Tablet as DLNA Controller

Read this article to the end. Sony clearly have an interesting approach to the "ten foot interface problem".

link to Telegraph tech page

Fibre to the Cabinet

We have mentioned Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) before. Well it has arrived and here is the cabinet. The fibre presumably runs under where they dug up the pavement. This is the one round the corner which made a better picture than the nearest one.

Nomad really needs to subscribe to BT Infinity. At present that seems to be the only way to get access to the fibre.

Royal Wedding live streaming

The live streaming on Youtube worked at first, but as the service got under way it froze, probably due to weight of numbers.

Fortunately The Telegraph was providing live streaming as well and the quality was not bad. Well done to our favourite source of news.

Royal Wedding

What does a refusenik do for a major event like the Royal Wedding? Dont worry it is on YouTube.

Try this link. Enjoy!

Then again ......

Despite Mark Thompsons complaints, he has managed to recruit a new director of television. It warms you heart doesnt it, that George Entwistle is selflessly prepared to engage in public service on the tiny salary of 270K.

Of course if I was George I would be none to pleased at my boss telling everyone that he would have liked to see someone better in the job. Then again I would be a millionaire after just four years and I probably would be able to stick it.

Let them eat cake!

For the ruler of the court of Versailles (by whom we mean Mark Thompson and not Louis XVI) it seems that things are going from bad to worse. These days it seems that flunkeys just will not bother getting out of bed for less than 100K and the Third Estate seems disinclined to provide any more funds. Poor King Mark will soon be reduced to typing his own memos and eating takeaways from the local chippy.

Then again it turns out that expense claims have gone up a remarkable 60% in just three months. Perhaps the flunkeys are just recovering thier foregone bonuses by another means.

Meanwhile the peasants have no bread. About time for a storming of the gates?

YourFired

The YouView project is in trouble, or so it seems. Why else would you send for Alan Sugar. We are rather hopeful that Sir Alan will decide the project is not worth saving. Perhaps he will even tell the staff that thier services are no longer required.

In any event, the longer that this project takes to get to market, the more irrelevant it becomes. Whichever way you read it, this is good news.

Marxist takes over Question TIme

I know that some people think our opposition to the BBC is over the top. How do they explain a marxist appointed to edit Question Time. We just are not capable of making this stuff up.

In an interesting twist he even has a Russian name for goodness sake. Does this tell us anything?

Subscribe to the BBC

The BBC is planning to allow overseas viewers to use iPlayer on a subscription model. This is a positive development, although it would be even better if they adopted the subscription model at home and ditched the Licence Fee. We can but hope.

The article from TechWatch contains an interesting non sequitur: "By contrast, the licence fee entitles ....... all free at the point of use." Yes it is free but you still pay. Unfortunately people seem very relucant to view the BBC in a rational way.

British Broadcasting Cuts

Writing in the Telegraph, Tim Montgomery has this useful analysis of where things are going with the BBC. Apparently David Cameron now refers to the BBC as the "British Broadcasting Cuts" such is its obssesion with the subject.

The last paragraph makes the point that we have been banging on about for the past 2 years. If we get all our news from Youtube then the licence fee is probably going to become an irrelevance.

Apple TV - Mark 2

We thought that this was an interesting article. Nomads disdain for all things Apple is such that he is unlikely ever to buy one. We try and keep up with developments though.

The net closes in?

It may have taken almost two years but TV Licensing have finally paid a visit. It would have been entertaining to report the subject matter of the dialogue that unfolded, but unfortunately Nomad was out. After all he does have a job.

Untraceable iPlayer

According to this story the BBC has no way of knowing whether you are using iPlayer to watch live television. You could be watching TV on your mobile device without a licence. Not that we would condone such a thing obviously.

But if you were commiting this heinous crime, our advice would be not to give your name to anyone who asks.

Still everyone loves the BBC dont they? I mean who would want to cheat them?

Bias?

Someone who might just know, Peter Sissons, has a go at the endemic bias of the BBC. This is quite an interesting development.

Professional News Gathering - Not

The ever vigilant Guido has uncovered this gem. The author obviously thinks that the BBC could be more professional in how it deals with local authorities.

We think that the story illustrates how the Beeb is driven by its need to fit events to its story. In this case the story is "Evil Tory led coalition imposes cruel cuts".

The Leicester Mercury is a paper which needs to be accurate or its readers would soon stop buying it and then the paper would close. The BBC is ..... well, you see my point.

TV goes Online

According to this article in the Daily Telegraph which is well worth a look.

The article offers a rather negative view of Google TV. However we expect Google to keep developing the product until it comes good. At the moment Google TV still seems the most promising contender in the race.

Also notable is that Erik Huggers is moving on from the BBC. Loyal readers of this blog (if there are any) will remember Erik for his commendably honest answer about whether a TV Licence was required to watch iPlayer. Thats a negative, by the way, for those who just joined.

YouView does not work!

Well not at the moment anyway, according to this story. Of course it is likely that the problems will be ironed out before the system is sold to the public. The real issue as the article rightly points out is whether it will get to market before it is squeezed out by the competing Smart TV systems.

Just in case you have not been keeping up with the plot YouView is the new name for Project Canvas.

Internet TV

See this link for the story.

There is a rather notable ommision from the survey! Although Google TV does merit a passing mention right at the end of the article.

The windows embedded platform sounds interesting.

Happy New Year

Lets kick off the New Year with a reminder of what this blog is for. On this blog we favour media plurality and that is why we urge people not to pay the licence fee. This post from Guido makes the argument rather well although curiously he does not take his argument to its logical conclusion and call for the abolition of the licence fee.