FrequencyCast - UK TV and Tech News

FrequencyCast Show 55, for the 1st of September 2010, is now available.

Here’s what today’s free show contains:

• News Updates: Rivals to Facebook, ABC, ITV plus new TV and radio channels
• Hands-on: We’ve got a new Amazon Kindle, and we want to talk about it
• Preview: Project Canvas and Sky Anytime+ previewed
• Social Collaboration: Harnessing the power of the crowd
• Gadgets: Car reversing kits and cable tidies
• Your comments and questions on BT Vision HD, Freesat and Powerline

You can download Show 55 direct to your MP3 player or listen online at http://www.frequencycast.co.uk/latest.html.

If you have an iPod or iPhone, get shows faster by signing up via iTunes.

Links:

• Show Notes for Show 55
• Transcript: Hands on with the UK Kindle

We hope you enjoy today’s show. We’d love to know what you think.

As ever, if you like what you’ve heard, please spread the word to your Facebook and Twitter chums…

 FrequencyCast Show 55 [30:17m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The UK version of the Amazon Kindle eBook device is hitting people’s doorsteps today, one day ahead of the 27th August release date.

It seems some lucky customers that placed a pre-order are seeing deliveries today, with more expected over the next few days, although it seems that the early deliveries may only be for the “wi-fi” version, and not the “3G” version, with rumours that the Kindle 3G may not be shipped in any significant volume for the 27th August.

One of our contributors ordered a wi-fi version early on in the pre-order process, and is set to receive their Kindle on or around the 27th August, but another of our team who also ordered early (this time a 3G version) doesn’t even have an estimated delivery date, with the order stating simply:

“We’ll notify you via e-mail when we have an estimated delivery date for this item”

An email to Customer Services gave us the following:

“Due to strong customer demand, orders are prioritised on a first-come, first-served basis. Your Kindle is expected to dispatch in the next several days. We will send you an e-mail confirmation as soon as your order has dispatched with an estimated delivery date. We will dispatch your Kindle to you as quickly as possible and will keep you informed by e-mail as we get more precise delivery dates.”

We’re seeing discussion that indicates Amazon are still waiting stock of the 3G version from their supplier, suggesting many may not be getting delivery on or close to the 27th August estimated date, but I guess we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see what gets dispatched. Watch this space for “the next several days…”

Ordered a UK Kindle? Got yours yet? We’d love to get your comments…

The Wand Remote Control, which we featured back in Show 46, got an appearance on the BBC Dragon’s Den this evening.

Control your TV,  Hi-fi, audio and home electronics with the flick of a wrist.

It’s a great product, as proved by the fact that all five Dragons wanted to invest.

For our full hands-on review of the Magic Wand Remote Control, please go to frequencycast.co.uk/wandremotecontol.html

As we’ve reported in recent shows, Sky’s purchased a bunch of channels from Virgin Media – including Living, Bravo and Virgin 1. Obviously, the station has to lose the “Virgin” brand, so Sky’s presumably paid a bunch of consultants to come up with the rather original name “Channel One”. (Our money was on “Chuck 1″ or “Trek 1″.

The rebrand should be happening on the 3rd of September 2010. Apparently, the new “Channel One” will also be carrying the recent re-boot of “V”, the eighties sci-fi classic, where friendly hamster-eating visitors come to us in peace (with hilarious consequences). Watch out for “Anna” (the evil Diana-like lizard), who’s played by Firefly’s yummy Morena Baccarin

FrequencyCast Show 54 has just been released. Here’s what today’s show contains:

• News Updates: More broken Freeview boxes, new HD channels and the Kindle.
• Focus: Sport on TV. Sky’s stranglehold is broken, or is it?
• Comment: iPhone 4 reception problems and the FM Switchoff
• Hands-on: We play with the world’s smallest Internet radio
• Your comments and questions on iPlayer, Freeview and our listener survey

You can download Show 54 direct to your MP3 player or listen online at http://www.frequencycast.co.uk/latest.html.

If you have an iPod or iPhone, get shows faster by signing up via iTunes.

Links:

• Show Notes for Show 54
• Transcript: The TV Sports options

We hope you enjoy this packed show. If you like what you’ve heard, please spread the word…

 FrequencyCast Show 54 [30:59m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

A brand new version of Amazon’s eBook Reader is due out at the end of August 2010.

The new Kindle has 3G and Wi-fi for book download wherever you are, it’s 21% smaller and 15% lighter than the last version, can hold over 3,500 books, has better contrast and one charge will give you a month’s reading.

Amazon’s taking eBooks very seriously at the moment, and the upcoming release of a UK-specific version of the Kindle (as opposed to an imported US version) is a sign that Amazon’s serious about the UK market. The UK Kindle includes a 3G modem for over-the-air download of books. The data service will be provided using the Vodafone network, and no subscription is required.

The new 3G and Wi-fi Kindle is available for pre-order now for the very impressive price of £149, or you can get a wi-fi-only version for £109

At this impressive price point, this is destined to be a hit, and we can expect Amazon to be pushing their Kindles hard here in the UK.

The new-look Kindle is available from 27th August 2010: Pre-order the Amazon Kindle

The BBC News iPhone App

After being delayed by a BBC Trust review, the BBC News mobile application was released last week for the iPhone and iPad.

The app allows you to scroll around stories in the main BBC News categories, and edit the layout of the screen to customise what stories you see first. Stories contain embedded video clips, and the beeb has made it easy to share stories on Facebook and Twitter. You can also watch the BBC News TV channel as well as submit a photo or news story direct to the BBC newsroom.

Over half a million people downloaded the application in the first week – impressive numbers!

A BBC Sport application is expected for the iPhone and iPad soon, and versions of the apps should be out for Android and Blackberry later this year. A BBC iPlayer application is also believed to be in the pipeline.

The BBC News app is available for free in the iTunes App Store: BBC News App

A quick message to listeners of the FrequencyCast podcast.

We need your feedback!

What do you think?

We’re reviewing our shows, and we’d love your feedback on whether you’re still enjoying what we’re doing, what we could do better, and what interests you.

We ran a survey last year with some great results, and we’d like to do it again this year. If you have 2 minutes to spare, there are only 10 simple questions.

Please take a few months to complete the 2010 FrequencyCast Listener Survey

We’d really welcome your feedback!

The Apple press conference at 6pm UK time has wrapped up. Apple appears to have admitted that there is a problem with the iPhone 4′s reception, and that holding the handset in a certain way will impact signal strength. There won’t be a product recall, but Apple has gone some way to addressing the problem.

The OS upgrade to 4.01 (out now) will make the signal strength display more accurate, and Apple will be giving away a free case (referred to as a rubber “bumper” to everyone who has bought an iPhone 4, or buys one before the end of September 2010. A “bumper” reduces the problem which is caused when the human hand comes into contact with the lower part of the left-hand edge of the iPhone 4.

Those who’ve already bought a bumper case will get a refund.

iPhone 4 owners still not happy can get a refund within 30 days of purchase.

“Antennagate”, a.k.a Death Grip is likely to cost Apple something in the order of £115 million in costs to provide cases for the 3+  million iPhone 4 users – plus a lot of bad press…

Details of how to get a free case will be coming to the Apple website from the 22nd of July 2010.

Apple has just released a new version of operating system for the iPhone – iOs 4.01 is now available for download via iTunes

The 580 megabyte download includes bug fixes and improvements, most notably: “iOs 4.01 Improves the formula to determine how many bars of signal strength to display”.

The new OS appears to have increased the size of the signal strength bars, and in part addresses the “Death Grip” issue with reception, which will be formally addressed by Apple at a press conference tomorrow.

iOs 4.01 is available now for iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4

The problem with signal strength (or lack thereof) on the new iPhone 4 just won’t go away, and Apple’s been forced to make a comprehensive statement. This will happen tomorrow, Friday the 16th of July, at 10am California time.

The problem manifests itself when you hold the handset in a certain way – causing the signal to drop a few bars – we demonstrated this in our iPhone 4 Launch Special Edition.

A leading consumer magazine in the US has stated that it can’t recommend the phone due to the signal / reception problems, and many Apple fans are an unhappy bunch.

It’s unclear what Apple will have to say about this – Their responses so far have been wooly. There appears to be four options open to Apple:

1. The “It’s not a problem” approach that we’ve had from Steve Jobs
2. Free “bumpers” for all – $25 rubber cases that cover the offending area on the bottom left of the phone
3. A software fix – Although the problem still exists in iOS 4.1 just released to developers, and most believe that this hardware problem can’t be fixed in software
4. A product recall. Embarrassing for Apple, being called for by many, and could be the only way to put this to rest.

Here in the UK, we should know by the end of the working day on Friday just what Apple plans to do for us iPhone 4 users…

We’re conducting a short survey to find out how you watch sport on TV in the UK, and would love to get your input.

There’s only 7 questions – If you can spare two minutes of your time, your thoughts would be appreciated!

Take The Survey: Sport on TV Survey

Got a Freeview recorder made by DigiFusion, Inverto, Sony or Thomson? You may find that you’ve lost your 14 day programme guide.

Some boxes from the manufacturers listed made use of the 14 day EPG known at 4TV – a service supplied by a company called InView. It seems that the contract between InView and the manufacturers has expired and the 4TV service is no longer being transmitted.

So, where does that leave customers? Those with an affected box will now find that they are no longer getting anything other than the “now and next” information, effectively rendering their hard-disk recorder barely usable. Yo record a programme in the future, the user will have to enter the start time and date manually referring to some other form of TV guide (remember them?)

If you have an affected box, you might like to sign the petition to get 4TV restored, or add your comment here.

This weekend, the 17th of July 2010, Conspiracy For Good hits London.

The augmented reality drama will hit the streets of London. Created by Tim Kring, the chap that created Hereos, this is something rather unique, and you can take part for free. Want to know more? See this video teaser…

It looks like radio station BBC 6 Music is set to survive.

Plans to close the music station were announced by BBC bosses in March, but today, the BBC Trust has announced that plans to shut the station are to be shelved, and the station will carry on.

Not so lucky is BBC Asian Network, which appears set to close.

The saving of 6 Music has been widely regarded as a good move, and will come as great news to the various campaigners and lobby groups who’ve been applying pressure to the BBC online and offline.

The station now has 1 million listeners (up from 600,000 prior to the threatened closure), with many people tuning in for the first time to hear what all the fuss was about.

A result all around, and the station’s gained a huge amount of press coverage, awareness and listeners – a cynic could even remark that this has been a very successful BBC marketing campaign. But not us.

As announced in our July 2010 podcast, which contained our in-depth review of BT Vision, Sky Sports 1 and 2 will be available on the BT Vision platform from August 2010 – and we now know the price!

If you’re a BT Vision customer, you can get Sky Sports 1 for £6.99 a month , or £11.99 for both Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2. Given that you can also get ESPN on BT Vision (free with a Value Pack), suddenly BT Vision becomes an attractive option for anyone into their football.

Add to that, Sky’s just announced a £3 a month price increase on their standard TV and Sports package.

With the 2010/11 season due to start in a few weeks, if you’re with Sky, it’s time to look again at whether the huge fee you’re paying to Sky is worth it. Sure, you won’t get Sky Sports in HD, but you will get a lower bill each month and still be able to watch all of the Premier League action.

With BT Vision, you also get access to their on-demand sport, movies and TV, as well as 7-day catchup from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Five.

If you want Sky Sports on BT Vision, you can preorder now

If you’re not up to speed on BT, have a listen to our 15 minute hands-on BT Vision review (released yesterday), or got to btvision.bt.com for full details.

If you love FrequencyCast, and who doesn’t, please cast your vote for us in the European Podcast Awards 2010

Voting ends on 31st of July.

You can vote for us at www.european-podcast-award.eu/uk/start/vote-and-win/non-profit/type/player/uid/1081/podid/1081.html

FrequencyCast Show 53 was released a little earlier today. Here’s what this bumper show contains:

• News Updates: iPhone 4 has launched, and big changes for local radio.
• Focus: BT Vision reviewed. A cheaper alternative to Sky for TV and Sky Sports?
• Interview: Radio past and present discussed with a leading radio amateur
• Hands-on: An update on the high-tech Fitbug scheme
• Your comments and questions on Freesat, slow broadband and Slingbox

You can download Show 53 direct to your MP3 player or listen online at http://www.frequencycast.co.uk/latest.html.

If you have an iPod or iPhone, get shows faster by signing up via iTunes.

Links:

• Show Notes
• Transcript: Focus on BT Vision

Bonus Material!

• iPhone 4 Launch Special: http://www.frequencycast.co.uk/iphone4.html
• 90 Years of Radio Interview: http://www.frequencycast.co.uk/historyofradio.html

We hope you enjoy this packed show. If you like what you’ve heard, please spread the word…

 FrequencyCast 53 - BT Vision and iPhone 4 [30:54m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The iPhone 4 is well and truly out. Released last week, the media is a buzzing with news and comment, and as with any launch, everywhere’s sold out.

Our listeners have spoken – they want to hear Carl and Pete talking about the new Apple ShinyPhone, and want to know what we think of the 4…

Happy to oblige, we’ve put together a 20 minute special podcast covering the iPhone 4 launch, a hands-on look at the new phone, plus thoughts about availability, tariffs, and the problems with the iPhone 4.

If you’re thinking of getting an iPhone 4 in the UK, take a listen to our iPhone 4 Launch Special Edition – Available at frequencycast.co.uk/iphone4 now.

No need to queue, and our podcasts are, as ever, free!

Got a comment or a question on the iPhone 4? Let us know…

 FrequencyCast iPhone 4 Launch Special [17:40m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

From September, the over 50′s will get their own TV channel.

Vintage TV is set to launch on the 1st of September 2010 on Freesat and Sky.

The face of Vintage TV is set to be former Radio 1 DJ Paul Gambaccini, and the station will show material from the 50s to the 80s, including vintage musical content not anywhere else on TV, as well as archive news and entertainment material from a number of different sources.