Does encoding the stream mean that there is a huge delay in the 'live' pictures? Will my friends watching on Sky+ HD know the team has scored before I do?
Sky's Adrian Pilkington: "There is a 15-20 second delay. We'll never eliminate latency altogether but we are work on reducing it. As the codec improves then the picture will get better and better… but we are both on that curve. It's an evolution."
What channels/content will be on the service?
"There are currently 24 streaming live channels but you should expect that to grow," says Sky Director of On Demand Griff Parry.
The basic entertainment pack brings: G.O.L.D., Sky Real Lives, Sky Arts 1, MTV ONE, Sky Sports News, British Eurosport ESPN Classic, Sky News, National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild, History, Eden, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Nickelodeon, Disney Channel and Nick Jr.
The sports channels include Sky Sports 1, Sky Sports 2, Sky Sports 3, Sky Sports Xtra, and the movie channels are Sky Movies Screen 1 and Sky Movies Screen 2.
The Movie VOD includes every major studio apart from Sony ("You can imagine why that is," comments Griff Parry). Although Sky is confident of adding Sony Pictures to their roster for Xbox as well.
Will all of Sky's channels eventually be on Sky Player on Xbox?
"I don't expect so," says Parry. "There are about 600 channels, but of those we only retail 120 or 130 or so and even within that group many are plus one or catch-up channels which you don't need with on demand.
"The channel range will grow and we will take a view on how much we want it to grow."
I don't want an Xbox – will the service be arriving on the Sky+ HD boxes soon?
Sky's Stephen Nuttall: "We firmly believe in the power of HD. If you want to do HD movies and sports, which are very high bandwidth channels, then satellite will be the best delivery system for a long time. The plan with the DTH platform is to have this hybrid of broadcast and broadband delivery and local storage in the box. We think the combination of those three things will be very strong in the future."
Yes – Sky's networked home is moving ever closer.
When can we expect streaming HD pictures?
"We're always committed to increasing picture quality," explains Griff Parry. "But we are currently focused on providing a good SD service. We will do HD at some point, but not until we can provide a proper HD service to most of the people, most of the time."
Your comments (5) Click to add a new comment
madheroesfan
November 1st
5. Haha this is pathetic. Us PS3 owners have iView and many other online VOD channels, as well as PlayTV which gives us full control of FreeView with twin HD tuners.
Everything you soppy xbox owners get you have to pay even more (on top of live) for. so much for a being a cheap console.
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amit290
October 28th
4. @mbb - it says in the article that a Gold Live membership is required.
I dont know if this is a useful service or not, but its good to have a choice of how to watch.
I would rather stick on my TV + Sky box to watch Sky. Better quality, its fast, and it works; going from my jumpy experience of trying to watch a 'Super Sunday' game on Sky Player web site.
I dont think watching a lowish quality stream in a virtual room with 'online friends' will quite beat inviting your mates over with a few beers and watching a football game on TV with a Sky box (or HD box).
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mbb
May 29th
3. iPlayer does work on PS3, but it's not great, Hulu isn't currently available in the UK and the PSPs GoView system was never extended to PS3.
While it is true that the services you listed are free to access, they are not free. All require a TV License. I've seen no announcement that an Gold Live membership is required either.
And you saying that 'dumb' XBox owners paying £100 per month (not quite: £3 for XBL + £45.00 for Sky & Movies & Sports & 16Mb Broadband = £48.00 per month) won't have as much functionality as a Freeview PVR isn't exactly smart, as Freeview doesn't give you the internet, an online gaming service or Sky. Good comparison all round...
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mgillespie
May 29th
2. "sony are missing a trick here."
No, Sony got their deal signed and sorted well over a year ago. Microsoft are very late to the party...
http://stuff.tv/News/sony-psp-gets-sky/6689/
The deal was originally PSP, but it was extended to PS3 too. Also the PS3 has a browser with Flash9 anyway, so iPlayer, Hulu, CatchupTV and Sky Player are all already perfectly usable. All but the Sky offering are totally free, and the Sky offering only needing a Sky Sub. (The Xbox offering needs XboxLive Gold, Sky Subs). Still i'm sure that dumb Xbox owners will lap this up in droves till they realise they are now spending 100quid/month on the combined Sky/MS Live/Broadband services, and still have no more functionality than a freeview PVR.
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kipkitto
May 29th
1. What does this deal between Sky and Microsoft mean for the future of Windows Media Center? Is there any hint of a media center add-in for Sky Player (like Netflix in the US)?
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