While it is naturally easier to perform such tasks on a completely internet-connected service than on a preset box with sporadic updates, UK satellite broadcasters Sky have now made the breakthrough of including a ‘recommendations engine‘ within their electronic programme guide (EPG).

Based on the approaches seen on Netflix and YouTube, the service will look to dig into their database of programming across all channels to provide individual Sky boxes with the most relevant suggestions based on viewing history and current interest.

Aiming to provide customers with more from their Sky satellite subscriptions, the update will utilise the Sky+ Planner’s recordings past, present, and future as reference points presumably as opposed to live TV, although shows in the latter category will naturally be recommended with their airdates alongside on-demand listings.

Amongst other updates, Sky are also implementing a newly-created ‘smart series link’ that remembers to record not only an entire upcoming season of a present TV show with new episodes, but also of any future seasons afterwards, as they make the most of their technology to offer years-long memory in their products.

On more minor incorporations, Sky have also added a ‘sports tile’ on the homepage of their EPG, DVD cover art for movies and eligible content in their On Demand sections, and an ‘HDMI One Touch’ option enabling a user to swich both a TV set and a Sky+HD box on from standby with one touch of a Sky remote power button, so long as the devices have compatiability and an HDMI connection.

Released to their public as of yesterday (21 August), will Sky’s breakthrough set an industry standard in the UK? For TV services that is, the internet obviously got their first…

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It takes a lot of time and money to build up a brand, so it may be wise to make sure nobody owns your name first. The Youview internet TV service didn’t seem to follow that advice, and are now on the wrong end of a court ruling.

The spat is with a UK telecommunications company called Total Ltd, who are not happy that their established trade mark ‘Your View’ has been hijacked, and a judge has sided with them saying that the YouView name does infringes the trade mark.

The company which successfully won an initial appeal in 2012, and then went on to issue high court proceedings, say they want the courts to make Youview change their entire branding, and pay compensation along with court costs into the bargain. As the dispute has been raging for several years, that may be a lot of costs.

The Youview service which launched nearly 2 years ago, is a connected set-top box that plays both broadcast, catch-up and on-demand content from the major UK broadcasters.

The company which is backed by a combo of TV and broadband companies that include the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 has been beset by problems since inception, and now they have another one.

Youview who have around a million users, are planning to challenge the ruling saying, “We plan to appeal against the court’s decision, as we maintain there is no confusion between our consumer-facing TV service, YouView, and the business-to-business billing platform, YourView, provided by Total Ltd.”

It could have been worse for Youview though, it was rumored that Google were planning to sue because the name sounded too much like Youtube.

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New research produced by the Leichtman Research Group has found that the coverage of TV sets now ‘connected’ is on the edge of being the majority, with a verdict that 49% of American households have at least one set that can claim such an ability.

With 38% recorded at the same point in 2012, following on from the 24% recorded for 2010, it is only a matter of time before the industry can claim the coveted ‘over half’ status, in measurements taken on TV sets that had an online presence either through itself, or when attached to a device such as a games console, connected Blu-ray player, or a set-top box/dongle.

Figures also show an improvement in the number of people who actually use their connected boxes for video watching (at least once a week), with the biennial proportions since 2010 going from 5%, to 13%, and now 24% of all American adults.

Leichtman Research said of the findings: “Connected television use is heavily skewed towards Netflix subscribers, with 49% of Netflix subscribers watching video from the internet via a connected device weekly, compared to 8% weekly use among all non-Netflix subscribers. Among Netflix streaming video users, 78% say that they watch Netflix on a TV set – a similar level to the previous three years.”

Meanwhile, it was also discovered that the practice of ‘cord-cutting’ was also on the rise, as whilst 47% of homes carried a streaming service subscription (in this slightly restrictive instance meaning ‘one or more from Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu Plus‘) and 31% report watching video through ‘non-TV’ screens (including desktop, smartphones, tablet computers, and e-readers), an interesting statistic was that of how many Netflix subscribers also subscribe to a pay-TV service. The results found that number at 88% in 2010, but it has dropped over the two-year gaps first to 85%, and then to 80% of all Netflix subscribers.

In addition, it was noted that 48% of people that claim not to be subscribed to any traditional pay-TV platform did pay to use Netflix figures up from 16% and 29% demonstrating a clear area in which the movie rental and streaming giants are excelling in.

Leichtman Research Group’s president & ‘principal analyst’ Bruce Leichtman summarised: “Emerging Video Services have truly emerged over the past two to three years. This recent growth was spurred by Netflix’s decision in the third quarter of 2011 to focus on streaming video, coupled with the proliferation of connected TV devices, smartphones, and iPads and tablets.”

UK free-to-air TV service providers Freeview have announced an intention to bring their accessible business model to the online arena.

The brand have been linked with a planned introduction of a service codenamed ‘Freeview Connect‘, which will aim to provide viewers with ‘on-demand services’ that run alongside regular free-to-air channels broadcast in a traditional manner.

The Freeview Connect branding itself is planned to be the face of their operations in connected TV as a whole, with hints from some sources that Freeview could develop smart TV sets and set-top boxes of their own creation in the future as a base for their offerings.

With fellow network-supported venture YouView moving from strength to strength in the emerging UK smart TV market, Freeview appear to have realised that they need to hold a presence in the sector over the coming years in order to stay relevant to consumers.

It has been reported by The Guardian, though, that a number of YouView’s most notable backers are reducing their input into that project due to a focus in working alongside subscription-based telecommunications providers such as BT and TalkTalk, a turn of events that could prove beneficial to the fledgling Freeview Connect’s prospects. Backers believed to have been recruited for the idea already include Arqiva, BBC, ITV and Channel 4, putting a collective £100m+ into the brand, as well as free availablity of their respective services and catch-up TV apps within the system.

Technical development of the project is reportedly coming from Digital UK, whose new director Ilse Howling (formerly of Freeview) states: “I’m delighted to be joining Digital UK to lead development of the new connected service. The company is well-placed to develop the next-generation specification and work with the supply chain to support a new mass market service to make connected TV available free, for everyone.”

As the naturally most widely-covered TV service company looks to make the most of its status to tap the online market, will formal support from a consortium of key YouView backers help create an overall service that defines internet TV in the UK region?

Sony’s PlayStation 4 games console is one that is performing strongly in both their launch country of the USA and the global market as a whole, and it appears as though they are set to add to that presence by expanding to one of the largest potential national markets in the world – China.

The expansion move from Sony will see them collaborate with local manufacturers Shanghai Oriental Pearl Group (OPCD), reacting to a recent lifting of a 13-year-ban on all foreign-built games consoles.

The partnership in question is noted as being one that will see Sony and OPCD combine in the nation to create two new companies specifically to manage the unique task of overseeing the PS4’s entry to the lucrative Chinese market – with one built to both manufacture and sell the hardware in question, and another that will look to manage administrative functions such as services, licensing, distribution, sales records, and research & development of Sony software.

Engadget report that the collaborative venture: “…will introduce quality, healthy games that are suitable to China’s national conditions and the preferences of domestic players, as according to the relevant government policies.”

Following on from a similar deal which has seen Microsoft combine their services with BesTV for Chinese distribution of the Xbox One, it appears as though the next-generation console wars have a fresh new battleground on which to ‘officially’ compete, but will Microsoft be able to put up a fight on different ground, or will Sony carry their recent form into China?