Top Up TV has today released a hotfix to overcome a problem affecting their Thomson Top Up TV Anytime boxes.

Their boxes have been hit by the recent Freeview transmitter updates, which created a problem for users who performed a channel rescan.

v2.93 has to be downloaded manually, via Menu > 4 > 6. Then press 1397 and scroll down to option 17 “Force next OAD”. The download should get to you within an hour

On Tuesday 29th July, a transmitter update for Freeview viewers in Cheshire, Greater London, Lancashire and South Yorkshire will break a number of older Freeview boxes. This update has already knocked out boxes in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Tyne Tees, Border, Granada, Anglia, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Hampshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, Devon and Cornwall.

Freeview set-top boxes from Bush, Daewoo, Labgear, Triax and Portland can’t cope with a transmitter upgrade that’s creeping across the UK. Affected boxes can’t cope with the changes made at transmitter sites, and can’t be upgraded, so the official advice is to buy a new box.

Note also that Top Up TV Anytime boxes appear to be affected, and the advice is not to perform a “rescan” until a patch is made available.

Find out more at www.frequencycast.co.uk/freeviewlandfill.html

If you didn’t grow up in the 80’s, this will mean nothing, but finally, a rare kids cult is coming to DVD…. The Anglo-Japanese series Star Fleet, following the crew of the X-Bomber is out on 1st September from Play.com.

A superlative sci-fi classic with some superbly named characters such as “Barry Hercules” and the evil Makara. If you remember Star Fleet, leave us a comment below. We’ll be mentioning this in Show 29.

Heard of the Kindle? This is an electronic book reader released in the US by Amazon as a new way of distributing books. Sadly, this won’t be coming to the UK.

If you’re a serial book reader, fear not, as there’s an alternative about to hit the UK. From September 2008, you can get your pinkies on the Sony Reader in the UK.

The Reader has a 6-inch display, and is reportedly almost as good as paper. The screen is high-contrast and high resolution, with a near 180° viewing angle. The Reader supports 3 font sizes, is an ideal travel companion, is only half an inch thick, and can store around 160 e-books. Battery life is pretty impressive too, with the built-in rechargeable battery supporting up to 7,500 continuous page turns on a single charge. One thing that’s not clear, is how many books will be available electronically - it’s all about the content.

The Reader from Sony is available to pre-order now, exclusively from Waterstones UK. Want to hear about this on FrequencyCast?

August 2008 - the start of the 2008/9 Barclays Premier. There’s also the England qualifiers and pre-season friendlies.

If you’ll be watching the action on Sky - we’ve found a handy offer - Get three months of Setanta Sport for just £6.50.

To take advantage, use the special promotional code of 3650 online at www.setanta.com - Exclusive online offer for a limited time only!

On Wednesday the 23rd July, a transmitter update for Freeview viewers in Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Hampshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, Devon and Cornwall will break a number of older Freeview boxes. This update has already knocked out boxes in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Tyne Tees, Border, Granada, Yorkshire and parts of the Anglia regions.

Freeview set-top boxes from Bush, Daewoo, Labgear, Triax and Portland can’t cope with a transmitter upgrade that’s creeping across the UK. Affected boxes can’t cope with the changes made at transmitter sites, and the advice is - bin it, and buy another.

Find out more at www.frequencycast.co.uk/freeviewlandfill.html

Press the button - save the world!

News of a new eco-gadget. Plug the Eco Button into a spare USB port on your PC. When you leave your desk, it puts your PC into a powersaving mode - and when you return, you’ll be shown just how green you’ve been.

Make the world a better place… one finger can make a difference. Available for £15 from I want one of those

The latest version of BT’s wireless router, the BT Home Hub 2.0 has been released today, the 18th July 2008.

We’ve got an online review available at www.frequencycast.co.uk/homehub2.html

We’ve also released an audio “hands-on” review, which can be downloaded from the same page, as well as from our FrequencyCast iTunes page

 

 FrequencyCast Update Home Hub 17 July 2008 [8:38m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

BT’s just announced v2.0 of the BT Home Hub. We hope to be featuring a full review of this within the next couple of days.

What we know so far is that the new hub supports the faster 802.11n wi-fi standard, has a power-saving mode, and has revised, easier-to-use software. We’ve also learned that the Hub 2.0 has four Ethernet ports.

We’ll be adding more to our BT Home Hub 2.0 soon.

It’s already happened in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Tyne Tees and Border, and apparently the Granada and Yorkshire regions, plus some parts of Anglia… are next, with the planned upgrade today - the 15th July 2008.

Freeview set-top boxes from Bush, Daewoo, Labgear, Triax and Portland can’t cope with a transmitter upgrade that’s creeping across the UK. Affected boxes can’t cope with the changes made at transmitter sites, and the advice is - bin it, and buy another.

Find out more at www.frequencycast.co.uk/freeviewlandfill.html

Into your sport? With the 2008 Premier League around the corner, BT Vision has upped the stakes in the TV sports wars by throwing Setanta Sports into their TV packages, for free.

Setanta offers 46 live Barclays Premier League football games, 60 live Clydesdale Bank Premier League games, live action from every round of the FA Cup, US PGA Tour Golf, World Championship boxing and more.

BT Vision packages with Setanta start from £14 per month - just under half the price of Sky’s equivalent package, plus there’s an ever-growing catalogue of on-demand content - oh, and a free digital recorder.

If you’re with BT Broadband click here for more, otherwise, find out more by clicking here

Who’d believe a phone could stir such a fuss. Thousands are set to be disappointed as Apple’s 3G iPhone goes on sale today, but stocks are severely limited. Here’s the scene in Central London this morning…

Madness. If you’re desperate for a 3G iPhone, try your luck ordering online at o2 or Carphone Warehouse

It’s only a phone, gang! (By the way, we haven’t got one… we’re not bitter… honest!)

It’s been a busy week for FrequencyCast, and we’ve just released a 9 minute audio update - covering faulty Freeview boxes, us on national radio, the clamour for Apple’s 3G iPhone, and a summary of sporting TV services in the UK.
Available from http://www.frequencycast.co.uk/latest.html

 

 FrequencyCast Update 09 July 2008 [8:12m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The story of older Freeview boxes around the UK packing up… continues.

After the story broke in the Daily Record at the weekend, BBC Radio picked up on the story, and our very own Pete was on BBC Radio 5 Live at 1:30pm, and on the Chris Evans show on Radio 2 at 5:40pm

More on the story at www.frequencycast.co.uk/freeviewlandfill.html

In May 2008, a bunch of Freeview boxes served by the Sutton Coldfield transmitter stopped working. Now it looks like boxes in Scotland have gone the same way.

Boxes powered by the SetPal technology, including those made by Daewoo, Labgear, Portland and Triax, lack sufficient internal memory to cope with the number of Freeview stations after a transmitter upgrade, and become useless.

More on the story, including a quote from our sister site, Radio & Telly can be found here: Daily Record 5 July 2008

There are believed to be between 200,000 and 350,000 affected boxes in the UK, and as the transmitter networks get upgraded ready for the Switchover, more and more boxes are set to become landfill fodder

Sick and tired or snagging your MP3 earphone cable? Check out the Jaybird Bluetooth Stereo Earphones - some of the smallest and lightest wireless earphones in the world.

£79 gets you these snazzy sound isolating earphones, which come with a USB recharger, spare earpieces and a carry pouch. If your phone or MP3 has Bluetooth already - great, otherwise a Bluetooth adapter for players like the iPod, is available.

A comfy fit, and a great little wireless headphone solution - ideal for listening to the FrequencyCast podcast.

Available from www.advancedmp3players.co.uk

We’ve been nominated for a European Podcast award - show your support for us at www.european-podcast-award.eu/uk/start/vote-and-win/non-profit/type/player/uid/603/podid/603.html

Details of Devon and Cornwall’s Digital Switch programme were announced in July 2008. In July 2009, the Huntshaw Cross transmitter group, serving North Devon, will make the switch to digital. Later in July 09, the Redruth transmitter group, serving west Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly will see analogue turned off. Then, in August 2009. the Caradon Hill transmitter group, serving Plymouth, parts of Devon and east Cornwall, will make the change.

More on the digital switch at www.switchhelp.co.uk

It was only a matter of time. In Show 21, we covered archiving your vinyl and audio cassettes with special gadgets that connect to your PC via USB. Now, someone’s released a VHS video player that connects via USB.

Yes - Archive off your collection of video tapes into a digital format without lots of mucking about with cables and converters.

The USB Video Cassetter Player captures video at resolutions up to 720 x 576 , for playback on PCs, iPods, PSPs, DVD and other media players.

Works with Windows XP and Windows Vista, and has a SCART socket, so can be used as a standard video player for your TV.

The USB Video Cassette Player is available from gadget guys Firebox . More on archiving your media here

Sky has today announced a drop in price for their top-of the-line Sky HD set-top box, which is a combined HD receiver and Sky+ box. We’re convinced this to bridge the gap between Freesat’s HD receivers, which also cost £150. Freest offers BBC and ITV content., while Sky offers BBC, Channel 4, Sky 1, movies and sport.

The box now costs £150 (originally £249), and you can get up to 18 HD channels for £10 a month.

More on Sky’s HD service at www.frequencycast.co.uk/hd.html#sky.