Ars: Dolby Cinema: Twin laser projectors + object-based 3D audio = awesome

Or as i'd title it: IMAX and Dolby pushing to keep the cinema experience relevant.

It's nice to see that the cinema is still an experience. I don't think the home consumer is taking to things such as 3D-Blu-rays (and eventually 4K Blu-rays) due to an un-unified push by industry, hardware confusion, OTT and high royalties.

http://arstechnica.co.uk/gadgets/2015/12/dolby-cinema-laser-powered-projection-object-based-3d-audio-awesome/

Opinion: The new Apple TV.

Given the rumours have been going on a long while around Apple reinventing the TV space, it would seem that their recent efforts seem lacklustre. 

The new Apple TV has the following hardware specifications:

• 64-bit A8 processor
• 32GB or 64GB of storage
• 2GB of RAM
• 10/100Mbps Ethernet
• WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac
• 1080p resolution
• HDMI (1.4)
• New Siri Remote / Apple TV Remote

So the HDMI spec will be 1.4 (not 2.0) which means no vastly improved audio which could have aloud for features such as Dolby Atmos. 1.4 can support 4k video but that brings me to my next point. The marketing so far states 1080p and and they used their A8 processor instead of the A9 so it's technically a generation behind from the offset. 

One thing that people have also noticed is the lack of optical out this time around. Some customers who were using this (particularly with Amp setups) will not be pleased there. 

My last point is on gaming, I haven't seen a reference design for a controller or set layout for buttons which would add consistency for game devs. I think they are going to struggle to make real gains here without that. 

Premier League rights: Sky Sports & BT win UK broadcasting rights as price tops £5billion

I guess Sky thought they had to 'Go big or go home' at this auction. The share price had dropped about 50p by the end of the day on announcement (903p) and has recovered pretty  well today (933p).

God only knows what these auctions will be like in a few years, The prices paid are insane. Hopefully we won't get to a point where Ofcom has to step in to protect consumers from rising subscription costs,

I can't help but think the Premier League should be forced to feed more money down into the lower leagues as well or justify the amounts raised in some way. I would be nigh on impossible for a startup to enter the market without huge backing from the likes of say; Vodafone or Liberty Global these days.

Hopefully this won't effect Sky's commitment to original programming that they started making more noise about after the Champions league rights went in BT's favor previously. .

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/premier-league-tv-rights-sky-sports-and-bt-sport-win-uk-broadcasting-rights-as-price-tops-5billion-10036935.html

Game of Thrones!

Still a little while off  (9pm Sky Atlantic on the date below) but I can't wait!

In the mean time, enjoy an 8-bit version of the theme tune.. 

http://www.sky.com/tv/show/game-of-thrones/article/season-four

Amazon Prime to incorporate what was Lovefilm and become Prime Instant Video.

£50 for a year of unlimited streaming and free 1 day parcel delivery from Amazon... Not bad.

If your already a Prime customer you'll be upgraded automatically.

Wonder if they will be expanding the catalogue further as it doesn't really compare to Netflix or NowTV.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/prime/pipeline/landing?ie=UTF8&primeCampaignId=preLaunchPVDEUK&ref=SWMpreannounce

EU wants to know if US studios' TV deals restrict pan-European viewing

http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/13/eu-investigates-tv-deals/

Large 4K screens at CES 2014

Over 100 inches on a bendy TV...

Whats the market ratio for homes that could reasonably house one of them in their living rooms! 

Certainly for gaming your eyes would be 'swimming' around the screen unless you were sitting a good distance back. 
http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/08/samsung-uhd-release-window/

BT Sport wins rights to show 350 UEFA matches live

Big move, interesting move.  Lets see if they can match the quality of Sky...

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/6149-bt-sport-wins-rights-to-show-350-uefa-matches-live.html

BT Sport attracts one million customers, says its strategy is working

I don't get this. The numbers seem low to me given how many broadband customers they have. 

I did want to see the Emirates cup but I soon gave up looking for just a day pass to the service.

http://www.eurocomms.com/industry-news/49-online-press/9216-bt-sport-attracts-one-million-customers-says-its-strategy-is-working

Alphasat: to start in-orbit tests

Good news for the UK and some Satellite broadband suppliers.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23570959

NowTV by Sky unboxing

For £10 it's a bloody good deal.  I don't  even think you can get a HDMI cable from Maplins for that!

 

A 720p iPlayer box essentially for me. I have Sky and multiroom so won't need to pay for the NowTV content. It only has WiFi connectivity so make sure its located within a decent signal range from the router. The quality is pretty good and had no issues on a 20Mbps DSL connection two rooms away.Its worth noting I could say easily take it to a mates, pay £10 and watch sprots events with a day pass etc. That might come in handy!

Roku NowTV box £9.99

Great if you don't have Sky or just want to use it occasionally. 
https://shop.nowtv.com/

Netflix drops Silverlight, moves to HTML5- The Inquirer

Guessing other services will follow swiftly once the DRM is properly sorted (Now TV, Sky go). Look out for browser updates to support "HTML5 Premium Video Extensions"

Netflix drops Silverlight, moves to HTML5- The Inquirer

NowTV

I got a free 24 pass to try NowTv.com so I gave it a spin.

I didn't realise you can have two simultaneous streams which is nice. It doesn't allow for a third as you'll see below:



Needs a bit more app support but I tend to connect my PC / laptop into a TV via HDMI so its not really an issue for me.

If I didn't already have Sky I could see myself using it for the odd F1 race or football match when having friends over.

Ways to connect your Sky Set top box to your Sky Router

With the additional on demand content ramping up recently on Sky it's worth while making sure your set-up is correct to get the most out of your service!

Your Sky Set top box (STB) generally has a fair few connections coming out of the back.

The green Ethernet one is the one we're interested in for on demand content coming in via broadband. First of all make sure the telephone connector / cable hasn't been shoved in this socket by accident. (I've seen this done before!) If so put it in the right socket which is the orange telephone line one. To my understanding that's important also for pin services like renting a movie on box office.

If you have nothing in the green Ethernet port then we are going to need something in there connecting back to the router to get our broadband across to the unit.

There are a number of ways to do this:

The best in my opinion is to run a Ethernet (CAT5e or CAT6) to between the two units. This can be upto about 95m-100m !!!

Another way is to get a wireless adapter for the STB and link the units wirelessly. These can be bought direct from Sky:
http://www.sky.com/products/kit/wireless-connector/index.html
I only recommend these where there isn't too much in the way off the router and the STB. A good test it to use a wireless device like a laptop / iPad where the STB is and run something like BBC iPlayer to test. If the distance is too far or there are too many think walls / too much noise from other wireless devices, then this may not be the best option for you.

For further info regarding the wireless connector: PDF

The last option is to use your electricity sockets in the home as a network to get a cabled link back to the router. For this you will need adapters in power sockets by the Sky router an STB. These can be had for around £30 and I have linked to some in the Amazon widget at the bottom of this page. See this wiki-page for a better description of the technology.

On a completely unrelated note. If you want 5.1 Surround sound from your STB remember use a  optical sound cable as Sky still don't send the surround sound down the HDMI which is disappointing!

Update: You can now get STB's with built in wifi and also as mentioned in the comments, Surround sound now can go via the HDMI.  http://www.sky.com/shop/tv/sky-plus-hd-box/

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Liberty who? Virgin Media just got bought!

Liberty Global will acquire Virgin Media to create a cable giant. Sounds like a nice investment injection for Virgin as OpenReach start to rival products that are competitive for their providers (FTTC / FTTP) against Virgin (DOCSIS 3.0) in terms of speeds. 



From the Inquirer:

US CABLE TV COMPANY Liberty Global has picked up Virgin Media for around £14bn.
Combining the two firms is subject to shareholder approval and will build a powerhouse firm with 25 million customers in 14 countries, Liberty claims.The Inquirer (http://s.tt/1zrhw)

Sky 3D channel free for a week

Between Monday 13 and 20 August all HD customers get free access to the Sky 3D channel as part of the Sky 3D Free Week.
http://www.sky.com/shop/tv/3d/

Roku picks up financing from BSkyB, News Corp and more, keeps eye on the premium streaming crown

Engadget: http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/26/roku-picks-up-financing-from-bskyb-news-corp-and-more-keeps-ey/

Sky admits it’s no longer ahead of the consumer - The Inquirer

Sky admits it’s no longer ahead of the consumer - The Inquirer

Would an Apple TV kill the console business?

Eurogamer: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-05-18-would-an-apple-tv-kill-the-console-business