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December 31, 2009
by Jan Harris
ADC, a leading global supplier of network infrastructure solutions, and Altobridge, a leading provider of cost-effective solutions for mobile network operators, announced today that Altobridge has acquired ADC’s portfolio of GSM base station and switching products. Terms of the transaction, which closes today, were not disclosed.
The ADC GSM base station and switching product portfolio supports demanding applications such as remote ...
by Janet Harris
TDVision Systems Inc. and CyberLink will showcase their full HD 3D solutions at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
CyberLink’s PowerDVD video player software, integrated with TDVision’s 2D+Delta decoding technology, delivers full HD 3D video decoding capabilities.
TDVision is the world’s leading innovator in Full HD 3D (1920x1080 per-view) video ...
by Janet Harris
Despite our love affair with the latest hi-tech gadgets, Tesco reports that a cheap and cheerful tiny ‘party phone’, the £20 VX1i Party Phone, has become the surprise best seller this Christmas and New Year.
The sim free phone allows party goers to drop in their own sim card ...
by David Allen
The BBC and its supporters may claim that the quality of the picture on the BBC HD channel has not changed, but there are a growing band of TV Licence fee payers that disagree.
In fact this complaint is set to move onto a different level with an online petition on the official Number 10 website being started, calling ...
by David Allen
A stranger to the BBC would have been forgiven for thinking that the BBC had only one actor on its books over the Christmas holiday period for conservative MP, Nigel Evans' research has come up with some remarkable findings.
David Tennant, the outgoing Dr Who, has made no less than seventy five appearances in the three weeks over ...
by David Allen
Imagine a world where the BBC owned and ran The Times and Sunday Times, how different the UK media might have been.
As strange and random as this may sound, it turns out that in the last year of the labour government run by James Callaghan, the energy secretary at the time, Tony Benn, came up with a ...
by David Allen
The introduction of product placement, similar to that shown on networks in the US, would not do anything to build on the trust that the public has in broadcasters, according to claims made by the Church of England.
It has been some months since the culture secretary Ben Bradshaw put forward a plan that could allow the relaxation of ...
by David Allen
To keep order on the Sky TV electronic programme guide the satellite broadcaster is planning a few a changes, including re-branding the sports channel, Sky Sports Xtra.
This channel has been out of synch with the other sports channels offered by Sky and will be renamed 'Sky Sports 4' to bring it into line with the other three channels, ...
by David Allen
The BBC will be launching three new channels on one of the largest cable networks in Hong Kong.
The month long introduction to BBC programming began just before Christmas and will run until the 21st January 2010.
The free viewings will mean that BBC Entertainment, BBC Lifestyle and CBeebies will be joining forces with the BBC Knowledge channel that ...
by David Allen
The Day of the Triffids has been the subject of a movie with Howard Keel, radio shows and of course a now classic BBC version from 1981.
The recent adaptation, available in HD on the BBC HD channel, started off fine but as with many two part dramas it went downhill from there.
The worst thing was the Triffids, which ...
by David Allen
It seems that next year could be become the year when parental controls become a thorn in the side of video-on-demand and catch-up TV services.
This is because the organisation founded by Mary Whitehouse, Mediawatch UK, is planning a campaign to make broadcasters offer users more controls that allow parents to restrict what their children are watching via these ...
by David Allen
It seems that although 2010 is being regarded as the year of 3D HDTV, the growth in that sector will be limited until the market becomes established and consumers are able to get their hands on 3D HDTV equipment.
In the meantime it seems that 2010 is more likely to become the year of HDTV.
In fact 2009 was not ...
December 30, 2009
by David Allen
There is a small storm brewing up in Scotland and it concerns the distribution of BBC Alba, the Gaelic language channel available in Scotland via satellite and online.
It seems that not enough Gaelic speakers are able to receive the channel and according to the Assistant General Secretary (AGS) of the Celtic League, the BBC should make sure ...
by David Allen
The people behind the home shopping channel, Ideal Shopping Direct, which is broadcast on Sky, Freesat, Freeview and Virgin Media, have cashed in on their new firm’s success and received around £5 million in payouts.
What is a amazing is that Paul Wright and Val Kaye started Lead The Good Life, which trades as Garden Bargains, as a project ...
by David Allen
It was expected to save money, but moving staff up to Manchester had not gone too smoothly for the BBC, despite making many of its employees an offer that they could not refuse, which clearly half of them did.
It seems that out of the 924 asked to move to the BBC North HQ in Salford, less than ...
by David Allen
Last century the naming of decades seemed so simple, just add “ties” on the end and that was that.
But since the turn of the century there has been an issue concerning what to name the decades, the first of which was known as the “Noughties”, but how will it work for 2010?
This appears to have been of ...
by David Allen
When ITV revamped its image and changed its schedules to make the programming fall in line with what the viewers wanted, the fiercely independent Scottish regional channel, STV, decided it was not having it and replaced programming with its own home grown entertainment.
However it seems no matter how independent the channel wants to be, the viewers still want ...
by David Allen
The reporting of local and regional news has always been an issue for the BBC’s regional news channels and this has been apparent in Scotland, where an MSP is calling for the BBC to allow regional opt outs from the Reporting Scotland programme.
MSP Brian Adam suggests that this move would increase the amount of localised news and reduce ...
by David Allen
There will be no escape from 3D HDTV in 2010, with more broadcasters announcing the launch of a dedicated 3D TV channel.
In the US, Direct TV is just the latest broadcaster to announce that it will be launching a 3D TV channel in 2010.
The main thrust of 3D HDTV will come at the Consumers Electronics Show (CES) in ...
by David Allen
The electronics giant Panasonic has completed the development of its brand new factory in Amagasaki, Japan.
This is now the company’s largest plant dedicated to the production of plasma screen technology.
With new European laws governing the power output of the televisions, it can only be supposed that the products coming out of the factory will be greener than before.
But ...
by David Allen
It seems that it is difficult to keep Scotland's news production out of the limelight these days.
The latest revelation concerns the production of news for GMTV for Scottish viewers.
It seems that the newspaper publisher Trinity Mirror will be partnering with Macmillan Media, the company already behind the Scottish regional news for the breakfast time news show.
Trinity Mirror ...
December 29, 2009
by Jan Harris
E-EDGE could be big, if it fulfils its potential.
The “Evolved” enhancement of today’s widespread EDGE mobile networks could be generating nearly $3.7 billion in CAPEX for cellular base station upgrades in 2015, if operators and handset makers adopt the technology.
However that is by no means certain. Although the spectrally-efficient Evolved-EDGE includes data features and faster data speeds, no E-EDGE networks ...
by Jan Harris
The results from 1043 respondents to ISPreview.co.uk's latest survey reveal that 42% of people rate 'Reliability' as the most important factor when picking a new broadband ISP, which is closely followed by 'Speed' (37%).
Interestingly 'Price' is no longer seen as being the key factor, with just 15% voting for that. Both 'Support' (3.6%) and 'Services [email etc.]' (2%) came bottom.
Despite ...
by Janet Harris
As just a third of drivers admit to knowing what to do should they be involved in an accident, AXA Insurance, one of the UK’s largest insurers, has this week launched a motor insurance claims iPhone app to help.
The application, available now from the Apple iTunes app store, will help motorists involved ...
by David Allen
It seems that despite having the technology to skip adverts, the average UK TV viewer is in fact sitting through more adverts now than they did over ten years ago.
According to the report by the advertising industry body Thinkbox, ten years ago viewers were watching on average thirty three adverts a day, but currently this trend has increased ...
by David Allen
According to recent research it would appear that Video on Demand (VoD) through the television is likely to outperform the traditional method of receiving VoD through a computer.
The research, carried out by WPP's Kantar Media, studied responses from a survey called FutureProof, which asked around 2,500 people aged over 12 about their viewing habits.
The responses included 453 Virgin ...
by David Allen
The BBC pulled out all the stops to ensure victory in the Christmas day TV ratings competition against rival ITV.
It was ITV which in fact went in stronger, having just finished the long run of the X Factor, but the BBC had a few tricks ready and, as it turns out, ITV put up little competition taking only ...
by David Allen
It is highly likely that a snap decision could be made by the PM Gordon Brown for a General Election.
This has to happen sooner or later and when it does Sky TV will spring into action, as the satellite broadcaster will be showing one of three live TV debates with party leaders.
The first debate will be held ...
by David Allen
If the BBC gets its own way with the multi channel joint venture know as Project Canvas, and wins the final seal of approval in February, this will see the production of new set top boxes that will possibly carry the BBC logo.
It is understood that the new set top boxes will come with a price tag of ...
by David Allen
In the world of technology, getting past the Christmas holidays does not mean the end of another year and taking it easy for a few months, because technology firms will now be gearing up for the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas early next month.
The one thing that will be making all of the running is 3D ...
by David Allen
As 3D HDTV prepares to take the world of home entertainment to a different level, the technology needed to bring it all together is being developed.
This requires a massive coordination of businesses and suppliers to provide components for the equipment, such as the high definition multimedia interface (HDMI), which is what is used to connect HD enabled equipment ...
by David Allen
With different formats available to broadcasters to provide a 3D HDTV service, consumers are going to be faced with additional costs.
This could mean a set top box, a new 3D HDTV enabled television and, of course, the polarised glasses that act as shutters for the eyes, thus enabling the 3D effect to take place.
It is the glasses that ...
by David Allen
As well as waiting for the BBC Trust to come out with its final decision on the multi channel joint venture known as Project Canvas it seems that the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) could be getting ready to have a look at the deal.
This looks and sounds remarkably similar to what happened with the previous project known ...
December 24, 2009
by David Allen
Out of all the content available on the BBC’s catch up service, the iPlayer, it is Top Gear that has come through as being the most requested show, with over 1.2 million streams being requested by viewers.
The results come as the iPlayer celebrates its second birthday on Christmas day.
In that time the catch up service has made a ...
by David Allen
The BBC has a winner on its hands with Dr Who.
According to BBC America, the show has been billed as a three-parter, starting with the most recent 'Waters of Mars' and finishing off with the two-part 'End of Time'.
The latter will mark the demise of the tenth doctor played by David Tennant and the launch of a ...
by David Allen
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has stepped in to ban an advert placed by BT for its pay to view service, BT Vision.
The advert has been called misleading as it implied that BT Vision subscribers were able to see films before subscribers to BSkyB’s movie channels.
The advert, which is the one that uses scenes from the Oscar winning ...
by David Allen
It has been just two years since the European Commission brought out the rule regarding television over the internet, video on demand and television accessed through a mobile device.
But in that time only three countries have backed the rules and they are Belgium, Romania and Slovakia.
This is despite the other countries within the European community having until ...
by David Allen
UTV is currently the provider of ITV services in Northern Ireland but it has expansion plans, with Wales being the first target.
The broadcaster has put in a bid that could see it providing news services for Wales, under a new pilot scheme introduced by the government to assist local news providers to simply keep going.
Under the Independently Funded ...
by David Allen
While the TV over the internet joint venture, Project Canvas celebrates being able to proceed, there are certain broadcasters that are not celebrating this announcement, in fact for BSkyB this is could the start of yet another long running legal battle.
The BBC Trust took around ten months to come to the decision on Canvas and within that time ...
by Darren Allan
Streaming pop pickers will be glad to hear that Swedish music service Spotify has revealed its most played tunes of 2009.
And the most streamed song at the number one spot? It's the Black Eyed Peas with “I Gotta Feeling”.
Second is Flo Rida's “Right Round”, the amended album version (we prefer the amended silent version).
Rather depressingly, in third place ...
by Darren Allan
Mobile network operator 3 has announced that it will be carrying the music streaming service Spotify on its Symbian phones.
The Spotify for Symbian app, which can now be downloaded from Planet 3, will be available on a range of Nokia handsets, and the Sony Ericsson Satio.
Eligible Nokia models include the 5800, 6220, E63, E71, N86, N95, N96 ...
by David Allen
Has the BBC fallen out of love with the talented duo James Corden and Mathew Horne?
Not only is the BBC showing the very last episodes of the fantastic series Gavin and Stacey, but at the same time it has become known that the sketch show Horne and Corden has been cut.
The show was aired on the BBC’s ...
by Darren Allan
The specifications for two of Motorola's upcoming Android phones for next year have found their way onto the Internet.
The Motorola Opus One will have, according to the site with its ear to the ground Boy Genius Report, a 3.1 inch capacitive touchscreen, a 3 megapixel camera, bluetooth and wi-fi, running Android 1.5.
The Opus One also sounds a ...
by David Allen
The satellite carrier Avanti Communications has announced that it is ready to launch the latest Hylas 2 satellite into orbit.
The company has had to invest an estimated £280 million in the plan, with funding coming from shareholders and debt facilities based in France and the USA.
The firm is pleased at how the financing went.
Raising that sort of ...
by David Allen
The electronics giants JVC and Sony have signed up with the 3D HDTV manufacturer, RealD Stereoscopic 3D Technology, in order to integrate this technology into their products.
RealD provides a 1080p 3D image to both eyes.
It is the same system being used by Blu-ray which should be obvious considering that Sony are involved in this technology rollout.
People who have ...
by Darren Allan
Satellite broadcast giant Sky has decided to offer people subscribing to its Sky+ or HD services online a tasty freebie – six months of free net access.
The deal is for Sky's unlimited package, with broadband speeds of up to 20Mbps (depending on where you live) and unlimited data usage. It also includes free evening and weekend phone calls.
Both ...
December 23, 2009
by Darren Allan
Microsoft has come unstuck in a US court battle, losing an appeal in an ongoing patent dispute with Canadian based company i4i.
The infringement in question applies to Microsoft Word 2007 (and Office 2007), which use custom XML elements in violation of a patent that i4i held.
The court upheld an earlier guilty ruling, and ordered the software giant to ...
by Darren Allan
Since its launch two years ago, the BBC iPlayer has gathered some considerable momentum.
Which is aptly illustrated by some figures the Beeb has just released for its on-demand service, showing it has served some 730 million requests for TV and radio programmes in total.
November of this year proved the busiest month ever, and with 88 million requests it ...
by Jan Harris
Andrew Solutions, the CommScope, Inc. division that is a global leader in wireless communication systems and products, has received the Excellent Core Partner Award from Huawei, one of the world's leading manufacturers of telecommunications equipment.
The award was presented at the 2009 Huawei Core Partner Convention in Shenzhen, China.
Andrew has been invited to this strategic meeting of Huawei for three consecutive ...
by Jan Harris
The UK's leading broadband experts have named mobile broadband, faster fixed-line speeds and the BBC's iPlayer as the highlights of the last decade, with the keyword for the next one being 'convergence'.
Broadbandgenie.co.uk spoke to key decision makers at ISPs including Virgin Media and TalkTalk, as well as leading industry analysts, about an amazing 10 years on the internet.
Genie editor Chris ...
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Mobiles News
Microsoft has come unstuck in a US court battle, losing an appeal in an ongoing patent dispute with Canadian based company i4i.
The infringement in question applies to Microsoft Word 2007 (and Office 2007), which use custom XML elements in violation of a patent that i4i held.
The court upheld an earlier guilty ruling, and ordered the software giant to ...
