Sky TV says 3D television could be just around the corner for British viewers.

The satellite broadcaster has said that it has successfully tested the delivery to a normal household television via their high definition set-top box.

Over the past few months Sky has been filming events using 3D camera technology including a Six Nations rugby union international that was broadcast in 3D to an audience at a theatre in London.

Sky have gone a step further by showing that 3D could be delivered into homes, through its Sky+HD set-top box, without much difficulty at all.

Lawrence Bleach of Simplifydigital says.

“Whilst 3DTV remains, for some, the subject of science fiction films from the 70s, the news from Sky would suggest the reality isn’t far away.  The great news is that it would seem this latest evolution in TV won’t require a new set top box, instead Sky are saying an existing Sky+HD box will do the job.  With other broadcasters yet to make any announcements, it may be another reason to pick Sky as your preferred digital TV provider.  Add the fact that they also have a strong broadband (up to 16Mb) and home phone offering, and Sky continues to be one of the digital service providers pushing the innovations. 

Only 3 years ago Sky launched HD digital TV, and that is fast becoming mainstream with over 600,000 subscribers to the Sky service and other broadcasters and digital TV platforms now also offering high definition services.  You wouldn’t bet against Sky being the first to the UK market with 3D and setting the pace again”

Some things to note about 3DTV is that you will need a 3D ready television set, not yet available in UK stores, and you would need to wear 3D polarising glasses but, 3DTV could be on British shores sooner rather than later - Some channels in Japan are already been broadcast in 3D whilst major TV manufacturers are currently looking at building 3DTV prototypes without the need to wear 3D glasses whilst viewing.

Written by chris

We recently put out a press release announcing our pick of the very best digital TV, broadband and home phone deals, just in time for Christmas. Here it is in its full blown glory, with our top tips up front and the tables at the end.  It’s packed full of stuff, so this time round we’ve decided to include the whole press release. 

And remember, we’re here to help. Just give us a call on 0800 988 8148 or head on over to the main Simplifydigital site and see what the best package is for you.

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Make the most of digital TV, broadband and home phone deals this Christmas with Santa’s Little Helper, Simplifydigital

With Christmas just around the corner, time is running out to find the best digital package for your family. There are over 15,000 different digital package deals on the market, catering for every conceivable taste. If you choose wisely, there are some great deals to be had on your digital services this festive season.

However, with last minute preparations, finding a new digital package is probably the last thing on your mind. That’s where Santa’s Little Helper, Simpifydigital, can help. It offers impartial advice via its UK-based experts over the phone (0800 1388 388) or online at http://www.simplifydigital.co.uk to help you find the best deal in minutes. Its specially designed website allows you to define your exact requirements and see the package options, which you can then order online, or let one of its experts place the order for you. It is the only retailer of digital TV, broadband and home phone services in the UK to be accredited by Ofcom as impartial.  The added advantage of Simplifydigital is that it has some exclusive deals and guarantee to be on hand to ensure that the installation goes smoothly.

Here are Simplifydigital’s top Christmas tips for digital TV, broadband and phone:

1.     Save by bundling your services. One of the best ways to take advantage of the great savings to be had is by buying your digital TV, broadband and home phone from one supplier. According to a recent T-poll survey, commissioned by Simplifydigital, an average family can save over £360 per year by bundling all three services.  So before subscribing to digital TV, it’s worth working out what you are paying for broadband and home phone services and whether you are in contract. Then when considering the different digital TV services, check out the deals offered to take all three services.

2.     Make the most of Christmas entertainment with a great movie package. There are many movie premieres such as Transformers, Shrek the Third and Stardust airing over the holidays so it’s a great time to invest in a movie package. Sky in particular has a great entertainment offering. Their movies package gives you more than 850 movies to choose from per month from Hollywood blockbusters to world-cinema gems. This will, however, add around £17 per month to your package but if you sign up before 25^th December, you’ll receive a £50 M&S voucher. If you don’t want to pay monthly for a movie package, both Sky and Virgin Media give you access to a huge range of Box Office movies for around £3.99 per film.

3.     Get cinema quality movies. If you are planning on having a movie-filled Christmas, you may also like to consider High Definition TV. HD TV gives you cinema quality movies in high definition and surround sound. For anyone who is serious about watching HD, Sky offers by far the largest selection of HD channels and programming in the UK, covering the whole spectrum of content – from all the premium sporting action, to a large range of movies and documentaries.  The Sky+HD box also has all the features of a Sky+ box so that you can pause and record live TV. It usually costs a bit extra though, and you’ll need to have an HD-ready set-top box and TV to watch it.

4.     Don’t miss those Christmas classics. If you don’t want to miss any festive TV, then a ‘PVR’ (personal video recorder) can be a great investment. This allows you to pause, record and rewind live TV and you can even record a whole series at the touch of a button. In the spirit of Christmas, there are also some great special offers available during the festive period. Via Simplifydigital, you can get a Sky+ box for £49 with free installation from Sky or a half-price V+ installation for £75 from Virgin Media. The V+ box also gives you access to BBC HD letting you view your favourite BBC programmes this Christmas in HD.

5.     Catch up with your friends and family for free. If you’re away from friends and family this Christmas and want to catch up on the phone, then certain providers will offer free calls to national and international telephone numbers. For example, depending on your package, TalkTalk offers free calls to 36 international destinations, Tiscali offer free calls to 10 international destinations and Sky to 20. Many packages also include free calls to mobile phones in the USA and Canada.

6.     If you’re buying games, make sure you’ve got the right broadband package. Make sure the kids (and adults) aren’t disappointed by ensuring that you’ve got the right broadband package to allow them to get stuck into a whole world of “online play” (multi-player) games. As a general guide, if you’re predicted speed is less than 2mb it is questionable whether you will be able to achieve the desired connection to the game server to play properly. Ideally speeds of 4mb and above will be ideal for online gaming, especially if you’re using one of the newer high powered consoles such as a Playstation 3 or Xbox 360.

Written by Jonathan

We’ve issued a press release today announcing the findings of our most recent piece of research - looking at people’s choice of home phone, broadband and digital TV providers, how long they’ve had them and some of the reasons behind people not benefiting from some of the best deals they could do.

We’re always looking for ways in which we can help people save money, so the reasons why people don’t switch and bundle their services are always really interesting to us. Here’s what we found out: 

> Cash strapped Britons are wasting £900 million by sticking to legacy deals on their digital TV, broadband and home phone services!

> Over half of you (59%) feel under pressure to save money on digital services due to the credit crunch.

> 1 in 3 people have not changed their home phone provider for over 5 years. 

> 1 in 4 of you are still buying all three services separately instead of saving £360 a year by bundling them together! That’s the equivalent of a return flight to New York or £30 a month to put back into the family budget. 

> Over 45% of consumers have not switched their broadband provider in the last 2 years and a third (33%) have not changed their home phone supplier for over five years.

> Nearly two out of three people (59%) feel under pressure to save money on digital services as a result of the credit crunch, and 63% have taken the trouble to research the market within the last 12 months, but only one in five (21%) have actually switched in the last year due to total confusion.

So why are people so confused and seemingly unable to switch and save?  Well just under 50% of people say that the reason that they have not switched is as a result of a combination of confusion as a result of too many conflicting deals available (19%), fear of the sheer time and effort required to switch (14%); and a lack of impartial advice as to where the best deals are to be found (13%).

As Charlie (our CEO) puts it, “This is where Simplifydigital can really help, it is the only company in the UK to be accredited by the regulator Ofcom to provide a completely free and impartial advisory service to help people save money on their digital TV, broadband and home phone services.”  

Enough said. Get in touch on 0800 988 8148 or head on over to the special triple-play section of our site here to find out how to help us help you make that £900 million figure smaller next time. 

PS: The full press release is available over here - we’d be interested to hear what you think of the results and the juicy bits that we’ve highlighted.

Written by Jonathan

Of com has just released its latest report on The International Communications Market 2008 and it’s packed with lots of interesting and (less than interesting) data on global trends in the use of all things digital, including TV, broadband, telephony and radio.

Here’s our take on what’s most interesting in the report, hope it’s useful. 

The digital world is converging fast!

> There are 26 broadband connections per 100 people in the UK, placing us third behind the Netherlands (35%) and Sweden (31%) and penetration is growing at about 5% per year.

> UK surfers are spending nearly 14 hours per week online, second only to US internet users who spend 15 hours online each week and this is growing at an average annual rate of 30% - so by our calculations, if this continues for another ten years web users will be online 24 hours per day, seven days per week.

> More and more people are viewing TV shows over the web and its growing in the UK at a rate of 69% per year. The US lead the world with 26 downloads per head per year, with UK second at 8 downloads per head per year.

> As a result 15% of UK web users claim to watch less broadcast TV as TV viewing retains its basic appeal (thanks to X Factor no doubt).

> Mobile broadband availability (via HSDPA) is highest in the UK covering 87% of households.

> The age of the CD is well and truly coming to an end - digital recorded music sales are growing at 20% per year and mobile music downloads now account for over half of all recorded digital music revenue in France, Italy and 29% in the UK. Whilst in Japan, mobile accounts for a staggering 90%+ of all digital music revenue!

> Use of social networking sites on mobile phones is growing but still very niche, but broadcasting TV on mobiles has had less success with various service closures around the globe over the last 18 months.

The UK is the world capital of digital television!

> The UK leads the way globally with the 86% of main TV sets connected to digital, followed by the US with 70%. Within digital TV, pay-TV thanks to successful marketing by Sky and Virgin Media continues to grow and is now in 47% of UK households.

> High definition (HD) TV remains niche with approximately 1m homes enjoying HD (out of a total of nearly 25m TV homes) in the UK.

> Nearly one third of UK households have a DVR (digital video recorder). This is the highest penetration in the world. This is largely due to the huge appeal and success of Sky+ which is now in over 4 million households.

> TV is still a major national pass time with viewers in the UK watching over 3.5 hours of television a day, 7 days per week! This is less though than the Americans who watch an hour a day more on average.

Telephony use and spend just keeps on growing!

> Telecoms companies keep on getting richer. In the UK alone their revenues continue to grow at 5% per year, driven by increased mobile use and broadband take-up whilst fixed line revenues fall slightly.

> Broadband take up continues apace in the UK, but as penetration increases it is slowing from 20% in 2006 to 14% in 2007.

> Texting keeps charging ahead with volume of texts sent growing by over 35% in the UK alone in 2007.

> The UK lags the world in the provision of state-of-the-art fibre-optic delivery technology. In Japan an amazing 85% of the population have access to a full fibre-to-your-door service, whilst in the UK this is only 1% of the population. This reflects Virgin Media’s approach of running fibre to the street, rather than your door.

Still want more? Then head on over to the BBC, Daily Telegraph or WebUser for further analysis.

Written by Jonathan

Some more great news on the digital TV front as we hear of a deal signed between ITV and BT to enable all your favourite ITV programmes like Coronation Street and the X Factor to be watched on the BT Vision platform.

That makes BT Vision the only platform in the UK carrying catch-up services for all four terrestrial broadcasters as ITV joins catch-up programming from the BBC, Channel 4 and Five already available. You’ll just need to subscribe to the BT Vision Replay package (£3 a month) to watch content from the ITV library.

So here’s the quick sales bit. For this and other right up to the minute packages that deliver more content to you, give us a call on 0800 988 8148 or head on over to the main Simplifydigital site and see what the best package is for you.

Written by Jonathan

Virgin Media customers will once again have access to Sky channels such as Sky1, Sky News and Sky Sports News after the company signed a new channel carriage deal with BSkyB.

Virgin Media subscribers lost access to the channels at the end of February 2007 after a disagreement between the two companies that escalated over the amount that Sky wanted to charge Virgin Media to have access to the channels. 

 Sky and Virgin have since resolved the issue after Virgin agreed to pay Sky £30m per year plus yearly incentives. As such Virgin subscribers can expect to see Sky channels back on their TV’s by the 15^th of November 2008. The channels include Sky1, Sky2, Sky3, Sky News, Sky Sports News, Sky Arts 1, Sky Arts 2, Sky Real Lives and Sky Real Lives 2.At the same time, Sky subscribers will continue to have access to Virgin Media TV’s basic channels, including Living, Bravo, Virgin 1 and Trouble.

Charlie Ponsonby, CEO of Simplifydigital, said: “This is a welcome end to the stand-off between Virgin Media and Sky with the customer the real winner”

Written by chris

IT’S SHAPING UP TO BE AN HD CHRISTMAS DESPITE THE CREDIT CRUNCH

Sky recently announced record growth of customers subscribing to their high definition TV service, reflecting the increasing attractions of the format

High definition TV broadcasting is still very young in the UK, but its attractions are starting to attract record numbers of paying customers despite the credit crunch.  Sky recently announced a record increase of 93,000 in HD subscribers in the last quarter ending 30^th September, bringing their total to just over 590,000.   They offer by far the most HD programming in the UK, but HD subscribers are also growing at Virgin Media and on the new Freesat service from the BBC.

The big players see HD as the “next big thing” for television in the UK and, despite the current economic environment, are investing heavily to greatly increase the variety of high definition (HD) content available to watch.  They are also offering some terrific deals to entice consumers to make the switch to HD viewing in time for Christmas.

So aren’t I already watching in high definition as I have an “HD Ready” TV set?

An “HD Ready” TV set alone will not allow you to watch TV in high definition.  Indeed there are many thousands of households up and down the land convinced that they are watching TV in high definition, when in fact they are not. 

The “HD Ready” TV set has many more pixels per square inch (4 times more than a standard set) allowing it to show pictures in far greater detail and with much more vibrant colours, but only if the content that it is showing is being broadcast and transmitted in high definition.  So you will need the right TV and a set top box able to receive and decode a high definition signal.  HD signals are also broadcast in surround sound making for a much richer sound as well as visual experience.

All the main manufacturers produce HD Ready sets and the chances are that if you have bought a TV recently (especially a flat screen) it will be HD Ready.  But it is very important to check this before subscribing to an HD service.

So is HD worth the additional spend?  If you walk past a TV showing content in HD you will notice a big difference – in fact so proud are new HD viewers that they often ask their friends round to gawp at the clarity of the picture.  Most viewers find that HD is particularly impressive for sporting events, documentaries and to a lesser extent movies and dramas.  Football in HD for example is a huge improvement on the standard TV experience – with players (and the crowd!) visible in extraordinary clarity.  

So in a nutshell, to enjoy HDTV you will need to make sure you have the following:

1. a TV capable of displaying high-definition pictures
2. a receiver that can decode the high definition signal, such Sky’s HD box or Virgin’s V+ box
3. a TV package that includes high definition programmes.

Who is broadcasting HD content and how do I access it?

Sky and the BBC have really pioneered the broadcast of HD content in the UK, but Virgin Media has joined the HD party also. 

Sky offer by far the widest range of HD channels, having recently increased their total to 28 channels offered.  The table below shows who currently shows what in HD….

So how do the various alternatives compare in terms of value for money?

It is shaping up to be an HD Christmas with the providers recognising that as households cut back on going out, staying into to watch a cinema quality movie in high definition and surround sound, is fast becoming a cheap and more attractive alternative.   

For anyone who is serious about watching HD, Sky offers by far the largest selection of HD channels and programming in the UK, covering the whole spectrum of content – from all the premium sporting action, to a large range of movies and documentaries.  The Sky+HD box also has all the features of a Sky+ box so that you can pause and record live TV.  What’s more Sky recently cut the price of their HD box in half to £75 when bought through selected retailers  < www.simplifydigital.co.uk/msnmoney>. 

As Chris Williams, Head of Products at the comparison service Simplifydigital comments “For families looking to watch a wide range of content in high definition  - from drama, to documentaries, sports and movies – then Sky is the only realistic choice.  Sky’s commitment to the HD revolution is really starting to show in terms of the breadth of content that they offer relative to the competition” 

Virgin Media only offer one HD channel, namely the BBC HD channel, but they do have quite a wide variety of on-demand content in high definition.

For the budget HD viewer who is happy to watch only BBC and ITV programming in HD, then Freesat is a possible choice, but the HD content will feel very limited.   Freesat does also have additional Freeview channels to watch in standard definition.

*Prices correct as at 7/11/08

For an impartial consultation and access to the best deals, to help you find the very best high definition package for you, click here or call 0800 138 8090.   

Written by chris

LONDON - BSkyB has passed the 9m subscriber mark after it added more than 400,000 taking Sky + and a record number signing up to Sky+ HD service.

Sky has finished the quarter ended September 30 with 9,067,000 customers.

Sky+ HD subscribers grew by 93,000 to 591,000. The company credited growing awareness of HD and availability of content such as the Olympics for the growth, in addition to its price cut on the service by £99 to £150.

Sky’s broadband and telephony services attracted more sign-ups, with broadband now in 20% of Sky homes thanks to 164,000 new customers and telephony in 15% of Sky homes with 120,000 new customers.

Jeremy Darroch, chief executive of Sky, said: “This is a good set of results in a challenging environment. Over nine million customers now enjoy the best in entertainment through Sky and, in tougher times, we’re helping more people to save money on broadband and telephony as well.”

To find out how you can join the growing Sky family give one of our digital experts a call on 0800 1388 388 or click here to compare sky to other suppliers.

Written by chris

Simplifydigital commissioned a YouGov poll earlier this year and found that over one in three adults (39%) are not making the most of the huge money savings that are available if they choose to bundle.  On average £160 could be saved per year from taking the bundling route. Our CEO commented on the findings:

“There are big savings to be had by bundling, but the real trick is choosing the right bundle to match your needs. Until now there has been no place to go for impartial advice as to which one to take, which is exactly what our digital experts specialise in at Simplifydigital. With our help finding the best bundle, we could certainly put money back in people’s pockets.”

For the more savvy 31% who have already opted for the bundle option that includes digital TV, broadband and home phone, over four in five said that the quality of service (87%) and overall costs (82%) had been better or the same from using one service provider.

Worryingly, many people are not doing their research before signing up to digital TV or broadband. Only 24% said they did extensive research before signing up to these services. Ponsonby concluded:

“The falling cost of broadband coupled with ever-increasing competition in the digital TV market means it’s vital that families do their research in order to get the perfect package. The mass of conflicting advertising can make broadband and digital TV seem unnecessarily complicated and confusing, resulting in customers possibly missing out on the ideal service. Our team is able to search through over 530,000 different package options on our database in a matter of minutes, which would take the average person over two years if they took two minutes to review each one.”

The report found 24% of the pay-TV customers surveyed said they were planning on ‘stripping down’ their pay-TV package including sports and movie channels.

According to the research, Freeview has now become a popular choice for cash strapped consumers. The survey found 15% had chosen subscription-free Freeview because of cash concerns. An additional 13% of responders’ said they planned to switch to Freeview within the next year for the same reason.

At Simplifydigital, we know that there are great savings to be made simply by finding the right package for you. We’re already helping confused consumers save money every day. To find out how much you could save, give us a call or use our online digital services comparison tool.  

Written by lee

There could be more good news on the way for TV viewers who want to watch their favourite shows in High Definition (HD).

Last week Ofcom announced that they are reserving two Freeview slots for new HD services. One of those slots is for ITV while the other has gone to Channel 4/S4C.

The BBC will also be broadcasting its HD service on Freeview and viewers in the Granada region should be able to watch these three services from late 2009.

The Freeview HD services will then be available on a region by region basis as the country gradually moves from analogue to digital TV over the next 4 years.

But viewers in some UK cities, including London, could be watching these HD channels sooner than was first thought.

Ofcom are looking at whether spectrum could be made temporarily available so that the new HD services on Freeview can be rolled out earlier.

Simplifydigital’s guide to HDTV

 High definition TV is still very young in the UK, but is well and truly coming of age – Beijing was the first Olympics in history to be broadcast in high definition and the BBC showed over 300 hours of HD content during the games. And Sky, the UK’s leading HD broadcaster, now has over half a million subscribers having only launched their service in mid 2006.

 Moreover, all the big players see HD as the “next big thing” for television in the UK and are investing heavily to greatly increase the variety of high definition (HD) content available to watch. But HD viewing doesn’t come cheap and the breadth and depth of content on offer varies significantly across the various platforms offering high definition content.

So what is “high definition” and does it live up to the hype?

 To view content in high definition you first need a “HD Ready” TV.  This is a TV set which has many more pixels per square inch (4 times more than a standard set) allowing it to show pictures in far greater detail and with much more vibrant colours, but only if the content that it is showing is being transmitted in high definition. So you will need the right TV and a set top box able to receive and decode a high definition signal. HD signals are also broadcast in surround sound making for a much richer sound as well as visual experience.

 So in a nutshell, to enjoy HDTV you will need to make sure you have the following: