The option to download content to mobile phones and tablets through Sky Go Extra will become available this week as the service launches in the UK and Ireland. Expanding the popular Sky Go format that allows users to stream content according to their subscription, this will allow up to four users to download on-demand movies and hit TV series with each download lasting for about a month.

For a reasonable £5 per month, users will get the opportunity to extract plenty of value from this downloading as much as their device can hold, which could entertain up to 400 TV programs or around 80 films. Highlighting this great new offer The Telegraph mention Sky’s claims of more than 25% of their 11 million subscribers use Sky Go already, and this mobile offering is the first of its kind in the UK with Hollywood movies that are available both on download or to watch offline.

BBC iPlayer is currently the largest on-demand service, with around 10 million weekly viewers, and Sky Go Extra is intending to get a grip of this market, thus increasing pressure on the likes of Lovefilm and Netflix who don’t offer the same extensive catalogue exclusively from movie studios. In addition, all the Sky-made programs like An Idiot Abroad and David Attenborough’s Galapagos are also accessible.

Details of this can be seen at Sky.com documenting the amount of choices we have with Sky giving users the chance to watch TV in so many ways, at any time, where ever you want. This is ideal for those long journeys, free periods, long lunch breaks or just those times when you need a fix of your favorite program or film. Are you swayed to acquire Sky Go Extra for your mobile devices?

Whenever you hear the word FREE it certainly grabs your attention, and that’s just the reaction that some people in the City of London will be experiencing at this moment because they have just learned that Sky UK will continue to offer free Wi-Fi in certain areas of London. The service has been up and running since 2007, but was only made available for free for the first 15 minutes, after that you had to pay.

However, back in January of this year a decision was made to make the Wi-Fi completely free to residents and visitors of Chelsea, Kensington and Westminster during the summer months to coincide with the London 2012 Olympics, but because the trial was so successful it has been made a permanent thing. The boss of The Cloud has said that this new feature is especially good because rival networks are only offering a pay-for-use service. What we find so great about this news is the fact that because the capital of Britain gets a great deal of visitors each year, this will be a big deal becasue they will be able to connect to their social media service of choice in order to post updates on what they are up to and also upload videos and pictures all for free – well while they are in the allocated areas of course.

This is also such a huge deal for residents who live or work in those areas as well, because the smartphone and Internet tablet are such an important part of everyday life, so being able to go on the Internet in these areas for free will be very welcome – especially when money is very tight at the moment. We just wonder how long it will be before Sky UK decide to extend the area of free Wi-Fi or if any other rival company will try to offer the same deal, such as BT because they have the largest coverage of Wi-Fi in the UK?

At the moment the addition of the Sky movies content is only available on iOS devices although reports say the update will make its way onto the Android offerings as well. The new content is available to Sky Go subscribers for no extra cost and allows them to watch movies from a selection of 11 Sky Movies channels whenever they like from wherever they are, providing they have a Wi-Fi connection. Having so many channels available makes it more likely for viewers to find something they like meaning Sky caters for everyone.

Sky Movies Director, Ian Lewis says the addition of the Sky Movies feature ‘gives customers complete control over how, when and now where they enjoy the latest movies.’ For now the support for Sky Movies on Sky Go is only available across a Wi-Fi connection, but the company says it will be introducing compatibility for Sky Go Anytime across 3G before next year.

According to T3, due to the company recently obtaining the Cloud, the public Wi-Fi network, the company has now confirmed that by next year ‘the Sky Go experience will be supported by the ability for Sky customers to use at least 5,700 public Wi-Fi hotspots.’ These hotspots can be found in places like Gyms, Hotels, Restaurants and Pubs. Will you be using Sky Go more often now it has these new features?

The categories which Virgin Media found themselves disappointing in were both Pay TV and landlines. They were also found reported to be one of the worst in the fixed broadband category but this time they were in second to last place as opposed to TalkTalk who were bottom of the pile. All three of these categories are crucial for the service they are offering so for them to be found so unsatisfactory by customers is a worrying situation for the company.

The results came from 3,000 customers that were interviewed by Ofcom. Virgin Media broadband customers amongst the interviewees gave the company just a 57% rating in terms of satisfaction, the same as BT and only 2% more than bottom of the pack TalkTalk. Sky came out on top with a 64% rating of satisfaction from their customers for their broadband.

The regulator published their findings this morning which also indicated Sky customer satisfaction with their TV services and surprisingly their landline, with a 70% and 74% rating respectively. According to The Register the regulators also said that Sky customers were ‘particularly pleased that advisors took their questions or issues seriously’ offering compensation or payments as a gesture of goodwill while attempting to resolve issues.

They also explained that despite TalkTalk’s low ratings, dissatisfaction with their complaints handling service fell by 22% and other ratings have improved since February. Do these results offer an accurate representation of your feelings towards these services? Are you surprised by any of the results?

So any spare cash many consumers have is going on varying areas, as retailer Argos who sell a variety of products including smartphones have announced plummeting profits. The BBC is reporting that the company revealed profits slumped to £3.4 million in the six months to August. This is compared to £54.4 million previously, and like for like sales had slipped 9.1%.

The chief executive of the retailer Terry Duddy said the market isn’t getting any easier and even in the holiday season “market conditions remain both weak and volatile”. Consumers are concentrating on more essential items, which is a term that can be defined in various ways.

Because broadcaster British Sky Broadcasting is seeing strong growth it its profits as many people are taking up its services. Profits in the three months to September rose to £327 million, with customers paying for its services jumped from 9.8 million to 10.4 million over the year. Those customers also spent more on average on Sky services up 4.9% to £535.

BSkyB chief executive remains optimistic and although the situation remains a challenge, feels that things are going to improve. Sky are not the only company seeing strong demand for its services, we reported earlier that Apple is expecting record sales of its iPhone 4S in the upcoming holiday season.

Are you being more choosey with your spending now?

The first installments of that 3D content has now reached the console, with users of the device getting access to a trailer for an upcoming Sky TV show, Meerkats 3D. TechRadar are reporting that Nintendo first announced its deal with Sky back in January this year. It will see a growing amount of content made available to users of the 3DS.

Kicking off with the Meerkats 3D which is being made available with a video of 3D magic tricks for uses. There is set to be an increased level of content coming over the coming months with 3D clips from Eurosport, and episodes of Shaun The Sheep 3D.

Hopefully there will be more variety of Sky 3D content as time goes on, and added to the increased amount of games in the pipeline we should see the device becoming more popular. There is at least one cloud on the horizon though in the form of the upcoming PlayStation Vita. Many consumers will choose Sony’s new portable console over the 3DS, with many gamers considering the 3DS as a kid’s device.

Do you think increased 3D content will help the Nintendo 3DS?

There will now be a new range of classic movies provided for customers via the Sky Anytime+ service. Anytime+ is an on demand feature that users can pick content such as movies or TV shows, which are then downloaded via the internet and streamed to the Sky set top box. Customers of the satellite broadcaster do also have to use the company’s broadband service

According to What Hi-Fi the new service will begin rolling out to Sky boxes over the next few days as the service is already live. The all new Sky Movies Box Office selection will have films available as they become available on DVD, and also have a back catalogue of classic movies.

All the new releases on the service will be highlighted on the Anytime+ menu as “Now on DVD”, and will also appear on the standard Sky Box Office channels. These movies will cost standard Sky customers £3.99 or £3.49 if you subscribe to the movie channels. If you have access to Anytime+ the cost is £2.99 or £2.49 if you have the movie channels as well.

Customers who use Sky Go on PC, Mac and Xbox the movies will be available for similar prices. Have you got the new service yet on your Sky box?

Sky and Virgin Media both made the comments at the 3DTV World Forum in London this week, according to an article by Marc Chacksfield of TechRadar. The two companies may be big industry rivals, but they both agree that TV manufacturers need to develop auto stereoscopic screens. They believe this is what’s needed to get the technology mainstream.

John Cassy, Director of 3D at Sky, said at the event in London that the company was growing its 3D channel well despite the fact users have to wear glasses. He said “We are not a TV manufacturer, but glasses free would be a great boost for the industry”.

While over at Virgin Media Kevin O’Neil said “3D should be a glass-less experience in the home as soon as possible”. He also said that the technology needs to come down in price as well. But a Sony spokesman doesn’t think that price is a big problem especially 3DTVs that use active shutter glasses.

With these sets the price is in the glasses and not the screens themselves. But glassless 3D sets are being developed with both Samsung and Toshiba working on the idea. Toshiba have already launched a 22-inch set in Japan, and Samsung are working on a 55-inch prototype currently.

Has the idea of wearing glasses stopped you from getting a 3DTV?

Patrick Goss from TechRadar is reporting that ESPN’s coverage between super rich Manchester City and Stoke City, will be shown on Sky 3D. The game on May 14th will also be shown on ESPN and ITV and in 3D in pubs across the UK.

Sky 3D is currently available to householders who subscribe to Sky’s World package, and have access to a 3DTV. ESPN’s Murray Barnett said “ESPN is extremely proud to have been at the forefront of the development of 3D sports coverage, and are very excited to work with other companies like Sky that are leading the way as well“.

This sort of announcement continues the push into the 3DTV by manufacturers and media companies. But some consumers have been reluctant to embrace the technology due to price and the need for multiple sets of glasses. As prices drop and technology improves more people will be tempted to take the 3DTV plunge.

Have you got a 3DTV yet?

The update is the most significant for over 10 years and means subscribers to HD can now find their favorite channels without having to scroll through SD channels first. The change also comes with a brand new channel; Sky Atlantic also available in HD. This channel will be mainly dedicated to shows that you’d expect to see from HBO including Mad Men. For more about Sky Atlantic you can read the Sky press release here.

Amongst the channels that are to be moved are; Sky News HD which will change from channel 517 to 501 and Sky Movies Premiere HD moving from channel 313 to 301. However not every HD channel has taken part in the swap. For the full list of channel swaps visit Sky.com.

Sky’s Commercial Director, Rob Webster said “We want our customers to be able to discover and enjoy the content they are most passionate about”. And this is what the users want thanks to high definition channels more in demand, and wanted as the standard. By moving the EPG numbers around, users should find what they want easier.

What do you think to the changes Sky are making? Do you agree that HD viewing should become standard?