YouView’s Catch-Up TV Service Comes to U.K. Later This Month for £299

It’s taken over two years to arrive, but YouView’s TV catch-up service is finally coming to the U.K. later this month. The £299 (approx. $468) set-top box brings together the streaming services from the U.K.’s biggest TV and broadband companies — including the BBC, BT, ITV, Five, and Channel 4.

It’s likely those partners will grow rapidly, too. YouView said at today’s launch event in the U.K. that over 300 content partners have expressed their interest in the service, and other catch-up services including Sky’s Now TV and STV are already in the pipeline. YouView is also encouraging other content providers to register their interest from today.

YouView will initially be available via a set-top box built by Humax, but a BT-branded alternative is expected to arrive later this year. There’s also a possibility that as the service grows, it will be integrated into Smart TVs — just like Freeview HD has.

As a Brit who has used many of these catch-up services at one time or another, I must say that YouView sounds like a great idea. But in reality, it could struggle to find success in today’s market. AsThe Next Web notes, YouView’s two-year wait has allowed the likes of Sky and Virgin Media to launch attractive catch-up services of their own, which can also be accessed via mobile devices like smartphones and tablets.

There is also the issue of that £299 price tag, which will likely prove to be YouView’s biggest problem. With many of these catch-up services available for free on Internet-connected devices like computers, mobile devices, consoles, and Smart TVs, how many people or going to spend £299 for a box that simply puts them all in one place?

Facebook Adding “Want” button?

Facebook has entirely revolutionized the word LIKE,the next word possibly would be “want”.Noted developer  Tom Waddington located some code within the Facebook Javascript SDK that pointed to the development of a “want” button. So what is the use of this want button??

For Companies

Waddington speculates that Facebook could build a universal wishlist that could be queried by other apps through the Graph API.This new  option would  be helpful for Facebook’s ad partners. You add a product to your Facebook wishlist in your profile and the company that produces it or e-commerce websites could serve up discounts- or just keep tabs on interest or show the link to your friend on your birthday so that he can gift you that product.

For users

It ill be a added advantage for users as they need not go nuts selecting the gifts for birthday or another special occasion.This facility is like wishlist/wantlist available in leading e-commerce websites like eBay,you want or wish to buy something you can add it to the list,later whenever you have money you can review the list and get one.This will be really great feature when its implemented because other social networking sites like twitter or G+ doesn’t have this important feature like this.

When asked about the feature, a Facebook spokeswoman said “we’re always testing new Platform features, however we have nothing new to announce.”

Lets see when facebook reveals this button,

If you want to add a button what button will you add?? my choice would be hate button,leave your choice below

Google I/O keynote roundup: Project Glass, Nexus 7, Nexus Q and Jelly Bean

Did you keep up with everything Google announced at today's I/O keynote? Believe us, we had a difficult time too. Covering everything from Jelly Bean to jumping out of perfectly good airplanes, there was plenty to keep the audience oohing and ahhing. It makes sense to have this plethora of news in one handy place, right? After the break you'll find every piece of action that Sergey and Friends covered in Moscone West this morning -- as well as the video of the keynote -- so make sure to save a little extra time for yourself to enjoy every last bit of it.

Analyst predicts Apple iPhone 5 to be a true world phone when launched

With the Worldwide Developers Conference out of the way and Apple successfully unveiling their MacBook Pro with a Retina Display, all eyes are now focusing on the brand’s next hardware announcement, which is highly expected to be that of the iPhone 5. Since Apple stuck with the same design for the iPhone 4S, a lot of talk surrounding the design of the upcoming iPhone has been surfacing. However, there is also interest generating as to what other features will be thrown into it. Commenting on this is a report by CNET, which states that the next iPhone will be a true 3G/ 4G world phone, along with having significant improvements over the iPhone 4S.

The report states, “The sixth-generation iPhone is expected to sport three big improvements, says analyst Shaw Wu. Picking up intel from suppliers, Wu sees a new form factor, a slightly larger screen, and 4G LTE support built into Apple's next flagship phone. These features should help the upcoming iPhone outscore the iPhone 4 and 4S at picking up new customers and enticing existing ones to upgrade.”




There has been a lot of talk about iOS 6 and how it will benefit China. The country has the biggest smartphone market in the world and Apple plans to offer services that cater specifically to the country. At the Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple had announced that Siri could now understand Mandarin and Cantonese, so one would expect the iPhone 5 to adopt specifications that can work well on a global scale and not just cater to the U.S audiences. According to the report, “The phone (iPhone5) will work with China Mobile's proprietary TD-SCDMA 3G network, says the analyst. Both China Mobile and China Unicom have been testing 4G LTE. But full adoption of LTE is a few years away, so support for 3G is crucial if Apple is to gain further traction in the Chinese market.” Wu goes on to state that by combining iOS 6 with the iPhone 5, Apple will be a few steps closer to offering the iPhone on China Mobile.

The other major news surrounding the upcoming iPhone pertains to the redesign that it is expected to feature. The screen size of the iPhone has remained the same, since it was first launched. Apple is expected to increase the size of the display to 4-inch diagonally. While the width will not change, the brand will raise the height, thereby giving it an aspect ratio of 1136 x 640.

Other major changes include the relocation of the headphone jack from the top to the bottom, the redesigned speaker grille and the connector dock. With the possible change in design, we can also see that Apple will change the design of the dock connector at the bottom and it will be a lot smaller in comparison. This change is believed that is to be implemented is done in order to fit the handset with LTE capabilities.

Military hunting smartphone safety to hold off enemy bugs, spooks

Ah, smartphones -- the delightful little slates carry our contacts, our content -- even our cash, and they still fit right in our pockets. No surprise then, that a lost or stolen phone can be a minor disaster -- or a major security risk (just ask the President). Now that soldiers are packing them to send GPS coordinates or situational images in the field -- on top of using them at home -- DARPA has enlisted security company Invincea to fortify the devices. Its first effort, encrypting OS files and filling the memory of a lost phone with worthless data, has already been deployed to 3,000 troops in Afghanistan. Its next target is to cloister apps into virtual rooms within the OS, locking off access to sensitive parts of the phone like its GPS or contact lists. That would keep any nasty bits of malware from potentially gaining root privileges so soldiers can fight, and Facebook, without compromise.

Firefox teases something 'big' coming for Android next week

There's been a steady flow of betas for Firefox's Android offering and now the official Twitter account promises something "big" on the way next week, along with this image. The size declaration plus a lack of updated features (specifically Flash support) on tablets so far has us looking there for something new, although the image clearly shows a phone with the words "Fast. Smart. Safe." Also curious is an update for the Firefox beta on Android today which the Twitter account also admonishes those looking for an early preview of next week's news to check out. Finally, there's the timing, as Firefox's main browser rival Chrome has been rumored to be taking over as the standard bearer in Android Jelly Bean next week during Google I/O. Leave all relevant speculation or information in the comments below.

Flashback Friday: Microsoft’s Original Surface

If the name “Surface” seemed familiar to this week when Microsoft introduced its new line of tablets, there was a reason for that.

Back in 2008 Microsoft released the Surface which was, at the time, a table-sized interface that could be used in businesses for a host of different situations. The dream wast that some day these devices would be in homes everywhere, but that always seemed a bit far-fetched to most pundits out there.

In 2011 the name of the software changed to PixelSense and no one seemed to think too much about the name change. Now we learn in 2012 that the reason for this was the company planned to repurpose the title for another use.  With the exception of the touch interface, this doesn’t even feel like a spiritual successor to the original concept, but the name is Microsoft’s to do with as it pleases.

There is still a part of me that would like to see the Surface tables show up in more locations.