Sky looks to fibre-optic networks to bring you TV without the dish
Sure, Sky’s been quick to embrace streaming, but the broadcasting giant has relied upon the humble satellite dish to bring TV to your home for almost two decades. However, there may soon be a conspicuous absence of those little black dishes in some parts of the UK after the company confirmed it’ll soon start using fibre-optic networks to deliver its TV, broadband and telephone services. To facilitate this, Sky’s teamed up with British network provider GTC to integrate its service into new-build homes, opening access to its TV packages, landline phone service and up to 300Mbps broadband in the process.
The deal takes Sky into Virgin Media territory, where its rival offers similar packages over cable networks. It could end up stifling Virgin’s own expansion plans in those areas, although the reach of Sky’s commandeered fibre-optic network will be relatively small. Sky can’t seem to shake it’s reliance on traditional over-the-air broadcasting though, as the TV signal is actually being fed from a large, centralised satellite receiver. Right now, Sky taps BT’s fibre-optic infrastructure to deliver super-fast broadband to homes across the UK, but limits TV content to online on-demand services like Sky Go and Now TV. Does this mean Sky is about to drop the satellite dish in favour of super-fast fibre for the whole of the UK? Not just yet, but one thing’s for sure, Virgin Media will be watching with a keen interest.
Filed under: HD
Source: GTC
Game of Thrones’ season premiere is free to watch on Xbox this week
If you missed out on Game of Thrones‘ season 4 premiere when it first aired — say, because of the HBO Go meltdown — you’re in for a treat this week. HBO is giving all Xbox users free access to the episode between April 8th and April 14th, whether or not they’re subscribers to the premium TV service. Some cable and satellite providers are also offering gratis access through their on-demand platforms and websites. This isn’t purely an act of generosity, as you might imagine. Besides giving HBO a chance to advertise a show à la Silicon Valley, the free content could steer some of the many people pirating Game of Thrones toward legitimate sources. Time Warner’s CEO has argued that piracy promotes HBO’s series — his company may see a chance to replicate that buzz through official channels.
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Microsoft
Yahoo could make original TV shows like Netflix and Amazon
Looks like it’s not just Microsoft that wants in on Netflix and Amazon’s turf. The WSJ is reporting that Marissa Mayer wants Yahoo to produce sitcoms to air on its rumored new video service. According to those persons familiar with the matter, the CEO wants well-known names from TV to produce four, ten-episode series, each one budgeted between $700,000 and a few million dollars — the going rate for the average network comedy. We won’t have long to wait and see if the rumors are true, as Yahoo is said to announce the shows at an event on April 28th. Maybe this is the moment to get pitching our modern-day remake of The Facts of Life that’s gonna make us all stars.
Source: WSJ
Chromecast $5 Off Again on Amazon and Best Buy
Haven’t gotten yourself a Chromecast yet? Well, what are you waiting for? If it’s a great deal then head over to Best Buy or Amazon, because they have slashed $5 off the price of the awesome little dongle. Sure, it isn’t a huge discount, but saving money is saving money, and I guarantee you once you get a Chromecast, you will wonder how you survived without it. Hit one of the links below to go grab yourself one, and let us know if you did.
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Windows Phone 8.1 does Miracast media sharing, but most devices won’t cut it
Windows Phone 8.1 includes many, many upgrades, not the least of which is Miracast media sharing; it should be easier than ever to send content to your TV and other gadgets. However, it’s now very likely that you’ll have to upgrade to a newer phone to get that convenience — Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore says that most existing Windows Phone 8 devices can’t handle Miracast. A recent flagship like the Lumia 1520 might cut the mustard, but the executive isn’t certain that it will work. The limitations are no doubt unfortunate if you were hoping to unlock Miracast through a software update, but they’ll at least give you a good excuse to upgrade an older handset.
@sarang20067 WP8.1 supports Miracast but it will require new HW. MAYBE 1520 is new enough, I’m not sure. most WP8 hw won’t be.
– joebelfiore (@joebelfiore) April 6, 2014
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Microsoft
Via: Nokia Views
Source: Joe Belfiore (Twitter)
Apparent Android TV UI Screenshots Surface
Remember Google TV? Yeah I barely remember myself, but I do remember how excited I was when Honeycomb made it to my Logitech set top box. Well it looks like Google doesn’t want to give up on bringing Android to you and your loved ones in the living, because Android TV is on its way it seems. Supposed screenshots have surfaced on the net, showing us what Android will look like on our TVs.
The TV platform will of course supply streams to all the major video stream providers, and it will also be game friendly. The UI groups everything in cards, not really the card look in the Google Now interface, but it still looks pretty lovely. Google also is wanting developers to get on developing apps for the new TV world, and I am sure they will come up with some awesome apps. Let us know what you think about Android TV.
Source: Android Police
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Google reportedly looking to simplify home entertainment with Android TV
Google has been edging away from the original Google TV concept for a while, but it now looks like the company is ready to make a sharper break from its past. The Verge claims to have documents revealing a new Android TV release with a more conventional (if very slick) living room interface. Rather than stress apps or the web, the new OS would rely on a familiar, simplified card layout centered around accessing content quickly. It would put more emphasis on home screen suggestions, and it would be easy to resume media you were playing on your phone or tablet. There are also mentions of gamepad support, suggesting that games may play a more important role this time around. We don’t know just when the new Android TV software would reach screens and set-top boxes — the folks in Mountain View aren’t commenting. If the leak is accurate, though, we’ll at least know that the search giant isn’t fazed by Google TV’s past challenges.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Google
Source: The Verge
The time travel movie 12 Monkeys is becoming a TV show in 2015
If you’re so enamored with time travel in TV shows that even Doctor Who isn’t enough, we have good news: you’re about to get a lot more of it. Syfy has ordered production of a series based on Terry Gilliam’s classic movie 12 Monkeys. While the show will go without most of the apocalyptic flick’s cast and crew when it airs in January 2015, its first season (appropriately 12 episodes long) will involve original producer Charles Roven as well as veteran actors from Nikita and X-Men: The Last Stand. The story arc will likely be familiar to anyone who watched the 1995 film — or 1962′s La Jetée, for that matter — but we’re not going to complain about revisiting one of sci-fi’s most enduring concepts.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Source: NBCUniversal
Daily Roundup: 5-year-old hacks Xbox Live account, Amazon Fire TV teardown and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Watch a 5-year-old spam the spacebar to access his dad’s Xbox Live account
How difficult is it to break into a password-protected Xbox One profile? Well, 5-year-old Kristoffer Von Hassel managed to crack into his dad’s account account by simply pressing the spacebar. A lot.
Apple buys tech that could take Siri offline
TechCrunch is reporting that experts from the speech recognition firm Novauris are working with Apple to improve Siri’s vocal chops. Since most of Novauris’ work deals with locally processed recognition, it’s possible Apple’s voice tech may be in line for offline functionality sooner than later.
Amazon Fire TV teardown reveals an easily accessible media hub
That was quick. The folks at iFixit have already taken the Fire TV through the wringer, and it turns out the set-top box is relatively easy to fix. So, aside from a tricky outer casing, maintaining the internals should be a breeze for the average DIYer.
Samsung promises truly flexible electronics sooner with graphene breakthrough
Graphene’s back — well, according to Samsung, anyway. In the past, producing useable sheets of the allotrope has been a tricky business. But thanks to input from the South Korean manufacturer, the process could be refined for commercial applications.
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Filed under: Misc
This Android add-on lets you multitask with your Chromecast
There are already quite a few Chromecast-savvy apps out there, but João Dias’ newly completed AutoCast may be one of the most flexible. The Tasker add-on for Android lets you send a wide range of content to Google’s media stick in your choice of layout, including multiple things at once — you can get notifications while you’re watching video, or play music while browsing video. You can also create custom home screens that show useful info like battery levels or weather, and it’s possible for multiple users to share control over a single Chromecast app, such as an image editor. AutoCast won’t address every possible function you might want, but it covers a surprising amount of ground by itself.
Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment, HD
Source: Google Play, joaoapps.com
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