| Sky launches Hi Def |
On May 22nd 2006, Sky Digital will be launching its High Definition satellite TV service.
At launch, the following channels will be available: Sky Sports HD, two screens of Sky Movies HD, Sky One HD, Sky Arts HD, up to 10 HD pay-per-view Box Office movies, National Geographic HD, Discovery HD, as well as the free-to-view BBC HD channels which will cover the World Cup and Wimbledon.
 To get Sky's HD, you'll need a Sky HD Box (pictured here). The box includes a hard-disc recorder with the Sky+ functionality, and is priced £150. There's a monthly HD subscription of £10, and you need to have an HD-Ready TV set. More at Sky's HD site
|
| Phones from Nokia |
News of two new mobiles from Nokia:
 The Nokia 3250 is a combined mobile phone, digital camera, music player and PDA. This tri-band handset has a 2 megapixel camera, and takes a memory card that holds up to 1 gigabyte of memory (to hold up to 750 songs). It also has an FM radio, uses a Micro SD card memory card and has a twistable base, used to switch between camera, media player and smartphone functionality.
 The Nokia N91 is a 3G phone that can store up to 3000 songs on the built-in 4gigabyte hard disk. It can record audio via line-in socket, supports wireless (wi-fi), has a 2 megapixel camera
Both phones are powered by Symbian Series 60, and support Visual Radio. These can be obtained free on certain networks from Carphone
Warehouse and MobileShop.
|
| Freeview News |
News on the digital TV service, Freeview:
- ITV Play replaced Men & Motors in April - We hear from some of our listeners via our Podline in the show's Interactive section
- SmileTV added to channel 37 - The channel is on-air from 1-5am only, and we assume it's just another quiz channel...
- Rumours that Film 4 will go free on Freeview by the end of 2006.
|
| Broadband |
In this show's Focus, we explore how little Carl knows about Broadband, as part of his ongoing education into all things technology.
We take a look at the latest Internet offer - Free Broadband for life, from the home phone company TalkTalk, and look at how you can save £265 a year compared with BT. If you're a broadband user, or you're looking to upgrade, consider signing to the Talk 3 international package for free broadband up to 8 megs, plus free phone calls and even Nectar Points. Full details at www.talktalk.co.uk
VoIP
 With Voice over IP, you get free phone calls over the Internet. You can sign up for a free Skype account and either use your PC headset, or a special VoIP phone to make voice calls. As well as computer-to-computer calls, you can call landlines and mobiles.
Using Skype, landline calls from the UK to Europe, USA and Australia cost 1.2 pence a minute - a lot cheaper as the calls are routed over the Internet. More at www.skype.com. You can Skype us at "frequencycast". See our VoIP page for more.
GotomyPC
- With this service, you can access your home or work PC by remote control - great for accessing your files and emails from elsewhere, a hotel, a cybercafe or even from a Windows Mobile PDA. The service is secure and effective.
Find out what this clever remote service can do for you - there's a free trial available from www.gotomypc.com .
Homeplugs
- One of our listeners suggested that we take a look at HomePlugs. Essentially, these allow you to feed Broadband around your home using your existing in-house electrical wiring - plug in a HomePlug to a power socket near your PC or router, and plug an RJ45 data lead into the HomePlug. From elsewhere in the house, plug in another unit, for access over the mains wiring. No new cables, no drilling, no mess. It's a good alternative to Wifi. Just use any power socket to access the Internet or home network throughout the whole house. Perfect for connecting games consoles to the Internet, for use with the Slingbox, or for IPTV.
Pictured here is the MicroLink dLAN Starter Kit - this includes 2 HomePlug Ethernet adapters, for Internet access and PC networking over your existing household power supply. This offers data rates of up to 14 Mbps, and ranges of up to 200m over your existing household power supply. Maximum security from eavesdroppers using DESpro encryption. The MicroLink dLAN Starter Kit from Devolo is available from Maplin,
as well as from Dabs.com and BT Shop. Additional Homeplug ethernet adaptors are available. We were asked questions about HomePlug security in Show 08
|
| Interactive |
Thanks to everyone who got in touch with feedback on our last show - below is a summary of some of the questions we answered on this show. Remember - please keep your feedback and questions coming...
- Men and Motors - ceased broadcasting on Freeview on the 12th April - The campaign to save Men & Motors is at http://www.kickme.to/savemm. More
- Missing Radio Channels - Rescan your channel lineup if you're missing any of the Freeview digital radio channels. More at Freeviewhelp.co.uk.
- Help this poor chap? - Our Carl, being offline, missed out on the story of US-based Dan, who's inline for a threesome if his site gets over 2,000,000 hits. See the impressive stats at
www.helpwinthisbet.com - He's hit his target, and we wish him luck!
|
