A poll by YouGov, commisioned by Freeview, suggests that Sky could lose 350,000 subscribers when FreeviewFreeview HD is launched.

Following the digital switchover Freeview have decided to get the publics views on their proposed HD offering compared to Skys current offering.

Freeview HD is likely to have around 3-5 channels when it is launched which is nothing compared to the 30 channels currently offered by Sky. Despite this 350,000 people say that they consider it ‘likely’ they would switch their main box to a Freeview HD box from a Sky HD box.

The prices of the new boxes may become a sticking factor with the new Freeview + HD boxes expected to be in excess of £300.

Shazam Teams Up With Last FM

Last FMThe music recognition service Shazam has teamed up with popular music social networking site Last FM.

Shazam, a music recognition service, works by allowing the user to record a clip of a song and then allows the artist and song title to be identified.

Now Last FM may be used to make a radio station using the content stored at Shazam by the user.

Virgin Media Add Discovery HD

Virgin Media have inreased their High Definition content offering by adding Discovery HD to the platform.

The Discovery HD channel is due to go live on the platform in the near future and is one of many more HD offerings promised by the cable TV provider.

Discovery HD will join BBC HD, Channel 4 HD, ESPN HD, Nat Geo HD, MTVNHD, FX HD and LIVING HD.

XL TV customers will gain Discovery HD along with the other new HD channels at no additional charge.

DPS ComputingA new DPS Computing Games section has been revealed today by DPS Computing owner David Smith.  The new section is set to grow even more and has launched with just under 100 games playable directly from the DPS Computing website.

Palm Pre For £35 A Month

O2O2 today has launched the Palm Pre handset in the United Kingdom for a price of just under £35 a month on a 24 month contract which puts the new smartphone directly in competition with its rival iPhone, from Apple.

O2 today has also confirmed plans to eventually bring the Palm Pre available to Pay As You Go users but it is yet to be seen whether this will also be competative against the iPhones £340 price tag for their PAYG customers.

Reports are suggesting that Palms late offering of the Pre in the UK could have substantially damaged sales as other equally capable phones such as the iPhone 3G have been given a head start against the handset.

OfcomAccording to new figures released today, 73% of adults are now internet users, up from 59% in 2005 says communication regulator Ofcom.

The report that Ofcom has commisioned has also found that there are now more older users on the Internet and that while online shopping is in decline, communication, social networking and entertainment are on the up in cyberspace.

Ofcom yesterday launched an initiative, involving the likes of Sky and the BBC, promoting digital up take by Britain as it plans to spread take up countrywide.

TalkTalkPeter Mandelsons hardline approach to file sharing has once again be slammed by telecoms giant TalkTalk after it demonstrated the unfairness of the proposed system and how innocent people could easily be disconnected.

DPS Computing reported last month about several ISPs, including TalkTalk, not being convinced by the idea.

TalkTalks Matt Roxburgh demonstrated today how 23 innocent people would have lost their Internet connections under Mandelsons plans.  All the people in question had their wireless networks open which in turn allowed the TalkTalk representative to connect to them and download illegal material to his computer using their internet connections.

Along with getting it wrong, Peter Mandelson, has been accused by TalkTalks Director Of Strategy & Regulation Andrew Heaney of being “naive”.

It is also another demonstration of Peter Mandelson being “out of touch” with the issues that his ministerial position is charged with dealing with.

The current policy outlined by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills would make people guilty unless proven innocent and has a complete lack of a judicial process meaning that falling victim to hacking will result in your loss of an internet connection permanently.  The Department released a statement saying “We realise it’s possible for mistakes to occur or for people to have their wi-fi connection hi-jacked” however they stopped short of saying that this would be a reason why your account would not be disconnected.

As it stands, our 23 victims today would be punished and lose their connections.

Channel 4 Teams Up With YouTube

Channel 4Channel 4 has become the first major broadcaster to sign a deal with video sharing website YouTube to provide its content on the website for its 20 million viewers starting in 2010.  Channel 4 hopes that this will boost their viewers and it is the first broadcaster worldwide to sign any such deal with YouTube or any similar video sharing website.

When questioned about the latest deal the broadcaster Channel 4 declined to provide information of the financial Goo Tubesettlement agreed on between themselves and YouTubes owner Google but they did confirm that the programmes would only be available to viewers in the United Kingdom and that advertising revenue from the venture would be split between both parties – although Channel 4 would also not confirm the details of the percentages each party would get.

Nikesh Arora, a spokesperson for Google said “Channel 4 have been visionary in their online strategy and are consistently at the forefront of new uses of YouTube to engage their viewers and unlock new revenue streams. This significant new agreement brings Channel 4’s great full length content to the YouTube community, helping Channel 4 to grow their online revenues and to continue to invest in the creation of high quality original content.”

Andrew Duncan, the spokesperson for Channel 4 said “Making our programmes directly accessible to YouTube’s 20 million UK users will financially benefit both Channel 4 and our independent production partners and help bolster our investment in quality British content.”

Early predictions suggest that the deal will turn out to be rather profitable for both sides of the deal.

Palm Pre Sales Good Says O2

O2The telecommunications company, O2 has today come out saying that initial sales of its new Palm Pre handset, which aims to be a direct competitor of Apples iPhone, are positive.

According to O2 they have sold more Palm Pre handsets in a day than they usually do with all phones sales figures combined.

O2 is currently making the phone available to customers on 18 month contracts at £30 a month or above.  Alternatively, a lower monthly bill can be exchanged for a one off payment of around £100 for the handset.

Berners-Lee Admits “//” Is Useless

Tim Berners-LeeTim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, has confirmed that the two forward slashs “//” that are used in web addresses are a mistake and as such, are useless.

Berners-Lee didn’t have much more to add to the statement.

And on that note, we don’t believe that we should dedicate any more time to them!

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