Is the new NOW TV Box announced today 29/06/16, better than YouView? YouView killer?
DJHB1980
Member Posts: 166 ✭
As per the title really
For starters... There is no HDD & no BT Sports.
Otherwise, it could be seen as the more attractive option???
Thoughts?
For starters... There is no HDD & no BT Sports.
Otherwise, it could be seen as the more attractive option???
Thoughts?
0
Comments
How many times are we going to see a title like this....I would say wait till you try it and then ask yourself which is the more attractive option (it isn't even in the same league ;-) )
https://corporate.sky.com/media-centre/news-page/2016/now_tv_launches_uk_first_contract_free_tv_broa...
Not impressed whatsoever to be honest; the pricing is comparable to Sky, its still just going to be the four main terrestrial catch-ups & Now TV (presumably in glorious stutter vision 60hz as its based on the American Roku), theres still going to be a good chunk of tv & films not shown due to licensing issues that will appear on their broadcast equivalents, still no other players like Netflix, WWE or Amazon, and no recording capabilities.
IMHO this seals the deal that NowTV wont expand on Youview as that'd make TalkTalk and BT a far more attractive proposal.
*12 month broadband and line rental contract required. **£40 set up fee.
Honestly...
Not sure you are reading this quite the same as me :-
12 month saver option has no set-up fee (12 month minimum term on Broadband and line rental)
One off set-up fee applies: £40 for broadband, £50 for fibre if taken on No Contract option
The way I read it there is a 12 month contract option which includes a discount and no set up fees BUT you can also have a no contract option but pay a set up fee.
because it is a much improved offering from NowTV but interesting how far they have still to go to challenge YouView.
Really should have been an Internet delivery of its most popular linear channels with its deficiencies addressed not reinforced.
YouView could be a lot better but is still ahead of this by some distance judging by the comments so far.
Predictions before launch of 4K and a hard drive , it's not rocket science to realise Sky was never going to launch 4K on a cheap streaming device before its more expensive Sky Q boxes and how exactly does a hard drive fit in at the price point Now TV is available for.
Predictions before launch of 4K and a hard drive , it's not rocket science to realise Sky was never going to launch 4K on a cheap streaming device before its more expensive Sky Q boxes and how exactly does a hard drive fit in at the price point Now TV is available for.
Totally agree... The aim of Now TV is to deliver Cheap TV packages on a cheap box at a far lower price point than Skys SAT platform. The box itself has been completed stripped down to the basics from its Roku cousin but for the price point it offers, no ones expecting miracles. Yet if a user knows what they are doing, they can put many of them back on again, using Plex. I wonder if this new box is still in jerky vision 60hz, or if its scalable? As since a software update, the Roku now is.
The pricing for this bundled soon has you going north of £50. Anyone wanting to spend £50 a month is normally looking at something more serious than a monthly on and off service and therefore NowTV starts to lose its attraction and you start stepping into full (albeit with discounts) SKY service with recording abilities.
I think it would have been far better to bring out combined passes and bundle this box with them...
Again, yes. I would go further and say users wanting to wanting to spend £50 a month are ALWAYS looking at something more serious.
I pay BT £50 a month for my combined phone, BB & TV package and thats 74meg fibre which also includes HD and a PVR. I really don't think Sky get this, and this new box appears to have a scatter gun approach, which can't sit in any one category or another.
What Hi-Fi have a hands-on review which is nice reading: -
http://www.whathifi.com/now-tv/smart-box/review
What does stand out for me is though...
It seems Now TV is still an "app"; ie not fully integrated into the EPG so there is the separation from Freeview to Now TV (although the EPG screenshot shows you can tab across).
A basic remote means scrolling to each channel instead of typing the numbers in.
The EPG looks like its Now & Next only.
No reverse EPG to watch something thats available On-Demand (no way this would be expected but that would be a nice extra).
It is still only 720p so I am assuming the 1080i Freeview HD channels are scaled down by the box, then up by the tv (maybe!).
Still no other providers; again not really expected but the addition of a Netflix app would be a sweetener esp theyre going to a "No Contract" Contract model.
It's a very similar idea to the Youview zapper box (and the same price stand-alone).
The home-screen looks very good and its what the Youview Discover could be if they removed all the pay-tv stuff (HINT HINT!).
But alas I still cant workout who its actually aimed at; going from a £15 box with 6months of tv to a "free" box with a triple-play subscription puts them in competition with the proper pay providers who imo offer far more for less.
An increasing amount of content on the HD channels on Freeview is actually being broadcast at 1080p/25PS
On the subject of US box sets and films on NowTV now TV use 50 Hz assets for everything anyway. So before the box was having to convert the output to 60 Hz. Some people were very sensitive to the issues that occurred because of that. In fact, I believe all UK-based streaming services are 50 Hz