High Definition Television is touted to become big business in the country, with approximately one million households to purchase HD-enabled television sets within the year, according to a survey by Continental Research. At this point, digital TV and cable providers are already coming up with HDTV plans for their subscribers. For instance, Sky TV has announced it will offer HDTV services by May, and will offer this for an initial fee of £299 (for the set-top-box that will convert the signal from cable to digital TV) and a monthly fee of £10 on top of the usually £15 to £49 subscription.

The UK is among the countries with a highest ratio of households with digital TV-enabled sets, at a 70% penetration rate. The country’s broadcast system will switch off servicing the analog signals by 2012. Currently, aside from the fact that analog TVs will no longer work by that time, one come-on of HDTV is the clearer picture, because of a higher image resolution.

Television and media company BSkyB will announce its entry into the broadband scene anytime soon. The company is preparing to further immerse itself in the digital realm, possibly offering digital and Internet-TV services to its clients when it goes broadband. While no price ranges for its prospective services have been announced, it is likely that Sky will start with lower rates than dominant broadband players BT, Wanadoo, AOL and NTL.

Sky is firm in its challenge to the existing broadband providers in the UK. Perhaps its edge, indeed, is its in-house content, which will now branch into a new distribution network. The company is 37% owned by News Corp. of the media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Digital and internet-based distribution of television content are gaining popularity, and virtually all networks and providers are expected to jump in at one time or another. In fact, analog signals will cease to be broadcast in the UK by year 2012.

The world’s top PC manufacturer Dell has recently announced acquisition of Alienware, a small company that focuses on manufacturing high-end computers intended for high-performance gaming and professional workstation use. While Dell has recently launched its own line of high-end systems, the company is known for its low-priced systems assembled on a just-in-time basis. Its entry into the high-end niche is a sign that the company is aiming for the high-margin segment of the market.

The acquisition is also characteristic of the popular business model among most “>startup companies these days, which is mostly build and be acquired. Many independent producers of software, hardware, and Internet services have been acquired by larger, more dominant companies for huge sums of money. And even more tech startups are aiming for this path, but of course, only a select few would be fortunate enough to see such deals push through.

For Dell and Alienware, it’s all about branding, as the latter is very well known in gaming and tech circles to produce great-looking machines that perform well.

The UK Government’s Home Computing Initiative will cease to provide tax subsidies to companies renting out computers to employees for their personal computer needs. The HCI Alliance, funded by Microsoft, British Telecom and Intel, set up a scheme whereby about 1,250 companies rented personal computers to their employees at pre-tax monthly fees. At the current rate of availment, the government is said to expect a loss of £300 from tax revenues.

While the HCI Alliance did not give any comment on the abrupt abandonment of the scheme, it is likely that the declining prices of computers and software would render the scheme obsolete. Computers are becoming so cheap that people would rather purchase them outright, at slightly worse terms than with HCI—but they get to keep the computers!

One issue with the HCI was who benefited with the scheme. In this regard, it was speculated that only the hardware and software providers really benefited, as the government loses tax money, the companies only break even with their purchase and renting out of computers, and users don’t get to own the equipment.