Big screen video calling, à la Back To The Future 2, has been a reality for a few years now thanks to web-connected webcam-packing TVs, the ever-growing popularity of Skype and even games console peripherals like the Xbox 360 Kinect or the PlayStation 3 Eye. It's still however slightly daunting for tech newbies, needing either a games console or laptop hooked up to a TV, or confining yourself to a laptop or computer screen.

Enter the TelyHD, a Skype-packing, Android-powered webcam designed for both the living room and the boardroom, with simplicity in mind.

Looking much like Microsoft's Kinect accessory, the TelyHD sits on an adjustable bracket on top of your TV (or could of course stand freely on a tabletop if that's a better fit for your living room), and requires just a plug socket and HDMI port on your TV to get to work.

A 720p HD video camera sits on the front, with the unit packing in 4 noise-cancelling microphones to pick up conversations. Coming with Skype pre-installed, a clean, easily-navigated UI lets you log in to your account, which then throws contact cards for all your Skype pals onto the main screen. Connecting over Wi-Fi or a wired Ethernet connection, you can then video call pals across the globe.

Using adaptive streaming to set the resolution based on your web connection rather than having you suffer the pains of buffering, it's a pleasant experience. The UI isn't as intuitive as it could be, and using the small remote a little clunky, but a smartphone app that lets you navigate the TelyHD and type using a software keyboard rather than the onscreen one with the remote should make things easier.

Beyond video calling, the Tely HD also has a number of other tricks up its sleeve.

Photos can be shared using the TelyHD, splitting the screen between those video calling, and giving over a large chunk of the display to the images being shared. These can be popped onto either an SD card or USB stick and plugged into the back of the TelyHD. It's a nice feature, and a far more personal way to share your photos and see the recipients instant reactions than sharing them via Facebook or email.

Apps are also coming to the TelyHD. As well as already offering a fully functioning web browser, supporting video playback from the likes of Netflix and BBC iPlayer, the TelyHD will also soon offer select Android apps for download, including the ubiquitous Angry Birds game. In this sense, the TelyHD can almost also be seen as a Smart TV upgrade for older TVs, as well as a webcam.

A recent upgrade has also improved the TelyHD's features for business users. Popping an upgrade code (purchased from Tely.com) into the settings pane of the TelyHD menu opens up extra features such as document sharing and 6-party group calling, turning the TelyHD into a workplace tool too.

There are a few concerns though, with the main one being price. At a few pennies short of £200, you could have an impressive Android tablet with video calling functionality or laptop. Indeed, this wouldn't have the big screen appeal of the TelyHD, but the extra features you'd get with such alternatives are obvious and difficult to overlook. Also overlooked is the ability to add Skype credit straight from the TelyHD; during our playtime we found no way to top-up for premium features, meaning anyone looking to call a landline or mobile using the gadget would also need access to a computer in order to add funds, and undermining the "no computer required" TelyHD motto.

For the most part, it does the job, and does it well though. For true technophobes, the TelyHD would be an unobtrusive, simple way to connect visually with friends, family, and even business partners around the globe.

Available now from www.amazon.co.uk (and headed to select retailers before Christmas), the TelyHD will set you back £199.90.

Bang & Olufsen get connected with their newly-revealed BeoVision 11 Smart TV set.

The 1080p screens come in 40, 46 and 55-inch sizes, offering connected telly smarts such as a full web browser (navigated via the remote, iPad or Android tablet), apps like Facebook and Twitter and streamed video content from sources such as YouTube. DLNA media streaming also lets you get music, photos or videos stored on a remote PC to the TV wirelessly, while the premium brand scratches Apple's equally-premium back by offering a slot to slide an Apple TV inside on the screen's rear.

Connections include two USB ports, a generous six HDMI ports and an Ethernet connection.Calling it their "most ambitious TV to date", the BeoVision 11 has an unusual square-shaped design, which allows it to house six separate speakers in a row across its bottom edge. It should deliver an audio experience above and beyond the usual tinny flatscreen offerings.

Being a Bang & Olufsen product, it of course comes with a hefty premium price tag attached. Prices start at £4,995 for the BeoVision 11 sets (around $8,000).

In stores now, those with deep pockets can take one home today.

3D film fans will finally be able to own James Cameron's epic Avatar on 3D Blu-ray. Fox just announced the Avatar Blu-ray 3D Collector's Edition will debut globally October 15th, with a release in North America following on October 16th.

Until this announcement, Avatar's 3D Blu-ray release had been part of an exclusivity deal which saw the movie bundled in with Panasonic 3D Blu-ray player hardware and 3DTVs. That exclusivity deal has now ended, meaning that all fans can now grab the 3D version if they've the right gear to play it with.

The 2D version of the Blu-ray has been widely available since April 2010, with the rarity of the 3D edition leading to it being sold for extortionate prices on eBay.

"3D television is the future of home entertainment," said James Cameron, the movie's Oscar winning Director.

"I'm a huge proponent of the technology and very pleased that AVATAR can be viewed in the living room the way it is meant to be seen."

"As the number of homes with 3D televisions continues to grow, we thought it was important to bring the biggest 3D film ever right into your living room," continued Jon Landau, producer.

"This is the only way fans should experience the world of Pandora and this release offers the highest picture quality possible. "

LG's Cinema 3D Smart TVs are to get a range of downloadable 3D games.

The Korean manufacturer has pulled together fives games designed to work best with their LG Cinema 3D passive screens, ported from 2D smartphone and tablet devices.

"We are excited to be able to bring 3D gaming to Smart TVs for the first time so family members can enjoy the immersive fun together," said Havis Kwon, President and CEO of LG Home Entertainment Company.

"With the arrival of established games as well as original titles developed exclusively for LG CINEMA 3D Smart TV, we are fulfilling our commitment to realizing the potential of Smart TV as a genuine 3D gaming platform. LG CINEMA 3D Smart TV owners will be amazed as they become fully engrossed in the large screen, 3D environments of their favourite games, and at how easy it is to be in control with the Magic Remote."

The five titles slated for release are Air Penguin, Frisbee Forever, Burn The City, Downhill Bowling 2 and Diversion from Unity Technology. Each will work with LG's Magic Remote motion sensitive controllers, with more games expected to land throughout August.

Toshiba have been hit with an $87 million fine after they were found guilty of entering into an LCD panel price fixing ring between the years 1999 and 2006.

Sharp, Samsung and a handful of other AV companies were met with similar charges last December, culminating in a combined fine of $553 million. Toshiba are the latest company to be found guilty, with LG Display yet to settle their case. AU Optronics Corp were found guilty of LCD price fixing in March of this year, and are currently in the process of appealing the ruling.

Toshiba, however, continue to profess their innocence, denying the charges:

"While Toshiba appreciates the jury's time and effort, Toshiba believes that the jury's verdict is in error as to the finding of wrongdoing."

Richard Heimann, the co-lead counsel on the case, stated that he was "very pleased the jury found in favour of the plaintiffs and found that Toshiba violated the law."

Toshiba will be expected to fork out approximately $70 million to customers who purchased their televisions, and around $17 million to the manufacturers who built the TVs.

After an almost never-ending series of delays that have seen the service slip from an original 2010 release date, the IPTV catch up service YouView will now finally launch in July.

The set-top box will cost £299 from John Lewis, Comet, Amazon, Argos, Tesco, Richer Sounds, Dixons and Currys, with subsidised versions from partners BT and TalkTalk following later in the year.

YouView will connect up to the internet over a broadband connection, and offer catch-up services from the BBC, Five, Channel 4 and ITV, as well as Sky's new Now TV on-demand platform.

"This is a great moment in British television," said YouView's Sir Alan Sugar.

"I had something to do with the launch of Sky television and Sky+ and I have to reiterate why I am involved with YouView. When one looks back I want to say I was involved in this."

Though the inclusion of Sky's massive catalogue of content through Now TV is a real boon for the service, in the years since YouView's conception competition in the market has increased dramatically. Practically all games consoles offer on-demand streaming, not to mention tablets, while even standalone devices like Google TV and the Roku boxes already offer lots of what YouView does.

"We know there's growing demand from UK consumers to access high-quality pay TV and internet-connected devices provide an innovative new way to help satisfy that demand", said Simon Creasey, Director of NOW TV.

"We will launch NOW TV across a wide variety of platforms and devices to make it as easy and convenient for customers to access some of Sky's best content.

"We're excited about distributing our content on YouView and in giving current free-to-air homes a fresh new choice."

Richard Halton, YouView's CEO, added: "YouView is committed to providing the very best content and we've had over 300 expressions of interest from potential content partners.

"We're delighted that NOW TV and STV will join the line-up."

As had long been rumoured, Sony and Panasonic have signed a new deal that will see the two companies enter into a manufacturing partnership to drive down the production costs of OLED panels.

Both Japanese companies have seen their TV profits slide over the past few years, and this new deal should see them both drive down costs of OLED production by employing printing-based OLED technologies suitable for the mass production of big, cheap(ish), high-resolution OLED panels and modules by 2013.

Which should hopefully mean that the lust-worthy OLED technology that looks set to be the future of the television market should reach us a fair bit cheaper than from the competition.

Despite the partnership, Sony and Panasonic will sell the fruits of the new deal under their own individual brand names, with the first sets potentially touching down by late 2013.

Name: Datacolor Spyder4TV HD

Type: HDTV calibration tool

Price: £100.05 from Amazon

You've forked out more money than you care to share on a new HDTV set, and now you want the thing looking the best it possibly can. Enter the Datacolor Spyder4TV HD calibration tool. Through a combination of hardware and software, it promises to make your display match industry standards. But is it really much better than just using your own tweaking judgement? Read on to find out!

The Spyder4HD TV kit consists of a small, black pebble-like sensor unit and four discs; a Blu-ray calibration test disc, two DVD calibration test discs (one each for PAL and NTSC) and a software disc. That software disc is the important one, as all measurements and TV readings are carried out through PC software, with the pebblesensor merely transmitting information back to a PC across a super-long USB cable. As a result, you'll want to have a laptop or a moveable desktop PC and monitor nearby, or at least be prepared to move your HDTV nearer to a computer, as the Spyder4HD TV can't do its job without one. However, those looking to calibrate a PC monitor will, of course, need two computers handy; one to play test footage on the monitor, the other to read the sensor's findings.

To get started, you'll need to wait for the ambient light in your TV room to be as low as possible, and then hook the sensor unit to the front of your television. This shouldn't be a problem with either very small or very large flatscreen TVs, as the sensor is attached to very flexible bungee cords, holding it in place in the centre of your screen.

Get your test disc of choice playing on the screen and you'll then fire up the software and enter a roughly 20-minute long calibration process. The Spyder4HD TV sensor thoroughly measures settings like contrast, brightness, colour temperature, colour saturation, and tint, and suggests the optimal settings that your TV can achieve. There are also images for testing backlight settings and saturation too. It's a tedious process, but the results are pretty good, being a fair match for our own manual test disc settings. It's also very user friendly, meaning even AV luddites should be able to get a very good result from their sets at the end. However, those looking to really get the most accurate settings from their TVs may be frustrated to find that the Spyder4HD TV doesn't quite hit ISF standards, as it doesn't support tweaking individual advanced colour settings.

Once the process is completed, you'll be presented with a log of all the adjustments the Spyder4HD TV kit has made. The changes are presented through graphs, though a lack of numbers alongside the charts mean that tracking improvements can feel a little abstract at times.

Verdict

The Spyder4HD TV kit comes highly recommended to AV newcomers who can't get their head around calibrating a TV away from garish shop floor settings. It'll deliver good results, holding the hand of a user through a lengthy process that could seem overwhelming otherwise. However, those who already have a test disc and know their way around a TV menu will find the tool doesn't deliver enough advanced calibration features to warrant their attention, and will likely consider it far too pricey when compared with a simple calibration disc.

We've been big fans of OLED TV tech at Tech Digest and HDTV UK for many a year since first setting eyes upon a prototype Sony screen at CES a few shows ago. Incremental updates to the tech have wowed us at subsequent trade shows, but high prices for screens no bigger than 15 inches have made OLED televisions a ludicrous luxury for only the most demanding of AV enthusiasts.

That's all set to change this year however as LG and Samsung go head-to-head with stonking 55-inch OLED models, due in stores later this year. Tech Digest and HDTV UK were invited this week to LG's glitzy Monaco launch event for their 55-inch OLED TV offering. Make no mistakes; if you're in the market for a new TV, this is what your cash should be splashed on.

OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) televisions offer some key advantages over LCD or LED screens. Faster refresh rates and wider viewing angles can be paired with deep contrast ratios and lavish colours. As OLED sets don't use backlights, this can all be achieved with far lower power consumption levels, in bezels almost invisibly thin.

LG's 55EM9600 OLED TV made its first appearance at the start of the year in January's CES 2012 show, and while little has changed with the set in the subsequent months, it's still massively exciting to see.

The latest headlining feature of LG's OLED TV detailed at this week's launch is its use of WRGB technology. Adding a white sub-pixel to the standard red, green and blue set-up, LG claim WRGB panels will "perfect" colour output and make the image displayed feel "natural and colourful to the human eye". It's a similar technique as was used by Sharp in their Quattron televisions, which added a yellow sub-pixel with impressive results.

Even without the WRGB technology, the screen would attract attention purely based upon how thin it is. At a ridiculous 4mm thin, it's half the thickness of your average smartphone, weighing just 10kgs thanks to its being built from carbon fibre reinforced plastics. Those who like to wall-mount their displays will instantly fall in love, with the LG5EM9600 sitting almost flush against the wall.

It's a real treat for the eyes, with the display delivering vibrant, bold colours. Close-up footage of rain-soaked plant petals felt crisp enough to reach into the TV and touch. If anything, LG's rainbow-like showreel ran the risk of making the screen seem overly saturated, but as with all showroom settings you'll likely be able to tone the colours down a bit for a more natural, accurate calibration.

Superb viewing angles afforded by OLED technology mean that there will be no duff seat in a home cinema that has this screen as its centrepiece. We experienced no noticeable dropout in contrast or colours no matter where we placed ourselves, whether at a wide horizontal angle or a low vertical position.
The inky blacks of the display and strong brightness levels deserve extra credit. LG's launch event was held in the Salle des Etoiles, famous for its mechanical opening roof. Halfway through the event the roof opened, bathing what had been a dimly lit hall with Mediterranean sunlight. Even with the dramatic change in ambient lighting colours remained vivid, and shadow detail bold and legible.

Though we've yet to see the display handling 3D video for ourselves, all reports so far have been incredibly positive. Indeed, our own prior experience with smaller 3D OLED displays has seen the technology deliver smooth, ghost-free 3D images of the highest quality. With 3D always working better on a larger screen, the results with the 55EM9600 would presumably be remarkable. A 0.02s response time will lead to super-smooth 3D visuals, as well as being a boon for gamers looking for a display as quick as their trigger fingers.

Pre-orders for the LG OLED sets will kick off in July, ready for a "Q4 2012" release.

So how many pennies will you have to drop in order to get one of these beauties in your home? Around the 9000 EURO mark, or roughly £7,300 if the UK pricing reflects direct exchange rates.

That is of course an astronomically priced set, but LG's OLED giant is poised to represent the very best that money can currently buy for home cinema fans. While the false promise of 3D TV left many frustrated, OLED TV sets offer genuinely luxurious 2D viewing while still delivering the very best in 3D visuals should you still be looking for eye-popping entertainment.

Local pricing is likely to be the big deciding factor as LG's flagship battles it out with Samsung's in stores. Regardless as to which proves the victor, the stage is set for one of the most exciting years for home cinema fanatics for a while, and LG are well placed to dominate.

LG have officially launched their long-awaited 55-inch OLED TV screens at a glitzy launch event in Monaco this evening.

After teasing us for years with pint-sized 15 inch displays, the South Korean home cinema giants are finally ready to offer up their wall-filling OLED sets to consumers. Just 4mm thick, the vibrant, super-slim 3D screens are LG's next big home cinema venture, offering a stunningly detailed and rich image through use of new WRGB technology, which adds a white sub-pixel to the usual red, green and blue combination found in televisions.
It was a star-studded launch event for the set, seeing Grand Prix ace Sebastian Vettel, racing legend David Coulthard, film director Jean-Jacques Annaud and model Gemma Sanderson take to the stage with Monaco the fittingly luxurious backdrop ahead of this weekend's F1 race.

Though little more than a "Q4" release date has been pencilled in for the new svelte screens, along with a rough 9000 Euro price tag (around the £7,300 mark), pre-order sales for LG's OLED tech should open by July of this summer for UK enthusiasts.

First shown off back at CES 2012, the 55EM960V set represents the first step in a massive investment for LG's AV future, with Samsung similarly throwing their hand into the potential market for OLED TVs, while struggling Sony look set to push Crystal LED televisions.

We'll be offering up our first eyes-on impressions of the set in the coming days on Tech Digest and HDTV UK, as well as a video sneak peek, so stay tuned for more info on LG's flagship display.

As a teaser, note this; they're looking pretty bloody gorgeous.

Sony and Panasonic are rumoured to be joining forces for a new OLED TV venture, looking to share resources in order to cut consumer costs for the must-have latest technology in home entertainment.

Nikkei reports that the two tech giants will aim to pool together their teams in order to mass produce the new sets, looking to undercut the pricey televisions rocking the same technology due soon from Samsung and LG. Both LG and Samsung have 55-inch OLED TVs waiting in the wings since CES 2012, expected to retail at around the £5,000 mark.

Despite being the first company to show off an OLED TV (an 11-inch offering back at CES 2008), continued losses from Sony's Bravia TV arm mean that the firm are in a dire financial position, and would have the means for a far greater stab at the new OLED Tv amrket if a partner came onboard.

LG and Samsung may have the head-start here, but a partnership between Sony and Panasonic could offer consumers cost-cutting sets to turn heads.

Via: Bloomberg

With analogue TV signals dying the death, now's the perfect time to grab a digital set-top box if you didn't already have one. Which means it's also the perfect time for Echostar to launch the HDT-610R, what they're claiming is the world's slimmest PVR.

Also known as the Ultra Slim Box, it measures a slight 14mm thin, despite housing a HDMI connection, twin tuner and 500GB hard drive.

Recording Freeview+ and Freeview+ HD channels, the HDT-610R also offers on-demand services like BBC iPlayer and Box Office 365. The box also offers live TV rewinding and pausing functionality, as well as intelligently seeking out HD versions of shows when available and offering the ability to set shows to record from advertisements.

"Consumers are looking forward to an exciting summer of sport and facing a packed viewing schedule, digital video recording will be one of the key features that viewers will be looking for," stated Freeview MD Ilse Howling. Because everything is linked to the Olympics, right?

Up for pre-order from May 4th, Echostar's Ultra Slim Box will be in shops by the end of May. Pricing is yet to be announced.

Sharp have posted a gigantic loss of 117.1 billion yen ($1.4 billion) for the financial year ending March 2012.

Citing restructuring costs and inventory losses as the key reasons for the dramatic figures, Sharp have also stated that they expect to lose a further 18.7% of its projected sales from their TV business in the coming year.

As a result, some of the company's production lines that once focussed on large-screen LCD production will now be converted to cater for greater mobile display production.

"In order to reinforce mobile LCD business toward an optimal LCD production framework, the Company is converting its production lines to produce mobile LCDs at the Kameyama No.2 Plant, where it used to focus on production of large-size LCDs for TVs," reads the company's press statement.

It's the end of a difficult year for Sharp, which saw the company sell part of its LCD manufacturing business to Hon Hai, Sony pull out of a proposed joint venture (and all future business with the company, and an overall drop of 86% in profits.

Sony's PlayStation branded 3D TV has finally made its way to UK shops.

Originally meant to land back at the tail end of 2011, the 24-inch TV uses active-shutter 3D "SimulView" technology to allow two gamers to each view a fullscreen when playing what would otherwise be a split-screen experience.

The 1080p, 240Hz display also comes with two pairs of active shutter glasses and two games; Killzone 3 Platinum and Gran Turismo 5 Platinum.

Other specs for the set include a 1 contrast ration, 176-degree viewing angle, two HDMI inputs and a component input, perfect if you want to hook up an old PS2 or rival Wii console.

Available now, the bundle will set you back £449. But hurry - Amazon have already sold-out due to pre-order demand alone.

Sony have confirmed rumours of major restructuring plans that will see 10,000 jobs lost and TV production slow 40%.

The news of job cuts was leaked last week, and now Sony CEO Kaz Hirai has confirmed that downsizing plans are in place, vowing that "Sony will change".

It's been a rough time for Sony of late, with a strong yen putting pressure on their exports, especially when compared to the growing Korean market. It's lead to a forecast from Sony of losses of around $4 billion for 2011, meaning that the 6% cut in their global work force was somewhat inevitable.

Sony will now shift focus onto gaming, mobile and digital imaging sectors. In terms of gaming, more emphasis will be put on downloadable titles through the Sony Entertainment Network, while in the mobile sector Sony will "launch new mobile products and establish new business models". Though they were less precise on their plans for digital imaging, it appear Sony may be looking to expand their reach into the medical sector.

Sony will still look to innovate in the TV market though, with the intention to advance the development and commercialization of next-generation display technologies such as OLED and Crystal LED Display", as well as looking to expand its 4K offerings.

Philips Lifestyle will no longer make televisions, an announcement from the Dutch electronics giant has today revealed. After 87 years of dipping in and out of the TV market, the company are finally calling it a day, handing over duties to Hong Kong-based-company TPV Technology.

A joint venture between the two companies (which sees Philips retain 30% of its TV business) they have formed TP Vision. Though the sets made under the TP Vision banner will be manufactured by TPV Technology, they will in fact retain Philips branding.

"TP Vision will continue to bring the high level of innovation consumers expect from a Philips TV," said new CEO of TP Vision, Maarten de Vries.

"Our recently launched 2012 series have everything to enjoy the world of digital content delivered via broadcasting and the Web. We believe in creating products that touch the human senses and are within reach of all consumers in the markets we operate in."

Proprietary Philips technologies including Ambilight and their impressive 21:9 offerings will also make the jump over to TP Vision, as well as Philips TV staff.

The deal however does not cover the design, manufacturing, distribution, marketing or sales of Philips' televisions in China, United States, Canada, Mexico, India and select South American territories.

It's an acquired taste for many, but the magic of 3DTV may be being spoilt before consumers can try it in its optimal state, according to a key executive from Twentieth Century Fox.

Speaking at the PEVE conference in London, Danny Kaye, executive vice president, Global Research and Technology Strategy at Fox, said that while his team believe 3D will still grow to be a thriving format, those who have experienced poor quality glasses-free 3D and real-time 2D-to-3D conversion will be turned off.

"As long as a film is made in high-quality, you may never tell the difference between a true 3D movie and a post-converted one," said Kaye.

"But, what is harming the idea of 3D [for consumers] is real-time conversion. Whether it is 2D to 3D conversion in real time on a TV set or versions of no-glasses 3D TVs... we do not need [these technologies] yet as they cannot match the quality of professional conversion services or the filmmaker shooting it in 3D to begin with."

Kaye also suggested that unless studios and manufacturers push to show 3D content shining at its best, it could damage the uptake of the technology

"3D is a very complicated technology to get right, it's not so hard to get wrong. We shouldn't stunt the growth of 3D at this early stage by introducing techniques that do not show off 3D in the best light."

Via: Tech Radar

LG's fancy 55-inch OLED sets are lining themselves up for a red carpet launch at the Cannes film festival in May, according to new reports.

LG's 55-inch 55EM9600, first revealed at CES 2012 back in January was first expected to launch in July to coincide with the London 2012 Olympics. However, with LG eager to get their display out into stores before rivals, the decision was made to push for an earlier release date and to bump the speed of production up significantly.

A beauty of a screen, the 55EM9600 is only 4mm thick and weighs just 7.5kg thanks to a WOLED-CF design on an Oxide-TFT backplane.

Expected to retail at around 9 million Won - or about £4,950 - LG will gauge interest in their first OLED offering until July before deciding whether or not to make further investment in OLED technology.

Via: OLED Info/ The OLED Association

Sky Anytime+, the broadcaster's video-on-demand offering that opens up a massive catalogue of shows and movies to be streamed whenever a viewer chooses, is now available to users connecting to the internet over a far broader range of ISPs.

Initially, Sky Anytime+ was only available to Sky subscribers who also chose Sky Broadband as their internet service provider, but now more than 5 million homes will be able to enjoy the service, regardless of their provider.

"It's great to be able to bring our on demand service Sky Anytime+ to even more customers, helping them to get more out of their Sky subscription," said Luke Bradley-Jones, Sky's Director of TV Products.

"We already know how popular Sky Anytime+ is and how the flexibility of the service gives customers more choice and control over how they watch an amazing range of content. We've seen strong demand for it to date which we hope to increase now that the service is available with any broadband provider."

For more info on how to access the service, head over to Sky's FAQ page.

Sky are to launch a brand new video on-demand offering called Now TV, which will open up their catalogue of shows and movies on pay monthly and pay as you go deals.

Though details are scarce at the moment, Sky's Now TV offering will be a web-based streaming service, and will be available through PCs, Macs, laptops, tablets, mobile phones, games consoles and connected TVs. It will be the first time Sky's premium content will be available without a long-term contract.

"The launch of a second brand is an exciting opportunity for us and the rationale is very simple. Having two brands will allow us to meet the needs and preferences of different customer segments more effectively," said Sky's chief executive, Jeremy Darroch.

"We'll offer two distinctive ways to watch: the market-leading full Sky service for the whole family, complete with the widest range of channels, high quality products like Sky+, HD and Sky Go, and the peace of mind of a monthly bill; or the flexible, more spontaneous, pay-as-you-go service of Now TV.

"Because Now TV will also be 'powered by Sky', customers will still know that it will give them the best, exclusive content and a high quality experience, from a provider they can trust. Either way, we believe we can offer even more customers a product that's just right for them."

The move puts the broadcaster into direct competition with other streaming services, such as Netflix and Lovefilm.

Head over to nowtv.com for more details.