Tech Digest

Sony BRAVIA "Paint" TV advert debuts soon

Remember that grey building that we showed you back in July? Well, since then the guys promoting the new Sony Bravia high definition TVs have had a load of fun playing Paintball with it - firing huge globs (70,000 litres, in fact) of coloured paint at it.

Showing the Bravia's mantra "colour like no other" in spectacular style, the paint was fired using controlled firework explosions to blast the fountains of colour into the air and onto the side of the building.

For an advert, it's generated a lot of interest on the web. It will be available to view online before it goes to TV at colourlikenoother.com - presumably sometime in the next week or so as a 70 second version of the "Paint" ad will be premiered on Tuesday 17th October, 8.35pm during the Man U v FC Copenhagen Champions League match.

The official blog explains:

The ad took 10 days and 250 people to film. Huge quantities of paint were needed to accomplish this, which had to be delivered in 1 tonne trucks and mixed on-site by 20 people.

The effect was stunning, but afterwards a major clean-up operation was required to clear away all that paint!

The cleaning took 5 days and 60 people. Thankfully, the use of a special water-based paint made it easy to scrape-up once the water had evaporated.

Keeping everyone safe was also an important factor. A special kind of non-toxic paint was used that is safe enough to drink (it contains the same thickeners that are sometimes used in soups). It was also completely harmless to the skin.

Algol TV - classic design meets modern technology

Over at Brandish, Shiny's brand new men's blog is a TV that oozes style, despite being around 40 years old - the Algol TV.

Created by designers Marco Zanuso and Richard Sapper, it's got a space-age design that can still turn heads in 2006. And don't worry - it's not a fuzzy black and white picture, upgrading over the years means you get something that's up with modern-day portables for just under £500. And of course, bucketloads more style.

Find out more at the Brandish website

Via Retro To Go

Sharp unveils PN-655E 65-inch HD ready TV

Sharp is showing off a large TV - the 65-inch PN-655E with full HD. There's just one drawback - it's for commercial use only.

Sharp believes the large screen and full HD makes it an ideal solution for a variety of commercial applications - including digital signage and audio visual hire. It also has other noteable advantages, including a non-reflective coating on the screen for good visibility (even in strong light), reduced power consumption and a reduction in weight (compared to a traditional plasma).

Other features include a four-wave backlight system for improved colour depth and accuracy, a pixel response time of just 6 milliseconds and a distortion-free, 170 degree horizontal and vertical viewing angle. There's also split screen functions, the option of a daisy-chain network and a wide range of connection options, including digital DVI-D (supporting 1080P signal), analogue PC RGB (up to 1920 x 1080) and component (YCrCb).

Available in the coming weeks, price to be confirmed.

Sharp website

Middlesbrough names and shames antisocial behaviour on the fly

Be careful littering, skateboarding or fighting in Middlesbrough - talking CCTV cameras have arrived to tell you off. Control room operators surveil various parts of the downtown, and if they see anyone misbehaving - from drinking in public to riding a bicycle on the sidewalk - they activate a loudspeaker and instruct the offender to stop. Mr Bonner said: 'We always make the requests polite, and if the offender obeys, the operator adds 'thank you'. We think that's a nice finishing touch.' Mayor Ray Mallon (nicknamed 'Robocop') believes the talking cameras will dramatically cut not just anti-social behaviour, but violent crime, too. [GT]

Big Brother is shouting at you [via SciFi]

Related stories: Speed on M42 and get shamed in lights | Google tells users "your search data is safe"

Envirovision waterproof televisions with integrated Freeview

We've got TVs in virtually every room in the house - so why not the bathroom? You can pick up waterproof TVs these days (if you're worried about that water/electricity combination). but Presentation Systems has gone one better - adding an integrated Freeview tuner into their range if Envirovision waterproof TVs.

The idea is sensible enough - if you want to integrate a TV into your bathroom, it's as well to future-proof it. All of the 17-inch sets in the range now have DVB tuners, which means up to 60 digital TV and radio stations viewable from the bath. Other features include a stainless steel bezel, widescreen viewing area, a range of inputs for other devices (as long as they're water-friendly), top-up tv integration, a conventional analogue multi region tuner with teletext, interactive text and digital/nicam audio.

Prices start at £999.

Find out more

Yay or Nay: Apple "iTV"

Steve Jobs unveiled Apple's plans for superiority over your living room TV by telling us that "iTV" (work in progress on the name) will be available from early next year.

Yay or Nay to the iTV?

Is iTV, coupled wirelessly with a decent desktop computer running iTunes, going to be a hit in the living room? Is this Apple innovation or too little too late? Will Apple be able to get the killer content needed for a system like this to work well, or will it turn out to be a niche system?

Share your thoughts below.

Virgin's Mobile TV unveiled for October launch

Virgin has unveiled its Mobile TV service, with the first broadcast set to commence from October 1st, coinciding with a huge advertising blitz, fronted by Pamela Anderson.

The service, which uses the DAB IP-based BT Movio platform, will offer four TV channels - BBC one, ITV1, Channel 4 and E4, along with 50 digital radio stations, 'red-button' interactivity and a seven-day electronic programme guide (EPG). Channel 4 will initially broadcast Channel 4 Short Cuts, a made-for-mobile TV channel, with a full Channel 4 simulcast to following at a later date. That's not the only limitation - some films, sports broadcasts and US shows will also be removed from broadcast, while the BBC's participation is on a 12-month trial basis.

Virgin is offering the service via the Lobster 700, its first Windows-based smartphone. If you sign up to a contract of £25 per month or more, you get the handset and the TV service for free for the life of your contract. You can also take the Lobster on pre-pay for £199, with the service free for 3 months, followed by a £5 a month charge.

Virgin Mobile

IFA 2006: HannSpree makes its mark in Europe

We've featured HannSpree's quirky/retro TVs previously, especially the eye-catching models launched at this year's CES. The one downside is the company's slow movement into the European market - but all that could be about to change with new product launches and a new European flagship store.

The Taiwanese company opened European offices at the start of the year, focusing on developing distribution deals. Sets are now available in 17 European countries, predominantly with small independent retailers. However, the company does have a flagship store opening later this month - albeit in Luxembourg and we'll hopefully see an online retail outlet for the European market like the one in the US. In the meantime, you'll have to dig around to find the company's latest models - the zoo series TVs (pictured).

Aimed squarely at the children's market, The 9.6-inch LCD screens have a soft plush cover featuring a giraffe or elephant, followed by a monkey, dog, lion, sheep and zebra later this year. The soft covers are removeable and washable and as they're aimed at children, the control buttons are suitably oversized.

Expect to pay around £180 for the zoo series sets. We'll have more on HannSpree and the rest of their European range very soon.

HannSpree Europe

IFA 2006: Philips 100inch LCD TV with Ambilight

There are a few 100inch LCD TVs floating around, however Philips is claiming a landmark with - wait for it - the first 100inch LCD set with full Ambilight. It isn't much of a boast admittedly but the TV set itself looks fantastic with superb quality high def pictures. There are no plans to put it on sale yet though.

Bang & Olufsen's BeoCenter 6-23 LCD TV with DAB radio

Bang & Olufsen has introduced a typically stylish new TV - the BeoCenter 6-23 LCD TV. And it's a first - the first time a TV has come with an integrated DAB radio as standard (unless you know better).

The 23-inch LCD TV promises a 180-degree viewing angle and a front glass screen to keep the picture bright and clear, even when it catches the sunlight. There's also DVI input if you want to impress your mates and use it as a computer monitor, while BeoLink offers connectivity to any other Bang & Olufsen TV in the home.

There is a downside though. The TV isn't HD-ready, which might well put you off such a hefty investment and perhaps its worth thinking about how often you listen to the radio stations on your digital receiver before you buy a TV on the basis of it having DAB. I can count that on one hand. 

Still, there's no doubting it will look good in your living room in either of the six colours - aluminium, black, dark grey, yellow, blue, and red. If you want one, it will set you back £2,740 or £3,070 with the motorised stand.

Bang & Olufsen website

More Bang & Olufsen:
Bang & Olufsen's £180,000 entertainment system
Bang & Olufsen for the car?

Humax launches LCD TV with built-in 160GB PVR

Humax has done a spot of convergence, adding a 160GB PVR to a 32-inch LCD TV to create the LP32-TDR1.

This HD-ready TV is aimed at those who demand less clutter in the corner of the living room. The built-in PVR features twin Freeview tuners, so you can still watch UK History while you're recording a movie off FilmFour. Programme selection is via the EPG, with 160GB of storage being good for up to 100 hours of recording.

Input slots include a CI slot for Pay TV services, 3 AV inputs, Component, S-Video, PC, Composite, and 2 RGB scart jacks. And of course, an HDMI socket. It's available now, priced around £900.

Humax website

More TVs:
Evesham’s new 20.1-inch HD-ready widescreen LCD TV for below £350
Sharp introduces new range of Aquos HD-ready LCD TVs

Kids' favourites to kick off BT Vision broadband TV service

Perhaps BT are hoping to appeal to young families with the announcement that its soon-to-be-launched BT Vision broadband TV service will feature Basil Brush and Postman Pat, in just one of a collection of deals BT have struck with content providers.

Oasis will also be making some kind of appearance on the new service (presumably not launching it in a grown-up version of how the Spice Girls opened Channel Five)

Actually, the service will air Oasis: Live by the Sea and Duran Duran: Live at Wembley.

There's a few comedies and documentaries in the offing too, including Doc Martin and Rosemary: Queen of the Kitchen. Err, yeah OK. And we already know we'll get time-delayed coverage of selected Premiership matches.

BT Vision will be non-subscription based, with some content on a pay-per-view basis, though it sounds as if customers will have to cough up about £100 for the set-top box, plus of course they'll need BT Broadband.

What do you think about BT Vision? Does it sound like a worthy competitor to standalone Freeview, Sky and Telewest, or are BT a bit late to the party?

Read

TV gives way to new media for a new generation

The younger generation - the 16-24s - are placing less significance on the TV and other traditional media for their entertainment and information, and instead using the Internet.

Maybe not that surprising. The figures aren't hugely different: 1 hour per day less TV than the average TV viewer, and 15 minutes less radio.

The Ofcom report for 2005 said that 'the Internet plays a central role in daily life' for 16-24s, with 70% using social networking sites (compared to 41% of the general Net populous), with 37% contributing to blogs or online message boards.

Part of the increased success is due to the increase in broadband coverage, and a significant decrease in its price. 27% of responders said they now read newspapers less because of their online usage.

Seems to fit well with this Swiss research. Mind you, I can't see the TV dying out any time soon. I believe some previous research has shown that many people use the Net and watch TV at the same time (I do - who said men can't multitask)

Hauppauge's TV Anywhere promises free mobile TV

Hauppage have officially launched their "TV Anywhere" PC USB2 device, which when combined with Orb software turns any home PC with access to a standard TV aerial into a PVR which can be accessed remotely over the Internet using your broadband connection.

It's designed to detect the connection quality of the mobile device you're watching TV remotely on, and compresses the video appropriately.

Though the hardware and Orb software that receives and streams the signal is designed for a Windows PC, the device you watch it on can be pretty much any graphical device that can connect to a website, including other PCs and Macs, mobile phones and PDAs. Of course, it's only free if you can get free access to the web, and if you exceed your home broadband bandwidth  then you could get cut off or charged (I've never looked into upload broadband limits, which is what this will use up)

The TV Anywhere device (when used with the Orb software) will stream any digital content on the PC over the web, including photos and music.

What's not completely clear is how the recording is set up. Streaming live TV is fine, but I am only presuming that it's possible to remotely set the PC to record shows - that would be really good.

Looking at the ports on the unit, it's billed as a USB2 unit but looks like it will also accept USB1.1 connections. It'll take TV and FM inputs, so presumably you can stream analogue radio if you really want to. There's an IR receiver, stereo audio in, and composite and S-Video in.

At present, TV Anywhere will work with any standard aerial input, so you can easily get the five terrestrial channels, and if your Freeview box can output its signal on coaxial aerial, you could probably access all of those too. Hauppauge have said they'll be releasing a dedicated Freeview digital version of the USB stick in the future.

TV Anywhere is available now, priced £99.99, from Dixons online, PC World and Currys. We'll give it a test run soon and let you know how well it works.

Update: In the comments Brad has said that it's not the box that streams - it works with the Orb software and you could do it without the unit though it comes bundled with it. And of course if you just want to watch TV at home on your PC and record/timeshift it, this unit will do that anyway.

Is Star Wars coming to the theatre?

It might sound unlikely - and logistically impossible - but according to a particularly strong rumour that started out over at Cinephilia, it seems like there's a theatre production of Star Wars in the pipeline, which is set for a single performance in London sometime soon.

Sky seem to be behind it, with the full co-operation of LucasFilm and should neatly coincide with another TV first - the showing of all six Star Wars films on UK TV for the first time ever.

Want to know more? Check out the full story over at TV Scoop.

Roadstar LCD9283D portable Freeview TV

The switch to digital is looming for some regions - starting from 2008 - so it's perhaps worth building up your knowledge of digital products on the market, like this Roadstar LCD9283D portable TV - which has a built-in Freeview tuner, along with a back-up analogue one if you're still struggling with a signal.

With a 9-inch screen, it seems like it's between two markets - the home portable and the pocket TV (unless you've got very big pockets). But it's probably ideal for the car or UK holidays. A simple set-up give you access to all available Freeview and radio stations in minutes. If you're in an area where Freeview still hasn't penetrated, there is an analogue tuner to watch traditional channels - although if you do live in such an area, perhaps you should pick up something cheaper that does a similar job. The LCD9283 also doubles up as a spare PC monitor and comes pre-loaded with a few games.

Obviously a small screen and fairly basic speakers aren't going to give you the full benefit of the digital experience, but it will give you more choice - and if you need to upgrade the portable TV in your house, at least this one is more future-proof than many on the market.

It's available now for around £200.

Roadstar website

More Freeview:
Evesham’s PVR160 personal video recorder with Freeview receiver
MSI shows off handheld Freeview box

Evesham launch T1505 LCD monitor/TV

Evesham Technology have released their 15.2 inch widescreen LCD monitor - the T1505 - that can also be used as a TV.

It's compact and Evesham say that makes it perfect for use in cars, boats and caravans - it comes with a 12 volt adapter - but perhaps you're more likely to use it as a PC monitor and sneak a bit of TV on the side.

It's budget price does mean that its response rate is not as hot as some of the newer HD monitors, so gamers may not appreciate it, but for general use I reckon 16ms is acceptable, and fine for standard def TV programmes.

It has a standard AV input so you can plug in an aerial, a Freeview box, or indeed anything else that outputs, albeit at a lower quality than digital inputs.

It's a widescreen 16:9 display but shows a top resolution of 1024x768, so not quite sure how this is configured. That's what the spec sheet says, though. It's got built-in speakers and a fairly wide viewing angle of 150 degrees in all directions. Contrast ratio is 450:1 and brightness 450cd/m2. It weighs 1.75kg.

Retailing at £229.99 and available now from Evesham

Monday interview: Channel 4's Steven Forde on their innovative Lost Experience

For many fans of Lost, the guessing games don’t stop when the TV show’s credits roll. Forget your bog-standard ‘Cast Bio’ websites: Lost has an innovative online game called The Lost Experience where players have to follow clues, crack codes and swap information in an attempt to discover just what the jeepers the show is all about.

It’s not the first time a broadcaster has used viral online marketing and fake websites to promote a TV show, but it’s probably the most ambitious. We talked to Steven Forde, who’s in charge of The Lost Experience at Channel 4, to find out where the idea came from, how it all works, and why ‘the wisdom of crowds’ has been a key element in its success.

The Lost Experience launched this May to tie in with the second series of Lost, following Channel 4’s BAFTA-nominated Lost Untold site for last year's first series. For the second series, the broadcaster wanted to go one better.

“We talked to ABC who distribute the programme and deal directly with the writers, and realised that the writers had an additional story to tell that couldn’t be fitted into the linear broadcasts,” says Forde.

The result is The Lost Experience, an online treasure-hunt which explores the background to Lost, digging into the shadowy Hanso Foundation. It's complicated to explain, but Channel 4 has a catch-up guide on its site, while there's also an informative Wikipedia entry. The game's first phase launched in May this year, and involved cracking codes.

“The key to this experience is it plays to the wisdom of the crowds, which is a key strength of online,” says Forde. “We have a hardcore group of users who were cracking all the codes and putting them online. So if you were a passive user, you could still take part even if you weren’t actually breaking the codes yourself.”

The second phase launched in mid-June and ran for a month, consisting mainly of a video diary and blog by a new character called Rachel Blake, who was investigating the Hanso Foundation. By now, a global community of blogs, websites and podcasts had sprung up to discuss the Experience and its latest developments. Phase 3 of the game has just launched - there will be five in all - and is again video-based.

“We wanted to make it feel a bit more international,” says Forde. “A piece of video has been shot, and we’re breaking it up into a set number of fragments, and each one has a code associated with it. You have to find the codes, which appear in lots of different places, online, offline, and on TV.”

Whenever players find a code, they go to the Hanso Exposed website, and enter their details and the code to watch the video fragment. Once again, the online community has been sharing codes around so even less dedicated fans can join in the fun.

“We’ve done this to keep people engaged,” says Forde. “Lost delivers more questions than answers sometimes, so what’s great about the Experience is that there will be some answers delivered at the end of it. People will get quite a big revelation about what’s behind Lost, so they’ll get a payoff.”

Forde says the Lost Experience community includes mathematicians, computer programmers and a wealth of other experts, which is why so many of the codes and clues are solved so quickly.

“We’ll often put something out there, and within 2-3 minutes it’ll be solved and someone will have put up the code,” says Forde. “It sometimes took me longer to explain to people what the clue was going to be than it took the community to solve it!”

Because the Experience is online, Channel 4 has been able to react quickly to feedback from the community, particularly when it comes to difficulty levels. In the first phase, Forde says he thought the clues were quite difficult, but after people on blogs and forums said they were too easy, the broadcaster started thinking more inventively about where to hide them.

“I think the longest time it took for a clue to be worked out was 22 hours,” he laughs. “We were quite pleased about that one! It’s been an amazing learning experience.”

So will this sort of online game become more common in the future? Forde says that the blogging aspect has been great, but that Channel 4 would only run similar games when it suits a programme, rather than spinning them off for no reason - pointing out that Lost has such a rich vein of storytelling, it lends itself to this kind of thing.

“New media is a great place to blur the lines between fact and fiction,” he says. “If you see something on Google or Wikipedia, you take it as truth because it’s on a computer screen. We’re really tapping into that mentality of how people feel about what they read online.”

Forde says that phases four and five of the Lost Experience will be the most ambitious yet, with codes being hidden online, offline, on-air and within podcasts. One thing that’s not on the cards is mobile though.

“We’re very interested in bringing all different kinds of new media in,” he says. “Mobile, video-on-demand... we even talked about doing something with voice-over-IP, but we could think how we could make it work. Anything that makes this feel like it’s got a life in new media, we’ll bring that into it.”

UK digital switchover is still a mystery to many

A new survey from Digital UK, the champions of digital TV awareness in Britain, suggests that almost a third of UK TV viewers are still in the dark about digital switchover.

Since Matt Lucas began voicing Digit Al, awareness has increased by 13%, but that still leaves a large portion of the populous yet to be educated.

Awareness is highest amongst the 65-74 age group, and lowest in the 16-24 age group, which might seem surprising except for other surveys that suggest the older generations far more tech-savvy than they might stereotypically be given credit for. Maybe they're watching more TV, too.

Unsurprisingly, those in the first region to be switched off - Borders - are very well aware, unlike Londoners where only 59% know.

Of course, lack of awareness doesn't necessarily mean that people aren't prepared without knowing it. If the BBC are to believed, large swathes of Britain are already watching digital TV through Freeview or satellite, so don't have much to worry about.

Maybe Peter Snow and his buddies need to do more work in getting people to switch to digital before the analogue blackout is complete in 2012.

Read

Work on UK digital switchover begins in Border

Work on the UK's switchover to all-digital terrestrial broadcasting started in Caldbeck today with construction starting on a 337m high mast for the Border region, which will be the first area to make the switch, in 2008. A second mast will be built in Selkirk later this year.

Steve Holebrook, managing director at Arqiva - the chosen supplier building the digital infrastructure - said "Digital Switchover is a wide-ranging and complex project and, whilst viewers won’t begin to see the benefits until 2008, the engineering work is now underway."

He seems confident that the eventual freeing up of the analogue spectrum by going all digital (well, apart from the 1.5% of the UK population who don't seem to be accommodated for) could lead to more new services such as mobile TV and high-definition TV via Freeview.

Only another six years to wait to find out.

World Cup a real boost to UK flat-panel TV sales

I don't know - broadcast some minor sporting event and suddenly everyone wants to watch it on a big new TV screen.

See the World Cup on the horizon, and watch a flat-panel TV being sold in the UK every 1.7 seconds. That's what happened the week before the main event kicked off in Germany; it seems to have been the perfect excuse for people to invest in new, state-of-the-art viewing technology.

Granted, Wimbledon could've been a contributing factor.

It surely wasn't the allure of Big Brother (imagine how that would look in high-def...)

During the 5 weeks of the World Cup, UK consumers spent £337m on the flat-panel beauties (and probably only slightly less on beer and pizza).

But what we - well OK, the retailers - must want to know is: can they sustain the high-def, flat screen momentum until Christmas? They must be hoping so - despite these impressive sales figures, only 12% of UK households currently own a large flat-screen TV, so there's plenty more potential for making money.

What will TV be like in 2020?

TV is developing at a rapid pace, with flat sets, HD-ready TV becoming commonplace in a matter of months, not to mention TV over the net, mobile TV and personal video recorders. But what will our viewing be like in the year 2020? NTL/Telewest has pooled the brains of the leading technology experts - including Tech Digest's Chris Price - to discover what technological advancements we can expect during the next 15 years.

2020 Future Vision, a report based on the panel’s insights, predicts a home where the traditional TV set will be replaced by a range of flexible viewing devices. Thanks to developments in ultra-thin display technology, walls themselves will become screens, with video wallpaper and tiles offering the potential to use entire rooms or specific areas to watch your favourite shows. And with crystal-clear HDTV services anticipated to become standard and the emergence of streamed 3D holographic images, viewers really will feel part of the action.

Read on after the turn for a full list of what TV could become.

Innovations we could see in our home by 2020:

• News reports playing on the back of a cereal box
• One TV screen showing two different programmes, depending on the angle you watch it from, teamed with "advanced narrow directionally projected sound" - a system allowing two or more viewers to hear separate things within the same room
• Windows and blinds showing live images of sunny climates to replace the rain outside
• Access to internet browsing from the front cover of, or an advert within a glossy magazine
• Personalised technology enabling us to change programme or adjust volume verbally or from a control panel integrated into a piece of furniture, such as the arm of a sofa
• Viewers will be able to decide what happens next in a drama, or even cast virtual actors for a particular storyline
• "Appointment TV" will become a thing of the past as every broadcast is automatically stored on the network for viewers to access whenever they like. By 2020, there will only be one channel - yours
• The advent of radio frequency identification (RFID) chips - worn or implanted - will mean personal preferences can be indicated to intelligent gadgets, so a TV show of choice could follow you around the house, into the car or onto portable devices, with screens turning on and off as you go

Mark Horley, Future Vision panellist and head of TV strategy at ntl Telewest, remarked: "Watching TV in 2020 will be a truly mind-blowing experience, putting the viewer in complete control. New technologies like TV on demand are already allowing us to break free from the schedule, but the entire lounge will be adaptable to each viewer’s preferences in the future. As wallpaper screens and other devices replace the traditional box, and innovations such as 3D TV take off, we will really feel part of the action."

You can download the full report at www.telewest.co.uk/futurevision.

Telewest website
NTL website

Smart Eye and Smart Blaster - home entertainment all around the house

Bluedelta has unveiled the Smart Eye, which lets you control your satellite receiver from any TV in the house. Combined with the company's Smart Blaster product, the Smart Eye can also communicate with your DVD, Video, freeview - even your Hi-Fi if it’s near your satellite receiver. So if you've had a long day, you can carry your remotes upstairs and do your late night surfing or listening in bed.

Smart Blaster is equipped with high power IR emitters that "blast" any IR remote control signal that is received from the Smart Eye, allowing it to control any video equipment located near it be it your DVD player, VCR or PVR. The output signal is strong enough without the unit having to face the equipment - so no need for extra cables.

Bluedelta reckons their Smart Eye and Blaster kit is currently the only product on the market that can control equipment other then just Sky. It will work with any video equipment not just limiting itself to digital satellite. It can be used with both digital and analogue cable, digital terrestrial and video jukebox. It has ultra low power consumption, which means up to eight Smart Eyes and a Blaster can be connected to a satellite RF2 at any one time without requiring an additional power supply.

A Smart Eye device costs around £10, with the Blaster for sale around £25.

Bluedelta website

More remotes:
InVoca voice-activated remote control
Logitech Harmony 885 - the lazy person's universal remote

Smart Eye and Smart Blaster - home entertainment all around the house

Bluedelta has unveiled the Smart Eye, which lets you control your satellite receiver from any TV in the house. Combined with the company's Smart Blaster product, the Smart Eye can also communicate with your DVD, Video, freeview - even your Hi-Fi if it’s near your satellite receiver. So if you've had a long day, you can carry your remotes upstairs and do your late night surfing or listening in bed.

Smart Blaster is equipped with high power IR emitters that "blast" any IR remote control signal that is received from the Smart Eye, allowing it to control any video equipment located near it be it your DVD player, VCR or PVR. The output signal is strong enough without the unit having to face the equipment - so no need for extra cables.

Bluedelta reckons their Smart Eye and Blaster kit is currently the only product on the market that can control equipment other then just Sky. It will work with any video equipment not just limiting itself to digital satellite. It can be used with both digital and analogue cable, digital terrestrial and video jukebox. It has ultra low power consumption, which means up to eight Smart Eyes and a Blaster can be connected to a satellite RF2 at any one time without requiring an additional power supply.

A Smart Eye device costs around £10, with the Blaster for sale around £25.

Bluedelta website

More remotes:
InVoca voice-activated remote control
Logitech Harmony 885 - the lazy person's universal remote

Philips sets big screen TV record in World Cup

  If you headed over to Germany, but weren't lucky enough to get tickets for the match, there's a good chance you saw it on one of the huge Philips Amblilight screens, located in all 12 of the host cities.

According to figures released by the company, 18 million people saw the games on giant Philips screens - believed to be a world sports record and a figure equal to one fifth of the entire German population and over five times the total number of stadium attendees for the entire tournament.

The largest screen was placed at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, measuring 77 m2, with full ambient backlight. In total, Philips installed over 34 purpose-built giant screens at 15 locations across Germany, with viewings free of charge. The company also hosted similar events in Brazil where over 20,000 people watched each of Brazil’s games at a specially constructed screen in Sao Paolo’s Vila da Copa square.

No news on what they're doing with the screens now, but if they fancy dropping one off at the end of my garden in time for the start of the Premiership season, that's just fine.

Philips website

More TVs:
Review: Medion MD20099
LG 71inch bling plasma - now on sale in Harrods

Philips sets big screen TV record in World Cup

  If you headed over to Germany, but weren't lucky enough to get tickets for the match, there's a good chance you saw it on one of the huge Philips Amblilight screens, located in all 12 of the host cities.

According to figures released by the company, 18 million people saw the games on giant Philips screens - believed to be a world sports record and a figure equal to one fifth of the entire German population and over five times the total number of stadium attendees for the entire tournament.

The largest screen was placed at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, measuring 77 m2, with full ambient backlight. In total, Philips installed over 34 purpose-built giant screens at 15 locations across Germany, with viewings free of charge. The company also hosted similar events in Brazil where over 20,000 people watched each of Brazil’s games at a specially constructed screen in Sao Paolo’s Vila da Copa square.

No news on what they're doing with the screens now, but if they fancy dropping one off at the end of my garden in time for the start of the Premiership season, that's just fine.

Philips website

More TVs:
Review: Medion MD20099
LG 71inch bling plasma - now on sale in Harrods

FilmFour goes free

Good news for serious cinema fans on a budget - according to TV Scoop, Channel's 4's specialist filmsite, FilmFour, will go become a free service courtesy of Freeview from Sunday 23rd July. To coincide with the launch, the channel gets a slight re-brand, changing its name to Film4.

The channel will broadcast six films a day between 3pm and 3am, with the screening day divided into four slots - classics, prime time, independent/cool cinema and arthouse. You'll find it on Sky channel 315; Freeview channel 31; NTL channel 701/50; and Telewest channel 444.

For more on this, plus news, reviews and funnies from the world of TV, check out TV Scoop.

Review: Medion MD20099

Although the World Cup has successfully had us clamouring for High Definition, HD TV sets are still out of reach to many due to their high price tags. And that’s before you even think of paying for any HD content to watch on one.

Medion has therefore done what some manufacturer was inevitably going to do sooner or later – offer an ultra-cheap solution. For a mere £600 you can pick up this MD20099, a 32” LCD HD-Ready set with a resolution of 1366 x 768.

So how does this budget set fare? Well, there are a couple of interesting aspects that give it a little something extra. One example is the reasonably unique picture in picture feature which allows you to watch two video sources simultaneously. Admittedly, that’s not something you’re going to rely on heavily but good if you don’t want to stop playing on your Xbox yet still want to catch the rough gist of the latest round of the tennis.

In terms of visual style, the MD20099 is fairly distinctive; perhaps not to everyone’s taste but at least it does look like an HD TV. You can either use the stand or mount it on a wall bracket.

Sadly though, the Medion MD20099 struggles in a couple of key areas; fast moving images can suffer from some obvious lag and, despite the inclusion of an integrated analogue tuner, the set really chokes on the analogue images with some worrisome artefacts and poor contrast levels. Fortunately, the rest of the time the picture quality remains pretty decent as you would hope for from an HD set.

It’s not much of surprise that a £600 HD TV can not compete with premium products from the likes of Philips and Sony, but if you simply have to go High Definition but don’t have the financial resources to do so, this is definitely one of the very cheapest options available. Be warned though – you do get what you pay for.

Mustek PT1000D 7-inch TFT LCD TV with DVB-T tuner

TV on the move has come into its own during the World Cup - with viewing covering everything from phones, laptops and handheld consoles, through to more traditiomal miniature TVs, like this Mustek PT1000D 7-inch TFT LCD TV with DVB-T tuner, which you can pick up for under £150.

Gone are the days of small TVs having grainy black and white images - the PT1000D's integrated DVB-T tuner means digital TV and radio reception, with playback on a 7-inch TFT LCD screen and sound through the built-in stereo speakers or through the stereo earphone jack.

The PT100D also features an electronic programme guide (EPG) and teletext function, along with an option to save your favourite channels or skip through them all with the included remote. Powered by either a rechargeable lithium ion battery, mains or the cigarette lighter adapter for your car, you can pick it up now, priced at £149.

Find out more

More TV on the go:
Sony's LocationFree TV hits the UK
TV via the internet with Slingbox - now available in the UK

Big Brother's big coverage

Big Brother has certainly embraced all manner technology - you can get clips online, clips to your mobile, "live" action on E4, live coverage to your PC (for a price) plus an endless stream of highlight shows on Channel 4.

However, if you want the most incisive commentary on the show, you need to head over to TV Scoop, where the team has been glued to their sets, watching every move, predicting the next move and (like the rest of us) waiting to see who pairs up and if Shabaz really will carry out his threat of suicide live on TV.

Make sure you stay up to date - visit TV Scoop.

LG 71inch bling plasma - now on sale in Harrods

Sister blog HDTV UK reports another LG product that's on display in Harrods. If a crystal-encrusted LCD TV is not for you, how about getting your hands on the world's largest commercially-available plasma screen, plated in genuine gold (4 pounds of 24 carat gold to be precise). For the less ostentatious it's also available in a black finish.

It's fully HD-ready, offering 1920x1080 resolution, has an impressive 600W surround sound system, and  integrated display facilities for viewing digital photos and music tracks. It also has both HDMI and SCART inputs.Now to the price. Are you sitting comfortably? The TV in a black finish will set you back £50,000. The gold? A mere £70,000. I'll have two please.

Via Pocket Lint

LG shows off 102inch plasma in Harrods

Unless you spend your time traipsing round consumer electronics shows like we do you probably won't have experienced the sheer delight of viewing images on a 102inch plasma screen (OK we exaggerate ever so slightly). You might not even be aware of the intense schoolboy rivalry between Samsung and LG which means that at each show one of the companies tries to outdo the other by making its screen one inch bigger than the other - the sort of 21st century equivalent of New York's Chrysler Building v The Empire State.

Anyway, now's the chance for all UK readers to see what all the fuss is about by heading down to Harrods to check out LG's 102 inch plasma. Offering full HD resolution at 1920 x 1080 resolution, LG's big beast will be displayed in the Brompton window of Harrods until May 29th. Also on display in the other windows will be LG's recently launched chocolate phone, an eco-friendly steam washing machine and LG's comparitively weeny 42PX5 42 inch plasma - Home Cinema Choice's plasma TV of the year.

More LG stories:
CES 2006: The show's biggest telly
LG Chocolate Phone Review

Evesham portable 7inch digital TV

With analogue TV switch off just around the corner, now is a pretty good time to invest in a digital TV. So far most of the models on the market have been for larger screen sizes but this is set to change with the launch of the Evesham Pocket Theatre - a 7inch portable model  with LCD screen. Costing just £149 from www.lowestontheweb.com the dinky digital TV provides up to 3 hours of viewing time courtesy of a Lithium Ion battery and weighs just 520 grammes.

Other features include a built in electronic programme guide (EPG) and, most usefully, a connection that allows you to hook up the Pocket Theatre to any existing analogue TV in order to turn it into a digital model without the need for an additional set-top box. Oh, it also looks quite nice too and comes with a remote control.

Additional information: * TV system compliant to DVB-T * 7” Colour TFT LCD, 480 x 234 True Colour * 2 x LED – Status for power and battery * AV In and Out Function. * Headphone Socket * Supports 16x9 and 4x3 aspect ratios * 2 x Integrated Speakers * Remote Control * Features its own EPG * Comes with rechargeable * 1900mAh Li-Ion Battery * Operation time of approx. 3 hours * Weighs 520grammes * Dimensions – 200mm (l) x 129mm (h) x 22mm (w)

Five gadgets to help you watch the World Cup on the move

The clock is ticking - not long until the big World Cup kick off. There's just one problem. To fit in over 60 matches in a one month period means a number of daytime kick offs, when most of us are stuck at work.

You've got two options; use your entire holiday allocation from June 9th or find a way of catching the action at work or on the move. If the first one doesn't appeal, I've found five ways to keep up with the action wherever you are - with the help of the latest technology.

1. Sony's LocationFree TV
Sony's latest gadget is set to become a "must-have" for anyone wanting to take the TV with them - wherever they travel in the world. Plug in your LocationFree device, drop it into your home network, then use your home PC to spread the TV signals externally - to your Sony PSP or laptop. Buy one and watch your popularity at work soar. You can join the queue for one in late May, price to be confirmed.
Find out more

2. TV USB connector for your laptop
A number of devices have hit the market in the last year for accessing Freeview channels with your laptop. If you use a Mac, it's worth checking out the Miglia's TVMini, a shuffle-like device that can pick up digital channels, as well as pausing and recording them. It also comes with a remote for channel hopping. For a Windows-based solution, check out the Pinnacle PCTV Stick for similar functionality. Both should retail for just under £100.
More on Miglia's TVMini
More on Pinnacle's PCTV Stick

3. MSI's D310 portable media player
If you want something less bulky than a laptop for viewing digital TV on the move, MSI's new D310 (pictured) is ideal for slipping into your bag. It's got a 4.2-inch screen and a built-in antenna for viewing Freeview channels. A single charge should see your through three hours viewing. Expect to pay around £150.
Find out more

4. Highlights of every game on your 3 mobile
This year's World Cup has come just a little early for live action to your mobile, but you can get extended highlights of all games just five minutes after a game ends with the 3 network. And even better news, if you're already a 3 customer, all this action is absolutely free. If you're not, you've still got time to sign up for this, along with other dedicated World Cup content from the 3G network.
Find out more

5. TV on your watch
If you've a less forgiving boss, more subtle viewing techniques will probably be required - like this wrist TV with 1.5-inch TFT screen. The antenna is hidden in the headphones, which might give you away, though the biggest problem is more likely to be battery life - you only get an hour from a full charge. However, if the boss isn't around, you can get up to three hours if used with the docking station. You can pick one up for around £130.
Find out more

LG introduces LC2D LCD HD-ready TVs

LG has added to its LCD range with the LC2D series of HD-ready TV, available in 47, 37 and 32-inch models.

The LC2D series features the company's LG’s Eye Intelligence technology, which senses the amount of ambient light in the room and automatically adjusts the screens contrast, brightness and sharpness for best viewing experience.

It also features LG’s new XD-Engine processing system, which takes low or standard resolution signals to near high-definition levels by improving brightness, contrast, detail and enhancing colour as well as reducing signal noise - which, according to LG, means crisp images and vibrant colours.

The LC2D Series should be available later this month.

Compare UK prices here

More TVs:
Loewe Individual Edition 1 LCD TV with Swarovski crystal surround
Sharp's new P-Series LCD TVs

The Apprentice - the final showdown

Over at TV Scoop, they're weighing up the runners and riders for tonight's big showdown in The Apprentice. Will it be Ruth (the) Badger or Michelle, the checkout girl done well?

For me, the BBC's broadband is the winner. I never seem to catch the show, but thanks to a broadband connection and an archive of old episodes online, I've kept up to date with all the departures. If you missed any of the previous hot air and bad suits, check out the The Apprentice site on the BBC.

And if you want to know more about tonight's final, make sure you get over to TV Scoop.

Loewe Individual Edition 1 LCD TV with Swarovski crystal surround

Following on from the Gorenje Swarovski Dark Crystal Refrigerator, we have more diamond delights - this time from Loewe, which is putting into a production its 32-inch Swarovski crystal 'concept' LCD TV, now known as the Individual Edition 1.

Unsurprisingly, it's a limited edition of 2000. There are two colour options - black body colour with dark crystal side inlay panels, and silver body colour with light crystal side inlay panels with 1000 of each being manufactured for distribution worldwide. Only 50 of these will be coming over to the UK.

The TV HD-ready and combined with the Loewe's Digital+ platform, offers what the company claims is "superior viewing". Loewe's picture processing technology Image+ is also featured for improved image processing. Other features include an integrated Freeview tuner, and the option to include a hard disk recorder.

None of this comes cheap. Expect to pay around £5,000 for the Loewe Individual Edition 1 when it becomes available, probably around the start of June.

Find out more

More TVs:
Sharp's P-Series LCD TVs
HD Ready LCDs from JVC

Sky Movies' new interactive service

If you can't wait to play with the new Sky HD service, here's a new development that might keep you busy for the next few weeks - Sky Movies' interactive service via the red button.

The new application just adds a few whistles and bells to your viewing, but if you're a film buff, it should be right up your street. You can access a choice of trailers for the films appearing on Sky Movies that day, plus information on cast, certificate, star rating as well as a short review. There's also an easy-to-use movie planner that tells you what's on - and when each film starts, plus splash screens featuring news about forthcoming premieres.

Sky promises further enhancements over the coming months, including the strangeley-named 'Mood Matcher' service - which I'm guessing doesn't mean Sky scanning your brain for suitable movie scheduling. But we can live in hope.

Sky website

More Sky:
Sky HD launches in May - official
Buy Sky HD from April 12th

Tosh's SED set details

At its annual press bash in Hertfordshire today Toshiba outlined its TV strategy and gave a few hints as to where SED sets scheduled to arrive next year, will fit into its portfolio. Apparently SED sets are going to be pitched at the high-end with the first model likely to be a 50inch set.

Tosh claims that the SED format, which is also championed by Canon, delivers more dynamic, higher quality images than rivals LCD and plasma. Even though one of the key benefits of SED is that it is apparently cheaper to manufacture than LCD, Tosh says that SED sets are likely to cost a little more than similar sized LCDs.

Tosh's personal DVD player with digital TV tuner

A personal DVD player with an integrated digital TV tuner sounds like a winner to us - in theory at least. After all you can take it with you on holiday and when you have exhausted your DVD supply you can then tune into the 20 or so Freeview channels. So top marks to Toshiba for getting there first with its SD-P30DT, a portable player that in addition to the digi TV tuner includes four and half hours of battery power and a nine inch screen. It'll go for £350 when it launches in May. However given the rather unstable all or nothing nature of the digital TV signal it might not work on the move so if you are harboring dreams of watching the footy in June/July on it you might be disappointed.

Anyhow we are at the Tosh bash in the wilds of Hertfordshire gawping at its new range of products, and here's a little low-res vid we shot of the player. Gawd bless you You Tube.

Return of Green Wing

We all need a break from the gadgets sometime - and what better way to relax than watching that big gadget in the corner - the TV. This Friday, there's even more reason than usual to slump down onto the sofa - the return of top medical sitcom Green Wing.

Over at TV Scoop, they can't contain themselves and have gone Green Wing crazy in the run-up to the first episode. They can't keep away from the Green Wing blog, which tells you everything you need to know about the series - and much you don't. And they've managed to catch up with Jonathan Paul Green, production designer on the show and a man in the know for what to expect from the new episodes.

Want to know more? I suggest you head off to TV Scoop now.

New Doctor Who series - sneak previews

The grandaddy of all British sci-fi (well almost) Doctor Who is about to make his return to British screens - and according to TV Scoop, the BBC throwing around teasers for the new series with complete abandon.

Not only are they offering up sneak previews of the action, featuring new Doc David Tennant, but they've also got classic clips, behind-the-scenes documentaries, snippets of the last series and an assortment of stuff you can download to your mobile.

Interested? Head over to TV Scoop to find out more about this and other great TV.

Sharp's new P-Series LCD TVs

Sharp has unveiled three additions to its P-Series range of LCD TVs, specifically optimised for the UK PAL broadcast signal - the Aquos LC-26P70E, LC-32P70E and LC-37P70E (26", 32" and 37" respectively) which are able to reproduce the UK PAL broadcast signal perfectly.

The TVs are also future-proofed for forthcoming High Definition (HDTV) broadcasts, featuring an HDMI interface with HDCP copy protection and display support up to 1080i and 720p. There's also a built-in Freeview Digital Terrestrial Tuner, DCE (Dynamic Contrast Enhancement), Clear Voice Function, Auto Volume Control, a viewing angle of 170 degrees, 2 x 10W and surround sound and a PC input if you fancy gaming on a bigger platform.

There's also inputs for connection to a wide variety of sources - 2 x Scart, AV/S-Video In, Audio Out, HDMI In, CI Slot (Top Up TV) and PC In. An adaptor cable for a VGA component input is also included. 

The new Aquos models will be available from April 2006. No price available as yet.

Sharp website

More TVs:
Samsung unveils HD Ready CRT
More HD Ready LCDs from JVC

Be Doctor Who's sidekick!

We've previously told you how to get a part in Doctor Who - and now we're offering you the chance to be the good Doc's assistant!

Over at TV Scoop, they've been digging around the BBC's website, finding some great online games along the way. In Attack Of The Graske, find out if you can cut the mustard as Rose or try out one of the other three Doctor Who games online.

Or if you fancy a bit more reality, you can go play hospitals in the Holby City game! Interested? Head over to TV Scoop now for all the details, plus some great TV stories too.

Samsung unveils HD Ready CRT

And we thought HDTV was a cunning ploy by TV makers to get us to upgrade to flat screen sets. Apparently not... Samsung has revealed a brand new CRT set at CeBIT this year: it sports an HDMI input and that all-important HD Ready sticker.

Most companies have been steering away from traditional CRT format, instead choosing to push Plasmas and LCDs heavily, despite CRT’s ability to provide clearer pictures and cost a whole lot less than its flat screen rivals. In future CRT is set to make a major comeback in an indirect kind of way. Highly anticipated SED sets, which promise a great improvement over LCD picture quality, should start being manufactured next year.

For the time being however, Samsung has managed to cut down on the bulk that often plagues large CRT TV sets, making these SlimFit TVs about 30% thinner than has previously been possible. We should see the HD Ready CTV-32Z30 hitting UK shelves in May for a very reasonable £350.

via The Register

More HD Ready LCDs from JVC

JVC has introduced us to two new HD-Ready DynaPix LCD TV series. Both have integrated digital and analogue tuners and use JVC’s Digital Image Scaling Technology (DIST) which uses a single processor basically to improve the picture quality. Most importantly, the DynaPix system reduces noise from either analogue, digital, DVD or HD inputs and intelligently decides which type of input it is to apply the right amount of three different noise reduction techniques.

The flag ship of these two series is the LT-40DS7, a 40” model and definitely the slicker of the two. It is compatible with up to 1080i HD signals and come equipped with two HDMI inputs for that purpose. Also, like several HD Ready TVs we’ve seen emerge, these have a PC input making it a potentially great addition to a Media Center setup. The LT-40DS7 should sell for around £2000.

More HD TVs:
LG's 42-inch plasma TV with built-in DVR
The world’s largest backlit LCD TV

The LT-DR7 series will be available in 26”, 32” and 37” sizes. Like their larger sibling they also boast the 2 x HDMI, 2 x SCART and an S-Video input. The integrated 20W speakers probably won’t blow you away but at least make an effort to enhance bass sounds by using MaxxBass technology to give them some extra punch. Prices of these models will range between £900 and £1700 respective to size.

A dog's life on TV

Yes, it's that time of the year - dogs big and small from all over the world battle it out for the Pedigree Chum advert pay-off the title of top pooch at Crufts.

Over at TV Scoop, the team are sat excitedly by the screen, noting down every bad pun by this year's dogmeister Ben Fogle and every word of riveting commentary and off the cuff frivolity from genuine TV legend Peter Purves. And they'll probably be taking advantage of the extras served up by the Beeb through the interactive button.

For a typically cutting introduction to the event, not to mention a rundown of what to expect this weekend, check out TV Scoop now.

Cebit 2006: LG gets the bling TV out

LG aren't afraid to look big and brash. After showing off the biggest with their 100-inch LCD TV, they wheel out something about as brash as it gets - the gold-rimmed 71-inch plasma TV.

Before you start getting ideas above your station, please note that this is the most expensive TV in the world. If that doesn't put you off, you'll be please to know that it is complimented by a matching home cinema system and digital receiver. It's fully HD compatible (I should hope so) and features HDMI connectivity.

Coming to a footballer near you very soon.

More LG:
LG's 42-inch plasma TV with built-in DVR
LG's 100-inch LCD leviathan