Finally I got the new Sky+HD EPG this morning. But I got no letter from Sky, just an email late yesterday evening.
Sorry for the shortness of this post, but I literally only found this out as I was running out the door to work this morning. I will complete a review and post some pics of it later on this evening.
Here is a photo of the new Sky Planner:
So far so good anyway, although I have found it to be a bit slow in places
Sky will next week start contacting Sky+ HD customers with set top boxes manufactured by Samsung about them getting the new electronic programme guide (EPG).
The new EPG started rolling out to Sky+ HD boxes on March 10, with receivers manufactured by Thomson first to get the update, followed by customers with boxes manufactured by Pace in April. Last month, the satellite platform holder said that “additional and planned development work” was taking place before it could send the new guide to customers with Samsung and Amstrad boxes.
A Sky spokesperson has said that the firm is now ready to start contacting 30,000 customers with Samsung boxes about them upgrading to the new EPG. “The EPG migration is still on track and we’re delighted with the feedback we’ve received from those with the new Sky+ HD guide, which now includes those customers with Thomson and Pace boxes,” he said.
“We thank all other customers for their patience while we roll out with controlled phasing to all other boxes. We will continue to contact customers with more information prior to migrating them to the new guide, including 30,000 customers with Samsung boxes just next week.”
via Digital Spy
The BBC has announced that high definition broadcasts on digital terrestrial television will commence in December. Meanwhile here in Ireland we still havent even got standard definition digital terrestrial tv – what a joke!
The plan to launch HD services on a reconfigured version of what is presently known as multiplex B will see Freeview HD – initially comprised of high definition services from the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 – will roll out across the UK in tandem with digital switchover starting with the Winter Hill transmitter, which serves Manchester and Liverpool. Regions that have already switched to digital will be reconfigured retroactively.
via Digital Spy
Latest: Samsung EPG Update
More Sky+ HD boxes received the new version of Sky’s programme guide software last Thursday morning. According to reports posted on the Digital Spy forums in the early hours of this morning, Sky+ HD boxes manufactured by Thomson with version number 4E3004 rebooted with the new software close to 4am. 38,000 boxes were the first to receive the new software on Tuesday, March 10. It is not yet known how many boxes were affected by this morning’s release.
After months of trying to decide whether or not to invest in a Sky HD box, I finally took the plunge and I ordered one last Saturday. And it arrived yesterday.
The installers couldn’t get the HD channels working, but they said they rang sky and the signal would be sent in the usual time frame, could be 2 mins could be a couple of hours. I want that bothered then as I had to rush back to work. When I got home it was still the same, but also the Sky+ functionality wasnt working. (Oh no, Neighbours hasn’t recorded)
So I rang sky myself. On hold for about 9 mins. The girl I was talking to was extremely helpful and had everything sorted within 90 seconds, including the usual security questions etc. While on hold I had to listen to the repeating drivel about how rain and wind can affect your signal reception and basically that sky cannot help you if this is your problem
Anyway, Sky+ working, HD channels coming in loud and clear, very clear actually. Picture is amazing. Its currently running on the 1080i setting. I dont know which is better, 1080i or 720p, and I dont think I would be able to tell the difference anyway.
I have tuned in the BBC HD channel and I have watched a few minutes of this and a quick clip from 24 also. I am well impressed with the HD stuff and I think even the SD stuff is improved by using the HDMI connection too.
But is it worth the €15 or whatever it is a month, only time will tell!
Here are some pictures of the new Sky+HD EPG from DigitalSpy.co.uk
1) Set up series links directly from the TV Guide.
2) Record directly from the TV Guide without needing to go to the Planner.
3) The new planner makes searching for recorded episodes from a series easier by “stacking” them.
4) The new Now, Next, Later banner is capable of showing full programme data for any show on any channel up to 12 hours ahead.
via here
Sky+ HD customers whose boxes received yesterday’s programme guide upgrade are able to manually add ITV HD to their lineups. According to reports on Digital Spy’s Sky+ HD forum, ITV HD may be accessed by going to the Add Channels menu and using the following settings: 11.427H, 2/3, 27500, channel 10510.
ITV’s high definition service launched as a service exclusive to Freesat last year, using a non-standard stream to obfuscate its availability on non-Freesat satellite receivers.
The new version of Sky’s electronic programme guide was rolled out to 38,000 boxes yesterday and will be rolled out to all high definition boxes over the coming weeks.
I am in two minds. I want to get Sky HD, in fact I think I need it. Its now at the affordable price of only €49. But then there is the additional monthly subscription. I would have to ditch either or both Sky Sports and Setanta. Ditching Sky Sports would save me more money, but Setanta do not have any HD channels. Even their SD channels are quite low quality, many on boards.ie have complained of the quality of the Setanta picture. And thats not even mentioning the crass other channels that are included in the package. I am a Liverpool fan, but I think I have only watched Liverpool TV once. I think there was a Champions league qualifier on that non other broadcaster wanted. As for Arsenal, Celtic and Rangers TV I have never watched them, nor plan to either. The Golf Channel is rubbish. But Setanta have good games on a Saturday afternoon, and I am more likely to watch a Saturday game than a Sunday game.
But all that aside I am definitely leaning towards signing up to Sky HD, or Sky+HD as they call it now. So if RTÉ and TV3 added HD and +1 channels I would be sorted – at least I can tune in BBC HD and Channel 4 HD. ITV HD will remain elusive for another while – its only available on Freesat. If RTÉ etc were free to air on Satellite sky would be ditched en masse. Well I would anyway. I could quite happilly manage on the free channels and of course I would get Freesat+ HD (this would be the number 1 contender) for the main tv and freesat+ for the other telly in the Kitchen. But thats not gonna happen, mores the pity.
So I think I have talked myself into getting Sky+HD, now all I have to do is convince herself.
Or do i? 
Sky’s latest advertisement for high definition pieces together existing footage from films, documentaries, and dramas, to expose the reality of watching TV in HD.
Still frames from the likes of Blood Diamond, Déjà Vu and the documentary Hunter Hunted are used, including scenes of tigers fighting in the snow, and Leonardo DiCaprio ducking out of danger in Blood Diamond.
They were created by “Brothers and Sisters” using After Effects technology.
Sky HD advert:
Consumers and investors cheered an impending end to a format war for next-generation DVDs, with share gains for both Toshiba, on the verge of abandoning its HD DVD discs, and Sony, the leader of the rival Blu-ray camp.
Both formats have the space to hold high-definition movies, but growing support from Hollywood and big US retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores has given Blu-ray a crushing lead. However, overall sales so far have made up only a small portion of the $24 billion home DVD sector, as shoppers, faced with machines that played only one type of disc or the other, have held back.
Toshiba said today that no decisions had been made on HD DVD, but a company source told Reuters over the weekend that the company was in the final stage of planning its exit. An end to the war means consumers can now be sure they won’t be stuck with a 21st century equivalent of Betamax – Sony’s videotape technology that lost out to VHS in the 1980s – and should help accelerate the shift to the new DVD.
At the core of both formats are blue lasers, which have a shorter wavelength than red lasers used in current DVD equipment, enabling discs to hold up to five times as much data. Toshiba had billed its format as less costly for the industry as it allowed some existing DVD-making equipment to be reused, but Blu-ray allowed for more content to be packed onto each disc.
Toshiba will likely suffer losses of hundreds of millions of dollars to scrap production of its equipment and other steps to withdraw from the business. But analysts gave high marks to Toshiba’s quick move to pull the plug on HD DVD just two years after launching its first players. It took Sony more than a decade to quit Betamax.