Pioneer PDP-436XDE

So I got one of these delivered yesterday. Fantastic piece of kit, which looks superb, has a simple and intuitive interface and a great picture.

I'll give you a setup and reaction overview, but to be honest, I'm reserving judgement until the 20th June, when I get Sky HD installed - that will be the true test!

Construction of the pedastal base was simple, but reassuring - the base itself is very heavy and quite sturdy, but has a nice swivel feature, allowing the screen to be moved without any risk of damage.

The screen itself slides onto the base, and is held by four bolts. This then connects (in the XDE's case anyway) to the media box, which houses all the input and device connections. This sits below the screen, much like a cable box or DVD player, and connectes to the screen by a (provided) two plug cable.

The screen setup is very simple - tuning the TV is a two step process, once for analogue and once for Digital. Both are tuned automatically, and the set recognises and names each channel correctly.

Inputs are even simpler, with each one clearly labelled both on the media box and the remote control. There is no way of re-naming these, but the remote is simple to use and its very easy to navigate between these devices.

The inputs available include 2 HDMI ports, three Scarts (two of these RGB) a component interface, S-video and standard co-ax aerial ports. This provides up to 5 inputs directly into the screen, and so gives massive potential for a complete home media centre setup.

The remote control oozes quality, with a good heavy feel about it and a metal shell. The buttons are well laid out, and clearly labelled, with all the common buttons larger and easier to access than the lesser-used functions.

Overall this set looks and feels fantastic, and is well worth the money. With multiple HD-ready inputs, and a wide range of different inputs, the set is designed for the modern technology-embracing home. Simple to use, but providing very high quality pictures, I am definately a big fan of teh Pioneer PDP-436XDE, and would recommend to anyone looking for a quality, HD-Ready plasma.

Price war on Console HD DVD players?

According to The Register, Microsoft are wanting to ensure that a combination of the Xbox 360 and its' add-on HD-DVD player is cheaper than the PS3. Current guesses for the HD-DVD drive for the Xbox 360 put the price at £130.

Add into this rumours that Sony may not ship the cheaper PS3 to the UK market, and there is significant potential for Xbox to dominate the UK marketplace.

So if this is anything to go on, Sony have got a fair bit of work to do before they can produce a competitive next gen device and price for the UK consumers.

Homechoice to sell IPTV wholesale

Homechoice, the video-on-demand and LLU broadband provider in London (and Stevenage), is to start to offer it's on-demand video over broadband services wholesale. This would mean that other Internet service providers could offer their broadband customers on-demand TV and music programmes without having to develop the hardware and content agreements themselves.

This would have been a perfect move for Homechoice 2 years ago, but they were insistent on doing everything themselves. Now it appears that they have been unable to source the investment required for them to build their own LLU nationwide network, and need to get some new funds in sharpish.

This is a shame, because the Homechoice service has massive potential, and is easily the best video-on-demand service I've seen (and I'm not just saying that because I used to work there!). The Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) is very fluid and intuitive and some of the content is great.

The downside of the service has always revovled around three factors:
1) Availability - as they had to use their own LLU network, Homechoice was always very limited on the number of users it could sign up.
2) Content - there were some great items of content available, including some of the films, comedy series, and music videos, but there was a lot of dross too. The on-demand content wasn't refreshed often enough, and soon felt stale to the ongoing users (a bit like Sky Movies in that way - you've seen everything you want to see, and there is nothing new).
3) Technology - without a doubt, Homechoice used some good technologies, but it never quite hung together. The broadband was up-and-down like the proverbial tart's knickers, and the set-top box failure rate was very worrying.

Overall though, the service does still have potential, and it could still be saved. I hope it works out, if only for the good guys who are still working there....

Microsoft has a dig at Sony

Microsoft have responded to Sony's $600 pricetag for the PS3, by pointing out that many consumers will by an Xbox 360 and a Nintendo Wii for the same price instead. Microsoft Vice-President Peter Moore pointed out that many consumers will 'gravitate' to the lower priced new consoles from Sony's competitors.

How true this is will have to be seen. We all know that Sony has a massively loyal customer base on the Playstation, but their pricing of the PS3 doesn't help the cause.

It is also highly likely that the Xbox 360 will be reaching it's first price drop just before the PS3 launches, tempting those who were on the fence to plump for the better value (?) Xbox 360.

Christmas will be another very busy period for those games retailers and manufacturers!!

Xbox to have HD-DVD drive this year

Microsoft have announced that the Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive will be available by Christmas. They haven't said much more though. They have released pictures of the drive, but have given no information on if this will be available worldwide, what quantity will be available (given the launch fiasco), or what price it will be. They haven't even given any information on whether the drive supports the HDMI HDCP anti-piracy system.




They have said that the unit will play HD movies at 720p, but if it doesn't support HDCP, then many HD movies will be downgraded to standard definition.

PS3 prices revealed

Sony has announced the PS3 pricing and launch date - it will be available in Japan on the 11th November for $499 (about £330 - as previously forecast here). This price is for the basic model with a 20GB hard drive, while the 60GB version will be priced at $599.

It is anticipated that the PS3 will be available in Europe and the US less than a week later, on the 17th November to take advantage of the Christmas peak shopping period.

Sony have learnt from Microsoft, and are aiming to have 2 million units available at launch, with an additional 2 million units ready for the end of the year. When Microsoft launched the Xbox 360, there weren't enough units to satisfy demand, and is only just getting good stock levels in stores now.

The big news is that the 'cheap' PS3 doesn't have HDMI output. This is a massive blow to anyone wanting to use the console for gaming and video. The Blu-Ray DVD's will require HDMI to qualify the copy-protection, so anyone wanting to use the PS3 for films as well as playing, will have to buy the premium $599 version.

Keep tuned to Tech Babble, and we'll let you know more as soon as it is announced.

Erikkson names England squad...

...and there's a few strange ones in there!

I can understand keeping Rooney and Owen in the squad - give them every opportunity for review of fitness, but there are some odd choices:

David James - okay, a good season at City, but to me he'll always be Calamity James!
Lennon - he's had a good season, but I'd have liked to have seen Kieran Richardson as a backup left winger.
Theo Walcott - hmm - can understand this choice if we were taking 5 strikers, but with Owen and Rooney not fit, the favourite option of 4-4-2 means Crouch and Walcott. This means a striker that took 19 games to score a goal for Liverpool, and a striker who is yet to play in the premiership are our starting duo!! I have no problems with either of these starting with an established striker (such as Defoe or Johnson) but not together!!

And where is Shaun Wright Phillips? He's been playing well for Chelsea and is a great option to bring off the bench if Becks isn't looking sharp (might keep him on his toes too!). I'd also have given Ledley King an opportunity to prove his fitness, as he is a fantastic option for a defensive midfielder if we get a good early lead - just don't, for any reason, try and stick Rio there! Keep him in defence where he's good!!

Oh well, we'll see what happens. At least I have Sky HD on order now. Not going to be installed until June 20th (so I'll have missed a couple of games) but still, at least I'll get the final matches in HD!

Now all I have to do is find the right plasma screen....

NTL to cut thousands of jobs?

The BBC report that NTL may be about to cut between 4000 - 6000 jobs and outsource its call centre operations.

This is not wholly unexpected, due to the merger with Telewest, however will still be a blow ot many that work there. I personnaly worked there for 2 years, and went through many re-structures, and they are never nice. I wish all the NTL employees the best through these difficult times.

Outsourcing the call centre still feels wrong though. I know there are financial benefits (and let's face it, they have just spent nearly £1 billion on Virgin Mobile!), but this means training a whole new group of people to support their customers.

Many will say that NTL customer support couldn't be worse anyway they operate it, but NTL's systems are very complex (and the cause of many of their problems) and they have hundreds of call centre operators trained in their eccentricities. Outsourcing the call centre will mean another 6-12 months of disruption for NTL (and Telewest now?) customers and more bad feeling. They really need to concentrate on bedding these new (Telewest and Virgin Mobile) services down, before making more significant changes....

Sky HD is on the way....

...but its a long wait!

I ordered yesterday, and won't be installed until the 20th June!! No Sky, and no HD until then!!

Never mind, I suppose I have to be patient seeing as I wasn't first in the queue for it.

Still, plenty to look forward to for those of you getting it in good time, here are just a few tasters:

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith – Sky Box Office HD, Mon 22 May,
Inside…A Gunshot Victim – Sky One HD, 21.00, Mon 22 May
National Trust: National Treasures – Artsworld HD, 21.00, Mon 22 May
24 – Sky One HD, 23.00, Mon 22
May Rescue Me – Sky One HD, 23.00, Tues 23 May
Star Trek Enterprise – Sky One HD, 15.00, Tues 23 May
Wallace & Gomit In The Curse of the Were-Rabbit –Sky Box Office, Weds 24 May
Test Cricket – Sky Sports HD, Thursday 25 May, 10.30
LIVE – England v Sri Lanka 2nd Test
Independence Day – Sky Movies 9 HD, Friday 26 May
Face to Face With the Ice Bear – National Geogrphic HD, 20.00, Friday 26 May
Rugby Union – Sky Box Office, Sat 27 May – Guinness Premiership Final

Not that I'll see any of that, but always good to see what is there. Great to see a Star Wars film on day one, and 24 in HD - now we're talking!!

Sony delays Blu-Ray movie launch

Sony has announced that it is delaying the launch of its Blu-Ray disc Movie launch until the 20th June. The launch was originally supposed to be on the 23rd May, but has slipped back a month.

This is not due to any failing on the disc or encoding side, but rather that the first Blu-Ray player from Samsung (the BD-P1000) has also been delayed, to the 25th June.

Sony recognises that there is little point in having the films available before there is anything to watch them on, so have moved the launch back.

This makes sense, as there would be press hype around the fact that the movies are available, but you can't watch them, whereas if they are released in June, the hype can be about the hardware and the films, hopefully providing wider coverage.

The launch line up for Blu-Ray DVD is anticipated to be:

Underworld Evolution,
50 First Dates,
The Fifth Element,
Hitch,
House of Flying Daggers,
A Knight's Tale,
The Last Waltz,
Resident Evil Apocalypse
XXX