Take your TV programmes on holiday

Worried about missing the climax of Big Brother when you go abroad on holiday? Then you'll like a system unveiled last week that allows you to watch your favourite television programmes wherever you are in the world. Called Locationfree, it uses the internet to connect a laptop PC to your TV tuner back home.

At the heart of Locationfree, which Sony is launching this month in Japan and the US, is a set-top box the size of a paperback book, which you install at home. The box converts the signal from the TV tuner or satellite receiver into a compressed data stream, encrypts it and sends it over the internet via an ordinary broadband link.

Software on your laptop connects to the set-top box's home page on the web, allowing you to download whatever programme is running at home, which you can watch live or record on the laptop's hard disc. The software includes a display panel that can be used to change channels: clicking on the change channel option sends a signal back to the home box, which emits an infrared signal mimicking the TV's remote control.

Even if you are not planning a trip away from home, the system could prove useful, as the box includes a Wi-Fi transmitter. This will allow you to watch TV wherever you are in the house or garden, using a Wi-Fi enabled device such as a PlayStation Portable. The box and software will cost around $300

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