Channels 4 are one of the first TV channels in the UK to provide pay per download TV.

The downloads are in a Digital Rights Managed (DRM) windows media format.

The 4od user interface for browsing content is one of the worst user interfaces I have ever seen.

A typical TV show download is .99pence. This appears to be the going rate for paid content.
You can have the file for up to one month but once you start watching it you only have 48 hours to view the clip before it expires.

The video quality is passable but not great.

The speed of the download is pretty impressive, a 45 minute of ER would download is 30mins or less on a fast 8mb internet connection.

Conclusion

Channel 4 should be commended for getting into this market.

However paying for content that you can get just by turning on your TV is never going to be popular.

Clearly ad-supported free content will eventually win out. Channel 4 did the same with Film4 a channel they used to charge £6 a month for last year that is now free.

I can’t wait until the BBC launches their own demand service; I saw a demo of it last year and it is very slick. The content should also be free (as license fee payers).

Link: http://www.channel4.com/4od/

Congratulations to Matt and the team at Wordpress for getting version 2.1 done.

Wordpress is the software that runs this blog and many, many more.

Link: http://www.wordpress.org

One week from now Windows Vista will be released to the general public.

At some point this week I will start using it as my primary Operating System. I am in the middle of some development projects that are keeping me firmly in Windows XP for the moment.

I am itching to over and I have my Windows sidebar customised for the things I use most.

My quarterly shipment of new Microsoft Technology has arrived.

•Windows Vista Business (Upgrade)
•Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007
•Microsoft Office Project Professional 2007
•Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager
•Microsoft Office Visio 2007
•Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007
•Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007
•Microsoft Expression Web

First things first giving us a Windows Vista upgrade DVD is a really bad move. It means I have to install Windows XP first on a machine I want Vista on.

I don’t understand why they did it this way. They have just added about 45 mins on to the time it takes to install Windows Vista.

Luckily for me I have Windows Vista Beta 2 installed and I did the upgrade to the final version upgrade over it.

That operation was pretty clean.

This is a free hosted website solution aimed at really small business.

Office Live Basic is free, you can register a domain name (also free) and have access to 500mb of Website storage.

It comes with its own web creation tool that you have to use on the basic package another restriction of the basic package is you cant upload an existing site.

I am on the fence about these type things but as its free you cant complain too much.
Link: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/officelive/