Cello Iviewer

Product: Cello Iviewer
Website: www.celloiviewer.com
Specifications: 32-inch LCD TV with network connectivity and in-built BBC Iplayer support
Price: £499

WITH THE GROWING POPULARITY of the BBC's Iplayer streaming and catch up service, it was only a matter of time before someone got round to embedding the service into a TV.

Although a few consoles and set-top boxes now allow you to access Iplayer and other content on your TV from across the network, British TV maker Cello is the first we know of to build the service directly into the TV itself with the launch of the Iviewer.

The Cello Iviewer is available in 26-inch and 32-inch models, but both have freeview and regular TV tuners, as well as two HDMI, two Scart, composite, s-video and VGA connectors. There are also two USB ports and a LAN port for network connectivity, with a 2 metre network cable is thrown in as well. Alternatively you can connect to your network over WiFi through an option dongle which plugs into one of the USB ports. Unfortunately, due to the layout of the connectors, using the dongle blocks easy access to the HDMI ports and the other USB port, which isn't too detrimental but can be a pain.

The USB ports can be used to connect external storage devices to play back music, pictures and movies stored on the device.

We were happy to see that the Electronic Programme Guide is straightforward and simple to use. While this is usually the case, we've seen some even high end TVs and PVRs let down by an abysmal and unnavigable interface.

The display itself is nothing to write home about, but it's certainly no slouch either. Our 32-inch review unit offers a 3,000:1 contrast ratio with full 1080p HD support, while the 26-inch model has a contrast ratio of 800:1 and is HD Ready, so you'll only get 720p or 1080i. There was some banding and the image wasn't as bright or vivid as you'll see on some other LCD TV's out there, but we'd put it well within the mid-range and for the price it was certainly good enough for most people.

Similarly, the remote is quite bulky, but it feels solid and the buttons all have a good tactile feel to them. Buttons along the top switch you between TV and network modes and the rest is pretty intuitive, although novice users may find themselves consulting the manual to get the hang of accessing the various network services.

The only slight pain with the remote comes when inputting text as it doesn't have a full keyboard, so you have to type it out with repeated presses of the number pad, just like a basic mobile phone with no predictive text.

Accessing the Iplayer is a doddle. If you're working on a wired network, the process is as simple as plugging it in, while a wireless network requires a little configuration, but it's all pretty straightforward even if you use a hidden SSID.

Once you hit the button on your remote, the Onyx embedded web browser boots up and presents you with a menu and a handful of widgets along the side. Pressing up and down on the remote cycles through the widgets, while left and right takes you through the network services. Currently there are only three widgets available for news, weather and sports. The sports and news widgets just take content from the BBC feed and the weather forecast is IP based, so it's usually pretty accurate, although you can manually set the location if you want to.

Iplayer is accessed through an interface very similar to the one seen on the BBC web site, but which has been optimised for navigation with a remote control as opposed to a mouse. Playback was pretty much on a par with regular TV, although this can sometimes degrade if you are using a WiFi connection, especially if it's weak. There is also a low-bandwidth option available, but on the 32-inch screen we found it to be very blocky, so we'd suggest avoiding it if possible.

Just like its web-based counterpart, the Iplayer service is geo-IP locked, so you won't be able to access the service outside of the UK.

As well as being able to access Iplayer, a host of other video content is available in the WebTV section including Youtube, Disney, CNN video podcast, Larry King, Jamie's Ministry of Food, Autocar, Sports, Discovery and Sesame Street.

Cello says it's working on new widgets and other services such as Sky Player, Channel 4 on Demand and Lovefilm, but so far we've seen nothing to indicate when, or even if, these will come to fruition. Because it's connected to the Internet, any updates that are made can very easily be rolled out, with little or no intervention required by the owner.

Lastly you can also stream your own content across the network or from a USB connected external storage device. Once again, accessing the content is pretty straight forward, simply being a case of navigating to the device and selecting the file you want to play.

We're happy to report that it supported every format of video, image and music we tried, so if you're hoping to use this as a streaming device then you shouldn't have any problems.

Despite the Internet connectivity, there is no web browser available. This has been a deliberate decision by Cello to not over complicate things. We see the company's point, but we can't help but feel that it would have been a useful addition to the feature set, if only to open the options of other content such as Hulu if the device was being used in another country or checking news and other info from another site.

The Iviewer is initially being sold by Marks and Spencer under the M&S brand as part of an exclusive arrangement, costing £399 and £499 for the 26-inch and 32-inch models respectively. Later this year it will be launched with its other partners, either under its own Cello and Neon brands or under partner brands as it is doing with M&S.

In Short
The Cello Iviewer isn't the best TV out there, nor is it the first with network connectivity or widgets. However, the integrated Iplayer support, along with the other network and connectivity features on a fairly decent display and all at a pretty reasonable price point, certainly make it a compelling option for a wide range of average users who want the option of catching up on content when there's nothing better on live TV, without having to connect a range of peripherals. µ

Good
Integrated streaming from Iplayer and other content sources, network support.

Bad
Display could be better, addition of new services seems slow in coming.

Ugly
Limited number of widgets, no browser, WiFi.

Bartender's Score
8/10