Sky HD to go on sale 12 April

So finally the great day dawns, and we've got a firm date for the arrival of Sky HD to the UK and Ireleand.

The great unwashed can start buying the service on Wednesday 12 April, and installations will begin in May, so mark those electronic organisers now.

As previously announced, you'll pay £299 for the Sky HD box, with a subscription of £10 a month on top of your existing Sky digital subscription.

Another new data morsel: the Sky HD box will have a tasty 160GB of storage, which the company rates at around 30 hours of HD programming, or 80 hours of the standard decaff variety. That's less than the 300GB that had been rumoured, but still plenty of room for all your football and movies.

So here it comes: terrifyingly detailed shots of scary insects, grass so green it makes your eyes explode, and insanely rich close-ups of the gaping pores on your favourite news reader's nose. We can't wait. -MP