FrequencyCast - UK TV and Tech News

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

Freeview HD launched in December 2009, but there was one big problem – you couldn’t buy a receiver.

Fortunately, that changed this weekend, when the first Humax Freeview HD boxes started to appear in the wild.

Yes, it’s now possible to get your hands on a Freeview HD set-top box – although HD is only being transmitted in the Granada and London areas at the moment.

The Humax Fox T2 HD

The new box supports DVB-T2, the format used for Freeview HD. It has an 8 day programme guide, auto-updates to new channels, supports digital audio, has HDMI and 2 SCART sockets and a digital audio output.

Those looking to get a little more from their kit will be happy to know that the Fox HD T2 has a USB socket which allows you to connect external storage (hard drive or USB stick) for playback of xVid video, MP3 audio as well as JPG images. The T2 also comes with an Ethernet socket that will shortly be able to connect to your Internet router to give you online services including the BBC iPlayer catch-up TV service

The price?

Considering your average standard-definition Freeview box is around £25, the RRP of the Humax HD T2 of £179 is likely to make a few people gulp (Sky’s HD box, the Sky+ HD box, is currently free, has a Sky+ recorder and can get BBC HD without an HD subscription).

Still, this new Humax looks to be a very capable Freeview HD receiver, and comes from a good pedigree of Freeview and Freesat boxes. We’re reasonably sure this will be a hit.

Available instore at some John Lewis branches. It’s also listed at Argos.co.uk ,
Very.co.uk (cheapest at the time of writing) and
Play.com.

More coverage of the Humax T2 in a podcast update due in the next 24 hours!

UPDATE: Podcast First Look released! Humax HD Fox T2 First Impressions

Happy February people. The first of the month means a brand new installment of FrequencyCast…

Here’s what we look at in Show 48:

• News Updates: Fast broadband from BT, SeeSaw goes beta, and some new thingie from Apple.
• Focus: Getting more from your TV – devices you can connect to get more
• Hands-on: A new media player and a weather station
• Your podline and email questions on Freeview, iPlayer, HomePlugs and PC vs Mac

You can download Show 48 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.

If you have a minute, tell us if you’re happy with our news feed alerts in this short survey: http://www.frequencycast.co.uk/limesurvey/index.php?sid=25112

 

 FrequencyCast UK Show 48 [30:59m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Trekkies of the world are about to unite as the Massive Multiplayer game “Star Trek Online” is about to go live.

The game officially launches on Tuesday the 2nd of February, but many Trek fans have been able to get early access to the online Trek Universe through a successful public beta and a “headsup” weekend for those who pre-ordered the game.

Our Pete has been exploring Star Trek Online for a few days now, and has been impressed:

“The game cleverly mixes first-person shoot-em up with role-playing and space battles for an immersive experience. I’ve seen a few glitches and stutters during gameplay, with will hopefully get ironed out along the way. First impressions are that this is a well-thought out online experience, and very immersive. All trekkers are advised to pick up a phaser and beam over to STO”

Star Trek Online allows you to create your own avatar (many races available), and after a few training missions, take control of a starship of your choosing. The levels (a.k.a. Episodes) seem pretty true to what we know of the Star Trek universe, and there are a few familiar voices that you’ll encounter along the way.

Pictured here is Pete’s rather heroic-looking avatar, and if you’re already signed up, you can find Ensign Pete on the aptly-named USS FrequencyCast.

You can get the new Star Trek Online from Game or HMV online – Note that a monthly subscription applies.

The iPad is out. We’ve been listening to a flaky audio stream live from Apple’s Keynote speech to find out what’s new, and here’s what we can report:

The iPad:

It’s a 9.7 inch touchscreen tablet – think of it as an iPhone that’s two and a half times larger. It has a 10 hour battery life, comes in 16, 32 and 64 Gig versions and is wi-fi enabled – a 3G version will also be available. Price for the iPad starts from $499 in the US (converts to £310). An iBooks (eBook Reader app and store) will be available, as will iWork (Apple’s new wordprocessing, spreadsheet and presentations applications). It’ll run existing iPhone apps. Looks like this will be available in the UK sometime from June onwards…

Other Stuff?

Many were expecting an announcement of a new iPhone OS, expected to be iPhone OS4. Sadly, nothing.

Our thoughts

Looks like a nice piece of kit, and it’s bound to be a hit with many. A little larger than we were expecting, but thin and sexy, as with all of Apple’s stuff.

Interesting to see Apple’s dipping into the eBook market, and their iBooks store could be a big hit, as Apple’s bound to make book purchase as easy as App store. Also, with the Apple iPad being available for $499 for a colour touch screen, Sony Reader and Kindle will have a struggle competing.

It’s going to be available in the US “in 60 days”. The 3G element will mean it’ll be several months before we see these in the UK.

Thoughts?

BT has officially started offering their “up to 40 Megabit” high-speed broadband service, under the brand “BT Infinity”.

Initially, it’s only available to a few areas of the UK, but coverage will increase as BT continue to expand their fibre optic network. By the end of 2010, it’s estimated that around 4 million homes and businesses will be able to get faster broadband using BT Infinity.

The cost? Not bad, actually. There are two packages, one for £19.99 (with a 20 Gig monthly download limit) or £24.99 for the unlimited version. Infinity requires an engineer visit (up to 3 hours, according to BT). The installation is free, and customers will be provided with a BT Infinity Home Hub and a vDSL modem fibre optic modem.

BT’s clearly targeting the high-speed offering from Virgin, with BT’s basic package being £7.47 per month cheaper that Virgin Media XXL. BT’s also offering a faster upload speed of up to 10Mb/s (the fastest in the UK).

Want to find out if you could get up to 40 Meg broadband? Enter your details at the BT Infinity website.

Well, dear listeners, we’ve been playing around with stats this evening and we thought you might be interested in a little information about who else is listening to our tech podcast.

Seems the average listener is between 35 and 44, a bit of a techie, running iTunes, using Internet Explorer on a Windows PC with nothing better to do at 7pm.

Sound familiar?

Fancy exploring some stats? See our FrequencyCast podcast stats page