SKY+ Digibox to be discontinued?

mby2j

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Whether this is true or not I don't know but either way I would take this with a pinch of salt...

A friend of mine (who is a Sky Engineer) told me last night that Sky + boxes will be discontinued from November/December in favour of Sky+ HD boxes. Stock is drying up of + boxes and the engineers have been told that in the meantime they are to upgrade the customer to Sky HD boxes if for example they have 4x Sky + jobs for the day and only 2x + boxes.

Again whether this is true or hear-say etc Im not 100% sure but its still interesting news....
 
If there isn't much difference in cost why carry two models?
 
Unlikely to be true. One of the big differences between Sky+ and Sky+ HD are the Anytime downloads - a Sky+ box downloads everything in standard definition, which anybody with the equivalent SD Mix can then watch. A HD box downloads the HD version wherever possible - and only customers who subscribe to the HD Pack can view them. If somebody is wanting a Sky+ box it is because they either don't have a HD TV yet, or they don't want to have to subscribe to the HD Pack. But Sky won't want to restrict them from being able to watch the Anytime programmes they are entitled to watch - and they won't want to have to rewrite all the software within the HD box to make a decision as to what to download based on whether the HD Pack subscription exists on the card in the box or not.
 
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Unlikely to be true. One of the big differences between Sky+ and Sky+ HD are the Anytime downloads - a Sky+ box downloads everything in standard definition, which anybody with the equivalent SD Mix can then watch. A HD box downloads the HD version wherever possible - and only customers who subscribe to the HD Pack can view them. If somebody is wanting a Sky+ box it is because they either don't have a HD TV yet, or they don't want to have to subscribe to the HD Pack. But Sky won't want to restrict them from being able to watch the Anytime programmes they are entitled to watch - and they won't want to have to rewrite all the software within the HD box to make a decision as to what to download based on whether the HD Pack subscription exists on the card in the box or not.
Your right that it is unlikely to be true. For Sky though it could be a major money saver. Im sure they could update their HD box software to determine whether the user is subscribed to HD or SD only and download the appropriate SD or HD content to the box. They would also need to block the FTA HD channels also which wouldnt be hard to do, unless they would plan to keep them active to compete with Freesat and the upcoming Freeview HD...
 
it should be easy enough to get the box to see what is being subscribed to so downloading anytime stuff in SD or HD etc...
as for wether they would block FTA HD stuff it would be interesting to see... i would say they wouldn't as the only thing i need to view them is a HD satellite box. if sky gave me one instead of my sky+ it aint my fault and as i have paid for the FTA HD stuff anyway just not been able to view it i should be allowed to.
also it might mean more people see stuff in HD for free and then think that Sky1 will look great in HD if BBC looks like this so then they might sign up for HD stuff from sky. whats the cost then been for sky
 
I suspect it's very easy to get the smartcard to flag the SD Anytime feeds rather than the HD ones even in a SKY+HD, SKY just don't want to lose that marketing opportunity which after all is the only reason Anytime exists.

I don't follow why blocking FTA HD channels would be an issue, they are free channels and I think if the SKY+HD was crippled so you couldn't watch BBCHD unless you paid SKY all hell would break loose and rightly so.
It's fine for VM to get away with that but that a legacy of their business and platform, Dsat is and has always been a far more open platform.

It's long been speculated that the PVR would be the entry level machine and it is now that dominant STB for SKY subscribers and there is a lot of sense with their own manufacturing arm in terms of mass production to only make 1 PVR model.
 
Sky have absolutely no intention of discontinuing the Sky+, infact, they are favouring it as the permanent replacement to the single tuner Sky box next year. Supply is low of Sky+ at the moment as they want to hold stock back at the manufacturers in order to further push HD sales come Christmas time. They are even hinting at placing the Sky+ price double the Sky HD, i.e. £49 HD, £99 +.

Near believe someone working for Sky that calls themselves an 'Engineer' ;)
 
Sky have absolutely no intention of discontinuing the Sky+, infact, they are favouring it as the permanent replacement to the single tuner Sky box next year. Supply is low of Sky+ at the moment as they want to hold stock back at the manufacturers in order to further push HD sales come Christmas time. They are even hinting at placing the Sky+ price double the Sky HD, i.e. £49 HD, £99 +.

Near believe someone working for Sky that calls themselves an 'Engineer' ;)

Again I was only quoting what I have been told by my friend but I suppose hear say/rumours are always rife with Sky engineers. Your explanation sounds far more feasable :smashin:
 
Again I was only quoting what I have been told by my friend but I suppose hear say/rumours are always rife with Sky engineers. Your explanation sounds far more feasable :smashin:

This is true, no disrespect to your friend but Sky installers often get told stories which change shape as they are passed through the chain. Ultimately Sky want to sell more HD boxes so anything they can make up to encourage this helps.
 
Well worth a bump based on this link.

"In related news Sky+ boxes are on their way out after Sky confirmed it will now offer its Sky+HD 300GB digibox as standard to new customers - whether they take out a £10pm HD subscription or not. This makes perfect sense since it gives both the customers and Sky itself an upgrade path to HD in future.

HD subscribers will get the Sky+HD box for free plus free installation, otherwise it will set you back £49 and £30 for installation which makes avoiding the £10pm HD charge rather pointless. Existing customers again don't fare so well at £99 for the box and £60 for installation. *sigh*

Still Sky is on the right track here as it pushes Britain towards a High Definition future - and consumers who bought their HDTV without ever combining it with an HD source (sadly, the vast majority) will suddenly realise what all the fuss is about..."
 
Hi there, I would comment on the last statement myself:-

"Still Sky is on the right track here as it pushes Britain towards a High Definition future - and consumers who bought their HDTV without ever combining it with an HD source (sadly, the vast majority) will suddenly realise what all the fuss is about..."

Yes HD is the future and with both a Blu Ray player and Freesat HD in my setup along with Sky+ (non HD) I would agree for the tech savvy HD is the way to go. However for the rest of my family and friends ,yes they do detect the difference between SD and HD but really not enough to warrant the extra £10/month Sky HD charge.

I for one forget that the film I am watching on my BD player is in HD after a while (unless large detailed shots are viewed) so it is really would be 'initial novelty effect for the average viewer' .

For the BBC 1 HD and ITV HD football shown in HD is a must but when family came around I had to switch to the SD broadcast to convince them that they were indeed watching a 'superior' HD picture.

I think thats where the hype comes in really. The latest HD TV sets can actually make SD broadcasts look superb as long as a) they are broadcast at a high bitrate (props to Sky, boo to ITV) b) you are not viewing the TV too closely.
 
well tbh I do not think HD is worth it unless you tick all the boxes for the packages. I do how ever feel that HD is they way forward and will eventually become the standard and normal channels will become less and less as times go by. Just like switching from anologue to digital, its just the way forward.

If your lucky your in the Digital switchover area, meaning that the HD Box without the HD Pack will only cost you £30 for the install an the box is free. But thats only worth it if sky actually dont add the hd pack to your subscription and dont forget like they did with me.
 

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