There’s also a full rundown of the current widescreen channels over at TV Tonight, if you want to know which ones have got your widescreen back…

[TV Tonight]

One of the truly unforgivable aspects of the Foxtel Download launch recently was that it didn’t support 64-bit Windows systems. Fortunately there are people smarter than me who have worked out a way to get around this limitation.

If you head on over to the 0xF051 blog, they’ve got a pretty simple to follow guide to enable the downloads on a 64-bit system. Of course, you still need to have a valid Foxtel subscription to make it work, but that’s to be expected.

As always – user beware if you’re going to try this. But if you’re game to give it a go, let us know how it works in the comments section.

[0xF051 via Lifehacker]

Apparently the iPhone version will include enhanced video streaming to take advantage of the bigger screen. It’ll set you back $4 for a day pack or $18 for a monthly subscription — which is particularly expensive considering Foxtel’s new download service is free for subscribers. But at least it’s no longer a disadvantage to own an iPhone on NextG…

[Lifehacker – Thanks Jeb!]

At a bare minimum, you’re looking at an increase of $2, because the starter package has gone up to $42 (from $40). Platinum subscriptions have added $4 from $106 to $110, while Platinum HD have gone from $131 to $135. The HD add-ons ($10 for HD Sport, $10 for HD Explore and $15 for both) have been consolidated into one package called HD, which is $16.

Aside from that though, all that’s really happened is all the packages have been renamed.

The HD package though, is slightly different for your $16, you get the HD channels that correlate with the other packages you subscribe to. So if you’re on basic, you’ll just get Discovery HD, Fox8 HD and National Geographic HD. If you also subscribe to the Sports channels, you’ll get the HD sports channels as well. Although it would reach a point fairly quickly when you’d just be better off with the Platinum HD package, I’m sure.

Finally, Foxtel have added some new iQ and iQ2 packages. Starting at $72 with an iQ (not iQ2) and ranging up to the $135 HD Platinum pack with an iQ2, each package offers a selection of channel packages and a DVR.

You can check out all the new package details here.

1. It’s free for subscribers. If you are a Foxtel customer, you qualify.
Suckage factor? 1-star suckage. It’s a value-add. And an OK one at that. Perhaps in the future, Foxtel will branch out as a VOD service, independent of pay subscriptions. That would be better.

2. You must use the Foxtel player. After registering, you download the player to, err… manage your downloads.
Suckage factor? 3-star suckage. On the one hand, we can understand that the player would lock in your usage of the download and that Foxtel has an obligation to protect copyright and respect licensing arrangements and so on. On the other hand, what if the player sucks? What if you would just prefer that it dovetailed with your preferred media manager? Tough.

3. Mac-using Foxtel subscriber? You’re out of luck. The player is Windows only.
Suckage factor? 5-star suckage. No explanation required.

4. Downloaded content will expire. Foxtel states that: “…content does expire, depending on the licensing agreement for each individual program”.
Suckage factor? 3-star suckage. Confusion may reign. Program “A” expires in 7 days. Program “B” expires in 14 days. I have to track this? That said, you can watch a program or movie as many times as you like within 7 days of the initial viewing. Because you want to watch sitcom re-runs 100 times in 7 days.

5. Foxtel Box Office. The only applicable charge is for Foxtel Box Office pay-per-view movies, which cost $5.50.
Suckage factor? 2-star suckage. FBO’s pay-per-view is a well-established service. I just have a problem with Foxtel saying that Foxtel Download is a free service, then slugging you for FBO. Bait and switch, anyone? Well, perhaps not… after all, they are being up front about it.

6. Huge selection of programming. 38 channels, more than 400 hours of TV programming and movies to choose from.
Suckage factor? 0-suckage. Lots of content. More than you could download. What’s to complain about? Add three stars if the content sucks.

7. 24-hour support. Available via the Foxtel Download site. Instant messaging Live Chat service from noon to midnight. From midnight to noon, help via email.
Suckage factor. Nil. Fair enough.

8. Five new Download-only channels. Showtime Family, Showtime Drama, Movie Action, Movie Drama, and Movie Comedy.
Suckage factor? Nil. They’re bringing something extra to the table for downloaders. Can’t complain about that. Add 1 star if these “new channels” are just re-badged existing channels.

9. “Amazing Quality”. The Foxtel Download Player plays back sound and picture quality equivalent to Foxtel broadcast quality.
Suckage factor. 1-star suckage. But only because there are no details on bit-rate and resolution. So we’ll see about that.

10. Download at your own expense. You will use your own bandwidth to download. On your own broadband account.
Suckage factor? 4-star suckage. Suddenly, free is not free. If you aim to download even a portion of the aforementioned 400+ hours of content, you’re going to use a large part of whatever monthly download limit you may have in place with your ISP. Here’s where the most room for improvement lies, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see ISPs, especially Telstra, come on board with an unmetered service. Our good friends at Lifehacker have an interesting take on this, which you can check out here.

Tomorrow, Foxtel Download will go live. I don’t have Foxtel. And I use a Mac. So I’m down on two counts. PC-using subscribers should let us know how it unfolds for them.

“Download” was the word that kept rising above the bulleted list of new features, with Foxtel Download packaged free for Foxtel subscribers. Find out more about it here. Foxtel CEO Kim Williams said there would be 400 hours of content available to download at launch and that this would increase in the coming months.

Pricing for Foxtel Next Generation subscriptions ranges from $72 to $135, with plenty of new options to consider.

These are:

30 new channel choices including themed movie channels; new sports and doco channels; 12 new channel brands; 15 High Definition Channels including four dedicated HD sports channels and six HD movie channels; eight new timeshift channels; 10 new HD channels; a new movie service with 16 dedicated movie channels; new iQ value packs including one with an iQ for free; Foxtel Download; a new Foxtel guide for iQ and updated guide for iQ2; new search features with iSuggest for iQ and iQ2 subscribers; Record Me; a new Foxtel Box Office, Movies on Demand, with up to 40 recent release movies; and new localised services for Sky News and an improved Weather Active.

Usability features that stood out were Record Me, which makes it a cinch to program a recording by responding to an icon screened during a promo, and iSuggest, which brings movie posters in an iTunes-like interface as a way of making easier choices of content, which are categorised as: Must See, Sports, Knowledge & Adventure, Drama & Lifestyle, Kids & Music, and HD.

From October 1, all Foxtel iQ2 set-top units will start receiving a software upgrade delivering new features to the onscreen Foxtel iQ Guide. From November 1, the same software upgrade will be delivered progressively to all Foxtel iQ set-top-units.

Foxtel went to some lengths to launch Next Generation, staging a high-def multimedia-palooza in Stage 2 at Fox Studios in Sydney’s Moore Park and introducing its stable of young stars that will form the “faces” of Foxtel across its new channel brands.

But after it was all over, it was Williams’ words about Foxtel Download that were the easiest to carry away: “Now, Foxtel is not only about when and what you watch, but where you watch it”.

Amen to that. Bring it on.

Foxtel Next Generation

Apparently the government and Telstra have been talking about this for awhile, so it shouldn’t have come as a big surprise to the company. Of course, that doesn’t mean they won’t fight it. Considering how much friction there has been between the company and the government over the past few years, you’d expect a confrontation.

Here are some of the restrictions Conroy announced this morning:

If Telstra don’t play along and do thins voluntarily, the Government will change the Telecommunications Act 1997 so that:

* Telstra conduct its network operations and wholesale functions at arm’s length from the rest of Telstra;
* Telstra provides equivalent price and non-price terms to its retail business and non-Telstra wholesale customers; and
* this equivalence of treatment is made transparent to the regulator and competitors via strong internal governance structures.

Furthermore, the Government will prohibit the company from gaining any additional spectrum for advanced wireless broadband while:

* remains vertically integrated; and
* owns a hybrid fibre coaxial cable network; and
* maintains its interest in Foxtel.

Discussions will need to be completed by December at the latest, with the Bill set to be voted on in October or November. Which gives us a couple of months of entertainment at least. Let’s just hope the consumer – who Conroy claims will benefit most from this – actually does see the benefit.

[DBCDE]

Set to launch in mid November this year, MyStar HD will offer about 15 HD channels to subscribers, with content mirroring Foxtel’s own expanded HD offering. With the launch, more SD channels will also be available – again, much like Foxtel.

The box itself will go by the model number T600 (Judgement Day must be getting closer), and is likely to include a 320GB HDD like the iQ2. Inside the box, the number of tuners will remain the same, but be upgraded to HD.

There’s no word on pricing at this stage, but all things considered, it seems like a pretty top-notch piece of kit. Obviously we’ll keep you updated when any of this gets confirmed…