Starting in early 2012, when Netflix is set to make its debut in the UK and Ireland, registered members will be able to instantly stream available content on their television sets, tablets, game consoles, computers and mobile phones.

In the beginning of November, the video streaming giant signed up MGM as its first content provider for the regions, and this morning Netflix announced a new digital licensing agreement that will add a host of BBC series.

Content from BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, was already available on Netflix in North and Latin America.

Financial terms of the UK and Ireland deal were not disclosed, and it’s still unclear how much Netflix plans to charge for the service in the UK and Ireland (but probably somewhere near the pricing of its biggest competitor in the regions, Amazon/LOVEFiLM).

Previous series of BBC shows such as “Torchwood” and “Spooks” will be available at launch, as will additional popular titles like “Little Britain”, “Fawlty Towers” and “Miss Marple”.

While not everyone would agree, I’m firmly of the belief that news (and most everything) sounds much better delivered in a British accent.

The BBC’s new global iPlayer app, which has launched in more than 11 western European countries, offers up much more than just your daily news, but is chock-full of fun words like “arse,” “blimey,” and one of my personal favorites, “daft.” If you’re into that kinda thing (like myself), you likely want to know that the BBC will launch its iPlayer app on the iPhone and iPod touch on Thursday.

The service works a bit differently for the Brits than it does for us international users, reports TNW. In the UK, the iPlayer is more of a back-up type service, allowing you to watch broadcasted content for up to 30 days after it airs. In Europe and now Canada, the app is a much broader subscription service, letting users choose from a wide library of current and former British programming.

But according to the BBC, the growth and expansion of its iPlayer app is about much more than having a mobile presence. It’s about the migration of TV to mobile devices in general, and the BBC sees this platform as a way to further British culture as a whole.

Jana Bennett, president of worldwide networks and Global BBC iPlayer, had this to say:

This platform extension shows how Global iPlayer isn’t just about moving TV to tablet devices, it’s also about a mobile strategy – about truly getting TV everywhere in a way that it hasn’t been before. We also want the global BBC iPlayer to be truly representative of the whole gamut of British creative output, to represent everything that is great about British content – not just the Best of British TV but the Best of British Culture.

The BBC did an hour-long special on Facebook, including interviews with Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg, as well as cameos by Ron Conway, David Kirkpatrick, and others. The entire video is now on Youtube. Update: Well, that was fast. One version’s been pulled down, but more are popping up. I suspect they will all be pulled soon, unless the BBC realizes what great marketing this is for its brand in the U.S. People in the UK can watch it here on BBC’s iPlayer.

It’s kind of funny to watch. “Even the Queen is on Facebook,” the British reporter marvels. My favorite bit shows a Facebook vending machine that dispenses computer keyboards. The show goes over well-worn territory, but is worth watching if you can find an episode online. Zuckerberg throws out mind-benders like:

We are not trying to make it so that people spend more time on Facebook. We are trying to make it so that the time that you spend on Facebook is so valuable that you want to come back every day.

Isn’t that the same thing?

The BBC also asks about the privacy implications of all this over-sharing Facebook encourages.

BBC: Do you believe people will become more open, that they will regard privacy with less concern?

Zuck: No, it’s not that people won’t care about privacy. Privacy is a fundamental thing and everyone cares about it.
I think the big cultural change is that now more and more people are finding that they can build their reputation, they can disseminate interesting information, they can help people discover stuff, they get credit for that, they can be a part of discovering other people’s stuff. I just think that people are seeing every day that that’s awesome. And that is why I think the world is moving in that direction

But people every day also wake up and I think are like, what stuff do I want to have out there and what don’t I, and that is not going to change.

The first car’s battery’s ran out only after 55 miles. Then another car’s motor overheated. When they went back to the original car, something was up with the brakes. So yeah, one of the most watched TV programs in the entire world didn’t exactly portray the Tesla Roadster favorably. Enter the libel lawsuit.

Tesla’s VP of Communication Ricardo Reyes lays it out on the official Tesla blog. In short he says that back in 2008 when the episode ran, Tesla was a young start-up and “we were good sports.” But now Tesla is a serious contender with several high-profile investments and partnerships. Apparently they feel that they need to set the record straight hence the lawsuit.

Over the last several months, we have written to the BBC, asking them to stop repeating the serious and damaging lies on the show. Specifically:

• The Roadster’s true range is only 55 miles per charge. Clarkson says: “Although Tesla say it will do 200 miles we worked out that on our track it would run out after just 55 miles.”

Fact: The Roadster has been certified under UN ECE R101, the EU regulation for measuring electric vehicle range, at 211 miles. All ECE R101 tests are witnessed and certified by a neutral third party approved by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, in Tesla’s case, the Department of Road Transport – Netherlands. Of course, a car driven aggressively will get reduced mileage, regardless of whether its fueled by petrol or electricity, as Top Gear found. At the other end of the spectrum, through mindful driving, a Tesla owner achieved an astounding 313 miles on a single charge. To let either of these extremes represent real-world range is an incomplete analysis.

• One of the Roadsters ran out of charge and had to be pushed into the Top Gear hangar by four men.

Fact: Neither Roadster ran out of charge during Top Gear’s tests, or even came close. We know because the Roadster records basic operating information. The show fails to mention that neither Roadster ever went below twenty-five percent charge. Why stage the stunt of pushing it into the hangar?

• The Roadster’s brakes broke, rendering the car not drivable.

Fact: During Top Gear’s drive on the test track, the fuse for the braking system’s electric vacuum pump failed. But the brakes were operational and safe. The result was like driving a car without the convenient power brakes to which we’ve grown accustomed. Tesla’s brakes, both with and without the fuse, must pass all UN ECE safety tests, and they do.

• Neither Roadster provided to Top Gear was available for test driving due to these problems.

Fact: At all times, there was at least one Roadster at the ready.

The blog posts states that Tesla is not “doing this for money” although it’s not exactly clear if that means the car company is not seeking financial reparations. Tesla claims they’re doing this because the episode they feel contains blatant lies has been re-broadcasted and is widely available. Unfortunately for Tesla, this lawsuit will likely not change anything. Google “Tesla Top Gear” and the top video hits are not from the BBC but rather user uploads. Clearing the Internet of all things Tesla Top Gear will involve a fair amount of takedown letters. Good luck with that.

Tesla’s claims were made public last night and the BBC has since released this statement. The best part? “The BBC stands by the programme and will be vigorously defending this claim.”
http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f8/1546306944

Let the speculation begin. The BBC is holding an event next week, on the same day and exactly the same time that iPad 2 is to be announced. The Apple event starts at 10am PST and the BBC event starts at 6pm GMT (which are exactly the same). If true, it looks like there could be some video chatting between the two companies from across the pond.

Adding to the rumor, The Inquirer says that BBC’s event will be hosted by British actor Stephen Fry, who is known to love all things Apple and was one of the very few who got the iPad before anyone else — even American press.

Electronista speculates that some sort of FaceTime could happen since there will be cameras on iPad 2. It could also have to do with the BBC’s new iPlayer app for iDevices.

UPDATE: We just got the official Apple invite for those in the UK (thanks Wille W.)

The programs are, of course, only for UK residents, who already pay handsomely to have BBC access, but a pay service is in the works along with an Android version, so let’s hope it’s just a matter of time. After all, if you pay for BBC on your cable subscription or through another service, shouldn’t you get the same benefits as those in the UK?

Many more screenshots and impressions over there.

We first heard about the BBC’s iPlayer a few years ago and for awhile it wasn’t doing too well. Then more and more people started catching on to the whole ‘watch TV on your own time’ thing, and iPlayer got really popular. I blame part of that on great shows like the UK Office and Top Gear UK — too bad the US counterparts aren’t as desirable. To keep momentum moving, the BBC is planning on taking the browser-based iPlayer to mobile devices.

Apple’s iOS will get a Flash-less app and Android’s app will require both Froyo and Flash 10.1 to run. Not only BBC content will be available; media from other companies, in what is called “inter-linking” will also come to the iPlayer. Unfortunately for us, the app doesn’t work outside the UK due to licensing restrictions, so we miss out of all the wacky British humor. But, there may be something special in the works by way of a subscription to the BBC.

Users will be able to browse the last seven days of media over Wifi and 3G, but the streaming will only happen over Wifi.

An Accurate depiction of the American Stig?

The much anticipated Top Gear USA debuts this fall on the History Channel, and until now, has lacked one important item: The Stig. That is until a new rumor has mention that there will be a Stig and the Stig will drive.

For those who haven’t heard of the Stig, he is an anonymous track driver for the super popular Top Gear on BBC in the UK. He doesn’t say much, and he doesn’t have to, he lets his driving say it all. The USA Stig will most likely be used in the same fashion as the UK show. The Stig will test vehicles on the Top Gear track and grab a lap time for each car, as to assure consistency in the testing.

No names have been clued as to whom the Stig will be, but that’s the point. Hopefully Jalopnik’s sources are correct and a USA Stig is born, it wouldn’t be Top Gear without him.

The Beeb: not a fan of 3D TV. Well, not a fan of the confusion surrounding its deployment. The BBC, in a recent interview, said that it’s not sure which direction 3D TV is heading, so it cannot commit to anything, much less a full deployment, any time soon.

Said the Corporation, by way of Andy Quested, principal technologist, HD, BBC Future Media and Technology:

About 50% of the respondents said the current formats are OK for their current thinking, well current thinking is about three to five years out, so it would work if they had to do anything now. 33% said they wouldn’t work at all and everyone said we had to investigate what the DVB was doing and what is coming out of those discussions. We don’t believe we have to rush this just to get a 3D service out based on some of the frame compatible systems.

In other words, the BBC isn’t going to spend money on an unproven (in the sense that it might not be around for long) technology just to keep up with the likes of Sky.

Raise your hand if you own a 3D TV and have seen a Premier League game in 3D.

I don’t expect to see too many hands in the air.

If there’s any advice to give, it would be this: don’t rush into buying a 3D TV unless you’re cool with spending money on something that’s not quite “there” yet. How long did it take for the major networks to get behind high definition?

Let things simmer a bit, that’s all. Unless you need to be the guy on the block who always has the latest this-or-that.

As a photographer myself, I’m constantly trying to find information of new techniques and practices to make my photos better. That’s why I love it when an organization like the BBC shares information like this on the ‘net. The classes cover the best practices for shooting in many different situations, including everything from shooting plants to shooting in the arctic. They are all available in the PDF format, and you can download them for personal use. I’ve only had time to read a couple of them, but they are very well written and worth your time.

[via LifeHacker]

The bairn writes:

My dad had told me it was the iPod of its day.

He had told me it was big, but I hadn’t realised he meant THAT big. It was the size of a small book.

When I saw it for the first time, its colour also struck me. Nowadays gadgets come in a rainbow of colours but this was only one shade – a bland grey.

So it’s not exactly the most aesthetically pleasing choice of music player. If I was browsing in a shop maybe I would have chosen something else.

From a practical point of view, the Walkman is rather cumbersome, and it is certainly not pocket-sized, unless you have large pockets. It comes with a handy belt clip screwed on to the back, yet the weight of the unit is enough to haul down a low-slung pair of combats.

Browsing in a shop! Ha! Scott, if you were browsing in a shop back in the 1980s they wouldn’t have noticed you simply because you would have been the germ of an impetirive in the heads of Mr. and Mrs. Campbell. However, hats off to you, young Scotsman, and, as they say, “Tak awa Aiberdeen an twal mile roun an far ar ye?,” for you, lad, are in it.

The somewhat depressing and controversial possibility of a newspaper bailout turned into a stone-cold reality in the past few months as politicians, including Sen. John Kerry, Sen. Ben Cardin and President Obama, have hinted at giving the newspaper industry a life vest to save a sinking industry. Kerry, in his dire remarks at the Senate hearing on “Future of Journalism” a few weeks ago, made a call to action to save newspapers and prevent future harm to democracy. Regardless of where direction of this policy is headed, the idea of a government bailout of the news industry, which is supposed to be the “watchdog” of the government, raises a few ethical flags.

President Obama echoed Kerry’s concerns at last weekend’s White House Correspondents Dinner, addressing the current state of the industry:

“…It’s also true that your ultimate success as an industry is essential to the success of our democracy. It’s what makes this thing work. You know, Thomas Jefferson once said that if he had the choice between a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, he would not hesitate to choose the latter.

Clearly, Thomas Jefferson never had cable news to contend with — but his central point remains: A government without newspapers, a government without a tough and vibrant media of all sorts, is not an option for the United States of America.”

Obama was perhaps posturing to a room full of journalists, but the message comes across clear: newspapers need help and their existence is a fundamental requirement for democracy to successfully survive. And any time democracy is threatened, the government will come to the rescue, right?

Sen. Ben Cardin actually has a concrete plan, The Newspaper Revitalization Act, to aid newspapers in their time of need. His plan allows newspapers to operate as nonprofits for educational purposes under the U.S. tax code, and thus receive the same tax-benefits as a non-profit organization. Revenue from advertising and subscription would be tax exempt, and contributions to support news coverage or operations could be tax deductible. Cardin’s proposal became a reality on the state-level with this week’s news that Washington’s governor approved a tax cut for the state’s newspaper industry. The law gives newspaper publishers a 40 percent cut in Washington’s main business tax.

The catch for Cardin’s proposal is that though newspapers would still be able to report on all issues, namely politics and political campaigns, the government would prohibit the newspapers from making political endorsements. This raises two ethical questions.

The first is whether newspapers supported with government funding should be barred from making political endorsements.

Political endorsements by newspapers and media organizations are a very essence of freedom of speech. Readers often find value in seeing a newspaper’s evaluation of the candidates given that the paper has in-depth coverage of political candidates throughout the course of a campaign. Putting a muzzle on journalists in this capacity is a step in the wrong direction.

There are existing models for publicly-funded or assisted media that are not limited to endorsing political positions. The clearest example of this is PBS networks. PBS is a non-profit media organization that is partially funded by federal and state money (less than 50% of PBS’s revenue comes from government sources). PBS stations are not prohibited from taking a stance on political issues, in accordance with the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, but PBS and the government has been embroiled in several sticky situations involving political bias and politicians feeling that they can somehow control PBS’ coverage.

Most recently, Kenneth Tomlinson, the former Republican chairman of the Center for Public Broadcasting, the non-profit in charge of distributing federal funds to public television and radio stations, openly criticized PBS for a liberal bias. Tomlinson even hired an outside investigator to evaluate whether PBS’s political news coverage was slanting towards the left. In fact, it was revealed that most viewers didn’t think PBS’s news favored liberals; however, Tomlinson and other Republicans engaged in a heated debate questioning the bias of the well-respected news organization. Like PBS, the BBC, UK’s largest media organization which is partially funded by taxpayer money, has found itself embroiled in its fair share of accusations of political bias.

Some would argue that PBS represents a segment of the media in the U.S. whereas a newspaper bailout would effect thousands of news organizations. I fear that if most mainstream newspapers and organizations took on a similar model to PBS, many politicians would feel that they had the free reign to not only question, but investigate, the bias of any unfavorable news coverage if it didn’t lend support to their political leanings.

The second ethical question is whether journalists will be able to deliver unbiased reporting of the very people and institutions that are helping to subsidize their jobs. I think journalists at PBS have done an effective job of objectively reporting the news, despite the political pressure the organization faces from politicians. However, newspapers and thus journalists who are “saved” by government intervention are in a slightly different situation. From its inception, PBS was meant to be a non-profit news organization which drew funding from a variety of sources, including the government. In the case of a newspaper bailout, the government could don the image of a “knight in shining armor” to journalists who, without the bailout, would be unemployed. Will all journalists and media execs buy into this? I’m not sure of the answer but the adoption of this perception surely could effect objective news reporting.

Yet having an appreciation for a policy, and letting that appreciation impact professional integrity are two different things. Would the politicians who supported the bailout receive favorable coverage? Most journalists would respond with a resounding no, as they should. Journalists are all beholden to an unwritten code of ethics when it comes to reporting the truth. And even in one of the most disastrous modern-day cases of a politician’s efforts to control the media, journalists have still proven that they fight to report the truth. Italy’s prime minster, Silvio Berlusconi, has been accused of limiting the press’ freedom of expression by controlling negative coverage of his government on state-run media networks and papers as well as the institutions he controls financially. Many Italian journalists have retaliated, quitting their jobs, forming protest groups, and advocating fiercely for greater freedom of speech. These reporters have chosen dissent and unemployment over submission and employment within a state-biased media.

But the dilemma becomes significantly more cloudy when the people throwing a life vest to the drowning industry are the same people who need to be evaluated through an objective lens. And the question remains in the case of a bailout, if there will forever be the government’s shadow hanging over the media organizations who survive thanks to these benefits.

(Photo credit: Flickr/VaxXzine)

So the BBC has an upcoming six-part series dubbed South Pacific and to help create some hype for the show they released this footage of Dylan Longbottom in “a 12 foot monster barrel wave.” Before I spout off about why that statement is ridiculous I’ll get through the rest of the nitty gritty.

Aussie cameraman Bali Strickland was in the water filming Longbottom with a specially outfitted TyphoonHD4. Before this shoot, the camera had never been used in this manner. German camera/technician specialist Rudi Diesel is responsible for making this all happen. The following are specs for the $100,000 camera:

TyphoonHD4 & UwaVis 
Using an advanced CMOS sensor with ultra high light sensitivity of 1000 ASA – colour 
Resolution 1280 X 1024 pixels 
HD res. 720p up to 1000 fps 
 Max. frame rates up to 200,000 fps

4 GB internal memory, storage 3500 frames (recording time e.g. 3.5sec at 1000 fps or 7 sec at 500fps / at 720p). Internal memory can be partitioned into 2, 4 or 8 partitions.

UW-housing: 
A live image is displayed on a LCD viewfinder. All camera functions can be operated while diving. The recorded shot can be viewed immediately. Lens control via servo motors (iris, focus, zoom)
Lenses used: (F-mount) Nikon prime lenses 14mm and 17-35mm.

A double overhead wave is nothing to scoff at and just paddling out in that big of surf made me pee my boardies a couple years back in Costa Rica, but I wouldn’t be calling what Longbottom was in a “monster barrel wave.” Not to discredit him or anything, but he’s a big wave surfer that’s been in far bigger surf than that.

Like this one.

If you want to see a monster barrels then check out this video of Jamie O’Brien in his personal sandbox Pipeline.

Or you can watch Miguel Del Toro surf a 100-foot wave down in Patagonia.

It will now be possible to make a single HD Blu-ray copy of one of our programmes, although not copies of copies. An HD connection to a protected home network will also be possible, although an HD connection to the Internet or portable devices will not work. The diagram below I think sums up the various paths you might want your HD content to take – and the extent to which that will be possible. I should add that the partial unlocking of some paths should also enable the high quality standard definition RGB outputs from some set top boxes.

Here you go, BBC. I made a corrected version.

[via Pocket-Lint]

Anthony Rose, head of the iPlayer online broadcasting project for the BBC, is working towards a social networking player where your friends are going to choose what you watch. Upcoming iPlayer features include ratings and discussions that will be restricted to networks of friends, rather than the public (..like Facebook?). The new version will be rolled out in 2009, but whether these new features will increase its popularity is doubtful.

Really, your child is not that cute.

Yes, I’m sure you think your child is adorable, but unfortunately, he, she or it just doesn’t have what we are looking for. Thank you for your time… and your information.

The BBC is responsible for a stolen data stick that contained the private information of hundreds of children. The group of children auditioned for an upcoming BBC show, called Gastronauts, aimed for educating children about how food is grown, made, and marketed. However, it would seem that more than the children are getting a schooling.

The lost data included names, addresses and availability. Parents were notified by letter, which also included something of an apology:

I am sorry to let you know that Objective Productions have informed us that a computer memory stick has gone missing…Let us know should anything happen that gives you cause for concern.

The BBC suspended production of the program, pending an investigation.

Moral of the story: Quit trying to get your damn kids on the tele. They’ll only end up as freakish weird grown-ups anyways. Why would you want to do that to them? Stop the madness.

At Germany’s new grocery story of the future (already in use by residents of the present) shoppers can use mobile phones to check out while they shop. The store has created free software for your phone that allows you to use your camera to capture barcodes as you shop. Once finished, just press a button and all your purchases come up as a single bar code. Slide your phone under the barcode reader at an automated pay station, and your final amount comes up. Shoppers can then pay using cash, credit or debit cards, or with the touch of a finger, (once you register for fingerprint shopping). The store also features Roger the helpful German shop robot, an automated wine tasting bar and micro chipped meat. Take a tour with the BBC.

Want to show off your fancy new HDTV and Blu-ray player? Yes, you do! This summer will see the release of “The BBC High-Definition Natural History Collection,” a collection of some of the best high-def nature programming money can buy. The collection has a few episodes from series like “Planet Earth” (which is amazing, by the way), “Galapagos” and “Wild China,” which has nothing to do with the former WWE wrestler, thank God.

There’s a total of eight discs in the collection, and it’ll retail for about $180 when it goes on sale on July 22. I’ve either downloaded or seen on TV most of the included shows, but owning them on Blu-ray (or getting a nice, x264 rip) would be swell, too.

This is somewhat similar to Songkick’s “Battle Of The Bands,” which we covered in March. Songkick uses different data – MySpace, Amazon and blogs – to determine rankings, and the results are completely different.

SoundIndex also lets users sort by popular tracks, search by artist, or create customized charts based on music preferences or filters by age range, sex or location. Results can also be limited to just one data source (such as Last.fm).

SoundIndex was created in partnership with IBM (IBM’s Semantic Super Computing is used to crawl and analyze sites), and the UK’s NovaRising produces the site. The project is coming out of BBC Switch, BBC’s new teen service delivering content to 12 to 17-year-olds across multiple platforms, TV, Radio 1 and online.

Thanks to Tyler McNally for the tip.