December 11, 2007
Being at the forefront of the innovative TV has always been Channel Fours remit, and once again they have proved to be ahead of the game with the launch of Channel Four HD, the first of the main channels to do so. The HD version of the channel will run along side the normal TV running order, but this will only be able to be received through the Sky box and ...
Channel Four goes HD
by David AllenBeing at the forefront of the innovative TV has always been Channel Fours remit, and once again they have proved to be ahead of the game with the launch of Channel Four HD, the first of the main channels to do so. The HD version of the channel will run along side the normal TV running order, but this will only be able to be received through the Sky box and ...
December 10, 2007
Memory chip manufacturer, Toshiba, is to start manufacturing flash-based solid-state drives for notebooks, in order to diversify the market for flash memory chips. Toshiba, which is the second largest manufacturer of NAND-type flash memory in the world, will produce solid-state drives in a range of capacities, from 32GB to 128GB. It will start mass producing the 1.8-inch and 2.5-inch drives in May. Solid state drives are faster and quieter ...
Toshiba to offer solid-state drives
by Janet HarrisMemory chip manufacturer, Toshiba, is to start manufacturing flash-based solid-state drives for notebooks, in order to diversify the market for flash memory chips. Toshiba, which is the second largest manufacturer of NAND-type flash memory in the world, will produce solid-state drives in a range of capacities, from 32GB to 128GB. It will start mass producing the 1.8-inch and 2.5-inch drives in May. Solid state drives are faster and quieter ...
The BBC eyes up UKTV
by David AllenThe network that that started off with TV Gold has become a surprise package, with eight channels including the original TV Gold has caught the eye of the BBC, in fact it is believed that they have approached Virgin Media with a view of buying their share of the business for an estimated figure of around £370 million. This is a major expansion for the BBC, and some people may not ...
Luxe.tv moves in on Europe
by David AllenThere is a move by the Luxembourg based broadcaster luxe.tv the luxury channel as it has become known to increase its coverage into Europe and possibly even beyond. This channel is only a few weeks old and yet it has a hold on this sort of sector, if there is such a thing as the luxury sector, after all throughout Europe there are vary differences between the cost of living in ...
Another channel looks at Premier League
by David AllenIt seems that BSkyB’s hold over showing live Premier League matches could be coming to an end and yet another satellite channel begins to take an interest in the idea of showing these games to their subscribers. The giant US sports network ESPN are looking to acquire the rights to the UK Premier League live matches when the next auction takes place, this will be sometime in 2009. This potential new deal ...
DTG gets a new Director General
by David AllenThe Digital TV Group who are in charge of setting all of the rules and specifications for the UK have named Dermot Nolan as their new Director General, the organisation is the link between broadcasters and manufacturers who are involved in the UK digitisation, much this work has been founded on the European model. Dermot Nolan has been involved in the industry for some twenty five years at director level for ...
December 7, 2007
OQO, a manufacturer of ultra mobile PCs, has launched the e2, a full featured PC with embedded HSDPA mobile broadband. The PC measures just 142mm(W) x 84mm(H) x 26mm(D) and weighs 454g with a standard battery in place. With wireless connectivity provided via WiFi 802.11a/b/g and Bluetooth 2.0 technology, the e2 will connect customers in Europe and Asia at speeds of up to 3.6Mbps, even without a WiFi hotspot. The device runs ...
OQO unveils pocket-sized PC with HSDPA
by Janet HarrisOQO, a manufacturer of ultra mobile PCs, has launched the e2, a full featured PC with embedded HSDPA mobile broadband. The PC measures just 142mm(W) x 84mm(H) x 26mm(D) and weighs 454g with a standard battery in place. With wireless connectivity provided via WiFi 802.11a/b/g and Bluetooth 2.0 technology, the e2 will connect customers in Europe and Asia at speeds of up to 3.6Mbps, even without a WiFi hotspot. The device runs ...
Ofcom plans auction
by David AllenThe regulator Ofcom is publishing their plans to sell off parts or pieces of the UK spectrum with satellite radio and mobile TV at the forefront of what this could be used for. This is known as the L band and covers 1452 MHz – 1492 MHz. This auction of the L band will be held online and should start around the spring of 2008, details of the auction are really ...
Murdoch gets a lift at Sky
by David AllenJames Murdoch, son of Rupert Murdoch will be leaving his position as Chief Executive of BSkyB to become Chairman of News Corp’s European and Asian businesses, which does include Sky Italia as well as the UK newspapers The Times and The Sun. The new Chief Executive will be Jeremy Darroch, who is currently CFO of DTH Platform and was the former CFO of electronics retailer Dixons. However James Murdoch will remain ...
Sky TV under pressure from Ofcom
by David AllenThe battle for the airwaves continues, with BT, Setanta Sports and News, Top Up TV and Virgin Media urging the regulator Ofcom to look into the hold that BSkyB has over the UK’s pay per view market and that it should be referred to the competition commission. It is argued that Sky TV have a hold over the market by the offers and incentives which means that Sky TV has control ...
Freeview to launch Video on Demand
by David AllenFreeview are looking to expand the choice that they are offering customers. The next phase is to offer a Video on Demand (VOD) service which will use content from the main channels of BBC, ITV and Channel Four. It is early days for this service and they have not even come up with a name for it yet. However there may be an issue building up, because the service may not ...
December 6, 2007
IBM has claimed a key breakthrough in optoelectronics with the development of an electro-optic modulator, 100 to 1,000 times smaller than previous modulators, which can translate electric pulses into light. By translating electric pulses into light, the silicon Mach-Zehnder electro-optic modulator transforms electrons into photons. The development is a significant step towards using light instead of electricity as a means of communication. Light communication technology is expected to be much faster ...
IBM turns electrical pulses into light
by Janet HarrisIBM has claimed a key breakthrough in optoelectronics with the development of an electro-optic modulator, 100 to 1,000 times smaller than previous modulators, which can translate electric pulses into light. By translating electric pulses into light, the silicon Mach-Zehnder electro-optic modulator transforms electrons into photons. The development is a significant step towards using light instead of electricity as a means of communication. Light communication technology is expected to be much faster ...
Broadband satisfaction down
by David AllenIn a survey conducted by J D Power and Associates, it would appear that internet users in the UK are less satisfied with their internet service providers than at the same time last year, which is a bit disappointing. The survey tried to find the best and worst performing broadband providers by asking customers a series questions that took into consideration the following criteria’s: performance and reliability; customer service and technical ...
BT Vision is on trial
by David AllenNot to be left behind, BT is introducing a new service where customers will be able to download free films from the BT web based download shop. This service which will be known as BT Vision will be available to anyone, there is no need to be a BT customer either, so anyone regardless of which ISP that they use can join in the fun with BT Vision. Naturally there is ...
Kangaroo gets signposted
by David AllenThe proposed joint venture between the main terrestrial TV stations, BBC 1 & 2, ITV and Channel four, where there will be an offering of programming from all of the channels, which will be available over the internet through the Kangaroo website, will start to get signposted soon from Channel Fours 4oD and the new BBC iPlayer, launched on Christmas day. Kangaroo will offer a wide spread of programmes which ...
Christmas present from the BBC!
by David AllenThe BBC have been toying with their iPlayer for some month now and it seems that they have finally decided to take it out of beta and launch it for real, the launch date has been set as December 25th 2007, a strange time to launch but who are we to complain. The iPlayer is a pretty cool way of catching up with BBC programming that has been missed for some ...
December 5, 2007
Microsoft has brought forward the launch of SP1 for Office 2007 to 11 December, after saying at November's TechEd event in Barcelona that it wouldn't be launched until early 2008. SP1, which is designed to improve the stability, performance, and security of Office 2007, will be available to download next week according to a post on Microsoft's Upstate New York Technology Team Weblog by John Rajunas, a technology specialist employed by ...
Launch imminent for Microsoft Office 2007 SP1
by Janet HarrisMicrosoft has brought forward the launch of SP1 for Office 2007 to 11 December, after saying at November's TechEd event in Barcelona that it wouldn't be launched until early 2008. SP1, which is designed to improve the stability, performance, and security of Office 2007, will be available to download next week according to a post on Microsoft's Upstate New York Technology Team Weblog by John Rajunas, a technology specialist employed by ...
Sky on computer
by David AllenFor subscribers of Sky they have been able to watch some programming on their computers via the Sky Anytime service, now this service is going to be opened up to anyone where most of the popular programmes like Lost, Stargate Atlantis and Las Vegas can be seen for the small charge of £2 per view. For sports fans there is the opportunity for computer users to see the Sky sports online ...
Broadband expands in Europe
by David AllenMore and more Europeans are signing up to broadband, with over half of the population being online now using a high speed connection to the internet. In figures released by the EU statistical unit Eurostat, half of those who used the internet used it for search engines, fifteen per cent use the internet to make hone calls and thirteen per cent use it for file sharing (Peer to peer). Of all ...
Pirated content in the UK
by David AllenIt seems that wherever you go there is a mention of pirated copies, yet nowhere is worse than the internet and UK viewers of some of the worlds most popular shows are getting tempted to see them early by downloading pirated content. In a survey carried out by Attentional it would seem that around a third of UK viewers would consider downloading a pirated copy of a TV program or film. ...
