Earlier this year, DirecTV showed up everyone else with its interactive, multi-screen coverage of the Masters. Now, however, DISH Network is stepping up to the tee by planning to offer ESPN's coverage of the U.S. Open in a similar fashion. From June 12 through 13, DISH subscribers will be able to view a multiple-screen showcase (dubbed Interactive TV) that will create a mosaic with ESPN's primary feed, a feed focusing on Tiger and Phil, an "Up Close" channel and a number of other specific feeds that hardcore golf lovers will surely be fascinated with. Your turn, DirecTV.

[Image courtesy of ESPN]

Update: Ah, so DirecTV is doing the same! Thanks m.e.

ITV HD already poked its head out during FreeSat trials in mid-May, but now it seems the channel is finally set to go. According to reports, the aforementioned channel will go live on FreeSat this Saturday, just in time to head up coverage of the highly-anticipated Euro 2008. The first HD match that will be shown on the station is Portugal vs. Turkey at 7:45PM, which will coincidentally mark ITV HD's first-ever high-def transmission. Here's to hoping for no issues come this Saturday -- if you think Americans get upset with botched SuperBowl broadcasts, you can't imagine the collective rage coming from across the pond when a football event gets mishandled.

Now that FreeSat is actually on the air, a few lucky viewers have gotten a taste of ITV HD ahead of the official launch. Yesterday Digital Spy forum members using their own free-to-air satellite hardware tuned into ITV HD test feeds consisting mostly of upconverted footage, although they noted the PQ was considerably better than the SD feed available. An official launch could come as soon as next Wednesday's footy match between Manchester united and Chelsea or the kickoff of the Euro 2008 tournament June 7. Either way, fans looking for a little subscription-free HD sports can thank forum poster Snoods for the capture above, and hit the read link for a few more.

[Via Digital Spy]

We knew it was coming, and after waiting for quite some time for FreeSat to go from concept to reality, television viewers across the UK can finally indulge. If you'll recall, a recent survey found that just 5-percent of Europe's HDTV owners actually bothered to tune into HD programming, but now that number is likely to change. Effective today, 98-percent of the UK can fork out a one-time fee of £49 ($96) to £120 ($234) in order to acquire a FreeSat set-top-box, and after an £80 ($156) installation, users will have subscription-free access to BBC HD, ITV HD (coming soon), Channel 4's digital service and around 70 other TV / radio channels. Better still, that number is slated to rise to 200 before the year's end, and unsurprisingly, the launch is expected to boost available high-def offerings in the region. Anyone across the pond have their equipment set up already? How's the service?

[Thanks, Ivan]

You patient folks over in the UK have waited a long time for FreeSat to become a reality, and it seems as if that wait will come to an end this Friday. According to an anonymous source across the pond, his store has received a memo stating that the service will go live on April 25th May 6th. Additionally, professional installation is set to run customers around £80, while receivers will set citizens back £40 to £100 depending on which box you choose. We're also told that both SD and HD set-top-boxes will be available, and even though they're expecting a rush of orders from day one, installation should be taken care of within a week or so at the latest. Hopefully this little birdie isn't too far off -- guess we'll find out soon enough.

Update: It's looking like May 6th now.

It's official: HD aficionados in the UK will soon be able to get their fix via Freeview. If you'll recall, the Freeview HD trial that took place in 2006 went over quite well, and according to Ofcom, up to four free HD channels will be broadcast. Unfortunately, users looking forward to such niceties will be forced to wait until analog is switched off in their neck of the woods, and of course they'll also need an HD-ready TV and a new set-top-box. We've already heard that BBC will be one of the four channels, and ITV, Channel 4, Five and Welsh network S4C have all been "invited to bid for [the other] three slots in which they can broadcast high-definition TV or other new services." On the upside, the whole of the country should be digital by 2012, just in time for the London Olympics -- and for those lucky souls in and around Whitehaven, you'll get the spoils first.

[Thanks, Kieran and Andy]

Don't look now, but it seems that three rivals in the UK have found enough love in their hearts (or promise for profitability) to team up for the good of the consumer. Reportedly, the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 will be joining hands in order to deliver an on-demand service that hopes to "bring together hundreds of hours of television programs in one place" -- a collaborative effort once known as Project Kangaroo. Of course, the grand idea still has to be approved by the BBC Trust and other broadcasters' boards, and an official name for the service still has to be thought up, but at least the wheels are apparently turning, right? We're hearing that content from the trio will be available for "free download, streaming, rental and purchase via the internet, with expansion onto other platforms planned," and just in case you were curious, the iPlayer, ITV's catch-up service and Channel 4oD will indeed coexist with the new aggregator. Hang tight UK, the to-be-named service is set to go live sometime next year should things pan out nicely.

[Via Yahoo / Reuters]

Although there's a lot of grumbling in the UK about that £135 ($270) yearly television license fee (only $87 for a black and white set!), it's hard to complain that the BBC doesn't try to use all that money in cool ways. Adding to their already-ambitious plans to distribute HDTV through torrent, datacasting, and IPTV, the Beeb announced today that, after years of delays, they've been approved to pair up with ITV and launch a free 200-channel HD-capable satellite service called Freesat in the spring of 2008. The move is designed to provide digital service to the estimated 25% of the British public that can't get the successful Freeview DVB-T service, but it'll also be free to any license payer who ponys up for one of the several available interactive receivers. Hmm, that's an interesting version of "free," must be the British spelling.

[Via TechDigest]

Streaming video devices are without a doubt here to stay, but who will win on this new front still remains to be seen. At least in our hearts it's gotta be HD or we pass. The latest Apple announcements finally give us details about the HD capabilities of Apple TV. The good news is that it supports multiple resolutions via HDMI or Component including 1080i 60/50Hz, 720p 60/50Hz, 576p 50Hz (PAL format), or 480p 60Hz. The bad news is the supported video fomats are somewhat limited, while there is 720p HD support there are very few other variations. Supported CODECs include H.264 and protected H.264 (from iTunes Store): 640 by 480, 30 fps, 320 by 240, 30 fps, 1280 by 720, 24 fps and finally MPEG-4: 640 by 480, 30 fps. We can only assume that it converts all of these formats to what your TV can display. No word yet on DD5.1 support, but we have a man on the scene who's looking for answers to this as well as a few other questions.

Well now we know that iTV has officially become Apple TV. It's real folks: we got 802.11 b/g AND 802.11n, USB 2.0, Ethernet, WiFi, HDMI, bunch of standard outs, plus a 40GB hard drive -- all powered by an Intel CPU. So resolution is only 720p -- looks like a few folks are gonna be out of luck, but TV manufacturers are sure gonna be happy to sell all those new sets. Not just one, two or three but five computers can connect to the Apple TV box, making a true hub for all your PCs. You can watch content stored on your rig -- movies, TV shows, photos, etc. -- and you can also pull streaming vid directly off sites like...Apple.com! Plus, the box will even grab content from PCs outside of your house -- finally, we can watch all the great swag that our rich can afford. Interested? You'll be able to grab one immediately for $299.

It's no secret that Americans can't get enough of that HD goodness once its graced their eyes, and apparently the Brits feel the same way in their own homeland. Following a six month trial in London which broadcasted HD content over Freeview, surveys showed that a vast majority of individuals adored the service and are now chomping at the bit to get more. BBC, ITV, and Channel 4 all reported positive results, as a whopping 98-percent of the 450 partakers felt that "OTA HD service should be available now." Moreover, 90-percent of the trialists felt "the public broadcasters should be responsible for HD development," and desired to have "at least" seven HD channels available to them. Of course, there's always the critics, and a paltry five-percent of participants felt that the HD experience didn't exactly live up to their lofty expectations, but considering some broadcasters apparently compressed the feeds to squeeze more channels into their limited bandwidth, we can't exactly blame them.

Whatever Jobs & CO. slaps that little white apple logo onto seems to turn to gold recently so what would happen if they enter the flat-panel TV business? Home Depot is doing it so why couldn't Apple? They already have amazing flat-panel LCD monitors, a chain of successful retail locations, a distribution network that should be able to handle other large objects, and don't forget about their upcoming iTV. For the most part, a mid-range flat-panel is a mid-range flat-panel and Apple wouldn't have to produce a slew of these products in order to be successful. Two product lines would be 'nough along with a few different sizes in order to turn a profit. Carl Howe takes a look at the question at hand here and comes to one conclusion: it's not a matter of if Apple will enter the flat panel market; the only question is when.

Apple is finally entering the living room with their long-awaited set top box, codenamed the iTV, due in Q1 2007. The box can stream video from a connected Mac/PC or directly from the internet. No word yet on HD content specifically, but with the component and HDMI jacks on the box it's certainly come to the high-def party with the proper attire. Besides that there are USB, Ethernet, RCA and optical audio connectors, plus included 802.11 "wireless component video". You can watch movies, podcasts, view photo slideshows all on your HDTV through an updated Front Row-style interface on this half-height Mac Mini lookalike, all for $299. Continue on for pics of the back and interface or check out Engadget's coverage of the event.

Update: Engadget has a hands-on and close up photos of the unit and interface, it is tiny. Still no word on supported output resolutions.