There’s been a lot of beeb related bloggin on this site recently, and whilst that’s all well and good, it does mean I’ve neglected some other interests… namely design, photography and food!
So, yesterday I got hold of a ‘minimote’, a kid friendly remote control for my homechoice box. Like the box says, it’s not for grown ups… so, um, I’ll have to use it when my nieces come and visit, or just use it as my ‘monged’ remote!
It’s actually nicely designed using soft orange plastic and it’s lozenge shape means kids know which end to point at the TV. In fact I wish adult remotes were less slab like. Menu wise it uses a trumpet symbol for volume, a ladder for up and down navigation to some of the on demand shows and distinctly shaped buttons… But the key thing is that it only works on the kids channels, like Scamp, cbebbies, nickelodeon etc so parents know exactly what the kids are watching. You can also schedule the last 10 mins of your child’s viewing interspersed with ‘Time for Bed’ messages.
The Scamp channel won a D&AD silver nomination, but was beaten by our very own Spooks Interactive designed by the lovely Vibeke Hansen and Kim-Leigh Pontin.. two wise design ladies indeed…
I’m getting to like homechoice more and more, since it’s installation at Christmas they’ve upped the broadband speeds, and made subtle but useful tweaks to the EPG system, the replay function means I’m watching more and more shows on demand, the BB is fast enough for my use and all the evening phone calls a free… I should be on commission!
