FrequencyCast UK - Show #60
The show notes to go with Show 60 of our online technology radio show.
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Listen to, or download, FrequencyCast Show 60 (30 mins)
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Show 60: NEWS
This show's news section covered the following stories:
- YouView TV Service Delayed: The Freeview plus Internet content service may be delayed until 2012.
- Sky EPG Re-shuffle: From the 1st of February, the channel numbers for HD channels on Sky have changed. See the new Sky HD lineup
- Sky Atlantic: Now launched exclusively on Sky. Available on channel 108 (also in HD)
- BBC iPlayer for iPhone and iPad: Expected later in February 2011. Full story: iPlayer on iPhone and iPad
- Wi-fi Hotspots: Sky's bought The Clould, and o2's launching a free wi-fi network. Full Story: Sky Reaches For The Cloud (Add your puns please!)
- Nintendo 3DS launch: Confirmed launch dates for the Nintendo 3DS is 25th March 2011 here in Europe. Full Story: Nintendo 3DS Launch Confirmed - Pre-order now here: 3DS at Tesco.
- Sky 3 to become Pick TV: Full story - Sky 3 to rebrand in Feb 2011
- Music channels added to Freesat: Bliss, NME and Dance Nation added - Full Story: Freesat gets music stations
- BBC Cutbacks: Online Guide To The Galaxy h2g2 could be axed and need to find a new home. Also, it seems that BBC radio may vanish from the BBC iPlayer
- Paperbacks bite the dust: Amazon has announced that sales of electronic books for their Kindle device have no outstripped demand for paperbacks. Check out our 28 minute Kindle Review
- Angry Birds: Soft Toys soon to be available - See Angry Birds at Firebox to pre-order, or our Angry Birds Are Coming news story
- And finally: The BBC website has released a list of their reader's favourite top ten anti-technology words. A "Plugthug" is someone who'd kill to find a recharge socket, "Sheeple" - the sheep-like folk who'll buy anything with an "i" in front, and our favourite, "Spamnesia" - failing to reply to e-mails from friends, because your computer thinks they're spam - Full Story: BBC Top Ten Tech Words.
FOCUS: Tablet Computing Explored
In this show, Pete and Carl talk Tablets - Just what's advantage of owning a tablet? And what should you look for in a tablet?
We also put the two top tablets head-to-head... the Applie iPad and the Samsung Galaxy Tab...
 Apple's iPad |
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Cast 60: Interactive
Thanks to everyone who got in touch. In this show, we respond to the following mails and calls:
Weather Stations: Barry Mills got in touch to say "I've just been given a Maplin USB Wireless Weather station for Xmas - and I'm delighted. As a novice and newcomer, I am uncertain as to the best and simplest way to export data into something that will give me the most basic means of looking at historic data in graph form. Any suggestions?"
Our Pete says that the USB weather station's great. If you missed our feature on home weather stations, it's in Show 48. The EasyWeather app that comes with the Maplin weather station is OK, but a bit limited. We're using Weather Display, but as has been pointed out by a few of our listeners, the interface is a little complex. If you want something that's free, better than the basic app, and not too complex, take a look at Cumulus from Sanday Software.
- Virgin Media and ITV: Next, we took a question Tony Bullock. In show 47 it was mentioned that lots of people in the Meridian region with Virgin Media have ITV London on channel 103 instead of ITV Meridian (channel 871). Tony just tried calling Virgin who say "it is a problem with the broadcaster" and won't do anything about this. Tony wants to know if any of our listeners in the Meridian region have the local version of ITV on channel 103?
Help us out - get in touch and help us out on this...
- Virgin in a second room: We took a podline call from Mr Rotherwick from Leeds asking how to get the output of his new Virgin Media V+ box to feed a second telly. As the newer Virgin boxes don't have a built-in RF modulator, there are a couple of options - You can get what's called an RF modulator box, which will cost about £30 and plugs into the V+ box's SCART socket as well as your co-ax cable that runs to the second TV. It will convert SCART into a signal that can be fed via co-ax aerial cable. The other option is to get a wireless AV sender, which will let you watch the output on a second TV without the need for the extension cable.
- BT Vision and the Switchover: Terry Harding called us to ask if he'll lose all of his recordings from his BT Vision box when the digital switchover hits his region. The answer to this is 'no'. The BT Vision box uses the Freeview service (which is digital), so won't be affected when your analogue service finally gets turned off. (Help on the Switchover)
- Kindle Easter Egg: Thanks to regular listener Sungmin Shaun Kim for a Kindle tip. Press Shift Alt and M from the Amazon Kindle home screen to get to a hidden Minesweeper game. Catch our 28 minute Kindle review
Rechargeable Batteries: We also heard from John Long, who asked "Do rechargeable battery charges and other rechargeable stuff really save you money in the long run or do they just add to the cost of your electricity bill."
Well, interesting question, and Pete's done the maths, and it's a surprising outcome. So surprising that we've created a page with the answer. See our: Rechargeable batteries vs Dosposable batteries page!
- Freeview HD PVRs: Finally for this show, Thor got in touch to ask what PVRs exist for Freeview HD. Is now the time to buy, or should he wait for some with new features.
Pete recommends taking a look at the list of Freeview HD recorders to see what's available. The Humax HDR-Fox T2 gets great reviews, and the Technika Smartbox 8320 with Fetch TV offers a lot of features, for not much money. Should you wait? Well, Internet-enabled boxes will be the focus of activity for this year - at the end of the day, it's up to you Thor. There's always a better box in the pipeline, but you'll be waiting for ever for the next thing in the pipeline.
Any questions for Carl and Pete? Call 020 8133 4567 and leave a message, send us an email, or ask in our listeners forum.
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