clinty:


However, if they are shooting at the end of June, and that is still part of the customer trial, then it looks like general release won't be till later in the year.

Clint

Yep - it certainly looks like you’re right there. Was hoping it would be soon - but so long as it’s available before our VTV goes off the air in September we’ll be OK. Will be a bit stuck if that’s not the case. 

I guess it will be before VTV dies because it’s been touted by both Sky and VF as a replacement for VTV.

The new box may not be that far off. In todays paper there was an item about a prospective buyer for Sky TV. In the article it’s says 

“In the past year, Sky has launched a broadband service provisioned by Orcon Group (set to finalise its merger with 2degrees this week), sold its Mt Wellington campus, seized back Premier League rights from Spark Sport and announced a new box, due for its introduction within weeks, which will work over ultra-fast broadband fibre and offer ultra-high-definition video plus apps such as Netflix, Amazon’s Prime Video and Disney+ as Sky seeks to become a one-to-shop for accessing a fragmented content market.”

We can only hope!

Steve

I asked on a Generic Sky ad on their Facebook page, when is the new set top box due out, they answered with the box will release this winter, with more information to be released soon.

WyleECoyoteNZ:

 

I asked on a Generic Sky ad on their Facebook page, when is the new set top box due out, they answered with the box will release this winter, with more information to be released soon.

 

Promising!

Steve

eracode:

 

SumnerBoy:

 

So am I reading this right - you can get Sky without a dish? Everything is delivered over fibre?

 

 

According to Sky's Nov 21 press release, the new box will stream and also have a satellite input option. So I guess, yes all of Sky's content is likely to be be able to be streamed - your "everything is delivered over fibre" - but equally "everything is delivered over satellite".

 

Quoting an old post here as I was searching the thread for info.

I am also a VTV user waiting for this box to appear as an option (hopefully soon as my VTV is starting to have issues).

Reading that article from last year it seems to infer that the box will simply be hybrid and require satellite for FTA/Sky with the internet overlay being only for existing Android apps. There is no mention that Sky channels will broadcast via internet (except using the existing Sky apps).

If that is so then it isn't a great replacement for VTV where you have no Sat dish (or no desire for one)

Can anyone here please confirm one way or another how this will work. ie will I need a Sat dish to have the functionality of accessing Sky packages without resorting to the clunky existing apps?

So to confirm, this box will not replace the Sat box, and won't have any Sat connectivity? It's all Internet-based? 

I must admit, despite having great internet connectivity, the thought of relying on a box for catching the Rugby doesn't really sit well for me. 

Sat has been very very reliable, other than a very very occasional brief weather outages. 

I've found the opposite. Having used VTV for about 4 years I've found it being all internet based to be more reliable than satellite. Maybe depends where you live but in Wellington when I previously had Sky via satellite any time it rained or got windy (common in Wellington) there would be a weather outage which does not happen over fibre. Maybe I lived in a particularly exposed spot, not sure, but that was my experience. I can remember things like World Cup knockout matches being ruined - think the All Blacks 2015 quarter final was unwatchable from memory being during a particularly nasty weather morning in Wellington.

networkn:

 

So to confirm, this box will not replace the Sat box, and won't have any Sat connectivity? It's all Internet-based? 

 

I must admit, despite having great internet connectivity, the thought of relying on a box for catching the Rugby doesn't really sit well for me. 

 

Sat has been very very reliable, other than a very very occasional brief weather outages. 

 

It will definitely have Sat connection according to the article. My question is whether it is Sat (Sky /Freeview) + Apps (Internet) OR Sat or Internet Option (Sky/Freeview) + Apps (internet).

Early mentions of the device implied the latter but this from the article last year makes me wonder.  "The new box has integrated Wi-Fi 6 technology to accommodate the best wireless connection for seamless 4K video streams, and eight tuners for connection to a Satellite receiver for free-to-air channels and Irdeto-encrypted programs."

We are all different in our preferences and for me Fibre is the preference over Sat. Rain fade and trees are an issue. Can also move the TV around the house easier without being attched to a cable.

If I was to go back to this, I would not like the idea of having to reticulate legacy coax thru the house again (Mine is all repurposed now) and put a dish up just to get TV. 

IP or GTFO.

So, heres the thing. I use a bunch of streaming-only services. During the Rugby World Cup when Spark had the rights, it was delivered IP only. It was a real PITA. Unlike with Sat, I couldn't do things like start 30 minutes into the stream of a game, watch for a while, go away and come back and resume, if the game had ended in the meantime. If the game ended before I got to watch it, there was a delay in them moving it from the stream, to the 'finalised' product. That was often 2-3 hours later, but as the tournament went on, it was down to around 90 minutes. 

I also had issues pausing and then resuming and it taking me to different parts of the game, including, at times, the end, where the final score was shown!

I don't care how my sport is delivered, so long as it is at least as flexible and reliable as what I am currently using, and my experience with 2 sports streaming services to date, indicate that doesn't seem that likely. 

I'd probably want to run both boxes, one over IP and one over satellite until I was confident the situation was to my liking. 

I agree with the idea of being able to watch on a different TV in another room, that functionality is a major downside to the satellite. 

siva992: Here's what I vaguely heard. The hybrid box will primarily rely on sat but fall back on the internet when there's no coverage (e.g. rain fade/sun outage). The internet will also power the apps and other internet-based services like on-demand, but it'll not use it as primary source to run live TV.

I mean, that's quite valid considering the investment put into buying bandwidth from Optus to host their channels on sat, they wouldn't want that to go to waste if they are gonna switch everyone to IPTV.

Not everyone could move to IPTV, there would be quite a decent portion of the rural community for which IP isn't an option.

networkn:

siva992: Here's what I vaguely heard. The hybrid box will primarily rely on sat but fall back on the internet when there's no coverage (e.g. rain fade/sun outage). The internet will also power the apps and other internet-based services like on-demand, but it'll not use it as primary source to run live TV.

I mean, that's quite valid considering the investment put into buying bandwidth from Optus to host their channels on sat, they wouldn't want that to go to waste if they are gonna switch everyone to IPTV.

Not everyone could move to IPTV, there would be quite a decent portion of the rural community for which IP isn't an option.

 

siva992:

That's very true. I know people who don't want an internet connection but have sky

I imagine the number of people that applies to, would be very small. I was more talking about those for whom a reliable fast internet connection isn't possible.