One of the interesting things mentioned at the Foxtel HD+ launch last week was that Foxtel hope to put an iQ box into every subscribers home later this year.
When I asked for clarification, I was informed that later on in 2008, Foxtel will be launching another iQ box, which will essentially be a slightly higher-specced version of their current offering (maybe with an HDMI output and a bigger hard drive – or maybe not). It will also have a more appealing price structure to try and entice more people over to the joys of their PVR (as opposed to the $15 per month it costs at the moment).
There’s no more information available than that, but if they do offer an iQ box that doesn’t require a $15 per month subscription fee, I am so there.
[Foxtel]
thewackonerd
Monday, February 4, 2008 at 12:28 PMForget the IQ, I converted a Tivo to the PAL system and to does all that and more, its free and I own it
Chris McMahon
Monday, February 4, 2008 at 2:28 PMFoxtel’s $15/month IQ fee isn’t worth it. If it was their standard decoder (ie no additional fee), I’d swap from Austar to Foxtel.
Tim Johns
Tuesday, February 5, 2008 at 12:48 AMHaving Foxtel is worthless without the iQ. IMO.
Who would EVER sit through ad after ad after ad after ad after ad, most of them house ads for Foxtel and the other programs, all posing as Australian Content thanks to the foibles of the previous Govt.
Not me. Apart from live sport I watch 99% of my TV via recorded programs on the iQ and take GREAT pleasure in zapping thru the (endless) ads at 30x.
Who wants to own the box. It’s does what it does out-of-the-box. No setup required. No maintenance. I can Remote Record from the intarwebs. If it breaks, I ring Foxtel and they send me a new one. Let them worry about it. I could pay the cost for a TiVo (what ever that is, I assume $500-600) and then after 3 years I own it (a 3 year old gadget). If I want the latest TiVo… I fork out another $50-600 for a new one (that I own). Or I can lease a fully maintained box from Foxtel for the same money, and at the end of 3 years, they give me the next model. Who wants to own a 3 year old gadget at the end of every 3 years. Just take it back and give me then new one. Not to mention having to worry about the EPG etc…
Foxtels biggest mistake with the iQ was charging people $500 upfront just to INSTALL the thing !!! And then STILL pay ongoing lease payments. They doggedly stuck at this for a loooong time until I guess the storage costs on 50,000 iQ’s became too much and they had that promo to install it for $0. I was (literally) one of the first on the phone when that deal came out and had it installed 3 days later.
They can have my Foxtel iQ remote, when they pry it from my cold dead cheezle dust covered hand…
Dexxie
Tuesday, February 5, 2008 at 11:42 AMI think these new models may just make me consider actually getting an IQ box!
I don’t watch that much TV myself, and watch almost as much FTA TV as Foxtel, but being able to record shows I like, and watch them when I like is a nice idea.. but the extra $15 a month never made it actually worthwhile.
If they can give me some more incentive to do it, I think I’d do it though… just need that added sweetener :P