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You Nostalgia, you lose - *Don't Quote the pictures!*
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Remember the adds for these, I never had one tho. :mad:
I did.
Went missing and presumed lost years ago. Then I was in Blackpool last year and found one in a shop. Not long after I came home I was in the attic and came across the original. Turns out the one I bought in Blackpool was a more recent remake and was a fair bit smaller.
The orignal came with a smaller monster that was a hand puppet too. Still have that aswell.0 -
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Anyone remember the rubbish Unison internet TV released back in 2000? Dial-up websites poorly rendered on your CRT TV:
Unison is currently the only TV-Internet service available in the Republic of Ireland. The service is operated by Internet Ireland Ltd, a joint venture between Chorus Communication and Independent News and Media. It began in February 2000.
The service has two elements to it. The first is the TV-Internet box, which allows non-PC users easy access to the Internet. The second is the regional news portal. As the service will be the prime means of accessing Internet services for Chorus Digital customers, here we will examine both.
TV Internet Set-Top Box.
Actually, there are two different models of Unison set-top box. The most well known version is that sold for �299 in electrical retailers (If you live in the North - while you cannot subscribe to Unison - you can have one of these boxes for �5 a month on top of an ONdigital subscription). This is a dial-up box that offers free access to the internet through a 56KBPS modem- telephone charges apply. The second version is fitted with a cable modem instead. This will not be sold in shops but instead distributed by Chorus- one will be installed in your house when you subscribe to Chorus' Digital TV Access Pack.
So what is the box actually like?
It's made by NetGem, a French company. There are a number of different models - Chorus have apparently opted for the Netbox 3 (or an integrated version in their STB?), while the dial-up service (and also for that matter ONdigital's ONnet service, available for �5 extra on your subscription) are using the Netbox PSTN. Externally they all pretty much look the same. They're suprisingly small, about the size of a hardback book. The box has no moving parts. On the back are a number of connectors including 2 SCART connectors (in and out), an AC input,
and a telephone line socket on the PSTN model. On the side is a slot for a smartcard - more
later. An infra-red keyboard and a remote control with integrated joystick are also provided. The top of the keyboard features a number of function keys described below. There's no on-off switch so with PSTN boxesI suggest unpluging the ac adapter (and phone line!) while not in use.
When you plug in the box NetGem's splash screen - a test card with the NetGem logo and Linux penguin - appears, followed by the Unison logo. The internal modem on the PSTN model dials into the internet then - with Chorus Netboxes' you're always connected. The Unison portal will then load.
At this point you can do a number of things:
Read Unison's site, of course....
Press Menu (beside Control). This brings up a panel overlaying the bottom of the screen, which gives you access to your favourites, allows you to zoom in, or overlay the TV picture in the top left corner. There's not much here that can't be done with the keyboard or remote control though.
Press WWW... to go to another website. Favourites brings up your favourite pages, Bmark adds the current page to your favourites. There is also a print key - a deal is available wherby you can buy a Netbox PSTN and a Canon printer (the only manufacturer supported) - a special cable is required.
Pressing Email brings you to the Message Centre. You can add video clips (from the TV) or audio clips (built in microphone) to your messages.
Press TV/Net to switch back to the TV. This button comes into its own for cable modem netboxes - it makes accessing the Internet as easy as Teletext and quicker too! On dial-up netboxes your best plugging out to save phone call costs.
With the netbox is supplied a smartcard which allows you to customise the box to your own personal settings. Pressing the Option key brings up a menu, which leads to a number of screens which allow you to configure the STB. Most of these options can only be changed when the smartcard is inserted. Thus it acts as a means of parental control for the STB.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Netbox 3 - Chorus Digital service (Provided free as part of Chorus TV)
- Integrated MCNS/DOCSIS1.0 Cable Modem
- Simultaneous PC and TV Internet connections
- Linux-based Open Embedded Internet Operating System
- Universal standard HTTP1.1 client, HTML 3.2, Javascript
- Common multimedia Internet file format support (GIF, JPEG, Flash3...)
- Support of ATVEF specifications (Advanced TV Enhancement Forum)
- Exceptional TV display quality (640x520 pixels), HTML On Screen Display,
- Picture-In-Picture
- Mono or stereo audio, MIDI support
- Universal Smart Card reader compatible to ISO 7816 and AFNOR standards
- Automatic remote software upgrade
- IEC female F connector
- 10 Base T Ethernet interface and slave USB for connection to a Personal Computer. (I'm not sure if Chorus are enabling this though - Chorus PowerNet will be providing PC highspeed access to Chorus customers)
- SCART (Euro-AV) interface for PAL / SECAM
- Audio jack (L/R)
- CVBS video input
- RJ 11 jack for connection to a standard phone line (optional-for IP telephony)
- IrDA and parallel port printer connection
- Mini-Din for optional remote Infra-Red receiver or standard webcam power connection.
Netbox PSTN - Unison TV-Internet Dial Up (�299 in electrical retailers)
- Internal V90 56kb/s modem with PPP script, PAP/CHAP dial-up
- Linux-based Open Embedded Internet Operating System
- Universal standard HTTP client, HTML 3.2, JavaScript
- SSL 2.0 and 3.0 compatible (40 and 128 bits)
- MIME-compatible POP3/SMTP client
- Common multimedia format (GIF, JPEG...)
- MP3 streaming
- Flash 1,2,3 and partial support for Flash 4
- Exceptional TV display quality (640x520 pixels in PAL / 640x440 in NTSC)
- HTML On Screen Display, Picture-In-Picture
- ISO 8859-Latin 1 character set
- Universal Smart Card reader, compliant with ISO 7816 and AFNOR standards
The system crashed and burned pretty hard.0 -
Join Date:Posts: 23155
Ooooh, I remember having to set those up for someone, PCs were expensive and the internet was new, I remember the resolution on them was terrible.
Similar themed product that never too off
Apparently they were very popular in France, we had 1 at home when I was younger for the business, it was never used.0 -
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Ooooh, I remember having to set those up for someone, PCs were expensive and the internet was new, I remember the resolution on them was terrible.
Similar themed product that never too off
Apparently they were very popular in France, we had 1 at home when I was younger for the business, it was never used.
Would you believe that service was only switched off at the start of 2011 in France.0 -
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Armin_Tamzarian wrote: »Was it called Minitel or something like that?
I'll take your mintel (which I've actually used) and raise you a TRS-80 (which is older than I am).
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Join Date:Posts: 23155
Bord Failte used the Minitel network in Ireland for booking hotel rooms, Gulliver they called it, my parents signed up for it for their business, after a couple of months they were the only business in the region with 1 and they were getting filled almost every night cause every tourism office would book with them first cause it was easier than having to ring around looking to see availability in other places.
They they moved onto IOL when you had to pay a monthly subscription for dial up access (you had to pay for the phone call as well).When you signed up for IOL you got an install disk (floppy a massive 1.44mb) that contained Netscape 1.0, this browser couldn't handle animated gifs or frames, but had a great feature where you could export your bookmarks to a html file and upload that then to geocities so you could access your bookmarks anywhere.
Then Oceanfree changed the face of internet in Ireland where you could get free dialup access off them, there was also a special 18xx number for internet access, it was a local call rate but the units lasted 5 minutes instead of 3 as normal. They then brought out a subscription service that for a set fee you could get free phone access. Then ISDN came long and Telecom Eireann pushed it to everyone, they did such a great job that they removed the analogue lines from people's houses so they couldn't get broadband either.
Oh yeah, back in the days of dialup if you lived in a housing estate there was a great chance that you shared a phone line with your neighbour so the best speed you could get would be 28.8kbps.
I now feel old btw0 -
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Still here, but not for much longer.Didn't have a shared line but I do recall getting a 56k modem from a mate on a trial run (free) as he worked for cable and wireless (remember them?). Blew my mates away as we looked at connection speeds of 48k. I think my record using that bad boy was 51k once, normally it was in the 44-48k range.
I also recall on the days that I used to work from home I'd dial up to the office, and I'd have to enter in my number for the call back. The call back server was limited to 33k. Man trying to debug through a large log file on that speed was horrendous!
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsWdDogsSbo
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