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NEWS: Toshiba becomes official tech supplier to England football team

Amy-Mae Elliott — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:37:49 +0000

Keeping the footballers entertained with LCD TVs, laptops and portable DVD players

Toshiba and the The Football Association have announced a new partnership that will see Toshiba become the official consumer electronics supplier to the England football team, to and through next year's 2010 FIFA World Cup Finals.

As part of the agreement, Toshiba will supply the England team and The FA with a range of the latest LCD TV, portable DVD and laptop products - apparently in an attempt to help keep the (almost certainly millionaire) players "entertained off the pitch and aiding their pursuit of peak performance".

"2010 is set to be the first time many UK viewers will get to watch the FIFA World Cup in HD and Toshiba will bring this superior experience to life for football fans, at home and for the England squad in South Africa. We are thrilled to get behind the England football team and offer fans a winning experience", said Matt McDowell, the marketing director over at Toshiba UK.??????

Tags: Hardware Toshiba Sports Fitness Football The FA Home Cinema

Toshiba becomes official tech supplier to England football team originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:37:49 +0000

NEWS: Everton-themed blinged BlackBerry launches

Amy-Mae Elliott — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:27:01 +0100

Bold goes royal blue

We've seen white Bolds, pink Bolds and yellow Bolds but now BlackBerry's popular smartphone has been given a serious case of the blues by Katherine Hughes of Republic Fashion.

The Blackberry Royal Blue Edition is all about Everton football club and mixes diamonds with sapphires via some blue python snake-skin.

The "1878" on the handset marks the date that the Liverpudlian club was founded (although fans will know it was then called St. Domingos).?

The handset is on sale now from www.republica-fashion.com to minted Everton fans for ?5995.

Tags: Phones Mobile phones BlackBerry Football Goldstriker Everton

Everton-themed blinged BlackBerry launches originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:27:01 +0100

NEWS: England match saw half a milion online viewers

Amy-Mae Elliott — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 09:20:58 +0100

Britain's biggest ever pay-to-view online sports broadcast

Close to half a million football fans watched the England vs Ukraine World Cup qualifier on Saturday, making the game Britain's biggest internet pay-to-view sports broadcast to date.
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There were no technical issues, say the companies behind the broadcast, while a post-match survey revealed that 87% felt the picture quality was good enough with 89% saying they would purchase another live sports event online.
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As far as the Odeon cinemas across the country that also screened the game via satellite go, "many" were completely sold out.

"This pioneering broadcast has been a great success. Not only have we delivered Britain's largest ever live pay-to-view internet sports audience, but commercially the venture has proved itself as a viable model for future games", Philipp Grothe, CEO of Kentaro said.

"Technology has ignited a revolution in people's viewing habits and there is a new sports broadcast platform developing on the broadband enabled internet".

Tags: Software Online Kentaro Perform Football IPTV Sports Fitness

England match saw half a milion online viewers originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 12 Oct 2009 09:20:58 +0100

NEWS: How to watch football on the Internet

Dan Sung — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:32:43 +0100

And connect it to your TV too

So Setanta went bust, no one else has picked up Ukraine vs England and you're wondering whether a) you want to watch the football on the Internet and b) exactly how you're going to do it. Fear not. You'll be just fine. Here's the Pocket-lint guide of how to watch football on the Internet.

Step 1: Your broadband connection

It doesn't take a crazy fast connection to be able to watch the footy. Kentaro will be streaming the game live from 4.45pm on Saturday and you can watch it in much the same way that you watch YouTube or BBC iPlayer. The whole game isn't downloaded to your computer or stored on your system, so you don't have to worry about how much space you have. All you need to do is check that you have a download speed of at least 0.5 Mbps, which just about everyone will have. You can check your broadband speed for piece of mind.

You should also be aware that the entire game will probably count for something like 3 or 4GB of data downloads, so do bear in mind how much your broadband contract allows you each month. Most companies will just warn you about your usage if you go over your quota as a one off without charging you any extra, but it's worth taking a look at your agreement all the same. If you decide that this is something you're going to want to do on a fairly regular basis, then it might be worth stepping up to a deal with larger allowance and even faster speeds. Take a look at our top broadband packages.

Step 2: Your geographic location

What country are you in? If the answer is either Albania, Cyprus, Croatia, Israel, Spain, Germany, Italy, Poland, Russia, Serbia, the Balkans, Turkey, Latin America, North America, the Middle East, Hong Kong, Thailand or South Africa then you're not going to be able to use Saturday's Kentaro or Orange service. Quite a large part of the world when you look it at. There's bound to be a "less official" way to view the proceedings online and if you can find a reliable site then this all still applies.

Step 3: Sign up now!!!!

The price of the game has been getting more and more expensive as the days go by. Today is your last chance to grab it at ?9.99 before the full whack of ?11.99 kicks in. You'll need to pay through PayPal but that won't necessarily mean signing up for a PayPal account and you can use the system to make the transaction with your normal credit or debit card. If you've still got an issue with that part of things then you can contact Kentaro direct.

During the sign up process, you can test that the video service works for you with their trial video trailer before you need to pay. Choose the high quality option (800 kbps) for the best viewing and if that works skip to Step 6. If it's jumpy and cuts out then try the lower quality (450 kbps). If that's ok, skip to Step 5, if not go to Step 4.

Step 4: Troubleshooting

Ok, so you've either got nothing coming up at all or it's just sticking and buffering all over the place. If not a sausage, then a) make sure you have the latest version of Flash installed - Adobe Flash Player version 10. It might even be worth uninstalling it and re-installing it again if you do already have it. And, b) make sure you have both pop-ups and java script enabled. Go to the Options and Tools section of your browser to find the right boxes to check. If you're still getting nothing, then try either a different browser or give Kentaro a call who might be able to talk you through it.

If you're getting a picture but it's awful, then it's most likely an issue of bandwidth. Either you have a terrible connection or someone around is sucking up all the Internet. Try to minimise the amount of internet use in your house. Close all other tabs and browsers and applications like Skype or Spotify or anything that's on in the background. Make sure other people in your house aren't playing online games and try to keep people off webcams and the telephone too.

One issue that could be beyond your control is if everyone in your area happens to using the same ISP as you and you're all trying to watch the service at the same time. This could very well become a problem for people even if the initial test works fine. There's not really anything you can do if that's the case except to try to disconnect and re-connect again but if that doesn't work, skip to Step 7.

Step 5: The low quality option

Not as bad as it sounds. You've not got the greatest view of the game but it works fine in a relatively small window on your computer. You might be able to squeeze three of you round it plus some beers but that's really as good as it's going to get. If you suddenly experience any issues during the broadcast then go to Step 4, otherwise enjoy the game and let's hope England makes it worth your while. END.

Step 6: Watch on the big screen

Lucky you. Plenty of bandwidth and a good service, so you might want to think about connecting your computer to your TV or even a projector if you happen to have one. Check your computer and check the back of your TV. If both have HDMI ports, then your luck's in again. All you need is an HDMI cable which you can buy at any electrical shop, plug it in and select the right input on your TV. You might also need to activate the right mode on your computer, usually located on the F8 key.

If you don't have HDMI at both ends, then your next best bet is VGA. You'll certainly need a VGA or mini VGA connection at your computer and either a VGA on your TV or even a SCART socket will do. If you're good to go then either grab yourself a VGA cable or a VGA to SCART which is slightly harder to find but not impossible. Select the right input on your TV and use the F8 function as above and you should have a picture. What you won't have is any sound. So, the easiest thing to do next is either turn the sound up on your computer or better would be to plug in a pair of speakers to it or connect it up to your stereo via audio cables. If to your stereo, you will probably need a 3.5mm audio cable from you computer that splits into two for your music machine but you might well find that one faff too far.

The final option and possibly the most expensive is to buy a media streamer which will probably cost somewhere between ?100-?200. Good ones include the SlingCatcher or solutions from Linksys and Netgear. These plug into your set and connect to your Wi-Fi network so you can stream the video direct from you computer without the need for cables. If you happen to own a PS3 or an XBox 360 Elite, then you're already in luck because they will work as media streamers too.

If you suddenly experience any issues during the broadcast then go to Step 4, otherwise enjoy the game and let's hope England makes it worth your while. END.

Step 7: The last resort

If all else fails then either go round to a mate's who's had more success or you can always go to any one of many cinemas which are also showing the game. There's also the good old radio too.

NEWS: Orange to offer England Ukraine match

Amy-Mae Elliott — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 11:53:04 +0100

Same price at official online broadcast

Orange has announced it is to offer live coverage of the England versus Ukraine World Cup qualifier on Saturday, via the official Kentaro online broadcast.

We're not entirely sure why you'd want to go down the Orange route, rather than go direct, it's the same price, so brand loyalty to your operator maybe?

Signing up now to view the online-only match will see the event charged at ?4.99, Thursday and Friday sign-ups will be charged ?9.99 and those that leave it to Saturday will see a fee of ?11.99.

As well as via Orange, Football fans can sign up over at the official site to see the match with live coverage due to start at 4.45pm on 10 October.

Tags: Sports Fitness Orange Football Online IPTV Home Cinema Phones

Orange to offer England Ukraine match originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 07 Oct 2009 11:53:04 +0100

NEWS: Sagem to create Puma phone for World Cup

Amy-Mae Elliott — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 10:48:39 +0100

Footie-themed handset due in Q2

Sagem and Puma have announced they are to team up and create a mobile phone to launch in time for the World Cup in 2010. A global licencing agreement will see the phone debut across the world in the second quarter of next year.

The Puma handset will "embrace both sport and style with features, functions, and design that reflect the DNA of the Puma brand and encourage usage of data and commerce services". Sagem meanwhile says it will be adding "exciting technologies and services".

"The Puma phone will be a milestone in the mobile market as the first mobile device completely tailor designed, from the inside out, with technology and services that improve experience and connect a brand community", said Thierry Buffenoir, CEO of Sagem Wireless.

Tags: Phones Mobile phones Sagem Puma Football

Sagem to create Puma phone for World Cup originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 06 Oct 2009 10:48:39 +0100

NEWS: Ukraine World Cup qualifier only available live online

Amy-Mae Elliott — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:20:36 +0100

England match to cost up to ?12 to watch

Those who want to watch England's World Cup qualifier will have to dish out up to ?12 - and sit in front of a PC or Mac to do so.

The Ukraine match is to be shown exclusively live online at www.ukrainevengland.com with payment via PayPal. Pricing is said to be ?4.99 if paid before Wednesday, rising to ?11.99 on Saturday.

The reason for the online-only option is that the Ukrainian Football Federation sold the rights to the match to Setanta, which has since gone bust.

Seeing as no other broadcaster has opted to buy the rights, it will be digital sport specialist Perform and Kentaro bringing the match to England fans via the Internet.

Peter Silverstone, managing director of Kentaro, told BBC Sport: "You will watch as you would any other streaming on the internet, like YouTube or the BBC iPlayer - there will be a pop-up player that will show the match in a very good quality stream".

How good this actually turns out to be is yet to be seen - the companies say they will stop at 1 million subscribers as the "safe number to stop at to ensure the optimal broadcast".

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NEWS: Five offers iPhone app for live UEFA Europa League matches

Amy-Mae Elliott — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 10:24:18 +0100

Catch the season for less than a fiver

iPhone owners will be able to watch an season of live football matches for a one-off fee of less than a fiver.

The deal is thanks to a new app from Channel Five, that has the broadcast rights to the UEFA Europa League, formerly the UEFA Cup.

The app will let UK iPhone and iPod touch owners watch all of Five's Thursday night matches as well as highlights from each round.

Quite literally kicking off with a match between Celtic and Rapid Vienna, the app will go on sale from the App Store for ?3.99.

"The app is attractively priced and means never having to miss a minute of live action when you're on the move", said Jonathan Lewis, the head of digital media at Five, to The Guardian.

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