UPC/NTL PVR to be launched

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SadBob

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Hi,

Heard this on the Last Word (Today FM) last night and found this article on the Silicon Republic Website. Are there any AAM members who are trialing this in Dublin or have had any experiences with it? (I'm an avid Sky+ user but would see any competition as good!)

thanks

sadbob

UPC confirms July launch for PVR



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21.05.2007 - UPC will launch its long-awaited personal video recorder (PVR) this July, siliconrepublic.com has learned. It finally will give the cable TV operator a competing technology to the service offered by its rival Sky. A personal video recorder (PVR), also referred to as a digital video recorder, can record live TV for playback when the user wants.

The technology is integrated into the set-top box required for digital TV, so consumers don’t need to program their video recorders or DVD recorders. PVRs can be programmed to record entire series.

The box, manufactured by French firm Thomson, will have a storage capacity of up to 160GB and will be able to hold around 80 hours of saved TV. UPC sales and marketing director Mark Coan confirmed it will be launched in Ireland this July.

The service is currently being trialed in Dublin but it won’t be commercially available for another two months. “We want to make sure the service is right,” Coan told siliconrepublic.com. “It’s going to be aggressively priced,” he added.

Coan confirmed that the PVR box will be compatible with UPC’s planned video-on-demand (VOD) service. No launch date has been set for this yet and it’s unlikely to be available in Ireland before next year.

UPC is the group name for the Irish cable TV providers NTL and Chorus. According to its most recent annual results, the company has 594,100 TV customers in Ireland, of which 272,000 are analogue, 210,800 are digital and 111,300 are on the MMDS platform.

Coan said that UPC intends to roll out its high-definition (HD) service before the end of the year. This technology, which is only available on digital TV, offers much four times the picture quality of standard definition TV as well as surround sound.

UPC is investing €300m over three years into upgrading its network to offer these services – and to play catch-up with long-time competitor Sky, which launched its Sky+ PVR technology almost four years ago and HD last year.

Sky Ireland has 484,000 digital TV subscribers, or roughly one in three Irish homes. An estimated 12,500 people subscribe to Sky’s HD service and around 80,000 use the Sky+ TV recorder.

By Gordon Smith
 
Does the July date refer to the pilot or to the launch?

UPC.ie still is just a menu page linking to NTL or Chorus. You would think if they were launching these long rumoured new devices soon, they would have changed their website by now, wouldn't you?

My NTL Digital box keeps locking up and requiring the power to be plugged out - I don't know if it is worth my while getting a replacement one from NTL now or wait until they launch the PVR. I suppose I'll ring them and get some vague response from them.
 
The guy from Silicone Republic being interviewed by Matt Cooper said the launch was in July and it's being trialed at the moment in Dublin. However, knowing NTL's customer service I would be surprised if they could give any update on the situation. Their website isn't much better either. I asked them last August had they any plans to introduce such technology and below is the response I got (two weeks later I might add). I'm sure the technology was in the pipeline back then for the ROI but obviously it was not being shared with their front line staff – or was it! It has been available in the UK for some time via NTL/Telewest (now Virgin Media) - service is called V+.

http://allyours.virginmedia.com/html/dtv/vplus/index.html.

We'll just have to wait and see I suppose but the fact it's available in the UK should speed up the process over here for us


Dear Sadbob,

Thank you for your e-mail,

Unfortunately ntl as far as im aware have no plans to introduce such Service as the SKy+ type Box.

If you were interested in having the go digital service installed, please ring through to the Sales Department on 1800234234.

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you via e-mail, we are currently working through a backlog at the moment.

If you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact us on 1800 321 321 or once again e-mail us on [email protected]

Kind regards


NTL Customer Support
 
Just heard same more - no doubt NTL's ever so efficent customer service and/or marketing department will be letting their customers know!
 
There's no mention of whether it's capable of recording HDTV content whenever they start transmitting that.
 
Will it be that much better than what's currently available?

Right now, I've got the cheapest (analog) service from NTL that they do: more than enough stations. I've a Sony DVR (HD+DVD) which I use to record (mostly to time shift): OK it doesn't have the built-in program guide, but it's easy enough to use, and stuff can be archived onto DVDs.

I'm waiting for the day when I'll be forced to go digital (at extra cost), for stations I don't need. Then I'll probaby be forced to pay extra again to get the same DVR features that I currently have.

I'd be happy enough to make the break if it was to HDTV, but right now I'd just see it as having to pay more to get pretty much what I already have.

Thoughts, anyone?
 
ang1170 said:
Thoughts, anyone?
Click to expand...
If cost is an issue for you then why not consider getting a satellite setup for FTA broadcasts for a once off payment? I guess your DVR's built-in tuner will be no use then (?) though - same as with digital cable?
 
ClubMan said:
If cost is an issue for you then why not consider getting a satellite setup for FTA broadcasts for a once off payment? I guess your DVR's built-in tuner will be no use then (?) though - same as with digital cable?
Click to expand...

Exactly!

If you could get all of RTE1/RTE2/BBC1/BBC2/ITV/CH4 on FTA I'd probably go digital OK (and get a new digital tuner DVR). I'm kind of hoping that this option will be available when HDTV comes along.

My main concern though is that the NTL analog service will be discontinued and I'll be forced to move (and to pay more for less in the process).
 
www.satellite.ie has some useful FAQs on satellite FTA (e.g. what channels are available etc.)using SKY or non SKY equipment. I would certainly seriously consider opting for a FTA package if dishes were not disallowed by our management company rules.
 
ClubMan said:
www.satellite.ie has some useful FAQs on satellite FTA (e.g. what channels are available etc.)using SKY or non SKY equipment. I would certainly seriously consider opting for a FTA package if dishes were not disallowed by our management company rules.
Click to expand...
Clubman-a couple of weeks ago I saw an ad from DID Electrical for a box of tricks that appeared to me to offer FTA channels without a satellite dish.I have not had a chance to investigate it but unless I am totally wrong-and I could be-I got the impression from the ad that this box of tricks-sited indoors- could give u FTA channels.Maybe someone else has looked at it.
 
ang1170,

If it has nearly the same functionally as the sky+ box, then I would choose it hands down over a hard drive recorder but time will tell if its as good. Cant believe you're missing out on digital TV - ignore all the channels you get and dont need or watch. It is the quality of picture compared to the analogue that is the real benefit of digital in my opinion. My folks have the analogue service and I cringe when I catch a glimpse of their pic quality when I'm around! I'm sure HD will follow too but when is anybodies guess.
 
pnh said:
Clubman-a couple of weeks ago I saw an ad from DID Electrical for a box of tricks that appeared to me to offer FTA channels without a satellite dish.
Click to expand...
Through what delivery mechanism if not satellite dish - e.g. terrestrial antenna, cable etc.? Are you sure that it was not simply a digital FTA decoder that still needed to be hooked up to a suitable dish?
I have not had a chance to investigate it but unless I am totally wrong-and I could be-I got the impression from the ad that this box of tricks-sited indoors- could give u FTA channels.Maybe someone else has looked at it.
Click to expand...
Doesn't sound right to me. Well you can get terrestrial analog (and maybe trial digital) channels with a "rabbit ears" or equivalent antenna but you will not get BBC/ITV etc. channels this way.
 
ClubMan said:
Through what delivery mechanism if not satellite dish - e.g. terrestrial antenna, cable etc.? Are you sure that it was not simply a digital FTA decoder that still needed to be hooked up to a suitable dish?
Doesn't sound right to me. Well you can get terrestrial analog (and maybe trial digital) channels with a "rabbit ears" or equivalent antenna but you will not get BBC/ITV etc. channels this way.
Click to expand...
Clubman-yes I know when I saw the ad I thought of all those questions-but as I have not seen the device I have no answers.
I repeat though-the ad indicated to me that with this gizmo u could get "hundreds" of FTA channels without a satellite dish-the idea intrigued me-then-I forgot about it .Now I must get myself into DID to look at it-maybe tomorrow.
 
Clubman-I found this website which seems to be the device I saw advertised.
I did originally get the impression it could be used indoors but perhaps not unless u had a window facing the right direction maybe. You will see on the site however that it is not as obtrusive as the usual dish.
 
Given the precision with which satellite dishes/LNBs normally need to be aligned I would be skeptical of anything that claims to be able to receive satellite broadcasts reliably by just sticking it near a window* or whatever. Especially in Ireland where we may be near the edge of the coverage area of most or all satellites.

* Update: OK - to be fair the manual does not actually say that. Interesting idea. Wonder if it works? Any idea what DID were charging for it and what model they were offering?

Update 2: boards.ie thread about this solution here.
 
Two quick questions on this, if anyone knows the answers...

(1) Does the PVR box replace the existing digibox? Which might be a good thing in my case since my new PACE box has a habit of going dead when I least expect it. Piece of rubbish. I know I should get it replaced by ntl but I don't know if I have the strength any more... :rolleyes:

(2) Why on earth do existing, loyal customers have to pay €49 for installation while new customers get it for free? If existing people have to fork out then it simply makes it more attractive to go to Sky. I've been in business for a long time and I've always understood it's far cheaper to retain an existing customer than to win a new one. Is this discrimination? Is it legal?

Rant over... for now. After all, it is ntl we're talking about.

;)

Cheers.
 
Jethro said:
Which might be a good thing in my case since my new PACE box has a habit of going dead when I least expect it. Piece of rubbish. I know I should get it replaced by ntl but I don't know if I have the strength any more...
Click to expand...
Any chance it's a firmware problem and there's an update that might address the problem?
 
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