Freeview Category
September 1st, 2010 by FrequencyCast in Freesat, Freeview, Gadgets, Podcast, sat nav
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:
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…
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August 6th, 2010 by FrequencyCast in Digital TV, Freeview
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
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July 14th, 2010 by FrequencyCast in Freeview, Technology
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.
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June 1st, 2010 by FrequencyCast in Freeview, HD, Podcast, Radio
Hot off the audio press, a brand new FrequencyCast – lots of hot news, a busy Focus, plus loads of your feedback. Here’s what we cover in FrequencyCast Show 52:
- News Updates: BBC1 HD, Freeview HD, DAB Amnesty and new iPhone.
- Focus: Getting more from your digital photos
- Hands-on: A tech-tech keep-fit bug
- Your comments and questions on BT Vision and the BBC iPlayer
You can download Show 52 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:
We hope you enjoy this packed show. If you like what you’ve heard, please spread the word…
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May 20th, 2010 by FrequencyCast in Digital TV, Freeview, HD
Details are slowly emerging of the first Freeview HD hard disk recorder from Humax.
Here’s what we know so far:
- Name: Humax HDR-FOX T2
- Release date: July 2010 (too late for the World Cup)
- Hard disk: 500GB (125 hours of HD)
- Price: £349
- Tuners: Twin tuner
- EPG: 8 days
The box will reportedly also support media streaming and Internet connectivity via Ethernet.
More when we have it.
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April 29th, 2010 by FrequencyCast in Digital TV, Freeview, Technology
3D TV in the home is now a reality. For £1,800, you can now own a 40 inch HD TV that supports 3D.
In the race to bring out the first 3D-Ready TV, it seems that Samsung was the winner in the UK, releasing the Samsung UE40C7000 40 inch 3D Ready TV a few days back.
It’s am impressive-looking TV set, and it’s also very capable.
These TV sets use LED technology – LED lights use less energy than standard LCD, and offer more precise control of colour, contrast and clarity. The UE40C7000 has a built-in Freeview HD tuner, supports SRS Theatre Sound, offers full 1080p HD, supports streaming video (DLNA) and has Internet connectivity.
At the moment, this TV set is only available from John Lewis (online or instore). Link: Samsung 3D TV at John Lewis
Here’s Samsung’s new 3D TV commercial:
This first HD TV from Samsung uses Active Shutter technology – the 3D glasses switch on and off 50 times per second to create the 3D illusion, although you might want to check out the 3D Usage Notice issued by Samsung recently, which warns about possible side effects including seizures, strokes, altered vision ,muscle twitching, confusion, motion sickness, disorientation, eye strain and something called ‘decreased postural stability’.
3D TV is finally available for the home, it seems. Let us know your views on 3D, and we’ll cover the subject in more detail in an upcoming FrequencyCast podcast.
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March 18th, 2010 by FrequencyCast in Freeview, HD
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
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March 16th, 2010 by FrequencyCast in Freeview, HD
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.
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March 1st, 2010 by FrequencyCast in Freeview, HD, Phones, Podcast
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:
Share and Enjoy!
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February 22nd, 2010 by FrequencyCast in Freesat, Freeview, HD
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
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February 17th, 2010 by FrequencyCast in Freeview, iphone
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
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February 16th, 2010 by FrequencyCast in Freeview, HD
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
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January 1st, 2010 by FrequencyCast in Freesat, Freeview, HD, Podcast, iphone
Happy New Year to all of our FrequencyCast listeners!
Show 47, the first show of 2010, has just been released for your listening pleasure.
In this show, we discuss all that’s new with digital TV and technology. Here’s what we cover in this show:
- News Updates: Project Canvas, Tesco iPhone, iPlayer on Freesat, Freeview HD and BT Vision boxes.
- Focus: New Year’s Resolution – Back up your data
- Your podline and email questions on Dave, Slingbox and the BBC iPlayer
You can download Show 47 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.
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December 16th, 2009 by FrequencyCast in Freeview, HD, Podcast
A new podcast update has just been released, keeping our listeners up-to-date with some hot TV news, including:
- Freeview HD lauches – where are the boxes?
- BT Vision releases a new PVR
- Two new HD channels join Sky’s lineup
- Freesat gets 4 new channels
- Plus your emails on WiFi Hotspots, TiVo and TV listings
The show is attached to this blog entry, or you can listen at www.frequencycast.co.uk/update.html, or get us from the FrequencyCast Podcast page on iTunes.
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December 1st, 2009 by FrequencyCast in Freeview, HD, Podcast
It’s the first of December and Show 46 of FrequencyCast, the UK’s TV and Tech podcast, has just been released for your listening pleasure.
In this show, we discuss all that’s new with digital TV and technology. Here’s what we cover in this show:
- News Updates: Freeview HD about to launch, o2 Joggler changes, iPlayer news and more.
- Focus: Getting online with a wireless hotspot
- Hands-on: The Chumby desktop companion, plus a new magic wand
- Your podline and email questions on BT Home Hub, mobile broadband connection, plus Freesat
You can download Show 46 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.
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October 30th, 2009 by FrequencyCast in Freeview
Freeview is celebrating its seventh birthday today.
The service launched on the 30th of October 2002 as a joint venture between the BBC, Crown Castle and BSkyB. Freeview offered free-to-view TV after the collapse of ITVDigital, and OnDigital before that.
Greg Dyke, then Director-General of the BBC, said: “Today is an important day in the development of British television with the launch of Freeview – a new digital platform which means that 75% of homes in Britain will now be able to receive digital television completely free. It’s also a big step forward for the BBC, making all of the BBC’s digital television, interactive and radio services available to many more people at no extra cost.”
The last seven years have been a bumpy journey, but Freeview is now in many homes, and most new TVs and recorders come with built-in Freeview. We now have a bunch of new channels (admittedly, many of them shopping or adult chat channels), and with parts of the UK now going through the Digital Switchover (including North Wales this week), signal strengths are set to increase, bringing Freeview to more homes. The future is still looking good for Freeview.
We should, however, take a moment to remember those valiant TV channels that are no longer with us on our journey. raise a cup of tea to salute Sky Travel, UK Homestyle, FTN, BBC Choice, ABC1, Nuts TV, Men and Motors, ITN and UK History, as well as radio stations including oneword and MoJo that couldn’t be here today to celebrate.
Happy Birthday Freeview from all at your favourite Digital TV podcast!
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October 17th, 2009 by FrequencyCast in Freeview, Phones, iphone
iPhone users – you can now watch 11 Freeview channels live on your phone.
The service from TVCatchup.com allows you to watch the following channels:
BBC1, BBC2, BBC3, ITV1, ITV2, Channe 4, Five, Film 4, e4, More 4 and 4 Music.
To watch, point your iPhone web browser to http://iphone.tvcatchup.com/ – No subscription, no sign-up, no app to install. Nice!
Update. One commenter below doesn’t believe that this actually works, or is some kind of viral application. To clarify, this is not an installable app – it’s all done using the native iPhone browser and media player. Here’s a screen grab of TVcatchup in action on an iPhone:
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September 30th, 2009 by FrequencyCast in Digital TV, Freeview
If you’re reading this on Wednesday the 30th of September 2009, today is Freeview Retune Day.
If you get your digital TV from Freeview, you will need to get your Freeview box or TV set to re-scan its Freeview channel lineup, to make sure you get all of your channels.
The changes that are being made at transmitter sites will do a number of things:
1. Improve reception of Five for around half a million Freeview viewers (as a result of a change of multiplex). The downside is that affected users may start having problems with ITV3 and ITV4 instead.
2. The longer-awaited Quest TV documentary channel from Discovery will appear on Channel 38.
3. A bunch of channels will be renumbered – and you’ll find that the following channels won’t be where they were yesterday – Price-drop TV, Super Casino, Rocks and Co, Smile TV2, Babestation and Partyland.
Changes at transmitter sites should be complete by lunchtime, so get ready to re-scan as soon after lunchtime as possible to make sure you don’t loose out.
If you’re not sure how to retune, it’ll be a setting somewhere in the on-sceen Freeview menu, possibly labelled “Channel setup”, “Tuning”, or “Scan for Channels”. BT Vision users should select BT Vision > Settings > TV Settings > Add channels,
If you need help rescanning for channels, see the instructions at www.tvretune.co.uk or call the automated Freeview Retune helpline on 08456 05 11 22.
Happy retuning, everyone!
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August 12th, 2009 by FrequencyCast in Freeview, Phones, Podcast
We’ve just released an audio update. Here’s what we cover:
Quest Take 2, Freeview retune, ESPN latest, iTunes Chart, a Welsh apology and the best deals for your old mobile.
Links from the show:
Today’s update is a 10 minute mp3 file. Download it or listen online at frequencycast.co.uk/update.html
Feed details: iTunes Feed | RSS Feed
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August 12th, 2009 by FrequencyCast in Digital TV, Freeview, Top Up TV
As we discussed in today’s podcast update, it’s now possible to get ESPN on a Freeview box or TV that has a suitable card slot (known as a CI slot). The CI slot accepts a CAM, which accepts a subscription card.
If you were previously able to get Setanta Sports on Freeview, then you should be able to get ESPN – You’ll just need to get your old Top Up TV or Setanta subscription card activated by calling 08444 15 20 20.
If you’re looking for full details on how this works, please see the following summary of the ways to get ESPN: http://www.radioandtelly.co.uk/espn.html , or listen to our 12 August update
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