foxtel hd+
Entertainment
1:00PM Nick Broughall | Foxtel created a bit of a stir earlier this year when they launched their iQ2 PVR alongside their new range of HD channels. Even though the free-to-air networks all had HD channels broadcasting, there wasn’t a lot of content available in HD that really took advantage of the growing trend for homes to have Full HD TVs in the home. With their HD+ service, Foxtel hoped to bring HD content to the mainstream. And after more than three months of watching their HD channels, I can happily say the future looks bright for HD+, but at the moment it’s held back by a lack of variety in its content. More »
Long-Term Review: Foxtel HD+ (Verdict: Needs More Channels)
1:00PM Nick Broughall | Foxtel created a bit of a stir earlier this year when they launched their iQ2 PVR alongside their new range of HD channels. Even though the free-to-air networks all had HD channels broadcasting, there wasn’t a lot of content available in HD that really took advantage of the growing trend for homes to have Full HD TVs in the home. With their HD+ service, Foxtel hoped to bring HD content to the mainstream. And after more than three months of watching their HD channels, I can happily say the future looks bright for HD+, but at the moment it’s held back by a lack of variety in its content. More » 
Gadgets
1:04PM Nick Broughall | Back when the latest iteration of Foxtel’s iQ launched, one of the most interesting aspects was that there was a 4th HD digital tuner inside, except it was just lying there like some kind of fairytale princess waiting to be woken up by a digital Prince Charming.
Well, the good news is that the digital prince will be rolling out to iQ2 boxes around the country starting next week to activate the sleeping 4th tuner. Once it’s been woken up, Princess Tuner Number 4 will allow you to record two channels at the same time as watching a third channel live (at the moment you can only record two and either watch one of them, or watch something already recorded to the HDD or watch one of the On Demand movies or shows).
All iQ2 subscribers should be getting the update rolled out by December 1, but you won’t be notified when it’s been upgraded. It’s also a staggered rollout, so you’ll just have to keep trying to record Futurama at the same time as The Daily Show and Star Trek Voyager to see if you’ve been updated yet.
[Foxtel] More »
Foxtel Activating That 4th Tuner In Your iQ2
1:04PM Nick Broughall | Back when the latest iteration of Foxtel’s iQ launched, one of the most interesting aspects was that there was a 4th HD digital tuner inside, except it was just lying there like some kind of fairytale princess waiting to be woken up by a digital Prince Charming.
Well, the good news is that the digital prince will be rolling out to iQ2 boxes around the country starting next week to activate the sleeping 4th tuner. Once it’s been woken up, Princess Tuner Number 4 will allow you to record two channels at the same time as watching a third channel live (at the moment you can only record two and either watch one of them, or watch something already recorded to the HDD or watch one of the On Demand movies or shows).
All iQ2 subscribers should be getting the update rolled out by December 1, but you won’t be notified when it’s been upgraded. It’s also a staggered rollout, so you’ll just have to keep trying to record Futurama at the same time as The Daily Show and Star Trek Voyager to see if you’ve been updated yet.
[Foxtel] More »
Entertainment
1:45PM Nick Broughall | The free-to-air networks this week got together and officially announced that they are planning on bringing the Freeview brand to Australia. Awesome. My hands are fighting back the urge to start clapping as I type this.
For those not in the know, Freeview is a UK branding exercise that covers free-to-air digital television. It essentially offers all the FTA networks digital TV offerings under one easy to remember brand name, essentially so that it can compete better with pay TV.
Considering the success Foxtel is experiencing at the moment, this is actually a good move for the FTA networks. Freeview will act as a standard that various DVR manufacturers will be
able to adopt to ensure that they can provide an accurate EPG for home
entertainment recording. This will allow other PVRs to seriously compete with the likes of TiVo and Foxtel’s iQ2 box.
Freeview will incorporate 15 channels from the FTA networks, including the high-def channels and the upcoming SD multi-channel offerings, and is tasked to drive up the digital offerings available on free-to-air TV.
More »
Freeview Officially Launching In 2009. Yawn.
1:45PM Nick Broughall | The free-to-air networks this week got together and officially announced that they are planning on bringing the Freeview brand to Australia. Awesome. My hands are fighting back the urge to start clapping as I type this.
For those not in the know, Freeview is a UK branding exercise that covers free-to-air digital television. It essentially offers all the FTA networks digital TV offerings under one easy to remember brand name, essentially so that it can compete better with pay TV.
Considering the success Foxtel is experiencing at the moment, this is actually a good move for the FTA networks. Freeview will act as a standard that various DVR manufacturers will be
able to adopt to ensure that they can provide an accurate EPG for home
entertainment recording. This will allow other PVRs to seriously compete with the likes of TiVo and Foxtel’s iQ2 box.
Freeview will incorporate 15 channels from the FTA networks, including the high-def channels and the upcoming SD multi-channel offerings, and is tasked to drive up the digital offerings available on free-to-air TV.
More »
Entertainment
9:48AM Nick Broughall | Even though we’ve known about the pricing for a little while now, and Ty from CNet was even lucky enough to get an early model for review, the HD+ service from Foxtel gets its official launch on Sunday June 22.
15,000 Foxtel subscribers have already been upgraded to the new service, according to the press release that just landed in our inbox. That’s a pretty big number for a service that hasn’t officially launched yet.
We’ll be testing out the new service in the weeks to come, so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, press release junkies can read this one below the fold:
Foxtel HD+ Official Launch Date: June 22, 2008
9:48AM Nick Broughall | Even though we’ve known about the pricing for a little while now, and Ty from CNet was even lucky enough to get an early model for review, the HD+ service from Foxtel gets its official launch on Sunday June 22.
15,000 Foxtel subscribers have already been upgraded to the new service, according to the press release that just landed in our inbox. That’s a pretty big number for a service that hasn’t officially launched yet.
We’ll be testing out the new service in the weeks to come, so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, press release junkies can read this one below the fold:
Home
2:04PM Nick Broughall | Ty over at CNet AU got his hands on the new Foxtel iQ2 box a little bit before everybody else, and was kind enough to post his thoughts on the CNet site.
Overall, he was impressed by the new Foxtel offering, rating its performance in presenting both SD and HD channels, although the HD was where most of the love was projected, especially with the programs that offered 5.1 surround sound.
There are some advanced options in the setup menu that allow you to cater for lip-sync issues, and the On Demand service worked a treat.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing – the system did lock up a few times and require hard resets, but he was playing with a pre-release version, and Ty wasn’t a big fan of not knowing the start and end times of programs he was recording.
But for the most part, the HD offerings of the iQ2 were enough to convince him that the $200 installation fee was worth the money. Hit the jump for the full review, and stay tuned for Giz AU’s own opinions in the coming weeks.
[CNet AU]
More »
CNet AU Reviews Foxtel iQ2, Verdict: Worth the $200
2:04PM Nick Broughall | Ty over at CNet AU got his hands on the new Foxtel iQ2 box a little bit before everybody else, and was kind enough to post his thoughts on the CNet site.
Overall, he was impressed by the new Foxtel offering, rating its performance in presenting both SD and HD channels, although the HD was where most of the love was projected, especially with the programs that offered 5.1 surround sound.
There are some advanced options in the setup menu that allow you to cater for lip-sync issues, and the On Demand service worked a treat.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing – the system did lock up a few times and require hard resets, but he was playing with a pre-release version, and Ty wasn’t a big fan of not knowing the start and end times of programs he was recording.
But for the most part, the HD offerings of the iQ2 were enough to convince him that the $200 installation fee was worth the money. Hit the jump for the full review, and stay tuned for Giz AU’s own opinions in the coming weeks.
[CNet AU]
More »
Entertainment
1:08PM Nick Broughall | UPDATE 2: We just had a phone call from a Foxtel spokesperson who said that the pricing below has been sent out to people who registered their details on the Foxtel HD site. When asked if the pricing would be the same for regular peeps, we were told “You could presume so”.
We also asked about when the service would be available, both to people who registered and the rest of us. They wouldn’t give us a firm date for either other than “before the end of the financial year” although they did say that the registered people would get priority. Commenter “Jones” has told us that he’s got his installation booked for June 2, so it looks like that’s the earliest it’s going to happen.
UPDATE: Although we still haven’t heard from Foxtel, this is looking legit – the info came from the Foxtel newsletter, and according to members on the DTV forums, you can sign up to have the iQ2 installed from the first week of June.
We’ve been hanging out for some pricing info on Foxtel’s HD service since January, and eagle-eyed reader David just received some fairly detailed HD pricing on the Foxtel HD website. Sadly, when I went to check on the site myself, the HD pages wouldn’t load, and Foxtel themselves haven’t confirmed or denied the pricing yet. So at the moment, take these figures as rumour, although hopefully we’ll get some confirmation soon.
From the looks of things, it will set you back $200 to upgrade to the iQ2 box, then $10 per month to keep it, which isn’t too bad considering the original iQ is $10 per month for platinum subscribers or $15 per month for everybody else. For a fresh install it’s a $299 fee for your first month of HD+, including the Platinum package.
Package-wise, you’re looking at $9.95 per month for the HD sports channels (includes Fox Sports HD, ESPN HD and access to HD movies On Demand), which interestingly requires you to have the My Sport Package to be eligible. For the complete HD lineup, it’s $14.95 per month, but it appears to also require subscription to either the My Escape, My Playtime or My World SD packages.
The other alternative is to opt for the HD Platinum package, which gives you everything – all Foxtel channels, the full range of HD channels and the iQ2 Box, plus two On Demand Movies – for $130.90 per month.
Hit the jump for a shot of the (rumoured) pricing details: More »
Foxtel HD Pricing Unveiled: $10 Per Month For iQ2 and $15/Month For All Four HD Channels
1:08PM Nick Broughall | UPDATE 2: We just had a phone call from a Foxtel spokesperson who said that the pricing below has been sent out to people who registered their details on the Foxtel HD site. When asked if the pricing would be the same for regular peeps, we were told “You could presume so”.
We also asked about when the service would be available, both to people who registered and the rest of us. They wouldn’t give us a firm date for either other than “before the end of the financial year” although they did say that the registered people would get priority. Commenter “Jones” has told us that he’s got his installation booked for June 2, so it looks like that’s the earliest it’s going to happen.
UPDATE: Although we still haven’t heard from Foxtel, this is looking legit – the info came from the Foxtel newsletter, and according to members on the DTV forums, you can sign up to have the iQ2 installed from the first week of June.
We’ve been hanging out for some pricing info on Foxtel’s HD service since January, and eagle-eyed reader David just received some fairly detailed HD pricing on the Foxtel HD website. Sadly, when I went to check on the site myself, the HD pages wouldn’t load, and Foxtel themselves haven’t confirmed or denied the pricing yet. So at the moment, take these figures as rumour, although hopefully we’ll get some confirmation soon.
From the looks of things, it will set you back $200 to upgrade to the iQ2 box, then $10 per month to keep it, which isn’t too bad considering the original iQ is $10 per month for platinum subscribers or $15 per month for everybody else. For a fresh install it’s a $299 fee for your first month of HD+, including the Platinum package.
Package-wise, you’re looking at $9.95 per month for the HD sports channels (includes Fox Sports HD, ESPN HD and access to HD movies On Demand), which interestingly requires you to have the My Sport Package to be eligible. For the complete HD lineup, it’s $14.95 per month, but it appears to also require subscription to either the My Escape, My Playtime or My World SD packages.
The other alternative is to opt for the HD Platinum package, which gives you everything – all Foxtel channels, the full range of HD channels and the iQ2 Box, plus two On Demand Movies – for $130.90 per month.
Hit the jump for a shot of the (rumoured) pricing details: More »
Entertainment
10:18AM Nick Broughall | 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]
More »
Foxtel Wants An iQ For Every Subscriber
10:18AM Nick Broughall | 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]
More »
Entertainment
11:46AM Nick Broughall | After yesterday’s unveiling of Foxtel’s HD+ service, I thought it would be a good idea to take a closer look at the channel menu. Some of you were disappointed by the selection of only four dedicated HD channels. In reality there’s a little bit more on offer than just four channels, and a plan to roll out even more channels next year. Hit the jump for a closer analysis of the HD offerings.
More »
Foxtel’s HD Channels Dissected, Guts Thrown Around Room
11:46AM Nick Broughall | After yesterday’s unveiling of Foxtel’s HD+ service, I thought it would be a good idea to take a closer look at the channel menu. Some of you were disappointed by the selection of only four dedicated HD channels. In reality there’s a little bit more on offer than just four channels, and a plan to roll out even more channels next year. Hit the jump for a closer analysis of the HD offerings.
More »
Entertainment
2:03PM Nick Broughall | Today is a happy day for Hi-Def lovin’, flat-panel TV-totin’, gadget-obsessed Australians everywhere. And yes, that does mean you. The reason it’s such a happy day is that Foxtel has officially unveiled its new HD service, including the new Hi-Def box, at a media conference in Sydney. At which I was lucky enough to attend.
So strap yourself in, get yourself comfortable and hit the jump for all the info you can possibly imagine.
More »
Foxtel Uncover Foxtel HD+ — Because Sometimes HD Just Isn’t Enough
2:03PM Nick Broughall | Today is a happy day for Hi-Def lovin’, flat-panel TV-totin’, gadget-obsessed Australians everywhere. And yes, that does mean you. The reason it’s such a happy day is that Foxtel has officially unveiled its new HD service, including the new Hi-Def box, at a media conference in Sydney. At which I was lucky enough to attend.
So strap yourself in, get yourself comfortable and hit the jump for all the info you can possibly imagine.
More » 