UK based TV manufacturers Cello launched their new iViewer TV range today.
Available in 32" and 26" sizes, the TV's are the first in the country to have BBC's iPlayer built in. Through a wireless or Ethernet connection, users can stream content straight from BBC's online platform onto their televisions, as well as offering widgets for news feeds, various web TV channels and YouTube content.
Web TV channels currently supported include Disney Movies Preview, Movie Rush, Autocar Magazine, Sky Sports Boots and All, the CNN daily video podcast, Jamie's Ministry of Food, Delicious TV Veg, Revision 3 Diggnation and the Larry King video podcast.
Users can also stream video and other media content directly from a networked PC to the Cello iViewer TV.
In terms of picture quality, the 32" 16:9 model will be capable of displaying full HD 1080p video, with a contrast ratio of 3000:1, and will include a pre-installed Freeview tuner. The 26 incher will also have a built in Freeview tuner, with a 1080i HD ready video output and a contrast ratio of 800:1.
I got to have a quick play around with the 32" model this morning and was impressed by the clear UI and simple navigation controls. The iViewer software has a dedicated remote button, and with plenty of connectivity options on the back, including two HDMI slots, two USB slots, composite/component inputs and a built in DVD player, £499 seems a very reasonable price. £399 will bag you the 26" model.
Though it's not a feature Cello are keen to officially promote (as they cannot guarantee its quality), the industrious among you can even hook up a keyboard and mouse and access a modest web-browser hidden within the iViewer software.
If Cello can keep updating the onboard Onyx software with content and fresh widgets, the iViewer TV could be the perfect bedroom telly.
Keep an eye out for these Marks and Spencer's exclusives within the next week.
With terrestrial broadcasters including the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 voicing their commitment to high-definition services recently it appears as if HD programming could soon be available in the mainstream – but there are still a few obstacles to overcome.
High-definition broadcasts take up substantially more bandwidth than typical standard-definition does, which makes the prospect of using the best available Freeview platform extremely unlikely in the near future.
So, how are terrestrial broadcasters planning to deliver HD programming to consumers?
The freesat satellite service kicks off early next year in the UK and high-definition broadcasts will definitely be part of the mix. (freesat launched on 6th May 2008)
Sources at ITV have confirmed that they would start transmitting HDTV broadcasts on FreeSat, as well as investing in the FreeSat platform. Under an ambitious turn around plan by new ITV boss, Michael Grade, transmissions will begin with a two-hour slot during primetime and rising to three hours.
The BBC has announced high definition disc releases for the autumn, expected on both Blu-ray and HD DVD.
"Becoming Jane" will release on September 10th, followed by a 5-disc UK set of "Planet Earth", "Hotel Babylon Series 1", "Bleak House", "Galapagos", and "Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky" on October 22nd. "Robin Hood Series 1" will come on November 29th.
Scant details, but something to look forward to from the Beeb.
(Via DVD Times)
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It seems there's nothing like natural beauty to bring out the best in high-definition technology. The BBC's Planet Earth: The Complete Series has been wowing high-definition audiences in the States where it's been pronounced as the biggest money-spinner to ever hit the HD-DVD and Blu-ray disc market.
US consumers have spent an incredible $3.2m on the four-disc set of nature documentaries narrated by David Attenborough. That translates to about 45,000 sets or one for every five owners of next generation HD players – a ratio only a few DVDs can compete with.
This year you can enjoy the Glastonbury Festival in high def, so it’ll be just like being there but without the mud. The BBC is beaming more than 30 hours of live coverage of the 2007 event, much of it in HD, with the rest spread across BBC Two, Three and Four and BBC radio.
Coverage promises the best from the Somerset site’s stages, including the Pyramid, Other, John Peel and Jazz/World stages. There are special acoustic performances and reports from all around Worthy Farm.
This peak time Sunday night series (being simulcast with BBC One) takes a detailed high definition look at the landscape of Britain through its landmark buildings.
David Dimbleby is your host for the six-part documentary that journeys around the country, telling the story of the architecture that defines the nation.
The programmes aim to cover everything from magnificent cathedrals to tiny thatched cottages, as well as railways, bridges, canals and airports, which have had an impact on history and our lives now.
Doctor Who is off in a time warp for a week because May 12 sees the 52nd Eurovision Song Contest, which is being shown in HD for the first time. Whether or not that’s a true cultural milestone is of course open to debate.
The contest has often been the subject of controversy. Finnish monster rockers Lordi were the surprise winners last year, so 2007’s contest takes place in Helsinki. Performing there for the UK are Scooch, also the subject of a heated debate among those who care about this kind of thing.
The BBC and Bob Geldof will partner to create "the biggest sociological and anthropological project in the history of the world".
Content will be available across TV and Internet and aims to record the history of every human society on the planet.
The BBC will make an eight-part high definition series called "The Human Planet" that will accompany the "Dictionary of Man" project to be co-produced by BBC Worldwide and the BBC's natural history unit.
It’s hurricane season again and the southern states of the US are bracing themselves for the worst storms on record, stronger even than the Category 4 Hurricane Katrina.
Superstorm is one of those transatlantic HDTV co-productions with a mixture of UK and US actors and an epic storyline drawn from recent headlines that comes across like an expensive dramatisation of a Horizon episode (in fact there is an accompanying documentary, The Science Of Superstorms, afterwards on BBC Two).
On Friday April 13 there’s a chance to catch talented folk/rock singer-songwriter Ray LaMontagne recorded at the intimate setting of the LSO St Luke's, London, where BBC Four has presented a number of musicians in recent months. The BBC will also be showing the hour-long programme simultaneously on its HD channel.
While sound is obviously the key feature of a musical performance, crisp and moody visuals enhance the experience too, as the HD broadcasts of Later with Jools Holland also highlight.
From April 5-8, BBC Sport will be showing live coverage from Augusta, Georgia, as the US Masters golf tournament celebrates its 71st year. A number of broadcasts will also be in HD, complementing the BBC1 and BBC2 transmissions.
Golf fanatic Gary Lineker has joined the Beeb’s presenting team, while commentators include Peter Alliss, Ken Brown, Wayne Grady and Sam Torrance. The opening round starts at 9pm, UK time, on Thursday April 5.
Only three players broke 70 in the opening round in 2006, including former champion Vijay Singh, who led the field after a five-under-par round of 67.
The BBC's love affair with Panasonic's DVCPRO continues.
BBC Three's new comedy series, "Rush Hour", was shot in high definition using Panasonic DVCPRO HD AJ-HDX900 camcorders.
The camcorders were fitted with P+S Technik adapters to allow them to be fitted with standard 35mm film lenses, and recorded at 25fps.
I wanted to write about the wonderful Life on Mars, now back on the BBC for its second and final season. However, it’s one of the foibles of modern TV that some series will be produced in high definition and some will not; that is set to continue for a few years until virtually everything new is at least made in HD (if not always shown that way).
Sadly, Life on Mars is not made in HD because it is shot on Super16, a modified and fairly low-resolution film format that works fine for standard telly but doesn’t hold up in high-def. I suppose it lends the show a suitably grungy 1970s look, too, but as this site is all about HDTV, I can’t dwell on it…
One popular BBC drama that is made in HD is Hotel Babylon. The first season has been repeated in regular rotation on the BBC HD channel, though personally I have never ‘checked in’ to see what it has to offer. It simply doesn’t really appeal to me; maybe it’s that it just looks too glossy and superficial. Nevertheless, enough viewers did watch, so now it returns for a second season.
This compelling and impressively made drama series set in 1920s Liverpool continues on BBC HD on Friday January 26 (alongside BBC1). After episodes centred on Ruby and Iris, it’s the third sister’s turn for more attention. 20-year-old parlour maid May (played by Leanne Rowe) poses for some photographs after being tempted by the offer of some film acting but, of course, things don’t turn out as planned.
Heidi Thomas' impressively detailed and well acted 1920s drama, Lilies, reaches its second episode on BBC HD tonight (January 19). After all the attention on Ruby Moss (Kerrie Hayes) last time, this part looks more closely at her sister Iris (Catherine Tyldesley) and the arrival of an enigmatic suitor.
Domingo Hennessey (John Donnelly) is a young magician interested in the rabbits that Dadda (Brian McCardie) has for sale. But it’s Iris who falls under his spell and romance is in the air. She is supported in her tentative relationship by most of her family, and Father Melia, but not by Ruby or Dadda, especially when marriage is mentioned...
The BBC’s big new eight-part drama marks a departure for the channel in this kind of time slot. It comes with the stamp of maturity and quality that viewers have come to expect from producer Tony Garnett (Cathy Come Home, Between the Lines) and, for the most part, it comes up with enough of the promised grittiness.
Set in Liverpool in 1920, the Moss family members are trying to make ends meet. They have pawned their pianola but when a street party is proposed to welcome home WWI heroes, they need to get it back to maintain their family’s good reputation...
The BBC have announced that their groundbreaking "Planet Earth" series will be broadcast on the Discovery Channel US in March, then released as a four-disc set - "Planet Earth: The Complete Collection" - on HD DVD and Blu-ray on 24th April. It will be distributed through Warner Home Video, retailing at $99.98. Hopefully when high definition players are more prevalent in the UK, it will make it onto home soil.
Related stories: Review: Planet Earth - Ocean Deep | New Year Bank Holiday weekend highlights on BBC HD
The BBC continues to give its major new dramas high-definition exposure with this simultaneous HD transmission with BBC One. This eight-part period drama is a departure from literary adaptations such as Bleak House in that it’s from an original screenplay by Heidi Thomas (whose credits include I Capture The Castle and Madam Bovary).
Another important name connected with the production is producer Tony Garnett, who over the years has brought us such dramatic highlights as Cathy Come Home, Kes, Between the Lines and This Life.
Set in 1920s Liverpool, Lilies follows three sisters – Iris, May and Ruby Moss – who are coming of age and live on the breadline in a dockland terrace house…
The BBC’s new Friday-night sitcom is being simulcast on BBC One and BBC HD, giving this promising family comedy a high definition showcase alongside Jam and Jerusalem and Lead Balloon.
After You've Gone is created by Fred Barron of My Family fame and also marks the return to BBC One of Only Fools and Horses actor Nicholas Lyndhurst. Like Goodnight Sweetheart, Lyndhurst gets top billing this time.
He plays ‘jack-of-all-trades’ Jimmy Venables who divorces his wife, Ann, but ends up returning to the family home to look after his two teen-aged kids when Ann (who's a nurse) goes to Africa to help disaster victims.
Unfortunately for Jimmy, his mother-in-law Diana (Celia Imrie, aka Miss Babs in Acorn Antiques) doesn’t trust him one bit and so she moves in too, which of course is asking for trouble.
Tracy Beaker star Dani Harmer plays Jimmy's daughter Molly and Ryan Sampson co-stars as her brother Alex who has a rather unconventional dress sense…
After You've Gone continues on Fridays for the next seven weeks.
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