Sky - Set TV Free (November 13th)

I'm mixed. I think the most impressive part about it is its use of Wi-Fi and the ability to emulate Multiroom without the need for another dish feed, as well as the ability to stream recordings on tablets etc. But as far as I'm concerned, the features you can get from existing Sky equipment and smart TVs/boxes won't justify what'll probably be a terribly high price.

One thing that does surprise me is the offering of a touch remote. The AppleTV4 version really is a pain at times, it needs a gyroscope in it, as apparent vertical moves come through as horizontal ones. I can imagine all sorts of difficulties for those with arthritic problems using it to control the device. An alternative surely has to be made available for those with disabilities.

I seem to remember when Sky Digital launched in 1998, the subsidised price was £299 for a receiver.

ISTR for new subscribers £199 (OnDigital charged the same too) for the box, if you were an existing Analogue customer you got a discount of £40, bringing it down to £159.

While the pricing is a concern (I suspect it will be at the very top end of people's expectations) and the wait for UHD is frustrating if understandable (it's clearly going to be launched in the run up to the 15/16 football season and Sky's enhanced PL coverage), I do think they have ticked all the boxes really - in terms of features and content this is going to be hard to top.

It all sounds very good to me - just a shame they've gotten rid of their iconic remote design.

The remote design was nearly 17 years old. It's about time they went with something radically different, especially considering some of the buttons have become defunct over time.

I'm very excited about this new box, cost is going to be a big issue however and this will be interesting when the pricing is released.

You mean the 16/17 season. We are currently in the 15/16 PL season.

I hope they make the advantages of Sky Q easier to understand, than the botched build-up to Sky Sports 5.

Reading the Sky press release yesterday, there was a lot of talk about Sky Broadband and it being a WiFi hub and being fully intergrated with the satellite receiver, making it appear, on glance reading, that you need to be with Sky as your ISP for the box under the tv to work.

I doubt that will be the case. The boxes don't appear to contain A/VDSL modems - so you'll still need to connect them to a separate broadband modem/router - either via PLT, Ethernet or WiFi as now. That removes any major requirement for Sky to be your ISP. Whether they are using multicast for live TV over IP (as BT do) is a different matter I guess - though I doubt it. I suspect Live TV over WiFI may also be able to use tuners in the Sky Q box rather than requiring broadband (also removing the requirement for high speed broadband for decent video quality on streaming live stuff).

Interesting that this is the first time that work is likely to be needed at the dish end (and communal distribution systems will need to be upgraded to support the full 12 tuners potentially) since Sky+ required a second cable and a new LNB.

AIUI the new systems use a new Unicable LNB (but won't need new cabling from dish to receiver as the system allows a single cable to feed multiple tuners)

There has been some discussion about a SkyQ hub. Whether this is an A/VDSL modem router or just a Powerline interface I'm not sure (or whether it is being used to describe the main set top box)

I disagree. I think the remote design is one of the most recognisable parts of the Sky brand. Even with the now added Sky+ functionality they have still managed to keep the same basic shape. Throw a bunch of remotes in front of someone and I imagine at first glance they'll be able to pick out the Sky one easily.


In contrast, the new design just looks like another generic black plastic slab - doesn't look anywhere near as ergonomic, nevermind the pure aesthetics of it.

On the age of the remote design - I agree that software should be updated continually, but what makes a shape 'old'?

Not sure. The Sky+ and Sky remotes are looking increasingly dated (and a little 'cheap') - and the dedicated TV Guide, Box Office, Services and Interactive are largely out of date. It's certainly not as iconic as the Tivo Peanut remote (which innovated with the addition of the slide out keyboard)

Also - having a touch pad is a very useful move (as the Apple TV also now has), as will the integrated mic for voice recognition (which is pretty useful on Apple TV 4)

The current design is pretty easy to use - but I suspect the new one will be too.

In this country, the Sky remote is surely far more iconic than the TiVo one (I am struggling to picture it at the moment).