TechWire

HDTV in Ireland -- a flop?

This blog hears that UPC -- the company which owns NTL and Chorus -- has set an Autumn date for the launch of a HDTV service. But is anyone interested?

Figures from Sky, which has been selling SkyHD for close to two years, are hard to get. But I'd say they're tiny (under 5 per cent of its 513,000 subscribers). Is this because of the massive price-tag on HD (€450 installation plus €15 extra per month)? Or is that there's hardly anything available on HD, with the main Irish and British broadcasters showing no inclination to change this?

It seems that most people's image association with HD is films that cost €37.99 in HMV. And this, despite the fact that 90 per cent of the tellies sold in Ireland now are HD-compatible.

So far, HD is a flop in Ireland.

Data retention: Eamon Ryan's view in November

Personally, I don't think the majority of people care a fig about this issue. Nevertheless, here is what the Minister For Communications told The Sunday Business Post in November on it. Wonder if he's annoyed?

Q: We have a fairly extensive data retention law in place. Could you envisage any further use of citizens' electronically held data for reasons beyond existing legal requirements?
Ryan: I think we should do everything in our power to prevent any such use. One of the consequences of people going online is that they will be using services and in a sort of cloud. If Big Brother is seen to be taking information out of that cloud, it could seriously hamper people's trust in the whole system. We also have to make sure commercial interests do not get hold of information that goes beyond the proper dialogue between a company and its customers.

iPhone: 0.3 per cent global share

That's a good deal less than the 1 per cent Steve Jobs predicted this time last year. (In fairness, the gadget only launched in the three big European markets last Autumn.) Jobs said at MacWorld yesterday that the iPhone sold four million units last year, out of a total global market of roughly 1.2 billion units. It still has some way to catch up on Nokia's high end devices, too, with the iPhone trailing Nokia's N-Series and E-Series phones in sales by at least 13 to 1 in markets where they're competing against each other (notably the US).