Gizmodo Australia » mystar

Austar To Offer IP Video In New HD PVR

Nick Broughall — Fri, 30 May 2008 05:51:46 +0000

According to Australian IT, Austar’s next DVR box will not only feature an ethernet port, but it will let you use it for downloading IP video onto the unit. The box, which is due out later this year, will also feature a USB port and HD tuners.

Foxtel’s new iQ2 box also features an ethernet port, although they refuse to actually say anything about how it will be used when the box is released in June.

CEO of Austar, John Porter, was quoted as saying:

“We’re agnostic when it comes to content. Our vision is to be the
consumer interface for digital content, no matter which pipe it comes
through, be it digital terrestrial TV, satellite or the web. It’s about
our box morphing into being a media centre for the TV set.”

While we can’t say that Foxtel won’t follow the same approach, it is refreshing to hear somebody talking about making their box little more than a medium for content to collect, rather than trying to control every facet of a consumer’s viewing experience.

Of course, by not controlling the content flow, the Austar box could quickly become the new home for internet porn in your home. Whether that’s a bad thing is completely up to you.

[Australian IT]

MyStar Lets Austar Subscribers Join In On The PVR Fun

Nick Broughall — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 00:34:10 +0000

You may think that weve gone a little Foxtel crazy over the past few days, and you’d probably be right, but that doesn’t mean that we’ve forgotten the regional peeps who use Austar instead. Okay, we did forget, until we were kindly pointed in the direction of Austar’s MyStar service by reader David. Then we remembered all about you regional folk.

Available now to ~~all good~~ most Austar subscribers, MyStar is a 160GB PVR box like the original iQ. Except with one huge boon – it has a free-to-air tuner built in which lets you record, watch and even browse the EPG for channel 7. In fact it has two FTA tuners and two satellite tuners, letting you do the whole record two things while watching something else thing.

You get support for Dolby Digital surround sound, closed captioning and component connections on the back, although sadly no HDMI. But it is only an SD box, so quit your complaining.

It costs $49.95 to install (and it needs to be professionally installed), with an ongoing monthly subscription fee of $14.95. And in case you can’t tell from the above picture, its one chunky looking box. But true beauty is on the inside, right? Right?

[Austar MyStar - Thanks David!]