Televisions
Nintendo on TV: Britain's Best Brain on Five
Nintendo is bringing the might of its marketing machine to bear on prime-time TV, as it teams up with Five to search for contestants for a new eight-part show, Britain's Best Brain.
The show will see contestants tackling five tasks in an episode, each of which will focus on different parts of the brain -- memory, co-ordination, numeracy, recognition and risk. Success in these tasks will add to a contestant's 'brain score', with the highest scorers competing against one another in a grand final. Continue reading...
LG 50PS6000: Rumours of plasma's death greatly exaggerated
Here are some things that aren't dead: Jeff Goldblum and plasma TVs. Of course, if you're reading this in 2050 there's a good chance that Jeff Goldblum is now dead, but if it's 2050, why on Earth are you reading about a plasma from 41 years ago? That's like us reading about a black and white TV in a little wooden cabinet. Anyway, how is the future? Are there hoverboards yet? Is 3D TV still a dismal waste of time? Please, do tell us all about your exciting futuristic lives via the comments section -- it's been fitted with a flux capacitor which should enable your thoughts to transcend the usual rules of linear time. So, as we were saying, plasma isn't dead, despite rumours to the contrary, and LG's 50PS6000 should help persuade you of this unassailable fact. Continue reading...
Freeview HD: Ofcom strikes fear into our HD-loving hearts
In a post on its blog, the BBC has announced that we'll start to see some high-definition services appear on Freeview from the end of this year. It looks very much like these channels will be broadcast in 720p, and will comprise the usual terrestrial stalwarts in HD form. Expect BBC HD, ITV HD, 4HD and Five HD to launch as and when it becomes technically possible. We've got a slight issue with this, though.
Freeview HD is something we've been looking forward to for some time. We think it's about time the majority of people in the UK had access to a source of HD that doesn't involve a subscription to a cable or satellite TV service. Ofcom, to its credit, has been reasonably proactive about making this happen, and it now looks like we'll see a Freeview HD service launch around the end of this year or the start of next. The Granada region goes first, with London predicted to be last, in 2012. Continue reading...
Sky News HD: Watch the horror and suffering of humanity in glorious high definition
Happy days, news lovers: from spring 2010 you'll be able to watch every disaster, crime spree and corrupt politician in fabulous high definition when Sky launches Sky News HD. Hopefully there will be Dolby Digital surround sound too, so we can hear the boos from backbenchers in Parliament as if we were Gordon Brown himself. Continue reading...
Channel 4 to put thousands of hours of old TV online for free
If you missed such thought-provoking documentaries such as The Boy with Seven Faces, or Body Shock: Head of a Girl, Body of a Donkey, rest assured -- Channel 4 has you covered.
The ass print in your sofa is likely to get sizeably more cavernous from 25 June, when much of the old content only available to Windows users through the 4oD desktop app, will appear at Channel4.com -- previously only a catchup service -- for Mac, Linux and PC users alike. Continue reading...
Photos: Samsung UE46B8000 1080p TV with Twitter, widgets and LED backlight 
Not so very long ago we got our hands-on a Samsung series 7000 TV and very impressed we were too -- so much so, we gave it an Editor's Choice award. Now the UE46B8000 has landed in our office, and we're just as excited about this one. The 8000 series has the same stunning looks as the 7000, but with a few subtle modifications. It's still as thin as a supermodel before breakfast, but the rose-black touch of red has been replaced by a more transparent style, with hints of aluminium.
Crucially, this TV features Samsung's new 200Hz picture mode (or 240Hz in regions that use 60Hz mains supplies, including the US). The goal here is twofold. The first is to claim you're the first manufacturer to do 200Hz; the second is to provide smoother images. Of course we'll be checking whether it makes any difference, along with all the other features of this TV, in much more detail in our full review soon. Continue reading...
Photos: Sky Player comes to Xbox Live
Following yesterday's sizeable portion of speculation cake, we can confirm today that Microsoft has teamed up with BSkyB to bring Sky Player to the Xbox 360 in the UK and Ireland.
We got an early hands-on with the new service yesterday, and came away genuinely impressed. At least for the most part. Subscribers will be able to stream a heap of Sky channels live (details of which will be announced closer to the launch), as well as pay-per-view shows and movies. Continue reading...
Sky TV coming to your Xbox 360?
The Xbox 360 has looked the poor relation when it comes to TV services. While both the PS3 and Wii can take advantage of the BBC's iPlayer service, Microsoft's console has never been able to take advantage of it, mainly because it lacks a Web browser. Luckily though, we believe Sky is set to announce that its TV content will soon be available to view on the 360.
The service could be similar to Sky Player, which currently offers live TV and a selection of pay-per-view content over the Internet. We've had a demo of Sky Player and have been very impressed by the picture quality of the live streaming. So its arrival on the 360 would only be a good thing. It's worth noting that Sky Player uses Microsoft Silverlight, so it's wouldn't be a massive surprise for the two of them to be working together on this little enterprise. Continue reading...
Philips Ambilight 32PFL9604 LCD TV: Trillions of stuff, thousands of things
How's this for a geek aphorism? Once you've had Ambilight, you never go back. Okay, it doesn't rhyme, but if it's true, Philips must have a fairly large captive market, because it's the only company able to produce these magical glowing TVs. The newly announced 32PFL9604 is the latest TV in the Ambilight range, and it's available in June for about £1,000.
As you would expect for that much money, this is a highly specified TV. You get five HDMI inputs, which has to be some sort of record for a 32-inch TV. It's also DLNA certified, and can grab pictures, video and music off your home network via its built-in Wi-Fi connection. Wired Ethernet is also included, which will be good for the tin-hat wearing wireless refuseniks. Continue reading...
Long-term test: Long-time loving with the Pioneer Kuro PDP-LX5090
It's no secret that I think the Pioneer Kuro PDP-LX5090 is the best TV I've ever seen. It's certainly the highest-rated TV we've ever reviewed, and although other TVs are starting to get closer in terms of picture quality, it's still far and away the best on the market. But even the love of your life can annoy you every so often. So has using one day-in, day-out since last September changed my opinion of this incredible TV?
Like your nearest and dearest, living with a product for several months does one thing very well, and that's highlight any problems between the two of you. Are there any chinks in the 5090's armour? No. Honestly, no. There's nothing significant about this TV that's given me cause for concern. Sure, I'd sleep better at night if it used a little less electricity, but it's not impractically hungry, by any stretch of the imagination. Continue reading...
