Sky announced today that it is launching a 3D TV demonstration in the prestigious Westfield shopping centre in West London on Friday 12^th March.  This will be the first of over 100 planned 3D TV “shopping centre experiences” as Sky gets ready for Sky 3D next month.  Sky 3D will be the UK’s first 3D TV channel.

The 3D TV demo in Westfield will showcase a selection of 3D TV content Sky has filmed over the past two years, including the first public 3D screening of footage from last month’s Burberry London Fashion Week show (23 February).

 Westfield Shoppers will be given polarising 3D glasses to view the 3D TV demo which also contains footage from the world’s first live sports 3D TV broadcast – Arsenal vs. Manchester United - as well as tennis, golf, boxing, ballet, movies and live music. Over the next 12 months Sky expects to have over 100 3D TV shopping centre demos.

Sky is a major proponent of 3D TV, seeing it as the next generation of digital TV, after the very successful high definition TV (HDTV).  Sky’s existing Sky+HD boxes, which are in 2.1 million UK and Irish homes, are already able to receive Sky 3D.

However, would-be 3D TV viewers will need to upgrade to a 3D compatible flat screen TV.  The first 3D TV’s have gone on sale in the US and are expected on the UK high street “later in the year”.  Sky 3D is compatible with all the 3D Ready TVs – both ‘active’ and ‘passive’ - coming to the UK and Ireland this year, including all models from Sony, Samsung, LG and Panasonic.

If you would like to learn more about 3D TV, HDTV or plain old digital TV, why not speak to our impartial digital TV experts on 0800 1 388 388 or visit us at www.simplifydigital.co.uk

Written by Charlie

Sky+ is the UK’s leading PVR (personal video recorder) and is enjoyed by well over half Sky’s digital TV customer base, but TiVo is set to offer an attractive alternative.

PVR’s like Sky+ transform digital TV viewing as they allow customers to pause and record live TV with the touch a single button.  As a result, viewers can select the programmes they like from the schedule and watch them at a time that suits them.

This sort of on-demand viewing is in keeping with broader trends of digital TV consumption where “viewer control” is key.  BBCiPlayer and other catch-up TV services also allow viewers to watch large libraries of content on-demand.

TiVo launched the first PVR in the UK market in the 2000, but the PVR was withdrawn in 2003 , after Sky+ really took off.

But now TiVo is launching a next generation PVR which combines conventional PVR recording functionality and the ability to access on-demand content libraries, via a broadband connection.   

TiVo launched the new TiVo Premiere box in the US last week.  According to TiVo chief executive Tom Rogers,  it will “heavily inspire the development work” going into a new PVR that TiVo is building with Virgin Media for the UK market, to launch before Christmas.

Virgin Media has 3.8 million digital TV customers who can get the new box.  It will look more like a PC interface, with a home page allowing viewers to search for programming from the web and conventional digital TV channels.

It will also have a recommendation tool which suggests programming similar to that already selected - this has been a big hit in the US.  In addition the “wish list” function gives an alert when a show is available that is on the customers unique wish list.

If you would like advice to compare digital TV deals and more information on PVRs currently available in the UK, why not speak to our impartial digital TV experts on 0800 1 388 388.

Written by Charlie

BBC iPlayer is a phenomenon which has kick-started “catch-up TV” in the UK.  Fast broadband connections make the consumption of TV content online easier and easier – and BBC iPlayer sits at the heart of this trend.

In January 2009, BBC iPlayer had 62 million “requests” to watch TV content – this doubled to 120 million last month (including use of BBC iPlayer on Virgin Media digital TV services).

And the first week of January was the biggest in BBC iPlayer history with 23.8m requests in total.  68% of requests were for TV content and 32% for radio content.

This staggering growth in popularity illustrates a fundamental shift in TV consumption.  On-demand TV is now possible through both the PC and the conventional digital TV set, via broadband connectivity.    

So far on-demand viewing on the digital TV set has been relatively limited.  Virgin Media has led the way with its own library of on-demand content, as well as BBC iPlayer.

And BBC iPlayer is soon to launch on Freesat (HD boxes only), and a range of IPTV services such as SeeSaw are launching in 2010, to bring on-demand TV to a wider audience. 

But there are two other key developments which are of even greater importance.

The first is the likely launch of Project Canvas in early 2011, which will deliver on-demand TV via broadband connected Freeview boxes.  This will give subscription free access to on-demand and HDTV for the mass market. 

And the second is the launch of a range of broadband enabled digital TV sets in 2010, which will allow on-demand  TV viewing via an “app store” which will include YouTube, LoveFilm and more.

So the digital TV and online landscapes are converging very rapidly as broadband is the great enabler across digital TV sets and PCs alike. 

If you would like help to navigate your way through the complex word of on-demand TV, to find a digital TV (or broadband) package that suits you, why not speak to our experts for free on 0800 1 388 388.

Written by Charlie

Computer novices will soon be able to access the internet, send emails and even download content without any prior experience with the help of a new computer launched today.

The system, named Alex, is designed to help the 12.2 million Britons who don’t have a computer access the internet easily and without any training.

To anybody reading this on their PC they will most likely find this service useless. And something that will compound that opinion is the price tag.

The initial outlay for the laptop is £400. On top of that there is a £10 a month service fee for tech support. Alternatively, you can pay £25 with broadband included.

It seems the Marketing Department at Alex are targeting the PC naive market in more ways than one!

In today’s competitive market, paying £25 for any broadband service is ludicrous. Not to mention the fact that they are marketing a simplistic, easy to use laptop with a price tag of a modern, high-tech machine.

Another thing to note is that they are marketing a tech support service for £10 a month that is usually included in most Internet Service Providers (ISP) monthly fees.

To put it in perspective let’s have a look at just a few of the current broadband deals on the market.

O2

O2 Broadband can be purchased for as little as £7.50 per month. For this you receive up to 8Mbps speed, unlimited downloads, a free wireless router, security software and most ironically, FREE UK based customer support!

Plusnet

For £5.99 a month you can receive up to 8Mbps speeds, a 10Gb monthly download limit, free wireless router and of course, 24/7 customer support.

TalkTalk

For £6.99 a month plus line rental you can not only get fast, reliable broadband, you also get free evening and weekend calls thrown in.  On top of these, they also provide you with any technical support you’ll need.

If you would like more information on broadband suppliers give one of our experts a call on 0800 5424 704 or click here to compare broadband packages.

Written by Chris

Online TV is set to make a big impact in the UK digital TV market and SeeSaw will be very much involved in the battle.

Online TV allows digital TV viewers to watch on-demand and linear digital TV content via a broadband connection (either direct to the TV or into a digital set top box).

Virgin Media, the UK’s second largest pay digital TV provider already offers this experience with a broad range of catch-up TV from BBCiPlayer and more. 

But things are moving very rapidly, and now there is a range of subscription free online TV propositions about to enter the market.

SeeSaw is one contender.  It has just has announced further content deals for its video on-demand service, including agreements with Channel 4, Five and various independent production firms.  This brings its total on-demand content library to over 3,000 hours.  And among a broad range of on-demand programming, SeeSaw digital TV viewers will be able to see  4OD and  Five On Demand.  It fully launches in the Spring..

SeeSaw is based on technology developed for the now defunct “Project Kangaroo” and bought by the technology company Arqiva.

But there are other contenders for the online TV crown.  The biggest is Project Canvas, which is a joint venture between BBC, ITV, BT and others to create a standard “Freeview box” capable of showing a wide range of on-demand content, piped in via a broadband connection.  Project Canvas is likely to launch in late 2010 or early 2011 and will put major pressure on pay digital TV providers such as Sky and Virgin Media.

The digital TV manufacturers are also getting in on the act.  Samsung and others are soon to launch broadband enabled digital TVs which will have on-demand content available in “app stores” including YouTube and LoveFilm.

And there is another minnow in the running.  Fetch TV is already on sale and brings a subscription free TV service with 50 digital Freeview channels, a choice of single and twin tuner PVRs that let you pause, record and rewind live TV. 80 or 160 GB hard drives, plus access to Catch Up television and FetchTV’s video-on-demand movies, TV series, documentaries and music concerts on demand.

So it will be interesting to see who prevails.  But whoever wins, it is clear that on-demand TV is a major phenomenon set to transform our digital TV viewing behaviour and bring the digital TV in the living room closer to a PC-based browsing experience.

Written by Charlie

BT has launched its first super-fast fibre-optic broadband package, claiming it offers better value than rival fibre optic broadband services including Virgin Media’s XXL Broadband package.

For £19.99 per month, BT Infinity Option 1 offers broadband download speeds of up to 40Mbps - £7.47 cheaper than Virgin Media’s XXL broadband package which has up to 50Mbps download speeds.

BT customers must pay a £50 connection fee to take up the £19.99 broadband package, which offers upload speeds of 2Mbps. The package also has a 20 GB usage cap.

Speedier Option 2 package offers 10Mbps upload speeds and unlimited downloads.  It costs £25 per month and comes with free installation.

Virgin Media’s XXL broadband package offers an up to 50 Mbps download speed and a slower 1.5 Mbps upload speeds.  Rumours abound however that Virgin Media will soon increase the upload speed to match BT Infinity.

The big difference currently however is availability.  Virgin Media’s fibre-optic XXL Broadband package is available to about 50% of UK homes today.

BT has not released details of current availability, but it is clear that BT Infinity is currently available in a very limited number of postcodes (31 exchanges by the end of February), though it will roll out to 4 million homes and businesses by the end of the year and 10 million by summer 2012.

When you take into account the cost of line rental, the Virgin Media XXL package costs £39 per month, while the BT packages will work out at £31.53 and £36.53 per month with a BT line included.

So what’s all the super-fast broadband fuss about?  For the uninitiated, super-fast fibre-optic broadband really does transform your internet use, just as Sky+ transforms TV watching.

Downloading a one hour episode of TopGear from iPlayer currently takes 42 minutes via an 8Mbps broadband service. However, this will reduce to just six minutes with an up to 40 mbps broadband connection.  Similarly

uploading a 20-second video clip to YouTube takes 12mins on 8Mbps, but this will come down to 2min 30.  And online gaming is also up to 30% faster.

But perhaps the biggest advantage is that it allows families to connect to the web to carry out multiple tasks at the same time, putting an end to freezing and crashing.  It also future-proofs you as more and more household devices become broadband enabled (such as broadband enabled digital TVs) and more content is consumed in high definition (HDTV).

A caveat though is that both Virgin Media and BT are using a fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) fibre-optic broadband network which relies on copper or cable for the last yards from the street cabinet to the home.  As a result the broadband speed you receive still depends on how far you are from the exchange or street cabinet.

If you would like help to compare fibre optic broadband packages, why not speak to our impartial broadband experts on 0800 1 388 388 to discuss the best broadband deals available in your area.

Written by Charlie

Here at Simplifydigital we work closely with our service provider partners to deliver you market beating exclusive digital TV, broadband and home phone deals.   Cashbacks are a speciality of ours!  Each week we offer a different cashback.  We’ve had broadband cashbacks from Orange Broadband and TalkTalk; and digital TV cashbacks on Sky and Tiscali.

And now we have launched our biggest ever digital TV, broadband and home phone cashback with our friends at Virgin Media.  This market beating Virgin Media cashback offers new Virgin media customers up to £165 cashback on Virgin Media cable (fibre-optic) bundles.

This awesome Virgin Media deal gives you £130 cashback on all Virgin Media “triple play”  digital TV, broadband and home phone bundles.  Virgin Media digital TV, broadband and home phone bundles start from as little as £18 per month (plus £11 per month Virgin Media line rental).

 What’s more, if you choose a high-value Virgin Media bundle you receive the maximum £165 cashback.  This includes any triple bundle with Broadband XL or XXL; or digital TV L or XL; or phone size L or XL.

If you go for one of Virgin Media’s great value fibre-optic broadband and phone bundles, you receive £50 cashback.  Choose any higher value fibre-optic broadband and phone bundle (Virgin Media Broadband XL or XXL; or Phone L, XL), and receive £75 cashback.

These amazing Virgin Media cashbacks are the biggest Virgin Media cashbacks available anywhere.  The cashbacks are paid 90 days after install by Simplifydigital.  The cashbacks are paid by cheque sent to the install address.

Written by Charlie

Hundreds of people may be throwing away their old televisions because they think they need new sets to adapt to the digital switchover (DSO), according to reports.

Yet analogue sets can easily be adapted to receive digital services, and Argyll and Bute Council have warned viewers not to waste money unnecessarily.  The council said the number of electrical goods taken to amenity sites had seen a “significant increase” from the 840 tonnes recycled in 2008/09. It expects the total to hit 940 tonnes this year, with the 12% rise thought to be caused by an upsurge in discarded analogue TVs.

 Councillor Donald Macdonald, chair of Argyll and Bute’s Environment Policy and Performance Group, said only people who “actually want” a new TV need to buy one.  “There are many people out there who believe that they have to replace their analogue TVs with new digital models in order to be able to receive digital transmission,” he said.

“This is not true. With very rare exceptions, all TVs can be converted to digital with a digital box - even black and white models.”

There are indeed four ways to adapt you existing TV for the digital switchover in order to receive digital TV.  The first is to buy a Freeview box so that you can receive digital terrestrial TV via your existing TV aerial (though your aerial may need upgrading); the second is via a digital satellite connection from Freesat or Sky; the third is via digital cable TV from Virgin Media; and the last is via IPTV (digital TV received via a broadband connection) available from TalkTalk TV, BT Vision and others.

If you would like help to go digital, why not speak for free to the Simplifydigital impartial digital TV experts on 0800 1 388 388.    

Written by Charlie

We wrote today on our website of the big excitement at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) where 3D TV is set to be the talk of the town in Las Vegas. As a result the pundits are predicting very big things for 3D TV globally in 2010. 

The news from CES is that LG, JVC, Sony, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, and Sharp are all rumored to be unveiling new 3D technology at this year’s CES, with Nvidia, Corel, AMD and CyberLink likely to unveil 3D Blu-ray video playback technology.

Despite this optimism behind 3D TV - much of which is fuelled by the huge global success of Avatar, which has taken over $640 million at the global box office - Sony is less optimistic.

Sony does not believe that the  “explosion” in demand for 3D TV will happen until 2012.  Sony’s chief marketing officer Mike Fasulo told Business Week: “We don’t expect to see an explosion of 3D in the home until the 2012 time frame.”

This is despite the fact that Sony’s arch rival LG has set a sales target of 400,000 3D-ready TV sets globally in 2010, rising to 3.4 million in 2011.
So despite being late to the party, Sony still  forecasts  that 50% of its total TV shipments will be 3D-ready models by the financial year ending March 2013. It also intends to add 3D capabilities to the PlayStation 3 console and other consumer products in its range.

The success of 3D TV in the UK is clearly also in the hands of the digital TV platforms such as Sky and Virgin Media, who need to actually broadcast 3D TV content.  Sky is a big advocate of the new medium, but still sees 3D TV as niche in 2010.  Sky plans to launch the first 3D TV channel which will be available to those with Sky+ HD boxes.

So Sony’s prediction seems correct for the UK market.  2010 and 2011 will be the years of high definition TV (HDTV) and 3D TV is likely to move mainstream thereafter.

If you would like help to compare digital TV packages and to hear more about HDTV and 3D TV why not speak to the impartial Simplifydigital TV experts on 0800 1 388 388 or use our clever new online digital TV comparison service.

Written by Charlie

January is a very big month for the UK’s broadband providers.  As a result the top UK digital providers are competing very hard for your custom, so whether you’re looking for fibre-optic broadband; mobile broadband or a cracking home phone calls package – there are some amazing deals to choose from.  Here is our pick of the January broadband deals.

O2 Standard Home Broadband offers award winning 8 Mbs broadband for £7.34 per month (excluding line rental) for existing O2 customers and £12.23 for new customers.  The service comes with a free wireless router and free set up.  Plus in January, O2 is offering 2 months free.  So if you’re looking for a good all round family broadband service with UK based free technical support  - then O2 is a great choice. 

Sky is offering six months free on their top broadband package - Sky Broadband Unlimited. Any new or existing Sky digital TV customer who signs up before February 5 2010 can get Sky Broadband Unlimited (if it is available at the post code)free for six months and it costs £10 per month thereafter.

This great broadband deal is however only available if you also take a Sky Talk home phone package.  Sky Talk offers free evening and weekend calls at no extra cost.  And Sky Broadband Unlimited offers super-fast broadband (up to 20 Mbps) with unlimited downloads.

Virgin Media offers three fibre –optic broadband packages: Broadband Size L which provides up to 10 Mbs fibre-optic broadband for £12.50 per month; Broadband Size XL which offers up to 20 Mbs broadband for £20 per month; and Size XXL which offers the fastest broadband available in the UK at up to 50 Mbs with unlimited downloads for £28 per month.  The Broadband XXL package offers broadband speeds over twice as fast as anything available from the other top UK broadband providers.

For a limited period, Virgin Media is offering two months free across all three fibre-optic broadband packages.  

TalkTalk already offers very low cost broadband and home phone packages.  TalkTalk Essentials, their best selling package is just £6.99 per month (excluding line rental) for up to 8 Mbs wireless broadband with free evening and weekend calls.  In January, TalkTalk is going one better to offer free set up - a saving of £29.99 on the standard set up cost.

Written by Charlie