YouView’s catch-up programming has remained mostly UK-centric so far, but TalkTalk is adding some diversity with a trio of World TV Boosts. The new Arabic TV, JSTV and kykNET TV packs give viewers a combined 16 channels of Afrikaans, Arabic and Japanese content. While the Boosts aren’t cheap at a minimum £10 ($15) per month, they could be vital for ex-pats who want to keep up with news and shows from their home countries.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Source: YouView
Authorities in the UK have never had quite the same level of anxiety over Huawei that we’ve witnessed in the US, and they’ve so far been happy to let the Chinese firm get involved with numerous parts of the country’s data infrastructure. As it turns out, the company’s control even extends to the “Homesafe” filter used by internet service provider TalkTalk, which David Cameron recently praised during his push for tighter controls on adult content. The BBC discovered that UK-based Huawei employees are able to decide which sites are blocked on TalkTalk’s service, and that even users who opt out of Homesafe have their internet usage data routed through Huawei’s system. Whether or not this is an issue depends entirely on how much you trust reports of close ties between Huawei and the Chinese government, versus Huawei’s claim that these concerns are based on anti-Chinese prejudice rather than evidence. From a purely practical point of view, however, if the mission is to block off huge swathes of the internet, why wouldn’t you hire an expert?
Update: A representative of Huawei has been in touch to provide the company’s side of the story. He said that Huawei doesn’t “run” the Homesafe system, but that the system is “supported by Huawei” without Huawei having control over it. He added that Huawei does not decide which sites are blocked, and that the final decision as to what filters are implemented rests with TalkTalk. Meanwhile, the BBC is apparently standing by its story, since it has issued no retraction.
Filed under: Internet
Source: BBC News
If you didn’t get enough mobile news during the week, not to worry, because we’ve opened the firehose for the truly hardcore. This week, a new addition to the LG L-Series surfaced in Russia, a Lumia 920 was sighted that’d make Oscar the Grouch flip, and TalkTalk added three new devices from Huawei to its roster. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore all that’s happening in the mobile world for this week of May 27th, 2013.
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Software, Mobile
YouView, the relatively young set-top TV service has managed to establish itself in 400,000 houses, the company revealed today. Its CEO, Richard Halton added that 2.2 million video streams are now being consumed every week. To celebrate all this viewing, it’s going to be launching an Android app in the coming weeks, which will remotely control the TV and recordings, essentially catching up to the iOS version already out there. The app will be optimized for several Google-powered handsets, including the Galaxy S2, S3, Ace, Nexus 4 and (perhaps oddly) the HTC One S. However, according to Pocket-Lint, the incoming app will still work on handsets running Android 2.3, just, well, unoptimized.
Better still, YouView promises to launch multiple new internet channels (through providers BT and TalkTalk), adding to the 70 broadcast channels available on the box at the moment. It’ll likely be ready in time for BT’s own sports channel, although YouView mentioned a loosely-defined summer launch. YouView promises that its new internet channels will include the ability to rewind and search for content, behaving almost identically to typical channels. There’s no specified channel list just yet, but we’re sure TalkTalk and BT will be filling us in on all the details ahead of any launch.
Filed under: Displays, Internet, HD
Source: Pocket-Lint (1), (2), (3)
Huawei left us wondering whether the Ascend G 330 would venture beyond mainland Europe with its tempting blend of solid specs and a low price. The smartphone is spreading its wings — if only just, with a launch on TalkTalk in the UK. When it ships to the carrier in December, the 4-inch, 1GHz dual-core smartphone will be tuned for British audiences with preloaded BBC iPlayer and news apps as well as EA’s Sims Freeplay for some casual gaming. Most of the appeal may come from a cheap-as-chips price, as the G 330 will be free on contract for as little as £10 ($16) per month. If you can bear going without an all-out flagship like the Ascend D1 Quad XL, it’s a tempting lure.
Continue reading Huawei Ascend G 330 lands on UK shores through TalkTalk
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
Rocking a YouView box? You’ll shortly be in line for a software bump that’ll give you a few handy tweaks. The update will speed up the device’s boot-from-standby time, let you group recordings by series so you can watch ’em box-set style and pump out surround-sound audio if you’ve got the right gear. It’ll also provide a few useful UI tweaks, like offering the option to hide BBC red button prompts, letting you roll live TV backwards by 15 seconds or forwards by 60 seconds. It’ll be available on Humax-branded boxes over the next few weeks, followed by the TalkTalk branded units shortly afterward.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD
YouView software update adds surround-sound, faster boot times and grouped recording originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Nov 2012 00:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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