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The ZX Spectrum returns as a plug-and-play console
The popular ZX Spectrum series of microcomputers has resurfaced as a crowdfunded plug-and-play console produced in a collaboration between Sinclair Research founder Clive Sinclair and tech startup Retro Computers. The ZX Spectrum was a low-cost home computer that proved especially popular among game developers and hobbyists in the United Kingdom in the early 1980s. The Indiegogo-funded Sinclair Spectrum Vega includes over 1,000 built-in games, and additional titles will debut as free downloads following the console's launch next year. Users can also add their own games to the Vega's library via an included SD card slot. Backers who pledge £100 or more will receive one of the first 1,000 Sinclair Spectrum Vega consoles to enter production. Shipments are scheduled to begin in April, 2015. [Video: Retro Computers]
Sinclair ZX Spectrum turns 30, gets immortalized as a Google Doodle
Today's Google UK doodle celebrates both St. Georges Day and the little home computer that became a British phenomenon, the Sinclair ZX Spectrum. To be competitive with the rival Commodore 64, the 16KB of RAM-packing machine retailed for just £130 ($210 in today's money), punched well above its own weight and was often the first computer bought by techno-phobic families. Designed to be as programmer-friendly as possible, the founders of Shiny, Rare and Blitz Games studios all cut their teeth on the computer that introduced the world to Manic Miner, Jet Set Willy and Dizzy. It lasted a full decade in production, selling five million units before Amstrad purchased the money-losing unit and closed it down. Despite its demise, it's still got a loyal following from a generation of fans, something we doubt can be said about the Amstrad machines that replaced it.
2011 retransmission dispute roundup: which channels may go dark at midnight
It's a yearly thing, with contracts between TV stations and pay-TV providers due to expire just as the ball drops for the New Year it's increasingly hard to tell which channels will still be around when 2011 dawns. Check out our list below to see which ones are on the chopping block and which ones have already reached a new agreement this time around. If you spot any we've missed let us know in the comments or if there are any last minute reprieves, updates or extensions. Update: Moved Suddenlink/Viacom, Time Warner/Sinclair to resolved Expiring at midnight: Dish Network vs. E!, Style -- Dish Network and Comcast are negotiating over the networks, with a contract expiring at midnight. Dish and Comcast are also fighting over Comcast SportsNet California, which has been off the air since November 24 Resolved: Hearst vs. DirecTV - Covering 29 stations across the country including CBS, ABC and CW affiliates Insight vs. Raycom - Three stations in Louisville, Evansville and Cincinnati Suddenlink vs. Viacom - Not only will Suddenlink keep Viacom stations like MTV, VH1 and Spike, but it will also be adding EPIX "in the next few months," without raising its subscribers rates Time Warner Cable vs. Sinclair Broadcast Group -- Sinclair owns ABC, CBS, Fox, CW, MyNetworkTV and NBC affiliates in 35 markets which it will pull at midnight including San Antonio, Pittsburgh and Tampa. Time Warner claims it will still be able to provide programming from the "Big 4" networks in those areas without Sinclair, although viewers may miss their local news stations -- This isn't fully resolved, but negotiations have been extended until January 14th. Details here.
Sir Clive Sinclair doesn't use a computer, exceeds recommended irony levels
Clive Sinclair is a Knight Commander of the British Empire, the inventor of the slimline pocket calculator, the man behind the Sinclair ZX80 that made home computing affordable in the Queen's isles and also, by his own admittance, a dude who just can't be bothered to use a computer. Speaking to The Guardian, he glibly confesses that he has his emails read to him (by his manservant, presumably), before launching a broadside against modern computers for being "totally wasteful" with their memory, requiring time to boot up, and having altogether "appalling designs." Hit the source for the full interview and an expanded history of the man's achievements, it's well worth the read.
MobiTV demonstrates mixTV mobile DTV service
This one is still only in the very earliest stages, but it looks like MobiTV has taken advantage of the big National Association of Broadcasters Show in Vegas this week to show off a new mobile DTV service that it's developed in partnership with Sinclair and PBS, which it hopes will eventually find its way to a few interested cellular carriers. The service itself is a combination of free over-the-air DTV broadcasts (from PBS and the CW, at the moment) and subscription-based on-demand content, which would apparently be made available for a seven-day window and be delivered via mobile WiMAX. Unfortunately, there's no indication whatsoever of a potential roll-out, but it looks like MobiTV will be working hard during the next few days to woo some additional partners, so there's at least a slight chance that we could be hearing a few more details before the show wraps up later this week.[Via Phone Scoop]
A tale of two Pico-ITX mods
As William Gibson once wrote, "the street finds its own uses for things." Of course, the future he envisioned was populated by cut-throat characters with names like Dex Cowb0t, mercenary-types who made their money the only way they knew how: with custom cyberspace decks, hopped up on designer drugs like "splurge" and "spazz." What he never understood was that the only true measure of a technology is its ability to aid a bored populace in its pursuit of nostalgia and novelty. And by these standards, the Pico-ITX board might be one of the most important technological breakthroughs of its time (roughly 2007-2010 CE). Where would the hackers and case modders of our humble era be if it weren't for this guy? They wouldn't be shoving PCs into old Game Boy cases, that's for sure. Case in point: the Linksys Bt320g seedbox project places VIA's EPIA PX10000G mobo and a 320GB HDD in an old Linksys shell (and a 400GB HDD in a second router). The man responsible doesn't say whether or not this one was intended to thwart they copyright police in the event of a search and seizure, but on the other hand we're assuming that he isn't going to be seeding OpenOffice on the thing either. If retro computing's your bag, we've found a Timex Sinclair ZX81 case mod that should bring you considerable joy. Unfortunately the membrane keyboard's been disabled, but if you don't mind using a USB keyboard with a machine that originally sported 1KB RAM (at a whopping 3.25MHz), you might want to hit the read link and see how it's done. Read - Linksys BT320G case modRead - Sinclair ZX81 turned into PC
Sinclair and Cox reach retransmission agreement
Seems like the negotiators over at Sinclair are earning their paychecks this year, as the broadcasting group has now settled with Cox Communications on a four-year retransmission consent agreement that "includes high-definition programming." The deal covers cable systems owned by Cox spanning over 1.25 million subscribers in six markets owned by Sinclair. Notably, Sinclair stated that this agreement has allowed the firm to complete "long-term retransmission consent agreements with all major multiple system operators in its markets," but as we've seen from our Mediacom-strapped brethren, they're still watchin' the locals in SD in some areas.
Sinclair & Time Warner make a deal on HD, Mediacom still on the outs
Sinclair and Time Warner have finally reached an agreement that will let the cable provider broadcast HDTV signals from Sinclair-owned affiliate stations. We've been getting reports from HDTV owners in Ohio, Wisconsin and other areas that Sinclair owned stations are showing up in all their HD glory -- too late for the BCS National Championship and last year's Super Bowl -- but better late than never. Still ongoing is the broadcaster's Iowa-centered battle with Mediacom, where affected stations have been dropped entirely from the cable lineup pending an agreement between the two companies. After coming to a "mutually acceptable economic agreement" four year agreement with TW, we'll see if Sinclair and Mediacom work things out, the FCC gets involved, or if this tiff continues to drag on interminably.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in] Read - High-def versions of Channels 18 and 24 finally coming to cableRead - Sinclair Announces Analog and Digital Carraige Agreement with Time Warner CableRead - Lawmakers tell Mediacom, Sinclair to settle
Broadcasters and Cable continue to not get along
The more people that run out and buy HDTV the more valuable HD content becomes and a few savvy greedy media companies intend to capitalize on it. Of course the Cable companies have been carrying these local channels for years and haven't been paying a dime, so they are obviously not too keen on the idea of paying to carry local channels. This isn't anything new, but as more and more people buy HDTV's it will be a bigger issue. Mediacom (a cable company) is pulling all of their Sinclair channels from their lineup after not being able to come to an agreement. Belo is at it again after trying to charge Charter for KMOV in St Louis, this time it's WFAA in Fort Worth. For the sake of our cable bills lets hope all the cable companies hold their position and refuse to the pay ransom. In the meantime, you can get by with an antenna, but don't tell Belo or Sinclair. If your trying to figure out why your local channel isn't carried in HD by your cable company you may want to check out Belo's site to see if they own them.Read - Mediacom: Sinclair Says Pull PlugRead - Charter pulls WFAA in HD[Thanks, Chip]
Time Warner Ohio subscribers missing the big game...again
Even as most of us get set in front of our HDTVs to watch the very Game of the Century we bought them to watch, Time Warner customers in central Ohio are left frustrated again. Just like during the Super Bowl, due to the ongoing dispute between the cable company and the owner of the local ABC and Fox affiliates, Sinclair Broadcasting. As we're all too familiar with and our good friends in New Orleans recently found out, some affiliates want cable companies to pay up to provide an HD signal to their customers, while the cable co's refuse to pay for what is already available freely over the air. In Ohio, Insight and Wide Open West have made deals with Sinclair to provide HD programming so customers can switch. According to the article, Time Warner has been giving away antennas to interested customers to keep people from switching. Sinclair even plans to start charging to rebroadcast its SD channels, we'll see who blinks first in this standoff or if the FCC somehow steps in.
Hawaii is not an HDTV paradise
As our commenter BDevorzon noted, a combination of mountain-blocked OTA broadcasts, cable/local affiliate squabbles and limited satellite access combines to make the production home of one of the best HD programs, Lost, very unfriendly for high-definition TV owners. DISH network doesn't provide service to Hawaii at all, and DirecTV has not added locals for the area yet. Only the ABC affiliate in the area has an agreement with Time Warner Cable to show their high definition signal although negotiations with the others are ongoing. Although they do broadcast OTA, the layout of the islands makes that a tricky or impossible proposition for many. We're trying to muster up the same sympathy for our Hawaiian brethren that we showed for North Carolina residents before the Super Bowl but man they live in Hawaii. If Michigan was located a bit closer to the equator I'd shut the TV off and go outside once in a while. As it is, we at HD Beat probably won't get any closer to the island than a game of Test Drive Unlimited, but we do feel your pain.
At least someone is benefiting from HDTV conflicts
Electronics stores. If you can't get Super Bowl XL in high definition via your cable provider, you're probably running to the store to get an antenna. St. Louis is a part of the long list of communities that don't have ABC's HD feed included in their cable package. As a result, local companies like Antennas Direct are doing brisk business in selling the necessary equipment to pull in the big game.If you're still wondering what you need to see the Xtra Large game in HD we have a list. Otherwise, you could always start a petition.
No HD Super Bowl if your local affiliate and cable company can't agree
We've seen it noted in a few of the comments here, some HDTV cable subscribers having to go antenna or not at all if they want to watch the Super Bowl in high definition while their provider and the owners of local stations squabble. We know a lot of HDTV owners are sports fanatics, and so do advertisers and television companies who are determined to get every dollar they can.This article notes a typical battle currently going on in North Carolina and other areas. We recently posted about the owner of this affiliate, Sinclair, reaching a deal in Columbus, Ohio for HDTV broadcasts. Unless someone bends unexpectedly it doesn't look like Greensboro residents can expect the same. Is there anything customers can do when stuck like this? Switching to satellite or using an antenna isn't always feasible or desirable. I think local sports bars are at the bottom of a massive conspiracy, you heard it here first.
