Not all doom and gloom

 

Over the weekend I read an interesting article in the Money Market paper that a friend had bought over from the UK. 

It was nice to read something other than the normal “the end of the world is nigh for Spain”  message that we hear all the time. Yes this country has its problems, but then haven´t they all. 

However Spain has so much to offer other than the sun, sand and sangria. The old times have gone and with that some of the old ways should go as well if this country is to rise for the ashes. 

 

So if your living in Spain and know how hard things have been in the last year or so  give yourself 5 minutes to read “Spain thecomeback kid” and realise that there is life in the old girl yet...

Safe to the summer??... who knows

We read an article over the weekend from the Portugal news that quotes a BBC representative saying that the BBC signals will be received throughout Europe until the summer. They have put this down to a number of technical issues. You can read the whole article here...

This is not to say that we will stop to looking for an alternative way to receive English programming. But with the pressure now off we can ensure that the solution is the most stable and economic for our clients.

And Breathe...

Well it looks as if Santa has come early for the ex-pats of Southern Spain with news that the proposed transition of the BBC and Freeview channels onto the new UK spot beam has hit problem. This is not to say that it won´t happen in the future, dates in March are now being bandied about, but for now Eastenders is safe.

The reason for this has been given as a faulty transponder, but this will not be the end of the matter and the satellite signal will eventually find its new home. There has been a kind of official word on the BBCblog, they even acknowledge the non UK views, but I am afraid not with good news.

So what are we to do? Future Lifestyle will continue to test various systems to find the best way to continue to get UK programming. We believe that this is a good thing the delay will enable people within the industry to find a good, reliable solution. We have been approached by several suppliers of IP solutions in the past couple of weeks. Some are viable solutions, some were chancers hoping to cash in on the hysteria of the people (how very Costa del Sol).  This rest bite will hopefully make the opportunists get bored and move on allowing us to do our jobs.

Another upside to the delay is that members of the team had notice an increase in Christmas party invitations in the last week or so, something we believe was linked directly to the impending changes. What better way to try and get the best deal than ply us with drink and mince pies!

So for now panic over, but rest assured that we will be working behind the scenes to make sure that when the transition happens (and it will happen) it is smooth and as painless as possible.

  

To keep up to date with this and other goings on of Future Lifestyle why not ´like´ our Facebook page (facebook.com/FutureLifestyleSpain) or follow us on Twitter (@FL_Spain)

So it´s Started...

Some of you may have already notice that your Channel 5 programs are no longer viewable on your UK satellite set top box. This is the first stage in the switch over to the UK spot beam, more channels (BBC1, BBC2 etc) are to follow.

To understand why this is happening read our blog post Satellite news, am I going to lose out? To find out alternatives contact a member of the Future Lifestyle team or check our website or Facebook page for the latest news and solutions.

Signal Strength Latest.

An update on our preliminary spot beam signal strength tests. Early signs indicate to a large increase in the dish size needed to receive this signal south of Barcelona.  

We have found that a dish of 2.4 meters or greater will be required to ensure the signal strength and quality needed to view the channels transmitted on this satellite. If you think that the average dish needed at present is 1.3 meters you can see it is quite a jump in size. Not only will the size of the dish present installation problems for some people who would like to continue to view the likes of the BBC, but at a price tag of somewhere in the region of €2,000 plus the cost of installation, it may not be realistic for everyone.

Please be aware that these are just the first stage in testing and that until the switch is made over to the new satellite the exact dish size needed is unknown.

To keep up to date with our testing like our Facebook page at facebook.com/FutureLifestyleSpain

So what to do? 

Well now may be the time to really look at the way you watch TV. 

Satellite services are (in our humble opinion) beginning their swan song. Increased bandwidth, internet enabled entertainment devices and our own demand for quality programming convenient to our lifestyle the explosion of IPTV is upon us!

Services in the UK like Netflix (million users) Love Film (two million users) and even supermarkets (Tesco with BlinkBox) prove that this the future of home entertainment. Spain has their own version in the form of Youzee, where you can watch movies in both Spanish and their original language. But that is just the tip of the iceberg, every broadcaster worth their salt in the UK offers some form of “watch again” service. Allowing people to catch up on programs they want to watch, when they want to watch them.

Country related

 

One of the problems with internet services is that your IP address* will indicate from what country and even what town you are in. And with some of these services being country specific you can be greeted sometimes with a polite message telling you that you cannot watch / listen to this program from your current location (try listening to the football online on a Saturday afternoon).

So does this mean we are still no further forward? We have lost the satellite signal, you said there is an option, but as we are outside the UK the services won´t work!

Well these services mentioned aren´t the only ones available online. As we all know the internet is vast expanse, full of ideas and services. We could spend months writing about this option or that one. However instead we believe it is easier for you to contact us, tell us what you want to watch and how you want to watch it. We will then recommend the best solution for your needs.

Contact us at info@futurelifestyle.es or call 902 107 227 to book your free consultation. By “liking” our Facebook page we will keep you informed of not only the current home entertainment technologies, but of future trends and services.

 *An IP address is a number assigned to your computer when you go online. Each country has its own set of numbers making it easy to identify the location of your computer