FrequencyCast - UK TV and Tech News

FrequencyCast has just released another news update podcast – this time covering loads of HD news, a look at what Google’s been up to, and a rather fun new social networking app for mobile phones – plus your feedback on how you use mobiles.

The show is attached to this blog entry, or you can listen at www.frequencycast.co.uk/update.html

If you’re an iTunes user, get the show from the FrequencyCast Podcast page on iTunes

Remember to keep spreading the word about FrequencyCast, your TV and Tech podcast.

 

 FrequencyCast Update 19 March 10 [12:04m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

With Sky working hard to own the HD market, Virgin has just made their own HD offering that little bit sweeter.

Here’s what’s new…

1. The cost of the V+ HD box has just dropped to £49 (free if you get the XL TV package)

2. No extra fee for HD channels. Unlike Sky’s offering, you don;t need to pay an extra £10 a month for Virgin’s HD channels

3. More channels. Due in the next few months: ITV 1 HD, E4 HD, Film 4 HD, Sy Fi HD, Eurosport HD and Discovery HD. That’s in addition to the existing HD services: BBC HD, Channel 4 HD, ESPN HD, FX HD, Living HD, MTVN HD and National Geographic HD.

Full details of how to get the HD experience from Virgin at www.virginmedia.co.uk

Got a car and a smartphone? Your country needs you!

We’ve been trying out a rather nifty little application that has some serious potential… that’s if enough people get involved.

Waze is a social navigation application that’s available for a range of GPS-enabled smartphones including the iPhone, Android phones, Windows Mobile and Symbian OS devices.

Rather than your standard sat-nav app where you drive from A to B on a specified route, drive with this app, and the data gathered goes to build an accurate map of roads, junctions and average speeds. If you see a jam or a traffic cam, press a couple of buttons, and other drivers can see what’s going on in real-time.

A great idea, and it’s working well in the US, but over here, the road coverage is pretty thin. You can pick up points for “munching” your local roads, adding to the map and picking up bonus cupcakes… you have to try it to experience the full Waze proposition.

FrequencyCast is doing its bit – three of our team have the app installed and have already added over 80 miles of new roads… and we’re urging our loyal listeners to get involved.

Get the app from your phone’s App Store (iPhone users: Waze in iTunes)

Come on gang… get driving!

Considering buying a Freeview HD box? The first box out, the Humax Fox T2, costs £149.99 at most retailers, but you can save yourself £50 by opting for the new Bush DVB680 Freeview HD receiver.

This Freeview HD box is available for £99.99 on pre-order, with estimated availability on 31st March 2010.

This Freeview HD box from Bush has HDMI, SCART, Ethernet, a 7 day EPG and upscales to 1080p

Available to pre-order now at Argos: Bush DVB680 Freeview HD Box

Carl and Pete were out and about this weekend at the Dabs.com Live Gadget and IT Show.

The show took place in the Great Hall at Wembley Stadium,and was showcasing a number of new products and gadgets.

We took our roving mic with us, and recorded a few interviews with some of the key players at the show. Our thirty minute review of the show is now available online for your listening pleasure.

For pics of the show and transcripts of our interviews, and to listen to our Dabs Gadget Show Special, go to:

www.frequencycast.co.uk/dabsshow.html.

If you have an iPod or iPhone, download and listen via iTunes: FrequencyCast on iTunes.

 

 FrequencyCast Dabs.com Show Special March 2010 [31:27m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Regulators Ofcom have revoked Five’s licence to launch an HD service on Freeview by the end of the year. This action has been taken after Five appears to have failed to provide information about when they will be in a position to launch some kind of HD service, or provide Ofcom with details about what HD content would be shown on the channels.

It appears that the licence for the fourth Freeview HD slot now reverts to the BBC , although it’s not clear if they’d look to launch a second HD channel, or if another broadcaster would step in. A fifth HD channel is set to become available in 2011 – and in theory, Five could try for an HD slot again – provided they’d be able to demonstrate that they could start a service in 2012.

Over the last 24 hours, Google has completed a major rollout of new Google Maps Street View data.

When the service launched in 2009, only roads in major cities were covered, but in today’s update, it seems that around 95 per cent of homes across England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales are now covered in high resolution. Apparently a quarter of a million UK roads are now covered.

The launch of the service last year raised a number of privacy concerns, and with this new data appearing, we can expect the second wave of this, as people see faces where they shouldn’t be, un-blurred car number plates, and people doing daft things.

Take a look at maps.google.co.uk – enter a UK address or postcode to see what was captured when the Google camera van visited your road. Drag the little orange person onto your target location and have a look around.

Found something funny? Let us know?

Virgin Media is going to be the first digital TV service to get E4 HD and Film 4 HD – news not so hot for Sky and Freesat’s HD services.

E4 HD is set to go live for Virgin customers in April 2010 at no extra cost to Virgin customers, with Film 4 HD set for “Summer 2010″

More on Virgin Media on our Cable TV page, or at virginmedia.com

It seems that the writing is on the wall for the BBC’s alternative music station 6 Music, as well as the BBC Asian Network, and the services may vanish next year.

Director General Mark Thompson announced the proposed closure as part of a strategy review released today. There will also be a cull of a sizable chunk of the BBC online content, reported job cuts, and a number of other cutbacks.

You can read the full report, and also “Have Your Say” to the BBC Trust: BBC Strategic Review.

The proposals now undergo a 12 week public scrutiny period.

The “Save 6 Music” Facebook Group now has over 91,000 members.

Remember this bad boy? Classic 80’s retro toy Big Trak is set for a come-back.

Programmable fun… Forward… Forward…. 90 degrees Left… Fire Phasers! Now watch that cat scarper!

This six-wheeled tank has a 23-button keypad, used to enter a series of commands. None of this remote-control malarky with Big Trak.

Big Trak is due back on shelves in August 2010, you can even pre-order one at find-me-a-gift.co.uk

Got a phone powered by the Android Operating System? Congratulations – there’s an app for you to install!

The FrequencyCast podcast now has its very own Android app. With our app, you can listen to the latest show, see our latest news stories, read Pete and Carl’s Random Words blog, and see our new TV and Tech guide entries as we add them.

Here’s us, holding a Google phone running our app…

The FrequencyCast UK application is now available for Android phones. In the UK, this includes the following Google Android devices: HTC Dream, HTC Hero, HTC Magic, HTC Sapphire, Motorola DEXT, Motorola Milestone, Samsung Moment, T-Mobile G1 , T-Mobile G2 Touch, T-Mobile myTouch and T-Mobile Pulse. With more to follow!

If you have an Android phone, select the “Market” application from your phone’s menu, press search, and search for “FrequencyCast” in the Android Market store.

The app is free! If you try it, we’d love to hear what you think!

Welcome to March 2010, and to a new podcast. In this show, we get all Interactive at you  – hope you enjoy and get involved…

Here’s what we look at in Show 49:

• News Updates: More Freeview HD, the end of 6 Music and a new phone from Puma.
• Focus: Getting more from your Mobile – Apps, Maps and Gadgets
• Hands-on: The latest mobile phone watch, plus the Olympus Tough
• Your podline and email questions on Freeview and Sky signal, archiving video and buying a new telly

You can download Show 49 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.

In this show, we want some interaction, so get texting on 07882 043 521!

Links:

• Show Notes
• Mobile Phone Interaction
• Focus Transcript
• Become a Facebook Fan

Share and Enjoy!

 

 FrequencyCast UK Show 49 [30:59m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

As has been widely reported in the media in the last 24 hours, rumours are that the Beeb is considering axing digital music station 6 Music as well as the BBC Asian Network.

According to the last audience survey, 6 Music pulls in 695,000 listeners a week (0.4% of all UK radio listening). Amongst those that do listen, the station has a strong following, and we’re already seeing petitions and a “Save 6 Music” Facebook group and petitions popping up, in an attempt to stop the Beeb from closing the station.

Commercial station Absolute Radio (the station formerly known as Virgin) has been quick to leap in, apparently offering to buy 6 Music from the BBC, and run it more efficiently that the BBC has been doing. (Source: The Times)

At the moment, the future for 6 Music remains unclear…

What’s the best game for the iPhone / iPod Touch? Flight Control, of course.

Hideously addictive, and oh-so-simple – land the planes without them crashing into each other. If you’ve not tried it – get it from the iTunes App Store now (assuming you don’t want to be productive for the next few hours, that is).

Now, Flight Control is available for a whole new platform – the Nintendo DSi. Congrats to the makers Firemint.

If you have a Nintendo DS, you owe it to yourself to fire up your DSi, go to the Nintendo store, go to DSIWare and download Flight Control. You’ll soon be gliding planes to a save landing with your stylus. It’ll cost you 500 DSI points.

If you beat our highest score, there’ll be trouble!

Spotted today – a Freesat receiver box for under £30.

OK, so it’s not an HD box or a PVR, but if you have a satellite dish you’re not using, £30 will get you the hardware needed to watch over 120 subscription-free TV channels.

The box in question, the Bush BFSAT01SD, is available for a limited time for £29.99 from Argos: Bush Freesat at Argos

We already have a winner for the first Freeview HD-compatible set-top box (won by Humax a few days back) – Now we have the first IDTV set with a built-in Freeview HD receiver. This telly from Panasonic also has an onboard Freesat HD receiver, optional wireless Internet connectivity and an SD card for external media.

The catchily-named Panasonic TX-P42G20B is a 42″ plasma TV supporting “Full HD” (i.e. 1080p) with a refresh rate of 600Hz – and here is our first picture:

The Panasonic TX-P42G20B Freeview HD TV is available now – we’ve found it at Comet online.

Oh – If you’re quick, you can get £60 off this (or anything over £1000 at Comet) using the magic voucher code AW60 at the Comet.co.uk checkout. The £60 off code expires on the 27th Feb 2010.

More on Freeview HD

We’re after some listener help. We’re planning a feature on MP3 Players in an upcoming FrequencyCast show, and we’ve put together a short survey to get some opinions and stats.

Got two minutes to answer some MP3 player questions?

Fill in the survey at www.frequencycast.co.uk/limesurvey/index.php?sid=61754

Thanks in advance!

New TV-over-IP service SeeSaw has just launched.

Offering TV shows from the BBC, Channel 4 and Five, plus catch-up TV shows, this complements the BBC iPlayer very well and offers over 3,000 hours of TV shows that you can watch online. In return for the free content, you have to watch an unskippable TV ad.

Premium paid-for content will be added later this year.

Give SeeSaw a try at www.seesaw.com

Ladies and Gentlemen, we’ve just released a mid-month audio update looking at the release of the Humax Fox T2 – the first Freeview HD receiver in the market.

The update runs for nearly 15 minutes and also looks at the new Freeview iPhone app, and some news on BT’s wireless network. We also review your feedback to the last full-length show, including your thoughts on weather stations and lounge net-top PCs.

The show is attached to this blog entry, or you can listen at www.frequencycast.co.uk/update.html

If you’re an iTunes user, get the show from the FrequencyCast Podcast page on iTunes

Please tell your friends!

 

 FrequencyCast Update 17 Feb 2010 [14:41m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Freeview has just launched an app for users of the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch.

Before you get excited – it won’t let you watch Freeview from your iPhone – what it does provide, is a handy and fairly powerful TV listings service to see what’s on the 50 or so Freeview channels.

Easy-to-use, and with handy access to the Freeview Twitter feed for recommendations and news, this is a must – especially given that it’s a freebie!

The Freeview HD iPhone app is available now on the iTunes App Store

Update: Reviewed in our Feb 2010 Update – Listen to Update / Read Transcript