PVR UK: PVR (Personal Video Recorder) and DVR (Digital Video Recorder) news, reviews and how-tos for the UK (including Sky plus, TiVo, MythTV and Freeview)

Sky HD pre-ordering now available

Head on over to the Sky HD pre-order site and plonk down a £30 deposit (refundable) to get your name on the list.

Sky by Broadband worries

PC Doctor has an article about Sky's Broadband service (download movies and Sky Sports headlines to your PC) that not only finds it slow to download material, but that it installs a peer-to-peer file-sharing service (Kontiki) that carries on running and using your bandwidth after the main Sky application is shutdown. Kontiki also sends back encrypted data about your PC. On uninstalling Sky by Broadband, Kontiki is left installed and running on your PC. If you want to know how to uninstall Kontiki, take a look at the PC Doctor article Serious issues with Sky by Broadband service.

More on HD Sky+

One of our readers emailed the following:-

Hi,

Just thought you guys would like to know... I was flicking through my Sky+ channels when I happened upon a nice sight, channels 311 and 312 have the names Sky Mov 9HD and Sky Mov 10HD respectively when selected to view you get the "Call 08702 404020 for further information on how to receive this HD channel". Well it looks like the new boxes will be out soon!

Regards

Josh

Also, Sky have updated their website.

The new Sky+ EPG has begun it's roll-out, firstly to the Pace-manufactured PVR1 and PVR2 boxes, then to the other Sky+ boxes over the next 6 weeks. The new EPG splits the display into 2 pages, along with other improvements detailed in a Digital Spy preview of the Sky+ EPG. The update also fixes a bug affecting a small number of users concerning the pause and rewinding of live TV.

Designer PVRs

Sky has unveiled a new range of Sky+ boxes that could become collectors' items in years to come.

The digital satellite broadcaster commissioned acclaimed designer and football fan Wayne Hemingway to produce a series of Sky+ boxes celebrating the top-scoring Premiership clubs of all time: Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea.

Hemingway said: "The 2005 Sky+ Football Collection is sure to have football fans rushing from the match to the shops."

Meanwhile, four leading fashion and interior designers have come up with their Sky+ designs: accessories designer Lulu Guinness; luxury wallpaper designer Cole & Son; fabric and wallpaper specialists Osborne & Little; and wallpaper and paint experts Farrow & Ball.

The limited edition football and designer Sky+ boxes go on sale in John Lewis stores nationwide from early November 2005. No doubt some will make their way to eBay soon after that.

From DTG News.

New Sky+ EPG

Digital Spy has an exclusive peek at the new Sky+ EPG. Amongst other features will be more categories and more family friendly features such as age ratings and secure access to listings of adult channels.

New Sky+ unit available

Sky are delivering a new version of their entry-level Sky+ PVR to customers. It gives 40 hours of recording capacity (up from 20 hours), and has a further 40 hours-worth of storage available for future services, expected to include a video-on-demand (VOD) service, enabled by the automatic download of encrypted movies. The unit also has two USB ports for connection to other consumer electronics.

Sky unveil their HDTV PVR

Sky have released pictures of their upcoming HDTV box...

It has a hint of Inverto about it ;-)

Sky is planning to offer a range of HD channels next year starting with live premership football matches. The company also hopes to offer other sports, movies, entertainment and factual programs to customers who own a HD ready television.

Sky also confirmed that it will broadcast in 2 HD formats 720p/50 and 1080i/25 so broadcasters could choose which format was best for them.

No pricing has been confirmed as yet, however Sky has said that it will be offering a Sky+ offering that will allow customers to record HD or SD provided the customer has the appropriate subscription.

http://hd.sky.com/

Sky high-definition box to have network connection

The set-top box for the Sky high-definition satellite television service launching in the UK next year is likely to have a network port to allow it to be linked to broadband connection.

Current Sky set-top boxes have an analogue modem that is connected to a telephone line to provide the return path for interactive services.

There has long been speculation that with the growth of broadband services, set-top boxes should be able to take advantage of a high-speed, always-on network connection. It is understood by informitv that this will become a feature of new high-end set-top boxes.

Potentially, this would allow much more responsive interactive television services, particularly for transactional applications.

Sky recently revealed plans to enable a new range of web service based interactive applications that would potentially allow anyone to have a low-cost presence on interactive television. While these would require a dial-up call with an analogue modem, they would be immediately available over a broadband connection.

Separately, Sky is planning a broadband television service that will allow subscribers to download a selection of movie and sports material over the internet. This service will initially be targeted at personal computers, but it indicates the potential to supplement subscription services delivered by satellite with on-demand services over broadband.

The forthcoming high-definition service is likely to initially attract the early adopter market, with many potential customers having broadband connections.

There is also the possibility of providing network connectivity in future versions of the Sky+ personal video recorder, effectively segmenting the market into a number of price points.

With operators such as BT planning to launch hybrid services that combine broadband video-on-demand with broadcast television, Sky clearly needs to tap into the broadband market. The combination of premium high-definition programming and broadband connected interactive services could be a compelling consumer proposition that telcos may find hard to match.

Source: informitv.com

Watch Sky+ on the go?

You could be watching your favourite TV programmes recorded on your Sky+ box on a portable media centre by the end of the year if information plassed to Pocket-lint is true. Pocket-lint has got word that Sky is planning on releasing a small handheld video device that will allow you to transfer and then watch programmes you’ve recorded with your Sky+ box.

The unit, which is likely to come in the guise of a no brand Portable Media Center means that you will be able to watch your favourite programmes on the move rather than being restricted to watching them just at home. on your television.

The possibility of such a device would be fairly easy to implement as the 160Gb Sky+ unit already comes with 2 USB sockets, although currently they are disabled.

You can already do this with Microsoft’s Media Centre PC’s and a windows based Portable Media Centre from manufacturers like iRiver and Creative.

In other related gossip, Sky is also rumoured to be testing a system that will allow to access the boxes Electronic Programming Guide (EPG) via a flash based interface on a 3G phone.

Source: Pocket-lint.

Major overhaul planned for Sky EPG

Sky is planning a huge revamp of its digital EPG later this year, according to a report in this week's Broadcast.

Paramount to the changes is an expansion in the number of genre categories from seven to fifteen.

The existing 'main menu' page of the EPG groups channels in the genres of Entertainment, Movies, Sports, News & Documentaries, Kids, Music & Radio and Specialist. Links are also provided to view listings for all channels, an A-Z programme guide and the Personal Planner / Sky+ menu.

Although the seven-category split was more than sufficient when Sky launched its digital service in 1998, the number of channels has exploded in recent years from an initial 140 to almost 500 by the end of 2004. As a result, an increasing number of channels have been launched into inappropriate categories - particularly in the 'entertainment' section - while an even larger number have found themselves hidden away in the depths of the guide.

Sky's solution is to more than double the number of categories to fifteen. In order to facilitate the changes, the main menu page will be split into two. Listed on the first page will be Entertainment, Lifestyle & Culture, Movies, Sports, News, Documentaries, Kids and Music, while the second page will house Radio, Shopping, Religion, International, Gaming & Dating, Specialist and Adult.

The assigned EPG numbers for most channels will also change, although the five terrestrial stations are guaranteed to keep their existing positions at the top of the guide.

Furthermore, Broadcast reports that Sky themselves will be assigning the channels to their new categories and EPG numbers. Broadcasters were notified of an initial decision today (March 31), although they are all being given an opportunity to modify channel content in time for a final review period in June.

"These enhancements are designed to improve navigability for viewers and to assist Sky to meet continued demand for EPG slots," said a Sky spokesperson. "Better signposting will help make it easier for viewers to find the programme and channels that they want to watch."

The new EPG structure will be rolled out to viewers "over a six week period" this autumn.

Source: DigitalSpy.

Coming soon: Sky+ review

Although we mention it a lot, we've somehow never done a review of Sky+. We've decided it's time to remedy that, and we'll cover both the Pace and Amstrad versions. If there's anything you'd like to know, add your questions here.

Sky HDTV news

Sky have confirmed that their HDTV service, due to be launched in 2006, will be made by Thomson and incorporate PVR capabilities as standard, said Richard Freudenstein, chief operating officer at Sky.

"Offering PVR capability as a standard in the HDTV arena will ensure that they [customers] can continue to enjoy these benefits in association with our highest quality programming,".

Digital Spy has a useful Sky HDTV Fact Sheet you may like to take a look at.

BSkyB's future tech plans

James Murdoch, BSkyB's chief executive, has talked about the technical future of satellite TV. As well as discussing broadband, high definition, smart-cards and freesat, he had comments on Sky+:-

Sky’s most successful service innovation to date has been with its Sky+ personal video recorder, but with the increase in the number of users of the Sky+ PVR, the skipping of ads is a potential cause for concern. “The advertising community, I think, has to really engage with this issue,” admits Murdoch. “It is starting to engage now as the numbers grow.” Advertising represents about 8% of total revenue for Sky, but the company stresses that it is nevertheless a very important element of that revenue.

“It’s really incumbent on us and the marketing community to think about different ways and innovative ways to continue to bring those brands to our customers in a way that resonates with them. I think you’ll see more experimentation, you’ll see more things like interactive advertising. You’ll see us working with advertisers in innovative ways to reach our customers and really enhance what they’re already buying from us, in terms of just the pure television advertising stream.”

Sky recently introduced a new Sky+ 160 PVR, with increased storage, but has not broken out the numbers deployed. Initially launched as a premium product at £399, all they will say is that this has been reflected in sales. “Those costs will come down over time, and we intend to pass those savings on to customers to drive it. What you’ll see here is really an evolution of the Sky+ platform. We’ve talked in the past about a platform for future development.”

In his presentation, he referred to USB connectivity in the new PVR box as a platform for future expansion but did not elaborate. Potential applications would include downloading content to portable devices, such as that previously previewed by Pace.

Sky also confirmed that their new high-definition box will also be Sky+ based, to be launched in “early 2006”. This will initially be a premium product, providing an opportunity to up-sell to the upper tier of subscribers.

With regard to storage capacity, he said “It should be clear that we plan to launch higher capacity boxes as the cost of storage comes down. There are not very meaningful limits as the cost comes down over time.”

Full article over at Informitv.

A bumper Christmas for digital TV

The BBC reports that Christmas has been good for digital TV, with an additional 192,000 satellite subscribers in the three months to December 2004 for Sky (its best performance for two years) and Freeview now being received in nearly 5 million UK homes. By the end of the year they are expected to be neck-and-neck with nearly 8 million viewers each. In 2004, for the first time, viewers spent more time watching digital, cable and satellite channels than either of the two most popular channels, BBC One and ITV1. This has had a knock-on effect on PVRs, with Sky+ and Freeview PVRs seeing increases in sales.

Sky charging for repairs to non-faulty Sky+ boxes?

The Register recently reported that BSkyB were charging customers call out fees because of a bug in the Sky+ software.

British Sky Broadcasting has denied accusations that the company tried to profit from a known software fault in its digital video recorders, after customers were charged £65 for engineers to visit their homes.

A recurring fault in the Sky+ system software causes recordings to fail for no apparent reason. The bug eats up space on the digibox's hard disk and, even after the failed recording has been deleted, the disk space is lost.

Although the problem has dragged on for two years, coming and going through various software updates, recent complaints from Sky+ customers have revealed an interesting development:

Customers whose digiboxes are still under warranty are told by Sky that the fault is known about and will be fixed with an automatic software update, downloaded by satellite. But customers whose digiboxes are out of warranty are told that it is a hardware fault and will require an engineer visit. This incurs a £65 call-out charge.

Ad-free BSkyB a possibility?

BSkyB have patented new technology that could allow TV recordings to be made without any ads, reports The Guardian. Although a BSkyB spokesman said that they had no plans to use the technology themselves, "If other people want to use [the property], they can license it from us."

New feature for Sky+ on it's way for Christmas?

Home Cinema Choice may have the scoop on a new Sky+ feature. John Archer has been chatting to a sales advisor who implied that a new feature that would allow programming of your Sky+ box over the telephone may be available in a major update before Christmas. He's trying to confirm this officially, but it's going to be interesting to see how this would work!

Sky+ upgrade route

Existing Sky+ users will be able to get the new Sky+ 160 high-capacity box for £299 (as opposed to the normal £399) AND have it installed free of charge (as opposed to the normal £60). Courtesy of Home Cinema Choice.

Sky+ wins award

Readers of Good Houskeeping have voted Sky+ the winner in their category of the Gadget awards. If this doesn't signify PVRs becoming mainstream, I don't know what does. The Guardian explains...

Thomson to manufacture new Sky+160

Here's a picture of it courtesy of PlusWorld.

Amstrad Sky+ software upgrade

Amstrad's Sky+ box has received a software upgrade:-

Model : A20A804
Version: 4f2001
O/s: 1.31A08
epg: Sky+1.28.d

Source: PlusWorld

New Sky+ 160 box available October

BSkyB are to launch a new Sky+ box (the Sky+ 160) which will feature 160Gb of hard disk storage (enough for around 80 hours of recording) in October 2004. It will also have 2 USB ports for future expansion and cost £399 - that's £200 more than the current model which offers 20 hours of recording capacity.

Sky+ diy hard disk upgrade info

If you want to upgrade the hard disk in your Sky+ box, then take a look at this thread over at Digital Spy Forums. Users have posted their experiences of different drives, at the last count 42 pages worth!

Coming soon

Digital Spy has a rather interesting article entitled Sky+, HD and the future that goes into the future of the service. There are some new recording features on the way (an option to allow the recording of interactive channels as “scheduled” programmes, ready in time for this year's Champions League, remote booking and full letter name search) but their main emphasis seems to be on squashing the bugs that sometimes plague the service. There are no plans as yet to offer a bigger hard disk (apparently they are waiting for the day when 80Gb disks are cheaper than the current 40Gb ones). There's also information about the forthcoming High Definition Offering.

Sky's free satellite vs Freeview

As Sky prepares to launch a new digital satellite TV and radio service with no monthly subscription, BBC News Online examines how it will compare with Freeview's existing free-to-air digital terrestrial service. Read the article here.

BSkyB launches rival to Freeview

Broadcaster BSkyB is planning to launch a free-to-air satellite package offering 200 TV and radio channels and interactive services.

The service, to be launched later this year, will compete with Freeview, the free-to-air digital terrestrial service backed by the BBC and BSkyB.

For a one-off payment of £150, it will include the BBC's digital services and Sky News as well as other free stations.

But unlike Freeview, a satellite dish will be needed to pick up the service.

BSkyB shares rose 2.6% to 628 pence after the announcement.

It was welcomed as the first strategy outline from new chief executive James Murdoch on how to increase customers.

Rural reach

BSkyB hopes that the absence of a subscription fee will lure new customers who may eventually switch to a pay-TV package when analogue TV is eventually phased out.

"The free-to-air satellite proposition offers an easy upgrade path for viewers who choose subsequently to add a pay-TV service to their viewing options," a spokesperson for BSkyB said.

BSkyB's free-to-air package will offer more channels than Freeview's several dozen channels, but at a cost of £150 against anywhere from £50 to £120 for a digital terrestrial set-top box.

Sky's £150 fee includes the satellite dish, set-top box and installation. The product must be bought directly from Sky while Freeview boxes are widely available in shops.

The UK's leading pay-TV provider also stressed that its subscription-free service would reach the 25% of mostly rural UK households that cannot receive digital terrestrial services.

Launched in 2002, Freeview has become the UK's number-two provider of digital TV services, with 3.5 million subscribers, compared with Sky's seven million.

Top and bottom

BSkyB is also developing a package of channels for high-definition TV, which is being heavily promoted in the US as the next standard TV format.

Picture quality on the service is better, especially for sports and films, but, so far, the high cost of the new TV sets has deterred people in the US from buying them.

BSkyB gave no indication on how the new strategies would impact its revenue or profits, or how much the two projects would cost.

Commenting on the new developments, BSkyB's chief executive James Murdoch said: "These initiatives are another step in giving consumers a choice from Sky that suits their needs at the top and lower ends of the scale."

Meanwhile, Andy Duncan, director of marketing, communications and audiences at the BBC said: "This is good news for our viewers as it provides another route to all the BBC's digital services without subscription.

"This follows the BBC's own view that free-to-air digital satellite is an important missing piece in the jigsaw to achieving a fully digital Britain."

SKY'S FREE-TO-AIR PACKAGE

115 TV channels
81 radio channels
13 interactive services
All BBC digital services
All other terrestrial channels
Sky News
Others include the God Channel, the Wrestling Channel, the Horror Channel

Source: BBC News.

Sky reduces price of second box subscription

Sky has announced that the cost of taking out an extra subscription to Sky Digital has been reduced to £10 for each additional subscription (compared to the standard charge of £15 per month previously). The new pricing takes effect immediately, and applies to all current and future Sky digital and Sky+ customers who take one or more ‘Multi-room’ options.

The £10 Multi-room subscription provides access to the same package of channels as a customer’s main subscription, but with independent, simultaneous control on another TV, so people in the same household can watch different channels in a different room at the same time, all through the same minidish.

The £10 per month price also applies to existing Sky customers with a Sky+ box who move their standard digibox to another room in the home. And it also applies to customers who take more than one [extra] multi-room subscription with each extra/multiroom subscription £10 per month.

Source: What Video Widescreen Entertainment

Sky's the limit

Zoë Galvin explains why she loves Sky+ over at MediaWeek...

As someone who, until recently, did not even live in a five-channel home, let alone a multichannel one, I was most surprised when I found myself agreeing to my partner’s request for Sky+.

However, what I saw fundamentally as a fancy video recorder, he saw as something that would apparently revolutionise our lives.

Sky+ : The next generation

BSkyB has offered an exciting glimpse of plans for it's next generation Sky+. They are looking at providing 5 tuners (so users can watch one channel while recording 4 others) and the ability to download video and music onto iPod-like devices so that you can watch/listen to content on the move. The Guardian has the full details in this article.

Connected with the improvements in technology that will make facilities like this possible, Maxtor has announced hard drives that will allow up to 6 video streams to be recorded at once, details over at The Register.

Amstrad Sky+

Amstrad have announced that they are to supply BSkyB with Sky+ units from the 2nd of March.

The Amstrad Sky+ box will deliver the same features already available with existing models of Sky+, including:

* Store up 20 hours of programmes on the Sky+ without video tapes using the internal 40 gigabyte hard disk drive

* Enabling viewers to record two channels while watching a third previously recorded programme at the touch of a button

* Automatically record all new episodes of a series

* Pause and rewind live TV.

* Amstrad's Commercial Director Simon Sugar said today:

"We are excited that we are supplying this new premium product to BSkyB as it is clear to us that the product is a compelling proposition to both new and existing subscribers to BSkyB. In time we see the PVR as becoming the standard piece of equipment in homes in the same way as the VCR has".

Sky's Director of New Product Development and Sales, Brian Sullivan said:

"Having a valued partner such as Amstrad join as a key supplier for Sky+ is very important to us, especially as demand for Sky+ is reaching new heights and the DVR category as a whole begins to take root in the UK."

More Sky+ dual recording info

If you want to find out more about the Sky+ dual recording feature, check out these copious screenshots of dual recording in action. Visit hummer.co.uk for lots of detailed information on Sky+...this guy's a real enthusiast!

Are you still watching adverts?

Media Week Online has an article about the effect Sky+ might be having on advertising trends.

The next couple of years could see the biggest change in TV viewing behaviour since the advent of multi-channel itself. Sky+ isn’t about to happen – it’s already happening.

For the full article, see here.