High definition television has been the subject of many a message board for the last few years, however it is finally here and being readied for its consumer launch. Sky's much awaited HD service and the new Sky HD Set-Top box are currently on test, this month HD channels were added to the Sky EPG for the first time although they are running in test mode.

Time for a new box then?

Yes, the new Sky HD box was revealed to journalists pre Christmas and its certainly a good looking bit of kit, packing both HD decryption and also full Sky+ capabilities. It can decode both 720P and 1080i signals as Sky will initially at least offer both formats believing that progressively encoded transmission are best for sports and music content while channels like National geographic may benefit from the high resolution offered by 1080i. Sky HD is also using MPEG-4 rather than MPEG-2 taking advantage to the advances in compression technology to manage the increased data rate of High Def Services.

And a new TV?

The Set-Top box connects using HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) which can also be connected to DVI inputs via an adaptor, for the majority of us that don't have an "HD Ready" LCD screen that means a new telly and an expensive one at that. Certainly anyone looking to change their set right now should be ensuring the new one is HD ready even if you intend only to watch SD (standard definition) pictures.

Why would you go to all this expense?

Put simply the pictures are much much better, a high definition picture contains more lines of detail giving a higher resolution meaning either images look sharper on similar sized screens or vastly improved on a larger screen. Anyone using a plasma or large LCD will have noticed just how compressed Sky and other forms of Digital TV really are, therefore expanding them up onto ever increasing screen sizes makes the blocks and compression artefacts bigger. HD provides more information to bigger screens and makes skin tones look more realistic and fast action look sharper.

What will I be able to watch?

Compare the launch of Sky HD to the launch of Sky itself, you need compelling content to persuade the likes of you and me to go out and upgrade. So expect football (lots of football) and other sporting events, plus music, movies and concerts and premium channels from names like National Geographic, Artsworld and Discovery.

When will I be able to watch?

Sky's aim is to have the service live for the World cup and then further expanded ready for the start of the new Premiership season,  then the main push in conjunction with retailers in the run up to Christmas 2006, which will see lots of us buying new HD TV's!

Won't other platforms offer HD?

You mean Freeview? Well its technically possible but unlike Sky who can purchase more space on Astra satellites for the increased bandwidth HD needs, Freeview has limited space available until the analogue transmitters switch off in 2010. Freeview like the cable company's will let sky blaze the trail and then wade in should it look commercially viable. In the meantime BBC and others will launch HD services via Sky.

Will it be a success?

Its early to say but its quite possible that those who have invested in large screens will want a signal capable of making the most of them. Add this to the fact that more and more broadcasters are recording event and making programmes in HD and you'd be brave to bet against Sky and HD.

Highlights

	Nokia N70 Review A new model or just a bit of cosmetic surgery, we test the Nokia N70 the latest business class phone to hi the UK. With Tri Band, Bluetooth, a 2 mega pixel camera and MP3 player its sound like its got it all but has it?
	Pure Chronos DAB Radio Pure Digital's latest DAB radio maybe have all the uber chic styling to fit the most modern of homes but it reminds us of a Toblerone cross section painted silver. The Rev Deans checks out Pure's take on the humble bedside radio
	iMate SP5 Review iMate have a reputation for walking the tightrope of innovation with their Smartphones. We test their latest the SP5 to see if its toppled over into the safety net of obscurity or if its balancing atop the Smartphone pile.
	Mio A201 Review Just when we thought PDA navigators were dying off, Mio bring us an all new PDA GPS system with inbuilt antenna. The A201 promises all the SatNav tricks plus some PDA features including Bluetooth.
	PalmOne TX Review Every time we see a PDA there is a feeling of 80's DeJa Vu, but the humble portable assistant has never left and continues its own evolutionary path. We try out PalmOne's latest offering  the aptly named TX.

Microsoft Take Over the Living Room With......?

Apparently Bill Gates latest weapon to take over more of our lives is Microsoft Media Centre Edition. We had a chance to give it a work out in one of our recent reviews when we tested the Alienware DHS2 media centre PC. This was quite a mixed experience between the solid performance of the Alienware PC and the sloppy reliability of the Windows OS.

Windows Media Centre Edition is best described as a simple operating system for simple people, only when it doesn't work you need to resort to using the less than simplified Windows XP Pro which is sitting just inches behind the MCE Gui. Multiple crashes and slow performance lead us to quit using MCE altogether towards the end of the review period and just use XP with Windows media player 10 which frankly did everything we needed it to do.

So domination of the living room will have to keep for now, or perhaps not. We are now testing the latest OS to come our way Microsoft's IPTV edition, more on that soon but maybe this offers a more realistic route to having an MS set-top box?

Competition

Last month we gave away a Talex Speed Camera system and amongst the deluge of entry's we found the lucky winner David from Holywell, who even got his new toy on a Saturday, cool or what!  This moth you are all in the draw for a copy of Vitaero Bluetooth headset software and a brand new Jabra BT800 headset.

Cool Stuff

A few bits and bob we've either been sent or found while surfing this month that we thought we'd share with our gadget loving friends (that's you).

First up a rather cool plugin for Google earth that lets you see real-time flight info plotted as points of interest on the Google earth maps. Sadly its only on New York and a few other US airports right now but it's still rather fun to watch. http://www.fboweb.com/antest/ge/intro.aspx

Also this month Nokia finally woke up to the kicking all mobile operators have been getting from the likes of Skype and other VOIP operators, they are launching the 6136 the first VOIP Nokia handset. In simple terms it's a handset that can make free VOIP calls via a WiFi connection but also transfer these calls to the traditional mobile frequencies when you leave the WiFi hotspot. Not quite sure how this will work just yet but you can read the press blurb here http://press.nokia.com/PR/200602/1034442_5.html

What it has really done is whet our appetites for the Nokia N80 which is due with us in March!

Featured Section - Coffee Machines

It's cold outside as Bjork had a habit of screaming, so what better to warm you up than some freshly brewed coffee made by an uber cool gadget. We take a peek at the reviews of our sister site ecookshop.com