BSkyB has increased its number of high-definition TV subscribers from 48,000 to 292,000 while Sky's average revenue per customer has increased £12 to £412 a year.

The company exceeded analyst's expectations for the last quarter by attracting 90,000 new customers to its range of subscription TV. Sky currently claims 8.6 million customers and says it is now 'well on track' to hit its target of 10 million customers by the year 2010.

A recent global survey has found that 80% of people believe that plasma displays offer better picture performance than LCDs.

According to a global market research company, consumers have a clear preference for plasma displays in the five countries they surveyed – China, Japan, England, France and Germany. Participants were asked which technology provided the best overall image quality in terms of sharpness, colour, response speed, contrast, black depth and detail.

Devotees of the Grand Theft Auto games series will be able to get a taste of the latest installment when the second trailer is released today.

The latest trailer, along with a theme and gamer pics, will debut on the Xbox Live marketplace where subscribers can download it and watch all the gory detail in high-definition glory.

Sony's next generation PS3 was supposed to revolutionise high-definition gaming but sales have been disappointing. Sony reported an operating loss of around £900m in the last financial year and appears desperate to reduce that to £170m by the end of this financial year.

At the moment the PS3 is flagging in fourth place in the console market behind Microsoft's Xbox360, Nintendo's Wii and even the old Playstation 2. But, Sony is planning a comeback that it hopes will increase sales of the console by the end of the year – fuelled by the release of new games, firmware updates and promises of a price-cut.

Sony

Via
Tech.co.uk

The results of Hitachi's US survey, which found that 78% of consumers want their next TV to be HD Ready, isn't exactly a shocking revelation – but it does support our less than bold prediction that the HDTV market is set to explode.

We're more surprised that 22% of American consumers aren't interested in HDTV. But, according to the survey, this is probably due to continued uncertainty surrounding the technology – with nearly two thirds of consumers claiming they're still uncomfortable explaining various HD options.

Via Ecoustics.com

ITV boss, Michael Grade, has taken a step closer in his crusade to get HDTV services to as many homes as possible. He's rallying support to challenge the Government's plans to sell off the analogue broadcast spectrum and use it instead to supply millions of homes with high-definition.

Grade recently met with members of the HD for All campaign, a collective of broadcasters and consumer electronics companies including the BBC, Channel 4, Five and the UK heads of Dixons, Sony, Samsung and Toshiba, to discuss plans. They want to challenge the planned sale of the spectrum and use their powers for good instead of letting it fall into the evil hands of the mobile phone networks.

Via Sunday Telegraph

The Shiny boys’ tuxes are back from the dry cleaners, while the girls are fending off calls from major Italian fashion houses.

Yep the awards season is on its way. And up there with the Globes, the Oscars and the south Suffolk Marrow growers' Vegathon is the annual Shiny awards.

Each year Team Shiny, in conjunction with a crack possee of gadget know-it-alls from The Sun, Guardian, Q etc get together to vote for the best and worst gadgets of the year.

Among the categories are serious stuff like Green Gadget, Best Smartphone and Web 2.0 innovation as well as a few more entertaining contests which we’ll let you know about very soon.

BRANDISH, Shiny Media's new site for men dedicated to The Coolest Stuff in the World is now live and kicking, so check it out and spread the word. It'll feature must-have gadgets, fashion that won't make you look like a metrosexual arse, illegally fast cars, fine Cuban cigars, Japanese robots, that sort of thing.
Shiny People

Have you got HD installed yet? Do you spend hours watching the gloriously detailed images on your flat screen set?

If so you could be just the person we need. HDTVUK is looking for a software blogger to post three times a day. You'll be previewing upcoming programmes as well as writing reviews of the best (and worst) of HD.

If you are interested email here.

BTW we pay a set fee per post

We want to find out a little bit more about you - including what you like to read online, whether you have your own blog and what your favourite gadgets are. OK the Shiny Media survey may not constitute the most fun you've ever had online, but if you spend five minutes of your life answering our questions you might just win yourself one of the following (and yes we know that's called bribery, but hey it sometimes works):

Toshiba 9-inch Portable DVD player
Nokia 3220 - Orange - Star Wars Special Edition Mobile Phone
Creative MuVo TX 256MB Music Player (eight of these to give away)
Sony 1GB Bean music player (we've got four of these to give away)

Go on, we'll love you forever...

Click here to take survey

[Non-UK readers: Sorry - it's not open to you. It's nothing personal, we promise!]

Shiny Media's been at it again - making new blogs to thrill and delight. This time it's brides-to-be we're out to impress with our wedding blog, Bridalwave (crazy Muriel types are more than welcome too).

Edited by sometime Trashionista writer, Camilla Chafer, Bridalwave will see you through the highs and lows of wedding planning, checking out the best of bridal fashion, venues, jewellery, stationery, beauty, floral, cakes and anything else wedding-related - and all without a single gush, twitter, simper or smirk in sight.

So if you're a real life bridezilla, or if you're just planning on a small wedding in the local pub, head over to Bridalwave.tv for a spot of off-white marriage guidance.

Bridalwave

Attention all sports fans. The Googly, Shiny Media's latest sports blog, has just gone public. Being the clever souls that we are, we've launched it just in time for England's first Test against India so you can find out all about just how badly it's going for England already.

Edited by Will Luke, creator of The Corridor of Uncertainty cricket blog, with regular contributions from sports writer extraordinaire, Gideon Haigh, The Googly is just the place for a bit of cricket chat during your break for lunch or tea.

This is Shiny Media's second foray into the world of sports bloggery, the first one being our rugby blog, Scrumbag. So if you're that way inclined, you can now get your daily fix of sporting news, reviews and gossip in handy bitesize chunks.

The Googly
Scrumbag