The new free HD satellite service from BBC and ITV launches in London today. Freesat will commence with 80 TV and radio channels, with more to be added before the end of the year.

For a one-off payment customers will receive a box, dish and installation enabling them to receive HD broadcasts without a subscription fee. Freesat should be available to 98 per cent of UK households and include BBC HD and the new ITV HD channel – currently rumoured to be exclusive to Freesat.

Our coverage of the launch and all the details on Freesat will appear in HD Review issue 7.

 

Hardly a shock horror from the internet press but nevertheless, Grand Theft Auto IV’s record-smashing first week on shelves still manages to wow.

According to Shopwatchers Chart-Track, GTA IV managed to notch up a heady 609,000 copies after its first day on sale in the UK (which probably explains why the game is so darn hard to get a hold of), trouncing San Andreas’s 501,000 units and, furthermore, giving a certain Master Chief a run for his money. Halo 3 was previously the fastest-selling Xbox 360 title – shifting 266,000 units on its first day – however, with GTA IV selling 335,000 units after just one day on the shelves, Rockstar’s storming fourth entry in the series is clearly gunning down the competition.

Delving into the world of cult cinema and its own back catalogue New Line has quelled the murmurs and rumours, announcing that Alex Proyas’s Dark City will indeed enjoy a Blu-ray release. Dark by name and certainly dark by nature, the growing acclaim surrounding this low-key (at the time of its release) movie is sure to please fanboys and HD enthusiasts alike. What’s more, in conjunction with a standard-def release, Proyas himself has admitted that the feature will be arriving in a revised director’s cut edition. So get those deep blacks optimised as Dark City will be coming out of the shadows in HD and will be available 29 July.

Introducing its latest high-definition projector to the market, Acer’s H5350 is set to feature a worthy spec for its £589 SRP. Featuring 720p HD resolution capabilities, 2,000 ANSI lumens brightness, a 2,000:1 contrast ratio, full HDMI input and Colorboost technology, this unit also comes with a removable control pad-cum-remote. With functions kicked off by the all-ruling ‘Empowering Key’ this control is set to make user interactivity easier as it seamlessly scrolls through the H5350’s options. And with the relative hum of a 28-decibel noise level and a lamp life of up to 4,000 hours further upping the quality, this easy-on-the-wallet projector is just the ticket for those planning on venturing into the world of home cinema.

Set June as the month to laugh… a lot, as New Line adds Be Kind Rewind to its slate. Couple this with Will Ferrell’s afro-crazy basketball hit, Semi-Pro, and the studio’s dedication to varying its releases never fails to surprise and please.

Already triumphing with successful horror/fantasy Blu-rays with Pan’s Labyrinth and The Orphanage, we expect New Line’s comic hits to also be given a strong treatment. Both receiving US releases, Semi-Pro arrives in a two-disc set on 3 June, while Be Kind Rewind, receiving no spec confirmation as of yet, will be available for import on 10 June.

Korean manufacturer Samsung has announced its Profile 1.1 BD-P1500 Blu-ray player for a June release in the US. This fourth-generation player is capable of outputting video at 1080p24 and decoding Dolby True HD audio. DTS-HD audio decoding and Profile 2.0 support will be added later in a firmware upgrade, courtesy of the included Ethernet or USB ports.

Love him or loathe him, Roland Emmerich certainly knows how to pull in the punters – despite the finished result of his cinematic endeavours. And arriving high on Warner’s impressive new slate comes the full-spec announcement of the upcoming 10,000 BC.

The Blu-ray – set to hit shelves and be available for import on 24 June – comes with the same supplements as the DVD version, including deleted scenes, an alternate ending and theatrical trailers. However, always ones for exclusivity, the Blu-ray will also sport two featurettes – ‘A Wild And Woolly Ride’ and ‘Inspiring An Epic’.

Amplifying the roar of 10,000 BC’s rampant sabretooth tiger, an English Dolby TrueHD, 5.1 Surround track comes with a 1080p/VC-1 video transfer in a release that is rapidly stampeding towards its release date.

Look out Blockbuster because online rental giant Netflix has just released its first quarterly figures. Profits of $13.4 million on a healthy revenue of $326 million chart a 36 per cent rise in fortunes from this time last year and, with subscriber numbers rising, the company’s strengths look set to weather the download storm to come this year. With Microsoft’s Xbox Marketplace garnering strength, Apple’s iTunes Store growing massively and Sony’s recent promise of on-demand movies on the PlayStation 3, Netflix’s CEO Reed Hastings released this HD-orientated statement regarding the company’s battle plan. “Because of the higher cost of Blu-ray and the consumer expectations around high-def content, we are planning on implementing a modest monthly premium for access to Blu-ray sometime this year.”

So Netflix has sussed out its competition early and recognised Blu-ray ownership/rental is no longer a niche. Here’s hoping for a ‘premium’ Blu-ray price from the rental service.

Fox Home Entertainment and MGM Home Entertainment are bringing some classic war titles to Blu-ray. The Battle Of Britain and A Bridge Too Far are set for the format courtesy of MGM, while Fox is launching a counterattack with The Longest Day, Patton and The Sand Pebbles. All titles will come in widescreen with 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, and additional extras.

According to reports today, Hitachi’s range of ultra-thin LCD TVs are headed for a UK release. Comet has let slip that the UT32MH70 32-inch 1080p model will go on sale here soon, starting at £1,299. Although there’s been no word on the 37-inch and 42-inch displays in the UT range, all models are about a third of the width of other LCD screens, at 1.5 inches, and feature Hitachi’s External Electrode Fluorescent Lamp (EEFL), flexible colour accuracy and a longer lifespan, while the two larger screens include Hitachi’s Anti-Judder technique.