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  • Sky's HDTV sports coverage set to get boost

    The addition of Eurosport’s HD channel to Sky HD would mean major sporting events such as the Tour de France and Olympics broadcast in high def

    Eurosport could be returning to UK screens after a three year gap if negotiations currently being held with Sky are succesful.
    The sports network is expected to add its HD channel to the Sky HD platform within the next few days.

    It is understood to be currently testing at 28 degrees East alongside Eurosport News.
    A Eurosport spokesman said: “We’ve been negotiating with Sky and are very keen to launch our service in the UK.”

    Speaking to Broadband TV News he said that the cross promotion on Eurosport’s standard definition channels had encouraged a number of viewer enquiries.

    The channel is expected to be made available to subscribers to Sky’s HD Mix.
    Eurosport launched its high definition service on May 25, 2008 and is currently broadcasting live HD coverage of the Tour de France.

    The channel has picked up significant carriage in France, Poland, Israel, the Benelux and Scandinavia.
    After the channel’s original launch it was replaced by Eurosport 2, which was launched in 2005.
    This channel included some Eurosport News programming, but continued as a standalone operation in other markets.

    Speaking before the launch of Eurosport’s HD service in May, Laurent-Eric Le Lay, the network’s group chairman, said he wanted to provide as much high def coverage as possible.
    As well as this year’s French Open-Roland Garros tennis Grand Slam the channel’s HD offerings include the Tour de France and the Beijing Olympics.
    “Sport, especially live is spectacular in high definition; it transforms the viewing experience for sports fans,” he said.

  • Smartphone isn't spelt A-P-P-L-E?

    As the iPhone notches up one million sales Palm and HP launch their latest smartphones with a little less fanfare

    With hardly a whimper Palm’s Treo 800w and Hewlett-Packard’s iPaQ 910 have been released on to a smartphone market still largely focussed on Friday’s iPhone launch.

    Sprint and Palm have unveiled the Treo 800w, a Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphone targeted at business users.
    With integrated Wi-Fi, GPS, EV-DO Rev. A, and a slimmer design, the Treo 800w is available US$249.99 with a two-year contract and after rebates and discounts.

    Elsewhere, HP made available its new Windows Mobile smarthphone, the HP iPaQ 910, which is now available for US$499.99 from HP’s website.
    It’s loaded with high-end features, including a 2.4-inch touchscreen display, full QWERTY keyboard, HSDPA for connecting to the web at 7.2 Mbps, 3.0-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, built-in Google Maps and GPS, 128MB of RAM, and a 416 MHz Marvell PXA270 processor.

    Aimed at the business market, the iPaQ 910 runs on Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional and is loaded with various Microsoft programs including Office Mobile, Office Outlook Mobile and Internet Explorer Mobile.

    While Apple has made no secret of the fact that it would like a share of the corporate pie, no-one at the company will be complaining about its new handset’s initial sales figures.

    Three days after launching, the iPhone 3G is now available in 21 countries and will go on sale in France on July 17.
    Despite the outages, shortages, and related hand-wringing associated with the launch and release of the iPhone 2.0 firmware, Apple said there were nevertheless 10 million downloads from its new App Store in its first weekend of existence.

    Apple founder, Steve Jobs, said the 3G phone had got off to a ·great start” and described the App Store as a “grand slam”.
    “Developers have created some extraordinary applications, and the App Store can wirelessly deliver them to every iPhone and iPod touch user instantly,” he said.

  • Competition spurs Cablevision to boost HD channels

    Cablevision Systems Corp will give customers another 15 free high definition channels as it faces stiffer competition from satellite TV providers and Verizon Communications Inc.

    New York-based cable operator Cablevision is to add mainstream HD channels including Discovery, Viacom Inc’s Nickelodeon, FX, FOX News, AMC and The Weather Channel to its line-up in an increasingly competitive market.
    The addition of 15 more channels brings its HD offering up to 60 channels.

    Cablevision says that more than 1.1 million of its digital cable subscribers have at least one high-definition TV and HD-enabled set-top box.

    This latest expansion of HD programming by the company, which has more than 3 million subscribers, is in response to competition from satellite rivals DIRECTV Group and DISH Network Corp, as well as a growing threat from Verizon’s expanding FiOS TV service.

    Industry analysts contend that the satellite TV providers have an “HD advantage” because customers think they offer more and better quality HD services than cable.

    DIRECTV has said it will have capacity for more than 150 HD channels by the end of this year and currently has 95. DISH has around 80 HD channels.

    Verizon, which is in a fierce battle for TV subscribers with Cablevision in New York’s Long Island, currently offers 30 HD channels on its FiOS TV service and said it would add another 30 in the next couple of months.
    The phone company said it would also have capacity for 150 HD channels by year-end.

    Cablevision said in June 2007 it would have the capacity to carry more than 500 HD channels by the end of 2007, but this has not translated to an equivalent amount of HD television programming.

  • UK viewers reluctant to pay for HDTV

    Digital revolution sweeps UK but viewers appear unwilling to pay for limited range of HD channels

    UK households with digital televisions as their main set now account for 87.2 per cent of the total, according to a study by Ofcom.
    The survey by the independent communications industry regulator revealed how the digital TV market is divided up between the three main forms – digital terrestrial television (DTT), satellite and cable television.

    Unsurprisingly, DTT’s freeview is the most popular, with 9.6 million homes using a digital tuner to receive an expanded range of terrestrial channels – up 1.3 million in the last 12 months.

    Sky has signed up 332,000 new subscribers to its satellite services over the past twelve months and now hase 8.3 million customers, while Sky+ received an additional 262,000 subscribers.
    However, the figures for SkyHD are only up by 43,000 to 465,000 subscribers.

    With the HD market still developing in much of Europe, programming choices are much more limited than in the US, where competition is leading to a rapid expansion of channels.
    The narrower choice of HD channels in the UK is seen as contributing to viewers’ hesitance to pay for HD services currently on offer.


    Ofcom’s Digital Progress Report also shows that Virgin Media cable subscribers now amount to over 3.5 million, up by 36,800 in the first quarter of this year.
    Cable viewers subscribing to Virgin’s digital video recorder service known as V+ -which can also be used to watch HD services – now amount to 364,200..
    Almost half of Virgin Media customers (48 per cent) were using its video on demand service, with viewing up 10 per cent on the previous quarter.

  • iPhone software is bold attempt to turn smartphones into PCs

    Free applications like vSNAX Videos make up 25% of the App Store’s offerings


    The opening of Apple’s online App Store to coincide with the launch of the new iPhone could herald seismic changes in the mobile phone market.
    At least that’s what Steve Jobs, the Apple founder, is hoping.

    He sees the online applications store as an attempt to do for mobile applications like games, reference guides and other software what Apple’s iTunes Store has done for music.

    If successful, it could fuel the transformation of mobile phones into something closer to personal computers – which many software developers and analysts believe Apple, with its talent for distributing applications coupled with the sophisticated capabilities of the iPhone, is well placed to do.

    While rivals may bristle at his comments, Jobs is clear about his goal.
    “There’s been nothing on a mobile phone a fraction as good as what’s on PCs,” he told The Wall Street Journal, as he explained how the iPhone represented a rare launch of a new computing platform.

    So what exactly does the App Store offer?
    Initially it will feature more than 500 applications, ranging from educational programmes, mobile commerce and business productivity tools to games (estimated to be about a third of the first-wave apps including Sega Corp’s Super Monkey Ball).

    While around 90 per cent of the premium apps are priced at US$9.99 or less, 25 per cent of the first 500 apps are free.
    Among them is vSNAX Videos, which promises to deliver mobile video clips to iPhone and iPod touch users from more than 20 premium media partners including AccuWeather.com, Ford Models, Ripe TV, and MTV Networks’ VH1, Spike and GameTrailers.

    Refreshed throughout the day it will offer the latest celebrity gossip, TV show highlights, breaking news, national weather forecasts, fashion and comedy clips.

    Jim Morris, chief product officer of Rhythm NewMedia, which developed vSNAX Videos, said the iPhone allows for “significant improvement” in the way customers experience and consume videos on their mobile devices.
    “vSNAX Videos brings mobile viewing to an entirely new level by using the iPhone’s groundbreaking Multi-Touch user interface so, for the first time, iPhone owners are able to continue to watch their video clip while simultaneously swiping through thumbnails to pick their next selection,” he said.

    vSNAX Videos will be available exclusively in the US and can be downloaded for free from Apple’s App Store.

  • Video, music and celebrity gossip on new app for iPhone

    Free vSNAX Videos application offers the latest from MTV Networks and more to iPhone and iPod Touch

    Rhythm NewMedia, a leader in mobile video, has announced the availability of the free vSNAX Videos native iPhone application on the Apple App Store.

    vSNAX Videos promises to deliver mobile video clips to iPhone and iPod touch users from more than 20 premium media partners including AccuWeather.com, Ford Models, Ripe TV, and MTV Networks’ VH1, Spike and GameTrailers.

    Refreshed throughout the day it will offer the latest celebrity gossip, TV show highlights, breaking news, national weather forecasts, fashion and comedy clips.

    Jim Morris, chief product officer of Rhythm NewMedia, which developed vSNAX Videos, said the iPhone allows for “significant improvement” in the way customers experience and consume videos on their mobile devices.

    “We’re excited to launch vSNAX Videos and fully expect users to continue to devour more and more snack size video clips on their iPhones,” he said.
    “vSNAX Videos brings mobile viewing to an entirely new level by using the iPhone’s groundbreaking Multi-Touch user interface so, for the first time, iPhone owners are able to continue to watch their video clip while simultaneously swiping through thumbnails to pick their next selection,” he said.

    vSNAX Videos will be available exclusively in the US and can be downloaded for free from Apple’s App Store on iPhone and iPod touch.

    Alice Kim, senior vice president, Digital Distribution and Partner Relations, MTV Networks, said: “With vSNAX, we’re expanding the industry-leading reach of our mobile video portfolio, serving up content to the consumer that is both engaging and free, on two industry changing devices.”

  • Soaps at the fore of switch to HD

    British soaps lead the changeover to high definition – Emmerdale makes the transition

    Emmerdale has become the British network ITV’s first soap production to be recorded in high def.
    It joins Channel 4’s Hollyoaks and the BBC’s Doctors, while the long-running Coronation Street is expected to make the change from SD shortly.

    ITV Productions spent half a million pounds on new studio cameras and lenses for Emmerdale’s leap to HD, investing in eight Ikegami HDK-79EXIII HD cameras with Canon HD lenses.

    It was reported that stars of the soap were concerned about the show’s transition, worried that the new HD video would draw attention to facial wrinkles.
    Lucy Pargeter – Chastity Dingle on the soap – said: “We all held our breath because we’d heard all the horror stories. However, it was fine – if you don’t look too closely.”

    A number of different HD cameras and lenses were tested over a six-month period from June 2007. Different technologies from manufacturers were mixed and matched and trials were done using on-screen talent and the Emmerdale sets.

  • Glorious HDTV – no strings attached

    Belkin announces wireless HD transmitter that gives 1080p resolution to any HDTV in the home

    It seems such a shame to have a wonderful sleek new HDTV only to be restricted in where you can place – or suffer an unsightly trail of cable and clutter.

    Now Belkin have come up with a solution – albeit at a price – that wirelessly connects devices such as Blu-ray players, receivers, video-game consoles, and set-top boxes to HDTVs and projectors, transmitting a high-definition 1080p True Cinema picture resolution.

    The FlyWire wireless HDMI hub, which uses the 5GHz band to output a full 1080p signal, cost US$999.99 for the full version, which can broadcast around a typical home.

    There’s also a smaller single-room alternative – the FlyWire R1 – which comes in at US$699.99.
    Hanoz Gandhi, VP of Products for Belkin, said the device the limitations as to where HDTVs can be placed and a room littered with cables.

    The company says that as FlyWire does not compress video, it transmits content without lag – definitely a must for gaming.
    FlyWire’s SD card slot also allows for upgrade and expansion options.

    Inputs include three HDMI, two component and one composite. There is also an HDMI output.
    It automatically finds a clear channel to operate on, so minimising interference with other wireless devices.
    FlyWire will be available this October, with the R1 expected in early 2009. UK availability and pricing is still to be announced.

  • iPhone users "unique" in their mobile behaviour

    Study shows that US iPhone users are five times more likely to access mobile internet than average mobile consumer

    The Apple 3G iPhone will change the mobile behaviour of users and alter consumer expectations for phone capabilities.
    That’s according to a report by analysts Nielsen Mobile which looks at the worldwide state of the mobile web.

    The study says that its growth is due to a combination of increasing numbers of user friendly handsets, higher speed networks and unlimited data packages.
    It then goes on to describe the mobile web as having reached a “critical mass” of users this year.

    But it singles out the iPhone – despite being the second most popular device among mobile users in the US after Motorola’s RAZR – for special mention.

    The report says the device’s impact is amplified by the increased awareness its marketing campaign and buzz has driven.
    “As a result, demand for advanced data services and more robust mobile media-focused handsets has increased.

    “iPhone users, a small but growing segment of the overall mobile audience, are unique in their mobile behaviour.
    “For instance, 82 per cent of iPhone users access the mobile Internet, making them five times as likely to do so as the average mobile consumer.”

    The report goes on to say that, so far, the iPhone population had self-selected through price point as early adopters, describing them as “über media consumers”.
    But it adds that as the price point lowers for this device and penetration increases to include more average consumers, the high data usage of iPhone users may be diluted.

    “At the same time, we expect that the powerful user interface and increasing network speeds will continue to change the behaviours of many iPhone purchasers.
    “Fundamentally, the iPhone, and competitive devices, will also affect consumer expectations for phone capabilities.”

  • Smartphone? Most people just want a camera, Bluetooth and music

    Research shows that cameras, bluetooth, and music top consumers’ lists as “must have” features on mobile phones

    The function-packed Apple iPhone 3G may about to be released to the world but many consumers say they just want a mobile that’s a phone
    Clint Wheelock, vice president and chief research officer for ABI Research, said: “It’s still a voice-centric world. Consumers across all mature markets still choose their mobile operator based on ‘the basics’: price, friends/family on the same network, and network coverage.”

    Speaking after the publication of an ABI Research consumer survey, Wheelock said the findings showed that digital camera functionality, Bluetooth connectivity, and music/radio playback on mobile phones were the top three features that people consider essential for the next mobile phone they will purchase.
    The desire for camera phones with 2+ megapixels leads the pack with 47 per cent of consumers listing this feature as a “must have,” followed by Bluetooth at 34 per cent and music/FM radio functionality at 32 per cent.

    Games and Internet access are also high on the list of features that subscribers have on their phones, but never use.
    “Many mobile data and multimedia services are failing to reach the mainstream not because they’re unavailable, but because they fail to provide a satisfactory user experience and pricing model for most consumers,” said Wheelock.

    However, he said the survey results identified some “surprising differences” between markets.
    “Camera phones, for example, were more than twice as important for consumers in Taiwan versus those in the US,” he said.
    “Similarly, Bluetooth is considered essential by mobile subscribers in Western Europe and Taiwan, but penetration of this feature is very low in Japan and South Korea, so it’s of little importance to consumers in those countries.”

    Other key findings from ABI Research’s global wireless consumer survey of 1,402 current wireless subscribers in seven countries, are as follows:

    * The three most common features that subscribers have on their current mobile phones are: games (64%), Internet access (61%), and 2+ megapixel cameras (58%).
    * The handset features that are least likely to be regarded as essential are: Wi-Fi, mobile TV, and games.

    Click here for full information on the ABI Research brief Wireless Subscriber Profiles and Preferences.