Foxtel subscribers are going to find their bills adjusted slightly just before Christmas as the Pay TV operator is changing its pricing structure. For most people this will probably mean you'll be paying a little bit more, for some people it will actually mean they get their Foxtel cheaper.

The basic package price will go up from $37.95 to $40, but the monthly subscription cost for iQ owners will come down from $14.95 to $10. A lot of plans will round up an extra five cents (like My Showtime, which goes from $15.95 to $16, yet My Sport goes down from $17.95 to $16.

On Demand Movies will also get a price drop, from $5.95 to $5.50 for standard movies and $6.95 to $6 for HD movies.

All in all, it probably won't make too much of a difference to your bottom line each month, although the rounded figures will make it easier for most people to know what they're spending.

[Foxtel via Lifehacker]

Back when the latest iteration of Foxtel's iQ launched, one of the most interesting aspects was that there was a 4th HD digital tuner inside, except it was just lying there like some kind of fairytale princess waiting to be woken up by a digital Prince Charming.

Well, the good news is that the digital prince will be rolling out to iQ2 boxes around the country starting next week to activate the sleeping 4th tuner. Once it's been woken up, Princess Tuner Number 4 will allow you to record two channels at the same time as watching a third channel live (at the moment you can only record two and either watch one of them, or watch something already recorded to the HDD or watch one of the On Demand movies or shows).

All iQ2 subscribers should be getting the update rolled out by December 1, but you won't be notified when it's been upgraded. It's also a staggered rollout, so you'll just have to keep trying to record Futurama at the same time as The Daily Show and Star Trek Voyager to see if you've been updated yet.

[Foxtel]

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The Samsung/Foxtel iQ2 promotion we confirmed over the weekend has just been announced. Buy a Samsung HDTV, get a Foxtel iQ2 box plus a 3 month subscription, or if Foxtel isn't your thing, grab a Samsung BDP1500 Blu-ray player.

Full press release is below.

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UPDATE: One of our tipsters has sent through this image of an upcoming catalogue proving the Samsung giveaway is legit. Of course, what's interesting to note (that wasn't mentioned in either the Australian or CNet articles, is that customers have a choice between the Foxtel iQ2 box or a new Samsung BDP-1500 Blu-ray player. This would make sense - not everyone can get Foxtel, and not everyone would want to subscribe to the Foxtel service either.

We'll obviously keep you posted on any official announcement from Samsung, but seeing as how this catalogue is due to go out this week (and the promotion due to start on July 1, we expect to have official word for you very soon.

Since the advent of plasma TVs and their subsequent rise to power (alongside LCDs, of course); TV manufacturers have seen huge sales boosts just before major sporting events. And seeing as how this year is an Olympic year, it's no surprise that we're seeing some really awesome promotions come out of the woodwork in the lead up to Beijing.

Earlier this week we told you about the Sony Bravia promotion, which will see 35,000 Bravia customers receive a free PS3, but now the Australian (and CNet AU) are reporting that next week we'll be hearing about a Samsung promotion which includes a Foxtel iQ2 box for HD entertainment.

The rumours state that Samsung will be forking over the $200 upgrade fee that Foxtel is charging subscribers to install the iQ2 when they buy a new Samsung TV. There hasn't been any official confirmation from either Samsung or Foxtel yet, so we don't know which TVs will include the Foxtel box in the price, but it will obviously cater to their premium lineup of HD displays.

So it looks like July is going to be the month that many of us buy TVs. But which promotion is more appealing?

If reports from the Financial Review are correct, we'll soon be able to play with our very own peanut controller when TiVo launches in Australia in mid-July.

Aside from the obvious dilemma of where to spend your money (there's some new phone launching on July 11, remember?), the mid-July timeframe does work with the previous announcements that Channel 7 made about it launching before the Olympics.

The box itself is likely to cost somewhere around the $700 mark, which isn't exactly cheap for a DVR. Seven are likely to promote the box's superior EPG functionality in order to justify that price, although we'll wait to see how it's implemented ourselves before we recommend on whether you should spend the money.

The other interesting point made in the Fin's article is that Harvey Norman are likely to have an exclusive distribution arrangement for 3 months, before it will be available in JB Hi-Fi and Dick Smith's shops.

I'm sure there are important factors influencing that decision, like scratching the backs of old mates and heavy advertisers, but I think Channel 7 may be overestimating TiVo's appeal in Australia. Personally - I'm very intrigued, but I would need to see some obvious advantages in TiVo's local implementation before I dropped 700 big ones. Especially now that Foxtel's iQ2 is on the market.

UPDATE: Pete Blasina over at GadgetGuy.com.au is reporting that the launch date is officially July 15. Considering his relationship with Channel 7, I reckon this is pretty much guaranteed.

[MIS Australia and GadgetGuy]

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