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Now then, I’m willing to admit to becoming ever so slightly baffled with endless amounts of gadgets and services that are now available to watch what’s on the “box”.

Lord Sugar it would seem is not so exasperated by this proliferation of the market and so has decided to dip his finger into the rising pie. In partnership with the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, BT and Talk Talk, the collaboration have got together to bring us YouView, billed as the missing link which finally brings TV and the Internet together. The set top box comes with an interface that allows the viewer to watch broadcast television as well as the content on iplayer, ITV Player, 4oD and Demand 5 . The service allows programmes to be watched in HD along with the holy grail ability to record and rewind live TV and is available to purchase for £299.95, which gives some people the convenience of all the services along with free view channels without the on-going costs of a monthly bill.

Now although baffled I reckon this does sound somewhat familiar. An internet enabled TV device sounds pretty much like a Smart TV to me except without the use of the wider web. Taking into account that that the majority of TV’s sold within stores now are internet enabled I would ask the question of why not just  put that £299.95 towards a new TV or even the Google set-top box which is £100 cheaper (see Rami’s blog piece for more info).

The other reality of this launch was that it was meant to be two years earlier when this kind of technology was not so common. The reason behind this delay could be considered a pertinent one when taking into account the US flop of Google TV where the technology failed to come up to the mark. However although now it would seem the Youview interface and user experience has met that simplicity quality gage that we all seek when relaxing in front of the TV, I personally feel it has indeed come two years too late.

Considering all the other options available within the market such as Smart TVs, Google TV, Apple TV and even my PlayStation (or your X box or your Aunties Wii) which is connected to a TV and has access to most VOD services, this has just become another cluttered market rather than one monopolised by the simplicity of the far superior service. Released two years earlier and YouView could of taken significant steps ahead of the competition, released now and to me it seems like just another band wagon jumper.   

With just over 100 days left until our capital lifts the curtain on the 2012 Olympic Games, I thought it would be a good idea to see how people will be watching the Olympics this Summer.

If recent stories (and personal experience) are anything to go by, one can assume that a lot won’t be watching the games in the actual stadiums. So where will people be watching the Olympics over the summer? In terms of location this could be any number of places, for instance my family will be hosting a few Olympic BBQ’s with the TV on in the background. Others will be heading off to some of the Olympic TV screens in London’s parks, to indulge in some of the atmosphere and some will join in with the hordes of crowds packing out bars to cheer Chris Hoy and company on to gold. 

Regarding the actual channels that are covering the Olympics, your options are far more limited. The BBC will be covering the event day and night meaning rival broadcasters are preparing themselves for a dip in impacts during July. If Sue barker, Colin Jackson and Michael Johnson don’t cut it for you then you’ll have to switch over to British Eurosport (assuming you’ve paid for the correct Sky or Virgin package). Although this channel normally has a somewhat niche profile, come the Olympics it will be showing an all-encompassing selection of sports. The channel served me well during a summer in Barcelona where I unfortunately spilt Sangria down a customer whilst watching Michael Phelps win his 8^th gold medal.  However as is the case with most sport on TV the success of the ratings will largely depend upon the performance of our nations athletes, which staggeringly could actually be pretty good. What is more, is that there will be no staying up until 2am or waking up at 6am to watch the live events, this year’s Olympics will be more or less catered to the UK public’s schedule meaning the allure of watching live action should inevitably lead to more ratings.

In terms of viewing the Olympics online the story is a somewhat similar one. The rights around any Olympic content being shown on the internet are impressively strict with the BBC and Eurosport websites being the only UK broadcasters able to show any content. The two websites along with BBC iPlayer will inevitably see significant rises in traffic over the period, however Sky Sports news will most likely see upsurges both in TV ratings and website traffic as its special Olympic report will cater for its loyal consumers seeking extra news. Much like last time around, expect to see clips uploaded onto YouTube, only to be taken down swiftly.

The rise of social media over the last 4 years will clearly add another aspect to the Olympic experience this year. The relationship between sport and social media was fantastically demonstrated in this year’s Super Bowl with the world record for the amount of tweets in a second broken twice. The first came in Madonna’s half time performance and the second at the very end of the match, my own prediction is that #ldn2012 and #ubolt will be breaking similar records. As we have seen before on TV, these social media buzzes will in turn create a drive back to live viewing as people do not wish to miss out on the real time experience of watching and discussing the Games over Social media platforms.

Needless to say if you don’t wish to watch any coverage of the Olympics and are hell bent on avoiding the ahem… “massive waste of tax payers’ money”…. then  you will also need to avoid picking up any newspapers as they will have the Olympics story dominating both sides seeing as it’s not often that press has an advantage over TV and online these days.

Those of you who watch BBC1 may have seen our very own MD, Thomas Laranjo, appear on air yesterday to talk about the travel industry, a subject that’s very close to our hearts.

Why? Well, TripAdvisor has been under attack this week for posting some extreme reviews (some positive, some very negative) about the hotels and resorts featured on its site. The Advertising Standards Authority has ruled that these reviews aren’t as trustworthy as they make out, as there’s no way to prove that reviewers have actually visited the places themselves. Since reviews like these can potentially make or break a business, TripAdvisor has been ordered to rewrite some of its marketing claims to avoid what the ASA says amounts to ‘misleading’ members of the public.

Total Media’s Thomas Laranjo appeared as a guest on BBC Breakfast, and then BBC News, to talk about what this means for the future of travel review sites and their credibility. Tom began by pointing out that filtering out these extreme reviews may not be the answer. In fact, Total Media’s own research into the travel industry has shown that online reviews have become a vital source of information for consumers when it comes to choosing a holiday destination, almost on a par with recommendations from friends and family members. If sites such as TripAdvisor start to filter out overtly negative reviews, Tom told the BBC, the results could be disastrous: “all you are going to see are positive reviews, and [the result is] you start to lose trust in that platform to deliver genuine opinions.”

So what does this mean for the future of TripAdvisor, a site which sets out to serve its users with a range of genuine, user generated reviews based on first-hand experiences? The answer lies, as always, with the consumer. Whilst users might be less likely to trust the validity of some of the more extreme views, we must also recognise how media-savvy the public can be at times like these: “this is just one form of opinion,” Tom says, “and people are able to apply their own natural filters to all this information.” It seems for now at least, the fate of TripAdvisor lies firmly in the hands of its users.