Everyone TV, which is owned by the public service broadcasters in the United Kingdom, has done a deal with Amazon to make its Freely app available on televisions using the Fire TV operating system, including its own brand products and new models from TCL and Panasonic. However, it does not currently appear to extend to Fire TV Sticks or Cubes that plug into other makes of television.
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In the United Kingdom you can be prosecuted and charged with a criminal offence for non-payment of a television licence fee to watch live programmes on any television channel or online service. That could change as the government prepares to negotiate a new charter for the BBC. One alternative being discussed is a membership model, which could be subscription by another name.
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British broadcasters have been pushing their online video distribution strategies for two decades now with increasing commitment, but it estimated that in 2024 only 17% of their viewing on a television set will have been delivered online. That is forecast to rise to half of all viewing by 2040, which is still a way off, suggesting that broadcast delivery will remain significant for some time.
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Spain is planning to upgrade its digital terrestrial television platform to enable ultra-high-definition services. All terrestrial broadcasts will switch to more efficient DVB-T2 transmissions with high efficiency HEVC encoding, enabling them to upgrade to Ultra HD pictures. UHD is now available on digital terrestrial television in France but there are no plans to upgrade the platform further in the United Kingdom.
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Satellite television providers DirectTV and Dish Network are close to a long-anticipated combination of their operations in the United States, after years of speculation about their consolidation. A similar deal in 2002 faced competition concerns but the situation is very different now, with both companies losing satellite subscribers and EchoStar facing debt problems.
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Meta Platforms, the company behind Facebook, has introduced its Orion augmented reality glasses, previously codenamed Project Nazare. The Joe 90 glasses allow the user to experience an augmented reality in which they look cool rather than ridiculous. Meta says the glasses are lightweight and great for both indoor and outdoor uses, and they let people see each other’s face, eyes and expressions. Just like in real life.
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