Now TV Box

Now TV is a premium online video on demand service powered by Sky. As it's powered by Sky the available content will be very familiar to Sky TV's Sky Movies and Sky Sports customers. The sport packages give you access to Sky Sports with flexible pay-as-you-go packages such as a £9.99 day pass. Sky Movies is also available on monthly subscriptions.

You can get Now TV on mobile devices (iOS and Android), online through the Now TV website. To get Now TV on your TV you could use a PS3 or Xbox 360 and now the new Now TV Box.

The Now TV Box is remarkably small, less than 9cm wide. This form factor is very similar to the Apple TV. It's also very cheap, only £9.99 to purchase, including postage and packaging. The device includes access to a small range of other services including BBC iPlayer, Spotify and Demand 5.

Disappointingly for a new device, a likely a result of the low cost of the box the HDMI output is limited to 720p resolution.

For more details check out Now TV's webiste: https://shop.nowtv.com/ 

BBC Olympic Coverage

The BBC will be broadcasting the London 2012 Olympic games in a way that has never been achieved before. For a starters the coverage will all be filmed in high definition. And the Olympics will be broadcast live on 24 dedicated digital channels - this is too cope with the maximum number of simultaneous live events during the games. ALL 24 channels are coming to your Sky HD Planner very soon!

Here's your options for watching the BBC Coverage:

• On TV Olympics coverage will be available on the BBC channels BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Three, BBC One HD and BBC HD as well as through the Red Button digital streams for digital Freeview viewers.
• Sky will be launching 48 new channels dedicated to the BBC's Olympic coverage. 24 will be standard definition and 24 high definition. The channels are free-to-air and available to any Sky home, including Freesat from Sky homes. The HD channels are available on any Sky+HD box and do not require a subscription, but do require an HD ready TV. Customers will require a Sky subscription in order to use Sky+. These channels will be availble from the 24th July 2012. More Info from Sky. 
• Online at the BBC Sport Website through the BBC's new interactive video player which will provide standard definition and high definition video streams, separated into chapters. You can watch a live event or previous events throughout the day, and overlay detailed information about the athletes and events to help guide you through each sport.
• On the new BBC Sport App which provides the 24 live streams too, where ever you are. If you want to catch highlights from events which have already happened, or check the statistics such as the medal table, it's all on the app.
• BBC coverage of the 2012 Olympics can also be enjoyed on mobile phones via the mobile browser version of the BBC Sport website.
• A 24-hour digital radio station, Radio 5 live Olympic Extra, will complement BBC Radio 5 live and BBC Radio 5 live Sports Extra for the duration of the Games.

So between the coverage online, on TV, and on mobile devices everyone should be able to get access to watch their favourite sports during the Olympics. The Opening Ceremony will be live on BBC One and BBC One HD on Friday 27th July at 7pm (Ceremony starts at 9pm).

Get yourself ready for the games with the UK version of the BBC Olympic app for smartphones and tablets that can be downloaded now for these platforms:

• Android 
• Apple 
• Blackberry 

And for those outside the UK, the global version of the app (does not contain live video streams) can be downloaded now from:

• Android 
• Apple 

Sky HD Update

Sky have updated their set top box set's software with a new glass effect look, which looks fantastic on HD displays. The new software includes more than just a facelift though, there is a new structure for the on demand internet download content. This is crucial for Sky's continued success in the TV market with the increasing popularity of both internet connected TV's and set top boxes such as games consoles, Boxee, Apple TV and TiVo. The update brings content to the user by channel, much like these other services, particularly the Xbox and PlayStation interfaces. Sky allows you to search for program's across all services, which isn't always possible in Sky's rival boxes/TV's, with the main exception being Google TV, where search as a certain significance!

The update is accompanied by news that the BBC's online content, BBC iPlayer will be available through Internet connected Sky boxes from the Autumn. This is one of the last platforms to recurve BBC iPlayer which can be viewed on most devices including the Virgin Media set top box and BT Vision too. Sky continues to add to its vast library of online content available through Sky Anytime (their on demand Internet service), including hundreds of films. Even more is available from Sky Store too.

Sky Wifi

With Sky's new Wifi access you can take your home broadband connection with you to thousands of UK hotspots. You can get unlimited access from hotspots run by The Cloud. This is a service similar to BT Broadband, which also grant's you access to BT Openzone and BT Fon hotspots in the UK.

The qualify you need Sky's unlimited or fibre packages, and the one of the mobile apps for your device. The apps are available for iOS and Android. Once downloaded just sign in with a valid SkyiD to get started.

For more information and to downlod mobile apps check out the Sky Wifi webpage.

Sky's New Formula 1 Channel

Sky have announced that Formula 1 will be shown on a dedicated new channel: Sky Sports F1 HD.

They have also launched a new webpage on their Sky Sports webiste to include news, opinion and reaction to on and off track action. And keeping up to date with Sky's F1 coverage can be achieved through their new Twitter account: @SkySportsF1.

Sky's deal is to show all of the 2012 Formula 1 races and qualifying live, whereas the BBC will be reduced to showing a selected number of races (these include Silverstone, Monaco & Brazil) next year. Sky Sports currently consists of 4 channels (imaginatively named 1,2,3 and 4). There is also a Sky Sports News channel to show the latest sports news. It is great news for Formula 1 fans that the F1 will not be squeezed into one of the existing 4 Sky Sports channels as these are largely concerned with Football, Rugby, Tennis, Golf, the list goes on. This is also a huge positive for the fans as the pricing structure is different to Sky Sports 1,2,3 and 4.

Sky Sports F1 HD will be available to all HD Sky customers and a SD version will be available to non-HD customers who have Sky Sports 1 and 2 in their subscription pack. - although their appears to be much confusion at the moment and lots of questions on Twitter be directed at @SkySportsF1

Sky confim that the races will be shown uninterrupted, unlike when F1 was shown on ITV, much to the fans continued disgust.

More info from Sky's announcement

Image from Sky's webpage.

Sky Sports News HD

Sky Sports News HD has launched on Sky Channel 455 (Standard Definition Channel 405). There are lots of changes to the Sky Sports News channel apart from the change to high definition. It is no longer on Freeview. It is now on any Sky package but only until February 23rd 2011. After then it will only be available to subscribers to either the News & Events package or a Sports package.

Full Details: Click Here

Sky launches 3D TV

Sky has launched 3D TV by broadcasting football in 3D to 9 pubs across the UK. The Sky 3D service will be coming to Sky+ HD subscribers during the year. 3D viewing will require special glasses. Sky will continue to build moment between now and the launch of the public service by showing to rugby games in 3D in cinemas during February. For more information click here to read the BBC News article or click here for sky.com.