Sky are launching a new £10 box which will bring catch up TV, Sky Sports and Sky Movies to any television set, without long term subscription fees. Sky are saying that the box is ‘smaller than a pub beer mat'.
Sky have experienced reasonable success so far with their NowTV application available for PC and MAC and consoles such as the Playstation 3. The availability of a £10 box which connects directly to the television set is designed to a reach a much larger audience.
BT have already announced their their BT Sport proposition offering Premiership Rugby and Football matches has attracted 500,000 customers already, so Sky want a piece of the action.
The Now TV box will require an internet connection but does not need a subscription. It will also deliver access to Facebook and Spotify over the television set and can work with any broadband internet connection.
Sky are claiming that 50 million standard televisions in the UK cannot connect to the internet and say their new device will give more people access to catch up tv, movies and sport. It will also support the BBC iPlayer, out of the box although Sky claim that other 3rd party software will be supported at a later date.
The tiny £10 box hooks directly into a television via an HDMI cable. It doesn't need anything else to operate, just simply plug into a television. The box will give access to Sky Sports for £9.99 per day, covering the Ashes, F1, Premier League and the US Open. It also has a 30 day trial of Sky Movies with fees charged after the trial is over. After the free trial ends, it will automatically roll over into the next month and begin to charge a special offer rate of £8.99 per month for the first 3 months. After the first 3 months, people will be charged £15 per month. The £10 price of the box won't break the bank, but the daily or monthly services are quite expensive.
Director of Now TV, Gidon Katz said “Millions of people are switching on to the convenience and flexibility of on demand TV, choosing when and how they want to watch. Now there’s an easy and extremely affordable way to make every TV a ‘smart TV’.” He claimed that “For under a tenner, the NOW TV Box offers the best terrestrial catch-up, plus pay-as-you-go access to must-see sport and the option to enjoy latest blockbuster movies on demand – all on the big screen.”
Kitguru says: A good deal?
They’re pretty clever right? Upon realisation that most of the population have disbanded their sports and movie packages (which saves you about £10-£15 extra a month) they then release this thing.
It’s like telling everyone “Hey! Pay £10 for this gadget and then pay £10-£15 a month like you did before for the same service!”
The only difference? It relies on the internet connection, which honestly where I come from (Hull, a city) our internet speeds are piss poor.
thats a white roku :/