YouView TV service finally unveiled at £299

Give it away free

That way you have a slim chance of being able to compete.
Although I fear I'm underestimating the gullibility of BT/TT users.

By dubiou on 4 Jul 2012

TV aerial?

What?

By KevPartner on 4 Jul 2012

The article is somewhat short on key facts

Firstly - what does the box do, if its not a Freeview PVR (a twin tuner, dual channel, FreeviewHD pvr) then the price puts it dead in the water before it even starts.

Secondly what are the *actual* requirements over and above freeview - I thought that it was just for an arbitrary internet connection (although of course there's the question of data consumption to be resolved)? If its tied to particular providers or if there are costs then what's the point?

By Murph on 4 Jul 2012

£299 too much!

This price suggests that none of the participants is very serious about the idea of 'impulse' buys at Comet, Dixons etc.

It's pretty clear that the £299 is a figure which BT and Talk Talk will discount to (say) £50 pretty much straight away when packaged with their Broadband. This presumably kills-off BT's existing 'Vision' Service \ hardware.

I haven't looked on the website yet, but a critical factor will be HD. At present 'Vision' doesn't do it, and I'm confident that's why its flopped to date.
Lack of Full HD on this box will probably kill it stone dead too.

By wittgenfrog on 4 Jul 2012

Some details

OK its HD, and has PVR capability.
It implies that its dual Freeview HD tuner-based so you could record two off-air whilst watching IPTV.

If you're a Vision customer, it's esentially business as usual with a new HD box (no price) and enhanced programming via IPTV.

Don't forget BT has bought loads of Premiership games.....

Not available yet. No pricing (apart from £299).

By wittgenfrog on 4 Jul 2012

More info

From their website it seems like a dual Freeview HD tuner PVR with built in iplayer etc. Nice idea and seems like a decent interface (for a change) but as others have said £300 is waaay too much.

By JStairmand on 4 Jul 2012

Too much

I dont understand who would think about buying this set top box.
Theres nothing special about it, when compared with other boxes.

By r1sh12 on 4 Jul 2012

Don't Get It

What can this box do that a £5 HDMI lead connected to my TV can't ? I already have Freeview pause TV and record via Media Centre. 4OD online CH5 online ITV player online all with catch up. Netflix. Apple TV £99. I don't think I will be shelling out a hefty £299 for a this box even the TOPUPTV box only cost £79 when it came out.

By MARSHY50 on 4 Jul 2012

Project Canvas

I was speaking to a bloke in a pub who was on the inside track at the beeb about project canvas. He was quite excited by the whole thing but I soon changed that, I tried to convince him to do the right thing by us licence fee payers and give us a platform that is open and can be used on a variety of gizmo's 'canvas enabled' if you wish. Canvas enabled devices would be able to view any content on the web meeting the same standard. to get a new channel all you would need is the key number or address and bingo it's on your canvas EPG.

But no they are just going to try and compete with the rest. The major issue I have with this is it is impossible to get new content streams on you IPTV widget without the service provider doing you a big favour (sony can I please get 4OD on my bravia now thanks).

Project canvas could have so much more. Trust trusts and committees to screw it up.

I just wanted them to enable the Wayne's Worlds of this world...

By SimonCorlett on 4 Jul 2012

Don't forget XBOX

We're entering the endgame (or maybe the beginning of the end game!) with these servcies.

Sky is in Pole position, as they can offer everything here plus Sky TV: 990 channels of crap + 'proper' TV, Films, Sport etc.

An increasing number of people find the Murdochs and all their works either morally repugnant, or too inflexible, expensive and 'packaged' to meet their needs.
Under these circumstances, IPTV + Freeview \ Freesat becomes attractive.

If you have an XBOX, then already you can easily watch 'catch up' from mainstream FTA TV, plus 'classic telly, plus several subscription Film services. The current incarnation of XBOX (or Playstation I expect) works really well, but is a bit slow (UI) and too noisy.
XBOX 720 (and next PS) will hopefully be largely passively cooled and hence MUCH quieter. They will incorporate more CPU 'grunt'and an SSD to perk-up performance, PVR capabilities and
a variety of tuner options now Media Center[sic] is defunct.

Plugged in to your TV aerial\dish and your Broadband such a system would provide serious competition to both YouView and Sky.....

The increasing availability of viable IPTV makes a reevaluation of the way the current TV Licence works essential too....

By wittgenfrog on 4 Jul 2012

Your favourite TV for free?

It says on the website http://www2.youview.com/whats-on/ "Your favourite TV for free" (wrong spelling) does this mean you don't need a TV license?

By GlidemanUK on 4 Jul 2012

Your favourite TV for free?

It says on the website http://www2.youview.com/whats-on/ "Your favourite TV for free" (wrong spelling) does this mean you don't need a TV license?

By GlidemanUK on 4 Jul 2012

@GildemanUK

Nope. A freeview tuner counts as a 'TV' for licencing purposes.

There's another debate to be had about catch-up on IPTV though.......

By wittgenfrog on 4 Jul 2012

£299 is actually consistent

For those complaining about the cost, £299 is only a teeny bit above par for a twin tuner HDD box with an ethernet socket (depending on the HDD size). As that's the price they're prepared to quote it would be reasonable to suggest that it won't be that high for long.

By Murph on 4 Jul 2012

@wittgenfrog

Not if it's not connected it doesn't. The box itself is legal to won as long as it's not connected & receiving live TV. You can also own a TV as long as it's not being used to view LIVE TV. It can be legally used to watch the iPlayer & DVDs & Xbox content from the Net as well as 5OD, YouTube etc.

By GlidemanUK on 4 Jul 2012

@Murph

Agree, I think Lord Sugar said the boxes might reach £99 in a few years time - though I don't fully believe that. However, once it gets in a few retailers, the competition will push the price down.

And it's not just any old brand but Humax, a well respected PVR maker. I also recall the first Freesat/Freeview HD boxes costing about the same, so it's not unprecedented.

I imagine the most important factor will be whether people buy in to the service Youview provides, not the price of the first box.

By pbryanw on 4 Jul 2012

A service for the masses

What YouView will deliver is an IPTV system that the non-geek will understand. An EPG which seamlessly links to catch-up TV, HD, and built in recording. Also the complete collection of terrestrial channels in one place. Sure there are a lot of alternatives around but none has quite nailed the usability or comprehensive service besides perhaps Sky - but that's expensive.

By AdamD6 on 4 Jul 2012

To little too late

Most new TV's can do everything this can do and more. If the project was on time then it might have been a different story. Plus that thing is horribly expensive for the average customer that has just bought a TV.

By hexy1 on 4 Jul 2012

A service for the masses

What YouView will deliver is an IPTV system that the non-geek will understand. An EPG which seamlessly links to catch-up TV, HD, and built in recording. Also the complete collection of terrestrial channels in one place. Sure there are a lot of alternatives around but none has quite nailed the usability or comprehensive service besides perhaps Sky - but that's expensive.

By AdamD6 on 4 Jul 2012

What's not to like?

YouView does one thing nothing else does and that is combine all the free to air replay services in one box that is also a PVR. Compare that with Samsung's Smart Hub for instance which only gives you iPlayer. Basically you need a PC connected to your TV to see any of the others (ITV Player, 4OD, etc) on a big screen.

If you have a decent PVR already then it is probably not worth shelling out for YouView but for anyone planning to buy a new PVR you'd need a good reason not to go for YouView.

By JDarby on 5 Jul 2012

@glidemanUK

So it was a rhetorical question?

My response was based on the idea that if you buy something you'll want to USE it (especially at £299 a pop).
So yes Mr G you can currently use the IPTV functions of the gadget sans TV Licence, but what's the point?
Most modern TVs contain similar IPTV functionality, or buy a games console and fully utilize its features....

The BBC's position on this is instructive. Essentially they're happy to stick with the status quo, until it looks like people are switching en masse to IPTV.
If that were to happen then expect encryption a la Sky....

By wittgenfrog on 5 Jul 2012

HDR-FOX T2 with improved software?

Looking at the humaxdirect site, this new box looks just like a HDR-FOX T2 500Gb with improved software. So an extra £50 for the pleasure. I wonder what they had to do to the hardware to make it work? Or could we see firmware conversion for existing HDR-FOX T2 oweners? :)

By randomtoast on 5 Jul 2012

Xbox

Agree with @wittgenfrog Whats the point of this when most consumers have an xbox (or even an PS3) why would the majority of householders want to buy another box ontop of a TV when most people will want an xbox/PS.

Also Millions and millons of users already have consoles in their homes. It's not going to take off that quickly.

By henry20012 on 5 Jul 2012

Cheapest option

Actually I can view all of these services on XBMC running on Raspberry Pi (£20); my Raspberry Pi can also stream HD Video from my main network seamlessly. And I only bought it out of interest...

By neil_aky on 5 Jul 2012

Overcrowded Digital Highway

How many Televisions and computers do we want in our Living Rooms?

I am not trying to advertise, but the Freeview, FreeSat, BBC Licence, Sky BT and Virgin Media are already trying to have the most of my airtime.

Sometimes it is just nice to settle down and listen to FM Classical.

Of course that will be when the telephone rings since the ICO cannot stop unwanted calls.

By lenmontieth on 6 Jul 2012

@lenmontieth

I couldn't agree more!

What's needed is for all these toys to talk to one another ('Gadget shall speak peace unto gadget', or somesuch).

Ideally a single UI would control the lot, and invoke other services (telephony for example) as required....
In a REALLY ideal world, most of the bits could live in the cupboard under the stairs, or in the garage or.....

By wittgenfrog on 6 Jul 2012