- and possibly least -- the Vodafone 710 inaugurates Voda's self-branding initiative, bringing 3G and a 1.3-megapixel camera in (what should be) an inexpensive package. All told, six of the new phones will rock HSDPA, and a total of 24 support some manner of high-speed data. Now if you'll excuse us, we need some milk of magnesia and a nap, but we hope we've brightened the day of a Brit or two among our readership. [Warning: PDF link]
