A few new series coming soon

A few high profile series will be appearing over the next month or so. On Monday Oct 3rd Terra Nova debuts. Never too excited about dinosaurs myself, but it will appeal to some I'm sure, and hopefully it will start better than Mr Spielberg's other recent Exec Prod series Falling Skies, which took a while to get going. Sky 1HD also has a homegrown comedy series, Spy, starting later this month. This looks quite good from the trailers they're now running. Another series coming soon is American Horror Story, a supernatural drama created by Ryan Murphy (Nip/Tuck, Glee) and Brad Falchuck (Glee), starring Dylan McDermott, Connie Britton and Jessica Lange. The trailer here is for the US premiere - it won't arrive here until November. And if you like that kind of thing, check out The Fades on BBCHD which started a couple of weeks ago but is still on iPlayer - creepy stuff.

Upgrading to TiVo?

Activation is free on the first box, so a 500mb TiVo is now free (if you ignore the £3 a month) and the 1tb beauty if £49. Details on Virgin Media's site 
(Note that the small print says that  this is only for the first TiVo on each account and upgrading any more will still incur the £49.95 activation charge. That V+ in the bedroom can't be swapped for a free TiVo. At least, not yet.)

Sky Classic Movies HD, Eden HD, Dave HD, Watch HD and Good Food HD all announced

A promotional screen for Sky Classics HD has appeared on channel 441. Media Boy has also written that we can expect the following changes to accomodate Eden HD and Good Food HD:  
Yesterday +1 on Virgin Channel 204.  
Eden HD on Virgin Channel 209.
Eden +1 on Virgin Channel 210.  
Good Food HD on Virgin Channel 261.

UPDATE FROM MEDIA BOY:
Media Boy has published the following October activities from his sources:
Oct 1st. Virgin Media are going to move Sky Premium HD Channels from £7 per box to £7 per account.
Sky Movies Collection customers will get a £2 reduction on Virgin Media (but not to viewers who have got Sky Sports with it or just one Sky Movies Channel package).
Virgin Media customers who have Sky Movies Collection with the TV M package will see their cost being cut by £2 to £26.00.
Virgin Media customers who have Sky Movies Collection with the TV M+, L or XL package will see their cost being cut by £2 to £19.50.
Oct 4th. Sky Movies Classic HD will launch on Channel 441 today at 6am.
Oct 5th. Yesterday +1 will launch on Channel 204 today.
Eden HD will launch on Channel 209 today. 5th. Eden +1 will launch on Channel 210 today.
Good Food HD will launch on Channel 261 today.
Watch +1 to move from Virgin Channel 125 to Virgin Channel 190,
Dave Ja Vu to move from Virgin Channel 128 to Virgin Channel 191.
Virgin will put an Slate up for Watch HD on Channel 125.
Virgin will put an Slate up for Dave HD on Channel 129.
Oct 12th. Watch HD will launch on Channel 125 today.
Dave HD will launch on Channel 129 today.

Free Sky Sports this weekend

Sky Sports 1, 2, 3 and 4 are available to all VM customers this weekend. For football fans that's Man City v Everton on Saturday lunchtime and QPR v Villa on Sunday at 4pm. Shame they didn't do it last Sunday with the Spurs v Liverpool and Man U v Chelsea games, but hey ho.
(Sky Sports 1 and 2 are also available in HD of course.)
(Thanks for the reminder, David)

Leaked TiVo October update details

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/11/33676466-general-tivo-discussion-part-2-a-page-330.html

Claimed changes with the October software update:

• Improved 1080i up scaling so improving the picture quality
• HDMI connection reliability fixed
• Info button now provides programme information in guide and mini guide
• SCART aspect ratio corrected
• Express Series Link – You can set your series links in a flash
• Padding – Automatic padding around the start and finish of new recordings and series links (doesn’t change existing series links)
• Multi-tap text entry – You can now search using the number buttons on your remote, just like texting on your mobile phone
• More flexible parental control – If you don’t want to be asked for your PIN when you’re playing a recording from My Shows, you can now switch it off!
• Skippable playlists – Full skipping functionality for Music On Demand playlists will be available
• Live Events – Great news! You can now buy a live event on your TiVo box
• BBC iPlayer – Full integration of all the content from the BBC iPlayer is now available in the TV Guide, the Catch Up & On Demand menus and in TiVo Search and Browse
• PIN access on Apps – You can now control access to Apps and Games
• YouTube app – The YouTube app has been given a whole new look with more videos than ever and now supports HD quality video
• TiVo Buddy App – Just after we launch the new code you’ll be able to download this great new tool from the Apple App Store. If you connect your wireless router to the TiVo box with a cable you’ll be able to control many features from your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch. 

No Red Button?  Apparently the "launch of BBC red button will be in the coming months. Thought that it wouldn't be fair to string you along, as it's not ready just yet"
All sounds legit to me - the phrasing's very Virgin. There's a thread on it on the VM TiVo forum and none of the information is contradicted by VM staff.

Playing with Virgin Media's Spotify freebie

After the announcement brouhaha it was a pretty quiet launch for the Spotify service for Virgin Media customers - there's still nothing I can see about it on Virgin's own site - but I signed up to the free first twelve months of service and have finally found the time to have a play.
It's pretty good. In fact, it's better than I expected: the full Premium package no less, so no ads, you can play your music offline on both your computer and your phone (Android and iPhones only I think) and it's pretty good sound quality. Not always the sound quality advertised (it's supposed to be 320k but according to this blog that's not always the case) but stil perfectly fine for casual listening.
There are artists missing from the huge inventory (no Beatles or Pink Floyd or Led Zeppelin, the usual digital refuseniks) but pretty much something for everyone there. I'd recommend it for those who have limited drive capacity on their phones (but watch those data charges) or if, like me, you just want to briefly reaquaint yourself with some old friends you don't have on CD or your iPod these days. Will I pay for the service when it's no longer free? Not sure. Depends on the price and how much I use it in the months to come.
One thing missing is an App to stream the service via my TiVo: hopefully someone has already got that in the works as that would increase the usage in the Nialli household considerably.
Anyone else given it a go?

Fringe, Curb Your Enthusiasm return

The eighth and final series of HBO's CurbYour Enthusiasm starts on More4 tomorrow Sunday, albeit in SD. And Fringe returns to Sky1 HD on September 28th at 10pm.
So a timely reminder that Sky Atlantic doesn't have every good new US show after all...

More HD confirmed for October

Source: Virgin Media's Peter Chapman

We are going to be launching a number of HD channels in October. This includes four channels from UKTV which we will be announcing shortly. We will also be launching Sky Movies Classic HD in October. That will mean that we will have 36 HD channels of which over 19 are included for free as part of our TV packs,

We are in discussion with the owners of the other channels you list as well as a number of additional providers so we hope to be able to bring more HD channels in the future.

TiVo on the iPad and more, coming soon

Virgin Media has released some new screenshots of the forthcoming TiVo for iPad App, anticipated in the next month or two along with a series of new software updates to address some current bugs and add some new features too.
Virgin also announced that Korean manufacturer Samsung will be making its next generation TiVo boxes. Odd - I thought they already had a deal with Cisco, the makers of the current boxes. Is demand that high, or are there some production issues with the first TiVo boxes?
Whatever the reason, don't expect a radical change in the box's appearance: there's an exclusive photo over on PocketLint - it looks identical to me.

TiVo announces 2Tb, four tuner box in the US

TiVo has revealed its most impressive PVR to date at the US CEDIA Expo. The TiVo Premiere Elite claims to be the 'world's most advanced' set-top box, thanks its inclusion of four tuners and a 2TB hard drive. Overkill? I'm not saying anything. Other features of the TiVo Premiere Elite include THX certification, a 1080p output and the ability to stream content from your home network – as well as the usual TiVo tricks. A Virgin Media spokesperson said to TechRadar : "As Virgin Media TiVo continues to evolve, we're looking at a range of exciting new features to further enhance the service and give our customers a truly unrivalled viewing experience." (Click the TechRadar link for the full story) So you still have to type in your PIN to view anything??! Give me that bug fix over a fourth tuner any day...