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Sky to tweet near real-time video highlights from soccer matches
Seeing a soccer game unfold in bursts of 140 characters or less is better than nothing when out of TV range, but a new deal between Twitter and Sky means you won't have to wait to gawp at goals. Starting with the three matches being played today, Sky will begin embedding highlight clips from UEFA Champions League games, such as goals and interviews, in tweets from some of the broadcaster's accounts. Mimicking similar sports-focused arrangements Twitter has in the US, the Sky deal will allow fans and non-fans alike (through Promoted Tweets) to keep up with every bicycle kick and penalty in almost real-time. There's a catch, though: every clip includes an advert for Sky's Now TV sport and movie streaming service, so footie fans best prepare to have that brand baked into your brain 'til you wake up one morning with a Now TV box and no recollection of buying it.
Vodafone 4G coming to 5 UK cities on September 28th with 4GB of extra data
While EE celebrates reaching 1 million 4G subscribers, Vodafone is stepping up its game to get you to become part of its LTE family. Originally limited to London at launch, Vodafone says it plans to roll out its 4G network in Birmingham, Coventry, Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield on September 28th. On top of that, the operator will also throw in an extra 4GB of data if you join before the end of October. Vodafone already offers customers unlimited data for the first three months of their tariff, along with your choice of Spotify Premium or a Premiership football bundle (free for six months), so this will help to soften the blow when that comes to an end. Right now, Vodafone's 4G footprint is still relatively small but it plans to push its LTE network live in Bradford, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle by the end of the year. Show full PR text VODAFONE BOOSTS ULTRAFAST 4G PLANS WITH '4GBONUS' SPECIAL PROMOTION · All Vodafone Red 4G-ready and Vodafone Red Business 4G-ready customers signing up before the end of October will get an extra 4GB of data per month for the length of their contract · Existing ultrafast 4G customers will also get the '4GBonus' added to their plan at no extra cost · Vodafone ultrafast 4G coming to Birmingham, Coventry, Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield on September 28 as rollout to 98% of UK population continues Vodafone UK is today giving customers even more reasons to enjoy fantastic sports or music entertainment on ultrafast 4G by boosting the amount of data available with all Vodafone Red 4G-ready plans by 4GB per month for the length of their contract. Vodafone Red 4G-ready brings 4G to life as never before, with sports action including over 150 hours of Premier League football from Sky Sports Mobile TV, or more than 20 million songs from Spotify Premium for music lovers. Anyone signing up to a SIM only plan or a 12 or 24 month plan, with a new 4G-ready handset included, will get three months unlimited UK data, then double the amount of data available on standard Vodafone Red plans plus an extra 4GB per month for the length of their contract. On top of unlimited calls and texts it's Vodafone's best ever value deal. The '4GBonus' offer runs from today until the end of October for new and upgrading customers. Customers who signed up for Vodafone Red 4G-ready plans after they went on sale on August 12 will also receive the additional 4GB of data at no extra cost. Following the launch of Vodafone ultrafast 4G in London last month, Vodafone also announces today that it will launch 4G services in Birmingham, Coventry, Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield on September 28. By the end of the year, Vodafone Ultrafast 4G, with speeds typically six times faster than 3G, will also be switched on in Bradford, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle.* Vodafone is targeting indoor 4G coverage across 98% of the UK population by 2015. Mark Howe, Head of Post Pay Consumer, Vodafone UK, said "With our Vodafone Red 4G-ready plans 4G finally has a purpose and now with the '4GBonus' Vodafone ultrafast 4G is even more compelling. There are a number of hotly anticipated new devices coming out in the Autumn and with the '4GBonus' there are even more reasons for customers to choose Ultrafast 4G from Vodafone." Vodafone Red 4G-ready starts at £26 per month for a 12 month SIM-only plan, which now comes with 6GB of data, and £34 per month for a 24 month plan with a handset included, which now comes with 6GB of data. Vodafone Red 4G-ready customers also have a choice of great entertainment from either Sky Sports Mobile TV or Spotify Premium. Customers choosing Sky Sports Mobile TV will have access to more live football than ever before, including exclusive live coverage of more than 100 matches from the Barclays Premier League, the Sky Bet Football League, UEFA Champions League, the SPFL and La Liga. Vodafone customers choosing Sky Sports Mobile TV can also look forward to the Ashes tour of Australia this winter, Majors golf coverage including the US PGA Championship and Heineken Cup rugby. Vodafone Red 4G-ready customers choosing Spotify Premium will have more than 20 million songs at their fingertips. Spotify is the largest music streaming service of its kind, offering instant, on-demand access to the world's music, on the go. Vodafone Red 4G-ready users can discover new music, enjoy playlists curated by their friends, follow their favourite artists and celebrities, or just relax and listen to Spotify radio. Spotify Premium lets music lovers enjoy music however they want – on a smartphone, tablet or through a home entertainment system. Music fans can even listen to their favourite tracks on aeroplanes, thanks to the 'offline sync' feature. Business users who want to enjoy ultrafast 4G and the ability to share their data allowance at no extra cost with Vodafone Red Business 4G-ready, will also receive an extra 4GB of data for the length of their contract. Vodafone Red Business starts from just £21.67 (ex-VAT), for a 12 month SIM-only plan, which now comes with 6GB of data. Customers who signed up for Vodafone Red Business 4G-ready plans after they went on sale on August 12 will also receive the additional 4GB of data at no extra cost.
PlayStation 3 adds Now TV in the UK, offers access to Sky Movies and Sky Sports
Sure, the PlayStation 3 is going to be making way for the new generation soon, but something tells us folks won't complain about having access to more entertainment on Sony's aging console. To wit, Now TV's just announced that its video services have reached yet another audience, allowing those in the United Kingdom to watch Sky Movies and Sky Sports via the PS3. While subscribers can currently stream a good amount of live sporting events and some relatively new movies, Now TV has promised that additional content from Sky is "due to be added this year" -- such as programs from Sky 1, Sky Arts, Sky Living and US shows.
Sky Sports for iPad lets you choose your own replay camera angles
Football fans rejoice (that's soccer for you in America)! Sky Sports has released an update to its popular iPad app that offers a new feature called Sky Sports 360. It lets you switch between over 20 camera angles during a replay. The app also allows you to choose to view the replays at normal speed or in slow motion. Announcing the new feature, Director of Sky Sports Digital Media David Gibbs told Sky Sports: "This is great news for the Sky Sports for iPad app, which keeps getting better and better. This is about putting the technology into the hands of the viewer and allowing them to recapture the big moments in the final. It's the first time we've offered this through our app and it's another example of our investment in the Sky Sports viewer's experience." Though the feature is built into the iPad app now, it won't go live for the first time until this Saturday, May 25th, during the Champions League final between Borussia Dortmund and FC Bayern Munich. Sky Sports 360 will also be available throughout the 2013-2014 season. Sky Sports for iPad is a free download from the UK App Store. It's free to use for all customers who subscribe to the Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2 channels. Non-subscribers can access content in the app for £4.99 a month via in-app purchase.
Sky Sports for iPad adds more live camera options ahead of Champions League final
It's not uncommon for the Sky Sports iPad application to receive features tailored for fans of the world's beautiful game, soccer (or football, if you want to get technical). To that end, Sky today released version 5.4 of the app ahead of Saturday's UEFA Champions League final. Viewers will now be able to choose from up to 20 camera angles when watching game highlights, which should go hand-in-hand with the recent inclusion of that second screen experience. The update also brings the ability to view selected clips in slow-mo -- and, hey, the way Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund are currently playing, we're definitely going to need to take things down a notch.
Sky Sports comes to Now TV: £9.99 for 24 hours
In an attempt to offer a compromise for UK viewers who may want to watch the occasional sporting event but don't want a full pay-TV package, Sky Sports is available in pay-as-you-go form on its Now TV service. Access won't come cheap however, priced at £9.99 for 24 hours of access to Sky's six sports channels. That does however open up streams for all of the sports it airs, like F1, soccer, cricket and more, on TV-connected devices like the Xbox 360 and its mobile apps. Check below the break for the details in the press
Sky's Now TV service comes to Roku streaming boxes in the UK
Sky's Now TV service is continuing its uphill battle against the armies of Netflix and Lovefilm today, setting up camp in Roku's streaming boxes. Matching its Xbox 360 launch offer, you'll be able to try the service for 30 days without charge, but it's added another enticing deal for the Roku launch -- pay a reduced price of £8.99 for the first three months before the regular £15 per month fee kicks in. As well as boasting its exclusive Harry Potter catalogue suitable for a holiday marathon, we've been told Sky Sports will finally be coming to Now TV "in a few months." Sky 1, Sky Atlantic, Sky Arts and Sky Living will also eventually be added to the service, but there's still not even a loose date for those. Now TV might not reach all the hardware it intended to before the end of the year, but at least with this latest launch, Roku can start showing Sky it was worth all that cash.
Sky Sports for iPad update brings second screen to UEFA Champions League, Ryder Cup
When you're rooting for your team, one screen is never enough. Sky Sports knows this, and knows it quite well it seems. Hence why the UK Satellite giant is rolling out more of it via its iPad app. Now, as promised, the UEFA Champions League and 2012 Ryder Cup get in on the action. As you would imagine, the update lets users dive into a bunch of stats, game info, live tweets and even allows watching multiple games split-screen stylee. The updated app is available now, in plenty of time for the build up, leaving you free to stock up on snacks and refreshments.
Football fans score additional content in Sky Sports for iPad update
The app devs over at Sky Sports are having a busy year, and after improving their iPad offering for the F1 season, they're back with a "second screen" update for football (soccer) fans. Just in time for the start of the UK Premier League season, the new Football Match Centre adds a content bar alongside your chosen stream showing team and player info, in-depth stats of the match in progress and a hand-picked Twitter feed for related musings. You might think the devs deserve a break, but sadly there's no time -- next on the agenda is a similar update for the Champions League tournament, then they're bringing the second screen to golf fans before the Ryder Cup starts next month.
Sky Sports TV app for Android now available, brings live events to the UK and Ireland
Not to be outdone by The Worldwide Leader in Sports, Sky's just released its own application to keep football enthusiasts entertained while on the go -- at least Premier League fans using Android slabs. Unlike the ESPN app, however, Sky Sports is charging £5 (around $8) per month for its offering, though it will -- with the help of ESPN, no less -- stream over 100 EPL matches live, so you're not limited to only highlights and previews. That being said, Sky Sports TV also lets UK and Ireland folks watch other sporting events, including F1 races, PGA Golf and tennis events like the US Open. The bad news is the app currently doesn't support Jelly Bean-loaded devices, which, for now, will most likely only affect a tiny section of Mountain View's user base -- if that's not you, though, the link to download is down below.
Sky Sports iPad app, Sky Go for iOS and Android refreshed with more content and features
BSkyB has been busy pushing updates to several of its apps, starting with the Sky Go player. On both iOS and Android, the big new addition is access to Anytime+ video on demand from the Movies and Entertainment category, covering Sky1, Sky Living, Sky Atlantic and Sky Arts 1. On Android, v2.0 of Sky Go brings the ability to manage ones account directly via the app, move the app to the SD card and other bug fixes. What it does not do, yet, is expand the (short) list of compatible devices, although the listing promises Ice Cream Sandwich support later this month. Meanwhile, the Sky Sports app for iPad has a new update too, adding a guide, split screen view for F1 races and the ability to remotely set recordings and reminders from the tablet. All the updates are available at their respective app stores, the links can be found below. Update (7/5): Sky has pushed out a press release for the Android update, and other than confirming the ICS compatibility update by the end of July, it also mentions support for more devices. The only two mentioned specifically are the Samsung Galaxy Note and Galaxy Nexus, you can see the release for yourself after the break.
Sky considering launching Sky Sports 3D, one channel too small for three dimensions
Sky is reportedly considering splitting its stereoscopic programming into separate Sports and Entertainment channels as its content stable swells. Speaking to Pocket-lint, movie bosses Simon Rexworthy and Ian Lewis confirmed that they don't have enough time in the schedules unless sporting coverage is hived off to a distinct "Sky Sports 3D". After the split, Sky 3D would only broadcast films, factual and TV content, with the caveat that they're prioritizing quality over quantity. Lewis mentioning that one recently-released flick has been blacklisted from the service after making the testers sick, although he neglected to mention its title.
Virgin Media TiVo rolling out Red Button interactive TV services for Premier League and more
While there's no doubt that Virgin Media customers have taken well to the company's TiVo HD DVR offering, so far switching has meant giving up certain interactive TV services supported elsewhere. they're getting one back now, as the company announced it's kicking off the rollout of Red Button interactivity to the TiVo on Sky Sports HD, letting footy fans catch more extended highlights of Premier League games. There's more on the way too, with support planned for the upcoming F1 channel and BBC services in April. Check out the press release after the break for more details on what will be supported and when, assuming one will be watching the games on TV instead of diving into hooliganism, or whatever it is fans of football do, we'll keep our handegg thank you very much.
Sky Sports dedicated F1 HD channel coming next season
The 2011 Formula 1 racing season just wrapped up in Brazil, but Sky is already breaking down what it will bring to the series as it takes over UK coverage next year. Launching in March, Sky Sports F1 HD will be a channel dedicated to round the clock coverage of the world's most technologically advanced racing series including every race, practice, and qualifying session. Sky customers with the Sports and HD packages will see the HD channel appear at number 408 on the dial, although there's no word yet whether or not it will be available on BT Vision or Virgin Media. Other tidbits include a promise of Sky Go access, and that despite the broadcaster's big 3D push, there's no such coverage planned for 2012. Seeing how long it took for true HD broadcasts from F1 we're thinking that could take a while, but here in the US we'd simply settle for a promise of no more tape delayed broadcasts on Fox (and some competent challengers for the Red Bull team while we're asking) for next season. Until then, check out this brief video trailer, plus a press release with all the details after the break.
iPad dock shopping cart keeps footie fans and their other halves happy
British football fans agree on very few things: how much everyone likes Jimmy Bullard, Arséne Wenger's need to buy a proper centre-half and how painful it is to be dragged out shopping just before kickoff on Saturday. It's those sympathetic and forward-thinking people at Sky who have the answer, at least to that last one. The company has teamed up with supermarket Sainsbury's (which has a track record of innovation) to trial a new trolley with a solar-powered iPad dock and speakers. Now you can watch the game, or anything else, via the Sky Go app on your device and get the grocery shopping done at the same time. Worried about getting so engrossed in Juan Mata's footwork that you'll be a danger to others? Rest easy, the cart has proximity sensors attached to let you know when you're about to sideswipe a pensioner. It's being trialled in the Cromwell Road Sainsbury's in West London -- all you need to try it yourself is an iPad, Sky Go access and a desire to be on the cutting edge of sports and technology. If the thought of shouting 'Taxi for Bent!' down the fruit aisle appeals, you can catch another pic and the press release after the break.
Sky Sports pumps up NFL HD offerings in the UK
Fans of football (American, not soccer) in the UK are apparently getting a better look at the game than ever, with Sky Sports planning to air high definition broadcasts of many games this season. Beyond the already-HD Monday Night Football they're bringing all six Thursday night games, the three Thanksgiving Day games -- which seems odd since we'd assume it's not a holiday there -- playoffs and Super Bowl. Someone tell Madden to slide in some tea & crumpets next to the Turducken.
Sky to broadcast Super Bowl XLI in HD
We know, this weekend (and next) is all about seeing which professional teams squeeze their way into the playoffs, and moreover, seeing which college teams score bowl victories in their respective contests, but for the Brits over in England seeing less pigskin and more round ball, we've got some news for you. Reportedly, Sky is set to broadcast America's most-watched sporting event to its customers in crisp high definition, which would make it the first major US-centric sporting event to be shown in such clarity by the company. This past September, Sky Sports purportedly nailed down a deal to show live NFL games and "supporting programs," and we see no better way to take advantage of the newfound partnership than giving the blokes across the pond an HD taste of the sport so well loved here in the States. So for you Sky customers with absolutely nothing else to do on February 4th, be sure to take a gander at Super Bowl XLI, if for no other reason than seeing our football in a whole new dimension.[Via DigitalSpy]
