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 …

Foxtel has announced its plans for coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympics, with four dedicated pay-on-demand HD channels available to subscribers. The stone “inukshuk” — the mascot for the upcoming 2010 Winter Games — covered in snow at the Whistler Olympic venue (Credit: Vancouver 2010) Foxtel subscribers can sign up for both the exclusive TV channels and broadband TV for …

Digital radio services (DAB+) in the Sydney area are currently down as engineers work to prepare for a “full-time” service, according to a digital radio spokesperson. Digital Radio Plus — now with pure digital silence.(Credit: CRA) A representative for Commercial Radio Australia (CRA) said the signal would be ready “as soon as we possibly can” and that it could take …

There’s just one winner of our Editors’ Choice award this month, and it’s Korean giant Samsung that takes the prize. Here’s what we thought of the winner. Samsung BD-P3600We’re constantly frustrated by Blu-ray players’ slow performance. The Samsung BD-P3600 addresses that by being fast and efficient. BD Live loads quickly and works brilliantly, and the player itself can load a …

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 …

SBS has become the latest service to announce its Freeview channels, with the premiere of SBS TWO at 6pm tonight. SBS TWO goes live 1 June 2009 (Credit: SBS) The new channel — a re-branding of the SBS News channel — promises “more world film and drama, documentaries, international news and sport”, and plans to broadcast every stage of the …

HDMI is rather like sleep: a gigantic waste of time, but essential because there’s basically no alternative. If we could take a pill and never sleep again but still feel refreshed each morning, you can bet we would. And if there was any other sort of cable that could get 1080p video and lossless audio to the rest of our …

Samsung has announced that its new 6 and 7 series LCD televisions have achieved a minimum of five stars out of six under the new Energy Rating Scheme — beating Sony’s “green” television. The 7 series “LED TV” achieved the highest ratings with the 55-inch UA55B7100 (AU$5799) achieving a maximum of six stars. Meanwhile, the 40-inch UA40B7100 (AU$3899) reached a …

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 …

Recently news has reached us that the third best TV show in the history of mankind has been cancelled in the US. We’re talking here about Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles –the best show is Arrested Development (also on FOX and also cancelled), and the second best is Lost. If you’re not aware of the show, then you should immediately …

Sony Computer Entertainment Australia gathered the media earlier this month to promote VidZone and some other upcoming features on PS3 and PSP. While it was interesting to see the highlights of the company’s roadmap for the next few months, it was also notable for what they didn’t discuss, namely the hot topics of last year’s 2008 confab,PlayTV and BD-Live. PlayTV, …

Geek humour aside, the Netgear EVA9000 Digital Entertainment Elite does appear to be everything you need in a media streamer. It’s built like the sort of wall needed to enclose an outdoor toilet and it’s a very traditional form factor — meaning it will sit squarely under your TV with all the other anonymous grey boxes. Clearly, Netgear isn’t trying …

1984 was a pretty amazing year for cinema. If you’ve got a favourite 80s film, there’s a good chance it was released this year. It was, for example, the year than Arnold Schwarzenegger came from the future to kill Linda Hamilton. Harrison Ford also made an appearance with a whip and a hat, with the intention of looking around a …

Australian DVD rental company Quickflix, which has previously delivered movies ordered online through the mail, will begin taking the next step to a fully digital service by offering movie downloads. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Working in an initial partnership with Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group Australia, the service will make downloadable films available for rent (with DRM restrictions …

Warner Bros has signed up to Facebook so viewers can team up to experience Watchmen using BD-Live, the Internet-connected, interactive Blu-ray feature. The option to simultaneously watch a film and comment on it via BD-Live is called the community screening feature. Viewers of the Watchmen: Director’s Cut Blu-ray disc will now be able to sync their BD-Live buddy list with …