Into Tech

Europe’s commercial launcher, the Ariane 5, puts a two-satellite nine-tonne payload in orbit.

I realise there’s a lot of acronyms in that headline but bear with me. The BBC has just gotten permission from its overlords – the BBC Trust – to do a deal with a minor demon (ITV) in an effort to claw back some of the fledgling high-def TV market (HDTV) market from the Lord of Darkness itself (Sky).

The service, called Freesat, will launch next Spring and will offer consumers 200 channels of standard and high-def material with no subscription fees. Woo-hoo! Consumers will have a choice of equipment including both SD and HD receivers, a HD personal video recorder and an integrated digital television. This is good news and provides at least some form of future-proofing for Freeview. The Freesat service promises to fill any current Freeview coverage gaps and, as mentioned, will have no subscription charges.

Since I’m just about to pop my HD cherry with pricey Sky HD, I just wish they could have moved a bit quicker. How much the Freesat dish and installation will cost though, is still a mite fuzzy.-Martin Lynch

HDTV BBC TV Sky ITV

India’s first commercial space launch blasts off and will shortly put an Italian satellite into orbit.

There are times when even the most funky of technologies screws up. Take Google Maps, for instance, which has been lauded and criticised for allowing people to improperly use billion-dollar satellite equipment to spy on people shagging in their backyards, or other dubious uses of the zoom function.

However, all that can be forgiven if something puts a big, shit-eating grin on your face. Try this:

1. Go to Google

5. Scroll down to direction No: 23 and read

Have a nice day

Thanks to Dara for the heads-up.-Martin Lynch

google travel internet fun

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A solar eruption in December
disrupted the Global Positioning System, a satellite-based
navigational system used widely by the military, scientists and
civilians, researchers reported on Wednesday.

Scientists will put satellite tags on walruses to try to understand where the great beasts migrate.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.
will launch its backseat television service exclusively in
several DaimlerChrysler cars and minivans later this
year, the companies said on Thursday.

A satellite navigation system is being tested in northern Italy to help blind people find their way.

Making its debut at Texas’ SXSW music fest is Slacker, a new hybrid music service that delivers music online, via satellite, or from any wireless hotspot. It’s a pretty big package so we’ll break it down to its simplest forms. So first let’s check out the service. It’s already up and running and free to anyone after a quick sign up. The service makes money through video ads, so naturally there’s also a premium plan sans ads that goes for $7.50/month. Users in both camps can tune into any Slacker station (their DJs cover all the genres just like XM and Sirius) and you can vote to “heart” or “ban” songs from the station’s playlist by simply pressing the appropriate icon. As an extra perk, you can also republish your music channels to your blog/website. Next comes the device, a sexy little player with enough features to put many of today’s DAPs to shame….

It’ll debut this summer in sizes ranging from 2GB to 120GB (prices will range from $150 to $350). It’ll have a 4-inch screen with a touch-sensitive side strip for scrolling through your music. Like any other DAP, It’ll play WMAs, WMVs, MP3s, etc, all of which you can load onto the player via USB. Here’s where things get interesting. The device will also have built-in Wi-Fi so it’ll sync up with your personalized Slacker stations wirelessy. You’ll then be able to listen to them from any hotspot. Alternatively, you can listen to Slacker via a satellite broadcast system (you’ll need the optional Slacker “car kit” for this) that’ll beam the music to your player from unused commercial satellites. This is Slacker’s own proprietary technology here at work, so you’re not relying on Slacker’s own satellites here.

So after spending the morning personalizing a few Slacker stations, I got a decent feel for the service. Quality-wise, music plays hiccup free with no lags or delays (and very little video ads, at least for now). More importantly, music sounds awesome for an online station. I’m not talking audiophile quality, but still pretty damn good. I found banning songs from stations to be pretty addictive/fun (free members can only ban 6 songs/hour) and I’m guessing this is how Slacker will rope people into paying for the premium service. Slacker’s real test will come with the debut of their player. Is there a market for another DAP and will the Wi-Fi feature work as promised? If they deliver on the hardware front, they can consider me a full member. This is one space you’ll definitely want to stay in tune with. – Louis Ramirez

Product Page [via Orbitcast]

These TIE Fighter speakers come to us from a company called Question Mark Entertainment, and as far as their specs go, that company name is just about right. We have no idea what sort of drivers are in these two, dare we say, satellite speakers and their accompanying subwoofer, but if looks could kill, our Death Star would be completely exploding just about now.

Hit up the jump for another view of these speakers that look realistic enough to have some tiny bad guys inside, but looks aren’t everything—let’s hope they sound good enough so we won’t want to immediately shoot them down. Plus, we’ll solve part of the mystery of this company that’s a bit more than a Question Mark, after the jump.

The purveyor of these cool-looking speakers is not quite completely mysterious, because we’ve seen products from this Question Mark Entertainment group before, namely its Motion Speaker with its kooky disco lighting and motion-sensitive volume control.

Question Mark Entertainment is no stranger to Star Wars gear, either, introducing its R2D2 Skype Webcam and the R2D2 DVD Projector at CES in January.

These TIE Fighter speakers are just out of the prototype stage, and will be rolled out at CeBIT, the big consumer electronics confab in Hannover, Germany that starts tomorrow. – Charlie White

Manufacturer’s Site [Question Mark Entertainment]