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Discovery to launch Freeview channel in UK next year
Now that we all know at least four high-def stations are set to launch on the free-to-air Freeview HD service during 2009 - 2010, we have a feeling we'll see a whole host of newcomers joining the fold (or, at least we hope). As fate would have it, Discovery has decided that it'll launch its first FTA channel in the UK "early next year" after securing capacity on multiplex A, which is operated by ITV subsidiary SDN. Unfortunately, there's no sign of Discovery HD following suit, but surely it's not too far behind, right?
HD versions of ITV, Channel 4 and BBC coming to Freeview HD in 2009
Let us speak for all of the UK when we inhale a deep breath of fresh air and say: "Finally!" After hearing earlier this year that plans were in place for Freeview to take the HD plunge in the UK, Ofcom has just made it official. Beginning next year, ITV, Channel 4 and BBC will launch high-def channels on the platform, with an expected go-live date of "late autumn" 2009. It was also confirmed that a fourth HD channel was expected to launch by 2010. As for coverage areas, it's slated to be available in the Granada region next year, followed by Wales, Scotland and the West Country in 2010; Central, Yorkshire, Anglia and Meridian in 2011; and London, Tyne Tees and Ulster by 2012. Oh, and we hate to burst your bubble somewhat, but an all-new set-top-box will be required to juggle both the MPEG-4 and DVB-T2 standards -- bugger![Thanks, Ruaidhri]
Ins and Outs: Whatever happened to iTV?
Jeremy Toeman contributes Ins and Outs, an opinion column on entertainment technology. He is also the founder and editor of LIVEdigitally. As a sophomore in college I wrote a presentation on "the next generation home" wherein I discussed topics I had researched, ranging from "the information superhighway" (this was 1992, before Mosaic was even in beta) to home automation to interactive television. The thinking was we'd have amazing, automagically working technology controlling our home and our media, it would all come soon and cheap, and work, for lack of a better term, like magic.Here we are in 2008, and while technology's come a long way, only the rich have home automation and most of the time they spend using it involves rebooting their house. When it comes to interactive television, however, the vision of watching TV and doing cool things like seeing real-time sports statistics, selecting alternate viewpoints, or playing an interactive game just hasn't come to any home I know of. The only major improvements to TV technologies in the past 15 years are: the mainstream availability of HDTV sets and programming, on-demand movie watching, and DVRs. And these improvements are all evolutionary ones, not a single bit revolutionary.
DISH offers Interactive TV mosaic for Olympics overload
One look over our 2008 Beijing Olympics guide will tell you that there's just too much content to absorb; even just the NBC coverage is enough to induce HD OD. But DISH customers might be able to drink more comfortably from the fire hose thanks to Ensequence, which is bringing the Interactive TV mosaic to the games. As seen at the U.S. Open, this will montage feeds from six NBCU channels into a single screen. Viewers can then soak all six channels in at once or zoom in on a single channel. Even this six-fold reduction might not be enough, so various news and digest services will also be made available on DISH channel 100 -- especially appealing is the compiled highlights of the day's events. DirecTV has shown that it can play the multi-screen game, too, so don't be surprised to see it there as well. [Image courtesy ChinaDaily]
RAmos iTV PMP is first to handle China's CMMB mobile TV standard
If you haven't noticed, China's going all out to improve itself before the world fixes its eyes upon Beijing in just over a week. Rather than plunking down license fees to use a protocol that's widely accepted, China has chosen to create its own digital TV standard: CMMB. Amazingly, RAmos has actually churned out a PMP to take advantage of said standard, and just in time for the 2008 Olympics. Unfortunately, we really know nothing about the iTV except that it can understand CMMB, so screen size, internal storage and everything else remains unknown. Heck, we don't even know how expensive it is -- but hey, it supports CMMB (for the three weeks you're in China, after which it's partially worthless)![Via iTech News Net]
Interactive ad campaign seeks to "reinvent commercial time as content time"
Here at Engadget HD, we've been watching TV for a long, long time, and we can't honestly say that we've ever viewed commercial time as content time. Nevertheless, MTV Networks is teaming up with Cadbury and DISH Network in order to launch its "first-ever advertiser-supported interactive television campaign." Available "exclusively" to DISH Network customers (a curse disguised as a blessing?), the campaign will debut during The N's reality series Queen Bees on July 11th at 9:00PM ET / PT. Put simply, it will present viewers with sets of questions to answer during the show (no, that's not distracting at all), and in the next commercial break, the poll results will be shown. According to the outfits involved, this is their attempt to "reinvent commercial time as content time" and "encourage viewer retention throughout the pod." We're curious -- does anyone at MTV / Cadbury / DISH actually believe this stuff, or does it just sound great on a conference call?
DISH presenting ESPN's coverage of U.S. Open through Interactive TV mosaic
Earlier this year, DirecTV showed up everyone else with its interactive, multi-screen coverage of the Masters. Now, however, DISH Network is stepping up to the tee by planning to offer ESPN's coverage of the U.S. Open in a similar fashion. From June 12 through 13, DISH subscribers will be able to view a multiple-screen showcase (dubbed Interactive TV) that will create a mosaic with ESPN's primary feed, a feed focusing on Tiger and Phil, an "Up Close" channel and a number of other specific feeds that hardcore golf lovers will surely be fascinated with. Your turn, DirecTV.[Image courtesy of ESPN]Update: Ah, so DirecTV is doing the same! Thanks m.e.
ITV HD set for Saturday launch, just in time for Euro 2008
ITV HD already poked its head out during FreeSat trials in mid-May, but now it seems the channel is finally set to go. According to reports, the aforementioned channel will go live on FreeSat this Saturday, just in time to head up coverage of the highly-anticipated Euro 2008. The first HD match that will be shown on the station is Portugal vs. Turkey at 7:45PM, which will coincidentally mark ITV HD's first-ever high-def transmission. Here's to hoping for no issues come this Saturday -- if you think Americans get upset with botched SuperBowl broadcasts, you can't imagine the collective rage coming from across the pond when a football event gets mishandled.
ITV HD test broadcasts hit FreeSat a little early, official launch next week?
Now that FreeSat is actually on the air, a few lucky viewers have gotten a taste of ITV HD ahead of the official launch. Yesterday Digital Spy forum members using their own free-to-air satellite hardware tuned into ITV HD test feeds consisting mostly of upconverted footage, although they noted the PQ was considerably better than the SD feed available. An official launch could come as soon as next Wednesday's footy match between Manchester united and Chelsea or the kickoff of the Euro 2008 tournament June 7. Either way, fans looking for a little subscription-free HD sports can thank forum poster Snoods for the capture above, and hit the read link for a few more.[Via Digital Spy]
FreeSat TV service goes live across the UK
We knew it was coming, and after waiting for quite some time for FreeSat to go from concept to reality, television viewers across the UK can finally indulge. If you'll recall, a recent survey found that just 5-percent of Europe's HDTV owners actually bothered to tune into HD programming, but now that number is likely to change. Effective today, 98-percent of the UK can fork out a one-time fee of £49 ($96) to £120 ($234) in order to acquire a FreeSat set-top-box, and after an £80 ($156) installation, users will have subscription-free access to BBC HD, ITV HD (coming soon), Channel 4's digital service and around 70 other TV / radio channels. Better still, that number is slated to rise to 200 before the year's end, and unsurprisingly, the launch is expected to boost available high-def offerings in the region. Anyone across the pond have their equipment set up already? How's the service? [Thanks, Ivan]
FreeSat launch details emerge, service begins May 6
You patient folks over in the UK have waited a long time for FreeSat to become a reality, and it seems as if that wait will come to an end this Friday. According to an anonymous source across the pond, his store has received a memo stating that the service will go live on April 25th May 6th. Additionally, professional installation is set to run customers around £80, while receivers will set citizens back £40 to £100 depending on which box you choose. We're also told that both SD and HD set-top-boxes will be available, and even though they're expecting a rush of orders from day one, installation should be taken care of within a week or so at the latest. Hopefully this little birdie isn't too far off -- guess we'll find out soon enough.Update: It's looking like May 6th now.
Freeview going HD in the UK
It's official: HD aficionados in the UK will soon be able to get their fix via Freeview. If you'll recall, the Freeview HD trial that took place in 2006 went over quite well, and according to Ofcom, up to four free HD channels will be broadcast. Unfortunately, users looking forward to such niceties will be forced to wait until analog is switched off in their neck of the woods, and of course they'll also need an HD-ready TV and a new set-top-box. We've already heard that BBC will be one of the four channels, and ITV, Channel 4, Five and Welsh network S4C have all been "invited to bid for [the other] three slots in which they can broadcast high-definition TV or other new services." On the upside, the whole of the country should be digital by 2012, just in time for the London Olympics -- and for those lucky souls in and around Whitehaven, you'll get the spoils first.[Thanks, Kieran and Andy]
BBC, ITV and Channel 4 team up for on-demand service
Don't look now, but it seems that three rivals in the UK have found enough love in their hearts (or promise for profitability) to team up for the good of the consumer. Reportedly, the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 will be joining hands in order to deliver an on-demand service that hopes to "bring together hundreds of hours of television programs in one place" -- a collaborative effort once known as Project Kangaroo. Of course, the grand idea still has to be approved by the BBC Trust and other broadcasters' boards, and an official name for the service still has to be thought up, but at least the wheels are apparently turning, right? We're hearing that content from the trio will be available for "free download, streaming, rental and purchase via the internet, with expansion onto other platforms planned," and just in case you were curious, the iPlayer, ITV's catch-up service and Channel 4oD will indeed coexist with the new aggregator. Hang tight UK, the to-be-named service is set to go live sometime next year should things pan out nicely.[Via Yahoo / Reuters]
BBC, ITV to launch free satellite HDTV in UK by 2008
Although there's a lot of grumbling in the UK about that £135 ($270) yearly television license fee (only $87 for a black and white set!), it's hard to complain that the BBC doesn't try to use all that money in cool ways. Adding to their already-ambitious plans to distribute HDTV through torrent, datacasting, and IPTV, the Beeb announced today that, after years of delays, they've been approved to pair up with ITV and launch a free 200-channel HD-capable satellite service called Freesat in the spring of 2008. The move is designed to provide digital service to the estimated 25% of the British public that can't get the successful Freeview DVB-T service, but it'll also be free to any license payer who ponys up for one of the several available interactive receivers. Hmm, that's an interesting version of "free," must be the British spelling.[Via TechDigest]
The Apple TV screensaver is hot
Sure, everyone is looking inside the Apple TV and at it, but check out what it does on screen when it's twiddling its thumbs and waiting for you to command your library! Now I don't have mine just yet; it's still hanging out in a local FedEx distribution center, so I made a friend shoot this for me (thanks John!). I heard the Apple TV just powered down after a couple minutes of inactivity, but apparently it has a screensaver mode that you're seeing here. Pretty slick for a little box, eh? For those who aren't into the Netscape player above, here's a link for the original.Now: who's up to the challenge of getting a 3rd party screensaver on one of these?
Apple TV: games or no games?
We're confused about Apple's plans for games on their new Apple TV device. Marketing copy running across the top of the official "Apple TV" website promises "If it's on iTunes, it's on TV," yet small, grey text at the bottom of the screen takes that promise back: "iPod games will not play on Apple TV." Further confusion results from the image at right, showing a screenshot of a Harris Poll administered back in October in which consumers were asked what sort of content they might like to purchase for an Apple TV device. Games are listed. Is the absence of gaming from Apple TV an indication that poll respondents showed little interest in games? Is the absence of gaming due to technical limitations that might be fixed in future versions of Apple TV hardware? Is the absence of gaming an indication that iPod gaming itself might not be faring so well in the iTunes marketplace? (EA's embrace of iTunes gaming indicates otherwise.) Whatever the case may be, it looks like consumers will have to stick to their latest-gen consoles if they want to play inexpensive, digitally downloaded games from the couch... for now.
Apple TV and iPhone forums open at Apple Discussions
Did your brand new iTV just go on the iFritz? Or possibly your iPhone took a cue from Mr. Jobs and prank called Japa- Wait, they aren't out yet?Well, maybe these two shiny new pre-release Apple Discussion forums, one for the Apple TV and another for the iPhone, will still come in handy for chatting about everything you need before you lay down your credit card(s). Topics are already flying in these forums, such as whether the iPhone's EDGE data speed is really all that bad, how much the data plan will cost in the first place and how to get your DVD movies into iTunes for transmission to the Apple TV. With all this chatter going on already, you should be well-prepared once these products actually land.
AppleTV requires iTunes 7.1
We may be living in a 7.0.2 world, but AppleTV seems destined for an iTunes 7.1 one. Eagle eyed TUAW reader Chris Hileman points us to evidence of iTunes 7.1's imminent release. Pop over to the AppleTV specs page and check out the system requirements. Along with Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later and Win XP SP2, you'll find iTunes 7.1. Since AppleTV will be released sometime next month, maybe we can look forward to an iTunes upgrade as well.
Apple TV up close
The Apple TV isn't under lock and key, as the iPhone is. It's about half the height of a Mac mini, with the same footprint, and quite unassuming. It sports a remote we're already familiar with. Here are some of the first pics of the Apple TV, taken during and immediately after the Keynote.Update: For those that asked in the comments, those are Sony television sets, although I didn't note the exact model.
Apple TV; an HD perspective
Streaming video devices are without a doubt here to stay, but who will win on this new front still remains to be seen. At least in our hearts it's gotta be HD or we pass. The latest Apple announcements finally give us details about the HD capabilities of Apple TV. The good news is that it supports multiple resolutions via HDMI or Component including 1080i 60/50Hz, 720p 60/50Hz, 576p 50Hz (PAL format), or 480p 60Hz. The bad news is the supported video fomats are somewhat limited, while there is 720p HD support there are very few other variations. Supported CODECs include H.264 and protected H.264 (from iTunes Store): 640 by 480, 30 fps, 320 by 240, 30 fps, 1280 by 720, 24 fps and finally MPEG-4: 640 by 480, 30 fps. We can only assume that it converts all of these formats to what your TV can display. No word yet on DD5.1 support, but we have a man on the scene who's looking for answers to this as well as a few other questions.
