NOW TV to launch most advanced box yet

[dr_necessitor]

NOW TV to launch most advanced box yet

"Online TV streaming service, NOW TV, is to launch its most advanced TV box later this year. The brand new NOW TV Smart Box will bring together NOW TV’s wide range of pay TV content and over 60 live free-to-air channels.

Additionally customers with a NOW TV Box will see new a brand new interface (UI) roll out to their TVs from February. The new-look UI will include a number of great new features including a content-rich homepage offering editorial recommendations of what to watch across catch up TV apps and pay TV content from NOW TV. A new ‘Best of Catch Up’ section, curated by content partners, will also arrive showcasing all the best shows our customers may have missed in one place.

Gidon Katz, Director of NOW TV said: “The launch of our new homepage on the NOW TV Box will make it easier than ever for our customers to quickly find and watch their favourite shows. And when the new NOW TV Smart Box arrives later this year, it will be the perfect one-stop box to get a contract-free, flexible way of watching the best of pay TV and free-to-air content all in one place.”

NOW TV worked with Silicon Valley based Roku Inc. to develop the new NOW TV Smart Box which will sit alongside the existing NOW TV Box, with pricing details and further information to be made available later in the year."

[Anonymous User]

Will the live Entertainment and Cinema Pass channels be 720p or still only SD?

[Anonymous User]

@Anonymous User Still SD 😞

[Anonymous User]

@Anonymous User I'll have to stick with my AppleTV (and its rubbish app) for now then 😞

[schnapps]

@Anonymous User

I have both the ATV 3 and the NowTV black box and over live TV entertainment and movies the ATV did have the advantage offering 720p which was clearly obvious when comparing both devices.

However, over the last couple of months the live channels on my NowTV black box have noticeable improved and to be honest i now can't see any PQ difference between both boxes.

With the out-dated prehistoric app on the ATV with a rubbish tv now & next gude and no My TV feature, i now use the NowTV black box which is a much better experience watching the NowTV service and the PQ is fine over both live channels and on demand stuff.

Perhaps NowTV have improved their compression encoding on their SD live streams ?

Hopefully somebody here in the know or a NowTV member can clarify ?

[mark_suff]

Officially the live channels are listed as SD but if you watch them they are clearly much better quality and HD. 

[Anonymous User]

Do we know if the freeview channels will be HD as well as SD?

Also can you pause the freeview channels?  (are the freeview channels streamed or through an aerial like your TV?)

Thanks for any help 🙂

[dr_necessitor]

@Anonymous User 

---

@Anonymous User wrote:

Do we know if the freeview channels will be HD as well as SD?  Yes the HD channels on Freeview will be available, as well as the SD channels. "Watch over 60 free-to-air channels, 15 HD channels plus a wide range of pay TV with your chosen NOW TV Month Passes"

Also can you pause the freeview channels?  Yes "Pause and rewind live TV (Up to 30mins depending on channel and location)"  (are the freeview channels streamed or through an aerial like your TV?)  Aerial "simply connect the box to a digital TV aerial and broadband to start watching both free to air and Pay TV all in one place"

Thanks for any help 🙂

---

source of quotes: https://corporate.sky.com/media-centre/news-page/2016/now_tv_launches_uk_first_contract_free_tv_broadband_and_calls_package_bundle

[Anonymous User]

Only a 30 minute buffer on  pause/rewind.  That's a shame, still will save me listening to Jamie redknapp at half time.

[Anonymous User]

Might be a silly question but can you have the combo with no valid passes?

[lenturn]

I doubt it, as then it wouldn't be a combo!   

From what I've seen online the combo is taking one of the passes each month (Ent, Movies, Sport, Kids) and then adding broadband to it.  So, for example, you take the Entertainment pack for £6.99 and basic broadband for £8.00, but they only charge £9.99 for the two. Of course you then have to add the £17.99 line rental on top as well, but it could work out as a good deal.

Dowsides to the new box as I see them are only a Now & Next EPG for the live channels (yes it's always been that way on Now TV, but I thought the Freeview channels might at least have a 8 day EPG), no channel numbers on Freeview, so you can't quickly key them in on the remote; you have to go into the EPG and select a Freeview channel from there, and despite a buffer for live tv, there's no way of attaching a usb hard drive and turning it into a nifty recording box.

Can anyone tell me if it's 50Hz capable, or are we stuck watching Freeview at 60Hz?