Project Canvas: What is it all about?

When will it arrive?

The BBC Trust is dragging its feet – with the industry feedback ensuring that Canvas will not be rushed through before the repercussions are thoroughly investigated. But Huggers insisted that the decision was going to arrive "really soon".

Following that, the BBC originally put down early 2010 as its target.

Of course this depends on manufacturers, although feasibly – with the likes of Freesat boxes, and the forthcoming Freeview HD – this could potentially be as simple as a firmware upgrade to make them confirm to the standards and bring a new user interface, because they already sport Ethernet ports.

Should the industry, or even just some of the industry, decide to back the project then there will be a lag before we see Project Canvas (or whatever it eventually becomes) branded boxes, probably co-branded as Freesat ++ or Freeview ++, with Huggers confessing that he didn't see a clear future for current free-to-air platforms.

Patrick Goss

Patrick Goss is the ex-Editor in Chief of TechRadar. Patrick was a passionate and experienced journalist, and he has been lucky enough to work on some of the finest online properties on the planet, building audiences everywhere and establishing himself at the forefront of digital content.  After a long stint as the boss at TechRadar, Patrick has now moved on to a role with Apple, where he is the Managing Editor for the App Store in the UK.