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Ice TV Victorious Over Channel 9 in Court Case

Nick Broughall — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 03:15:43 +0000

Three years after their legal battle against Channel 9 began and six months since their appeal, the High Court has ruled in favour of IceTV and their EPG.IceTV was sued back in 2006 for copyright infringement over using Channel 9’s broadcast information to create their EPG. They won that court case in 2007, which was appealled by Nine – an appeal the TV network won in 2008. IceTV took their counter appeal to the High Court, and after six months they have been successful.

It’s been a long and bloody battle, but we’re happy to see that in the end, the winner should be the TV-watching consumer. Because unlike Freeview’s EPG, IceTV will let you skip ads and program anything you want using their (now completely legal) EPG. Of course, I reckon the Freeview camp (and Channel 9) will be less than impressed with this verdict, so we’ll see what the fallout from this decision is in the coming weeks.

[IceTV]

Freeview Coming To A Beyonwiz DVR Near You

Nick Broughall — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 02:14:32 +0000

Digital Products Group, the company behind Beyonwiz, Homecast and now Slingbox being in Australia, have announced that their Beyonwiz and Homecast products will be co-branded with Freeview from May 1.The co-branded products will be badged with the Freeview logo, and lack the ability to skip ads – one of the main drivers of DVRs in general. In return, they get a custom EPG skin that’s consistent with Freeview products and services, as well as the ability to ride the wave of Freeview advertising that’s set to kick off on April 26.

Considering the state of Freeview, I reckon Beyonwiz is getting the weaker side of this deal. But who knows? Come May 1, we could all go crazy and end up wanting to pay for exactly the same stuff that we already get. Stranger things have happened…

Sydney – 24 March, 2009 – Digital Products Group, Australian distributors of Beyonwiz and Homecast PVR’s, and FREEVIEW today announced their agreement to provide co-branded equipment.
The FREEVIEW logo and endorsement make it easy for consumers to identify devices that receive the FREEVIEW suite of channels.

Digital Products Group / FREEVIEW co-branded products will go on sale at leading consumer electronics outlets from 1 May, 2009 and will initially include models from top Korean STB and PVR manufacturers Beyonwiz and Homecast.

Digital Products Group General Manager Jai Kemp said: “DPG is very excited to be working with FREEVIEW, we have been supplying STB’s and PVR’s in Australia for almost 10years now and this is by far the single best initiative to help educate consumers on the benefits of switching to Digital”

“When I first started selling STB’s and PVR’s in 2001 the only benefit was better picture and sound quality, today consumers have more reason than ever to purchase a DPG / FREEVIEW co-branded product and make the move to digital, Crystal clear picture and sound quality, extra channels including a Free 24hour sports channel, Free 7day electronic program guide, the ability to pause and rewind live TV and much more. It’s almost like having PayTV with out the ongoing fees”

FREEVIEW CEO Ms Robin Parkes said: “FREEVIEW is delighted to be working with Digital Products Group to introduce FREEVIEW co-branded equipment.

“FREEVIEW has consulted with the industry to ensure consumers have a wide range of options to choose from, and retailers will be able to assist their customers in determining their needs.

“We will continue to work with our industry partners to promote the benefits FREEVIEW brings: better television picture and sound quality, new services, and all with no ongoing fees to pay.”

FREEVIEW gives more for free.

A national FREEVIEW consumer advertising campaign starts on 26 April on all free-to-air channels.

FREEVIEW Australia is a not-for-profit organization comprising Australia’s free-to-air television broadcasters.

Dealzmodo: Renew Your IceTV Subscription For 12 Months For $49

Nick Broughall — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 01:47:55 +0000

Those guys at IceTV seem to love Christmas time – on top of selling a whole heap of PVRs cheap the other week, they’re now letting current customers (either paid, free trial or returning) to renew their IceTv subscription for just $49, which is about half price (and works out at less than $1 a week). You’ll need to be one of the first 500 customers to enter the code: “santascoming” when you select the “top up my existing account” option. So if you’re an IceTV user, either for your PVR or your computer, make sure you get in fast to save some dollars this Xmas…

[IceTV]

Dealzmodo: IceTV Brings The PVR Savings

Nick Broughall — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 04:40:53 +0000

With only 24 more sleeps until Christmas, I guess it makes a lot of sense for companies to start offering discounts. IceTV today joined the discount party, offering some pretty decent savings through their online store, including up to $200 off the top of the line Beyonwiz PVR with a bonus 12 month subscription to the IceTV EPG. You can also pick up a Media Center PC from $399, or save $50 on a HDTV tuner for your PC or Mac. Check out the IceTV store for all the available discounts and remember that if you order by December 15, you’ll get everything delivered in time for Christmas.

[IceTV]

IceTV Facebook App Lets You Rate And Discuss TV

Nick Broughall — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 21:27:10 +0000

For the multitude of people out there who use IceTV as their EPG of choice, you’ll be happy to know that you can now network your watching opinions through Facebook. By downloading the IceTV Facebook App, you can rate TV shows, comment, see what TV shows are popular among your friends, what shows are in your schedule to record and more.

The software’s in Beta at the moment, and they’ve got a forum page dedicated to getting feedback on the Facebook App. But if this sounds like something you could use, let us know how it goes in comments.

[IceTV Facebook App]

Why The System Is F%^ked – Channel 9 Wins Appeal Against IceTV

Nick Broughall — Fri, 09 May 2008 00:59:24 +0000

Why on earth is this still going on? I thought it was finished last year.

Here’s an idea Channel 9: Pull your fucking head out of your ass and stop wasting precious resources trying to screw over IceTV in the courts, and instead focus that money on some more quality programming.

According to the IceTV blog:

Chief Justice Black, Justice Lindgren, Justice Sackville have together ruled against IceTV and the Federal Court’s previous judgment in the case originally brought against IceTV in May 2006, by the Nine Network regarding an alleged breach of Nine’s copyright.

Forgive my cynicism, but it’s almost like these judges must want this to just keep going on so they can collect their million dollar salaries and buy themselves a third 72-foot yacht each.

IceTV Tries To Give TiVo The Finger With New Features

Nick Broughall — Thu, 01 May 2008 05:11:50 +0000

A war is brewing. The war for your television viewing habits.

It started with TiVo. Channel 7 wants to take over your lounge room with a decent PVR, full of cool functions like SeasonPass and IP Video. Then Foxtel decided to crank it up a notch with the iQ2 – adding HD to their already impressive digital box. The other day, Sony decided to join the fray by announcing the PlayTV add-on for the PS3, turning your console into a PVR.

So many warriors. Such a large battle looming. And on the side, slightly out of sight but no less a threat to the other champions, is IceTV.

Before the battle begins, they’ve launched their first wave of attacks – adding functionality to their EPG service to give and device running their software even more features. The biggest of which is IceTV Recommendations.

More news on Australian EPGs

Seamus Byrne — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 00:10:11 +0000

Some more EPG/TV news: SMH reports the Channel Nine and Ten EPGs began broadcasting this week, while the Channel Seven EPG is the one that won’t go live until January 1st.

IceTV also reports that with the multi-channel programming about to launch on the HD channels of the commercial networks, IceTV remains on the outer, so it will take them 2-3 weeks “after the start of full strength programming” to get this new section of the EPG operational.

FreeTV Australia EPG from Jan 1, wants to block ad skip / fast forward

Seamus Byrne — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 23:50:35 +0000

Our latest instalment in the long running “they just don’t get it” series, the electronic program guide that has been coming together (slowly) from the free-to-air networks via FreeTV Australia is now looking to lock out any players that allow 30-second jumps or fast forward speeds of 60x or more. If you don’t agree to modify your DVR to meet this requirement, you can’t have their EPG.

IceTV is breathing a lot easier with this news, because (a) almost no international DVR manufacturer (which pretty much means ALL DVR manufacturers) will be changing their systems just to suit a not-so-open EPG and (b) if they do, users will still have plenty of reason to buy into IceTV’s offering.

IceTV expressed their opinion in a letter to subscribers, giving a nod to the fact FreeTV’s EPG will be good for people viewing digital through an integrated tuner or on a basic set-top box while emphasising that their position is all about the consumer hippie free love “do what you wanna do, be what you wanna be” thang.

How the FreeTV EPG will block such usage is anyone’s guess. If it is a free over-the-air 7-day EPG, will they try and sue anyone using it who offers slip / fast forward features? That’ll be tough to police. [FreeTV, IceTV]

TEN joins the Foxtel EPG, Seven still sulking

Seamus Byrne — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 23:08:25 +0000

Quietly over the weekend (far as I can tell), Network TEN has joined the Foxtel EPG. It’s been a long running ‘negotation’, but finally Foxtel users, and iQ users in particular, gain the benefit of actually seeing the stations programming in the schedule. Can any satellite users out there tell us whether this means you’re now receiving TEN on your box?

UPDATE (10:44): Confirmed by Giz readers that satellite subscribers are now receiving TEN too. Thanks folks!

So it’s now just Channel Seven still holding out on Foxtel. Not sure whether the bad blood over the C7 sport court case is going to cloud their judgment on the value of being part of the system, but if their TiVo deal is going to get a universal EPG I wouldn’t be surprised if they turn up on there sometime soon as well. Let’s hope, anyway. -Seamus Byrne