Today Sky has announced a whole range of brand new products to see in 2012 that have been introduced by the company to give customers more choice when it comes to what they watch and where they watch it.

Here's a rundown of all the new, good stuff we're pretty excited about:

The launch of a new internet TV service

Sky will be launching a new service that allows customers to watch movies, sports and TV shows over the internet. It'll give them instant access to a range of Sky content, starting with all kinds of films. The best thing about Sky's new internet TV offering is that it'll be available across a range of devices, from connected TVs and PCs to phones and games consoles.

According to Sky the internet TV service will be launching at some point in the first half of the year and will be available to anyone in the UK with a broadband connection.

A beefed up broadband offering

Sky plans on extending its broadband network to reach even more UK homes, meaning its service will be available to 88% of the UK by summer.

Sky also wants you to feel like you're cared for when you're out and about too, so will be offering free WiFi at 10,000 hotspots across the UK in places like Cafe Nero and Pizza Express to anyone that needs it.

Sky Anytime+ gets BBC iPlayer and ITV Player

Like Sky's broadband offering, its video on-demand service, Sky Anytime+, will be available to many more homes this coming year.

BBC iPlayer and ITV Player will also be added to the Anytime+ package later this year and the service will be available to all Sky+HD homes with an internet connection.

Sky Go launches on Android

Sky's TV service for paying customers will be available on the Android market at the end of February. The app will soon allow users to view sports channels, news channels, movie channels and a range of entertainment channels too.

We're still not sure whether a big Sky package is worth it if you're on a fairly tight budget, but all of these new announcements certainly make the rather steep price tag much more worth while. And we're obviously also happy to see a few free offerings thrown in there too. We love a good freebie.

Specialist TV manufacturer FinLux has recently launched a brand new range of products that aren't all-singing, all-dancing ground-breaking TVs, but do give you a pretty sound device with an affordable price tag.

We had the chance to try out one of the new 32" TVs and found it was really easy to set up, which is great when all you want to do is lay down and have movies pumped into your eyes.

It has all the regular features you'd expect from a modern day TV, its HD ready, has built-in Freeview, 2 HDMI cables and a USB port for just £249, which is pretty good considering you'd be paying nearly double that for a household name TV.

The design is pretty sleek and standard too, but we'd definitely change the remote if we had the chance. It's nearly as big as a human being's forearm, which is annoying and a bit weird.

Although we're pretty impressed with the new range, we're much more intrigued by FinLux's mascot, a weird guy in a vest top and underpants called Fin Lux.

Granted this strategy doesn't always work, but we've seen brands introduce quirky mascots before in the past to great effect, like Aleksandr Orlov or the smooth Old Spice guy, so the question is does Fin Lux have what it takes to compete? Maybe. We certainly think his hat is pretty cool.

You can read some of Fin Lux's insightful ramblings on the FinLux Facebook page, we personally love "It's Christmas time. In Finland it snow. What do you want for Christmas?" as well as win a TV in the brand's most recent giveaway.

Related: Beef up your TV for Christmas with the Orbitsound T12v3 soundbar

Last night we went along with our friends at Tech Digest to see the premiere of Sky 3D's latest movie, The Bachelor King 3D. The movie tracks the trials and triumphs of a King penguin from adolescence to adulthood and it's narrated by natural history legend, Sir David Attenborough.

Gerald from Tech Digest got the chance to shake Sir David's hand and even had his photo taken with him (jealous), so read on for his take on The Bachelor King...

You'd expect nothing less from an Attenborough flick, but The Bachelor King 3D, shot on the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia, is particularly beautiful, in no small part thanks to the 3D work employed. From underwater chases with Orca whales to sweeping shots of hundreds of thousands of penguins protecting their brood in the harshest climate on the planet, it's funny, tragic, and touching, giving an informative look at these charming birds.

It's the second time Attenborough has been commissioned by Sky 3D, following last year's Flying Monsters 3D movie. But 3D natural history movies come with their own shooting challenges.

"Technically it is impossible to use a long telephoto lens, the reason being that a 3D camera mimics the human eye and has two cameras close together with the same kind of separation as our own" said Attenborough.

"If you shut one eye when looking at something that's close to you, you get one view, shut the other you get another view. The brain puts those two together.

"If you're looking at something on the other side of this theatre, you would see no difference. The way that you would get a stereo image is to separate the two components further.

"But when you do that...they have different backgrounds so it won't go together. So with the state-of-the-art at the moment it's not possible to use long lenses. And that is a very considerable problem when it comes to natural history programming."

However, that's not to undermine the importance of Attenborough's films. When asked by Tech Digest whether his two roles as both naturalist and broadcaster ever came into conflict, Attenborough answered:

"Broadcasting has given natural history a chance to reach audiences it never ever could before. Particularly these days, when according to the United Nations over half the population of this globe is now urbanised. This means to a greater of lesser extent, they're living without contact to nature.

"Some people wont see a single wild creature from dawn to dusk, apart from a pigeon or a rat! But it's crucially important for our own welfare that we understand the natural world. Natural history is not just a pastime, it's an essential part of someone's comprehension of the world in which we live, and we depend upon that world.

"I believe broadcasting has a very important function in keeping natural history in the awareness of an ever increasingly urban population."

The Bachelor King 3D will air exclusively on Sky 3D at 8pm on New Years Eve, 31st December. It will then have a theatrical release, before returning to Sky 3D in 2012.

[Via Tech Digest]

If you've got a 3D TV at home (or know your room mate/brother/boyfriend may be getting one at Christmas) there's a good chance you'll be forced to watch all kinds of movies on it over the festive period.

Many brands and manufacturers have tried to create 3D glasses that are comfortable and look good too, but these new frames from Marchon3D are our current favourites.

The Marchon3D EX3D series are well designed glasses that feature leading 3D technology, allowing you to watch high-definition, 3D films in style.

They look much better than those huge things you used to get at the cinema because they've been designed by the same team who create sunglasses for big fashion brands like Calvin Klein, Lacoste and Karl Lagerfeld.

However, the glasses aren't just fluffy fashion products for women, there are 25 different models and many for men's and kids' heads too, so if you're feeling extra specially generous they'd make a good stocking filler for someone who's also getting a 3D TV or Blu-ray player this year.

Available from EX3D for $35 and they're also available at electronic retailers in the UK.

You'd imagine that when it comes to the possessions we value the most our houses and cars would be right up there. But, it seems that young people in the UK are more willing to invest in a fancy new TV than they are in a car nowadays.

A recent study carried out by MyVoucherCodes.co.uk has found that more than 30% of Brits under 30 spent a lot more on their current TV than they did on their first car.

This could well be a testament to the different kinds of finance deals offered by electronic retailers, or maybe people just prefer to sit in and watch movies all day rather than actually, you know, go anywhere.

A total of 1,993 adults aged between 18 and 30 took part in the poll.

Yesterday we went along to the CES Unveiled event in London to see some of the hot new tech products that are set to hit the European market in the next few months.

There were all kinds of amazing gadgets on display (which we'll be reviewing and including in Christmas gift guides over the next few weeks), but the Ferguson Hill stand stood out the most because its products just look so damn good.

The British loudspeaker specialist already has a very innovative range of speakers and other audio solutions that you really can't miss, as most of them have the unique and sleek transparent horn design.

However the brand's latest offering, the FHOO9 Home Theatre System, is probably the best looking home theatre system we've EVER seen.

The system's unique design and its horn speakers eliminate the interference that can come with standard encased or boxed systems and the horn loaded drivers allow sounds to be easily magnified at the frequency range the human ear is more sensitive to. So basically the quirky little horns are specially designed to produce a natural, clear and high-quality sound.

Although we're very glad the FHOO9 system produces great sound (because after all that's what they're made for, right?), we can't deny that it's the design that drew us over to the quirky horns in the first place.

Tim Hill, the founder of Ferguson Hill, said:

'More and more people are now investing in home cinema and consumers are for a design aesthetic that really stands out. This was the inspiration for the FH009, to produce a fantastic sounding home theatre system that also looked beautiful. I wanted to create very minimal looking speakers that would complement the living space whilst also making a statement. The signature horn shape is a nod to the classic horn speakers of 1930's cinema which I think lends the FH009 an air of grace and style."

The FHOO9 Home Theatre System isn't available just yet, but will be on www.fergusonhill.co.uk next month priced for £795.95.

If you're a big stylus fan then you're in luck. Not only can you get the little guys in all shapes, sizes and colours nowadays for your phone, tablet or computer, but you can also use one to control your TV too.

LG has unveiled a range of plasma HDTVs that allow you to use a special stylus to surf the interwebz and create and control all kinds of content on the screen.

The first model, the PenTouchTV, has a range of interesting features, including two-pen mode, an impressive suite of fancy, stylus-enabled software and a protective, scratch-free glass screen, which seems necessary given you're going to be scribbling all over it.

According to Engadget, the PenTouchTV may only be available in the US for the time being, and will cost around $2,199 for a 3D model and $1,699 for a regular model.

Having just reviewed the LG Optimus 3D - a phone with stereoscopic 3D cameras and a 3D screen I got to thinking about 3D technology.

About two years ago, the 3D film Avatar came out, made millions at the box office and got everybody going crazy for adding in an extra dimension. And not just film directors - tech companies envisioned it as a new must-have feature and started building 3D capabilities into TVs, computers, phones and cameras.

2011's Mobile World Congress was awash with 3D enabled devices including the LG phone we mention above, and the new Nintendo 3DS which packs a glasses-free 3D screen.

They come with glasses, without glasses, with passive 3D technology, with active 3D technology - and all with hefty price tags.

But do we want them?

After an initial rush of interest, 3D gadgets have been one of the casualties of the cut-backs. The rich and curious bought some when they first came out. But for the past 6 months, they have been sitting on shelves as customers worry about nausea, eye fatigue and whether there's enough 3D content on TV to justify the purchase. Despite predicted sales of 2million for 3D-enabled devices in 2010, only 1.1 million units sold, according to Wired.

In contrast internet-enabled having been selling well - customers seeing much clearer benefits to an internet connection.

The future of 3D tech? I guess it will pick up a bit. But on my part I'll put my money on 3D augmented reality holograms - that I would pay good money for. Though I expect I'll be waiting for those for a while.

In the meantime I suspect 3D tech will be confined to the luxury end of the market - millionaires who like their nature documentaries in 3D. And more great 3D films hopefully. Oh and the porn industry probably.. [see The real use for 3D TV technology? - the porn industry]

Any thoughts? Let us know..

Some interesting stats today about what we're all doing with our free time and internet-enabled devices. Not surprisingly, it shows that we're all pretty much hardwired into the net. In particular, 37% of adults and 60% of teenagers described themselves as "addicted" to their smartphones.

One finding though that goes a different direction shows that - for the first time in years - live TV watching has increased. Yep, you read that right. According to research carried out by UKOM/Neilsen time-shifted TV viewing, using digital video recorders, made up 14% of all viewing time in 2010. The interesting part is that it is 1% lower than the previous year, a fall for the first time.

I also think that it is very likely that the figure will fall even further in 2011 - here's why.

1 The popularity of Live TV - There's a list today in the Metro of the most watched Saturday night TV shows and as you may have already guessed they are all live shows. Watch Britain's Got Talent, X Factor, Strictly a few hours later and you miss half the experience. We have become addicted to live TV once again. I wonder if there's an analogy here with live music. It is all about being there isn't it?

2 Twitter - As you know all too well one way to massively increase your enjoyment of any TV show is to see what the rest of the world thinks about it via Twitter. I haven't seen any figures for the number of people tweeting during live shows, but the hashtag frenzy around live shows, sports events and even Question Time suggests micro blogging is seriously affecting our TV consumption.

3 Big live events - Well last year we had the World Cup, but this year we have been glued to live TV. Some good (Royal Wedding, NOTWgate, Steve Coogan on Newsnight) some not so good (Arab Spring reaction, Japanese Tsunami, Norway).

It'll be fascinating to see what the recorded viewing figures are for next year. I don't think we'll be chucking away our Sky + boxes just yet, but they are certainly not working quite as hard as they used to.

Go Steve.

See Top 30 Saturday night TV programmes

After a rapid uptake in 2010, it seems that sales of 3D TVs have slowed right down. It's no longer a key selling point for consumers buying a TV - who prefer stuff like internet connectivity. But will people continue to shell out for the magic of 3D football, 3D games or uh 3D internet provided sexytime? Will you? Tell us.

Related: The real use for 3D TV technology - the porn industry

We've already seen the weighing scales that connect up to your phone, but the company behind the best-connected scales in the world have just decided to link them up to something else - the TV.

That means you get the shame - or err motivation - of seeing your weight flashed up on the telly in the sitting room after the end of The Only Way is Essex.

First things first - you need both a WiThings scales set and then a Panasonic Viera TV complete with Viera apps store. For the time being, this is not for the masses. However, if you are in the lucky position of owning both those things and have a nice home wifi system - the main advantage from the tie-in is having a nice big screen to view all your vital data on.

Otherwise, we're sorry to say - this is a bit of a gimmick. The scales themselves are fun though if you're into data-crunching and self-measuring...

We quote:

"The WiFi Body Scale is a revolutionary product that transforms an ordinary bathroom scale into an automatic weight tracking device for up to 8 people. It wirelessly records a user's body weight, lean & fat mass, and calculated body mass index (BMI) onto his/her own secure webpage and/or free Withings iPhone application, WiScale. Now, this data dashboard can be easily accessed directly from the VIERA Connect™ menu page with just one button."

See more on Withings

A few numbers for you to mull over if you can tear yourself away from watching Youtube and playing Angry Birds -

It seems we all spend waaay too much time watching Youtube videos and playing Angry Birds.

PREPARE FOR THE TRUTH

1) In one month (April) - Britons watched 11,000 years worth of online video. Each of us sees on average 7 minutes of online footage everyday. The main video source was Youtube, with iPlayer, Vevo and Facebook being the next big video destinations.

2) Globally, we spend 2 million minutes a day playing Angry Birds, or 46 years a month.

The stats are less mind-boggling for Angry Birds - and we are talking globally here. But considering this is just one app among thousands, it is indicative of the amount of man, and woman-hours spent on gaming apps. Both figures do go to show we spend a lot of time fucking around.

These are the sort of figures that cause the worriers among us to worry that the human race will never get anything useful done ever again because we get too easily distracted by videos of cats and silly games about pigs.

Clay Shirky's influential theory of "Cognitive Surplus" - postulated that thanks to the internet, humans beings would spend their spare time putting together useful collaborative projects like Wikipedia. Figures like these do give a bit of perspective to this. Just think what we could achieve if we didn't spend so much time watching Lady Gaga parodies..

We are spending a lot of our spare time doing markedly unuseful things as this Nieman Journalism article confirms.

I'm just glad I haven't seen the statistics for time spent playing Farmville. That would depress the most optimistic among us...

If like me, you were surprised - no - outraged, that the boys' app bombed on The Apprentice last night, then you may have chalked up the failure of Slang-A-Tang to that guy on Wired getting upset by regional mockery, and tipping the PR balance in favour of the girls' offering - Ampi-App.

Or as Lord Sugar pointed out in his boardroom - maybe the the product just wasn't as good.

First things first, neither ideas or apps were good: both were gimmicky and annoying and much closer to the fart apps that fill the App Store than gems like WordLens or Pulse or Flipboard or Camera+. Slangatang was a collection of phrases in regional accents, Ampi-App was a bunch of annoying noises that you can use to annoy your friends...

But I think the girls' one was just slightly better. They only had one idea, but they did do some market research. And I think it paid off - just.

The boys thought of a funny thing, did it better and sold it better

But the girls thought of the situation in which people would use the app: err, when you want to annoy your friends - you know - and that, I think is what makes an app slightly better.

At what point in your day would you decide to pull out your phone and listen to a series of regional phrases? Er, none that I can think of. And okay, while you might not always want to annoy your friends, it fits your phone into a social context.

With apps always you have to think of the USER and the USER SITUATION. Then you also have to factor in that idiots buy crap.

Still! A lesson learned..

Thrilled to hear that the new series of the Apprentice starting this Wednesday features contestants battling it out to create great apps.

In the second episode of Series 7, showing on Wednesday 11th May, the contestants have to pitch an app to the staff of Wired magazine and convince some gamers at a conference.

The BBC website describes the episode:

"An early morning delivery sends the candidates into the fast-paced world of technology. Lord Sugar challenges the teams to think big and go global as they must design, launch and promote a new mobile phone application."

Seems to be only Android and Blackberry apps being pitched though - apparently Lord Sugar hates Apple.

A friend who has watched the first two episodes says that the contestants' app ideas are dreadful. Err right - no surprises there I guess. I suppose we weren't exactly expecting the next Shazam or Hipstamatic.

Still - well keen to watch this one..

The Mobile Phone Application, episode 2 of Series 7 of The Apprentice will be showing on Wed 11 May 2011, 21:00 on BBC One

Looking forward to seeing the elbow of an Olympics boxing champion pop out of the screen at you? It seems a lot of us are. A survey by TV-makers LG found that the Olympics will be what it takes to get over a third of us buying into the 3D TV trend and shelling out for an enabled TV set.

LG say they found that 37% of Britons say that the 2012 Olympics will tempt them to buy a 3D TV next year, with another 25% saying that the Euro 2012 would also make them consider it.

Since it looks like tickets for the actual events will sell out super fast, getting the screen in 3D could be the best way to see the action.

However, bear in mind that some sports look a lot better than others on the 3D screens: check out - 3 Sports that look good on 3D TV, and 3 that don't...

I'm still a sceptic about the technology though, for a variety of reasons:
For starters: Can 3D TV make you feel a bit sick?
And also for the reasons I explored here: The real use for 3D TV technology - the porn industry

It has been noted - largely by the porn industry - that porn has really led the way with 3D TV. They have been early adopters of the technology.

The first 3D porn film opened in China over the weekend - to a rapturous reception. Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy cost $2m and uh - it sounds like they made full use of the extra dimension. "It will leave audiences feeling like they are sitting right there at the edge of the bed" said writer Stephen Shiu.

US soft porn mag Penthouse have bankrolled one of the first 3D TV channels to open in the US... and we've documented the introduction of 3D webcam chat in speciality British site Swinger's Heaven, another technological first, and then there's also the 3D version of classic sex instruction video The Lover's Guide.

Obviously the tech companies behind the glossy big 3D screens are playing down their association with the porn industries - preferring to highlight how great boxing matches and nature documentaries look on it, but I was at a talk by renowned British film-maker Mike Figgis over the weekend and he brought up the porn thing all over again.

After discussing the state of the British film industry, the impact of Youtube and the internet and how the funding machine in Hollywood works - someone asked about 3D films and Figgis was pretty scathing about the effect it had on film quality... He said film-makers were just beginning to build up a really interesting language of focus and camera effects and that 3D gave directors way less control because the centre of the image always had to be in focus allowing for much less director's input.

But he added that the tech had found its natural partner with the porn industry and that it really wasn't surprising that they have taken it up so enthusiastically..

Figgis said that the trend towards three dimensional images marked a shift back to the kitschy in film-making - an attempt to make films seem as real as possible, hiding the fact that they are highly manufactured products. Figgis said he preferred a more honest stance from film-makers where the artifice is foregrounded and films are seen more as works of art.

It would look great in Sherlock Holmes' stuffed home, this TV. 75 years old, what is the oldest working TV in Britain and possibly even the world, could now be yours.

The Marconiphone 702 TV is thought to be the result of secret research into military radars - it now goes to auction on 19th April at Bonhams auction house in London. It has an official estimated sales price of £5,000, but commentators has it going for 'much more'.

The wooden gadget has an 12-inch screen, and works by having the image reflected on a mirror in the lid. It's mostly original parts too - 30% of it had to be replaced to get it working though. It will working with a Freeview box, even.

[via Engadget]

The adult entertainment industries have never been slow in making use of the latest technologies... and 3D TV has had particularly high levels of interest. We'll let you use your imagination as to why that is.

Sex advice video The Lover's Guide - a 1991 film - is the latest to get a 3D update. Featuring 4 heterosexual couples it's aimed at couples trying to reignite their sex lives, in a remake with new actors, and a 3D film set up. The Guardian describe it as a "sensible, explicit how-to for heterosexual couples".

And the 3D is no gimmick we're told...

"Here the audience is engaged with a never-before-seen sense of intimacy and massively richer viewpoint." say distributors ThinkJam.

Well, if that sounds like a good Valentine's movie to you, then you'll be glad to hear it's out today on Blu-Ray 3D DVD. It's also in cinemas in the UK.

THE LOVER'S GUIDE 3D - IGNITING DESIRE: HOW TO HAVE THE BEST SEX OF YOUR LIFE will debut in UK cinemas in January 2011 and be available on DVD and in full stereoscopic 3D Blu-ray on 7 February in time for Valentine's Day.

Blu-ray DVD is £15.99
Blu-ray +3D DVD is £24.99

Related: 3 Sports that look good on 3D TV, and 3 that don't...

Google TV is famous for being one of the geekiest efforts to bring the internet to the TV. The £399 Google TV system requires a remote control that looks like a keyboard to get the maximum use out of the wired up television.

One of the first attempts at making a remote control for Google TV was described as more complicated than the control panel for an aircraft, but the market is open for other third party manufacturers to try their hand at making them and the EFO Mini Wireless Keyboard is a nice example of the range on offer.

Yes - it looks like a keyboard again but though it might take you a little while to get used to it, it does actually look at bit simpler than the Sony one (below). And its similarity to a laptop keyboard is an advantage because we all are familiar with what to do with those.

It's also quite a lot smaller than its competitors..

They say:
"The EFO Mini Wireless Keyboard is specially designed for Google TV with a full set of keys (standard keyboard layout and special keys for supporting Google TV set top box) at a miniature size.

"It can easily manage those inputs required by internet TV watching as well as web surfing through the Google TV set top box. Besides that, it is also a Multi-Touch Pad for Windows, Linux, Mac, game stations, etc."

I doubt many of you have Google TV yet, but if you do, consider this remote..

The EFO Mini Wireless Keyboard is $65 for one with a radiofrequency connection on efo.com
or $75 for a Bluetooth connection on efo.com
(bluetooth provides a stronger connection, but only up to 10m)

Related: The TV Remote you need a PhD to use - Google TV has a few lessons to learn

We don't flinch from the seedier aspects of technology... and we always knew someone was going to take 3D TV to its natural conclusion: a 3D Swinger webcam chatroom.

3D isn't just for Disney moves about Yogi Bear, and almost inevitably it has been enlisted in the internet's insatiable appetite for naked webcam chats. Swingingheaven.co.uk say they have invested a substantial amount of money developing their new chat room technology that is now 3D compatible.

Don't worry that you need a full 3D set to make this work, SwingingHeaven.co.uk CEO says that you just need to own a pair of 3D glasses and the host to own a 3D camera, both easily purchased from any high street electronics retailer.

We'd better let them explain what the advantages are in their own words...

"Initial users have had a great deal of fun testing the new service. Many of them have complained about being addicted to using it and say it gives them a far better perspective on what they are viewing."

Chatroulette next we hope.

So the link's below but let me just give you a quick warning, ****<>****** (though there aren't any pictures on the home page:)SwingingHeaven.co.uk

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