A new Sky box (which will probably cost the customer a lot) has been announced which lets you watch and stream content on your TV or to several portable devices. As an example, you could watch I’m a celeb in the living room, pick up your tablet and then go to the kitchen and it’ll continue directly from the moment you left your sofa.
Sky Q will launch in early 2016 and will also “supercharge” your broadband connection by pumping out another WiFi hotspot into your home. Great for extended out your existing WiFi connection. This, it seems, will be done by the main Sky Q box pushing out an internet signal via your home power sockets. This will then see the smaller Sky Q Mini boxes, stationed by your other TV’s, picking up the signal and then operating as WiFi repeaters, giving you a strong wireless signal all around your home.
No prices were announced during the launch event, but you can bet that this flashy new box won’t be given out for nothing.
Sky have long been at the forefront of hi-tech TV, with the ability to record, stream and watch shows on mobile handsets fit some years now. However, the new system turns your mobile device into a full mobile TV screen, with shows following you around from the previous screen seamlessly.
The big drawback with Sky has always been the limited amount of simultaneous recordings available. Two feeds from your dish means two recordings at once, or one recording and one live channel. Now, in the new Sky Q box, there’s a total of 12 tuners. Whilst all won’t be used at launch, it will mean that four simultaneous recordings can happen while you watching a fifth channel. Once you add this to the streamed shows to other TV sets in the home (via new Sky Q Mini boxes) and to your tablet or smartphone, you should have more than enough choice.
The user interface is sleek and easy to use, the new Sky Q box itself is slender and smaller than the existing kit, plus your remote now connects via Bluetooth. This means you don’t need direct line of sight and you can put it inside a posh media cabinet.
Find out more in the Sky Q press release or head to the rather bizarre Sky Q website where you can learn more.
Sky today unveils Sky Q, the next-generation home entertainment system, opening up a whole new way of watching TV.
Sky Q makes it easier than ever to access all your favourite TV and brings an even wider range of entertainment to the big screen. A family of advanced Sky Q products connects wirelessly to create a new ecosystem that makes TV viewing seamless:
Watch shows from your box, whether live, recorded or on demand, anywhere around the home on another TV or tablet
Pause viewing on one TV screen and pick up where you left off in another room
For the first time, take your favourite shows with you by saving recordings onto your tablet to watch anywhere
Watch different programmes on up to five screens simultaneously while also recording four other channels
Supercharge your Sky Broadband by turning all your Sky Q boxes into Wi-Fi hotspots
Scroll and swipe the new touchpad remote to choose what to watch on an all-new TV guide
Use the powerful search capability of Sky Q to find everything related to a show
Access an even wider range of entertainment on the big screen including YouTube, Vevo and the best of the web
Browse your Facebook photos and stream music wirelessly using Bluetooth or Apple’s AirPlay
After launch in early 2016, Sky Q will keep getting better with a stream of new features and innovations, including more of the best apps and web video. In addition, Sky Q will be Ultra HD ready in advance of the launch of the UK’s most comprehensive Ultra High Definition service later in 2016. The new service will offer customers a range of sports, movies, and entertainment content in stunning picture quality with up to four times the detail of HD.
Jeremy Darroch, Sky’s Chief Executive, commented: “Sky Q is a brilliant new way for customers to experience TV on their terms. We wanted to re-imagine TV so that it’s flexible and seamless across different screens and to put a huge choice of entertainment at their fingertips. We think customers are going to love Sky Q and the great news is that it will get even better with much more to come in the future.”
A ‘Fluid Viewing’ experience
Sky Q creates a seamless, effortless TV viewing experience, which Sky calls ‘Fluid Viewing’. With Sky Q, it is easier than ever to watch your favourite TV, whether live channels, recordings or on demand, in any room, with the new wireless Sky Q mini box or with the Sky Q app on your tablet.
Key benefits of ‘Fluid Viewing’ include the flexibility to pause what you’re viewing on your TV screen and pick up in another room on a TV or tablet. And for the first time we’re bringing the number one requested feature from customers, so you can take your recordings with you wherever you are. You can watch different programmes simultaneously on up to five screens around the home while recording four other channels – a first in the UK and Ireland.
Supercharge your Wi-Fi
The new Sky Q hub supercharges your Sky Broadband by turning all your Sky Q boxes into Wi-Fi hotspots for a stronger signal and better coverage throughout the home. And, in addition to a state-of-the-art, in-home wireless network, your Sky Q boxes can connect over your home’s electric wiring to give you the best connection available.
Reinventing how you find and watch the TV you love
With a completely new TV guide and home page, Sky Q reinvents how you find and watch the TV you love. A new touchpad remote lets you effortlessly scroll and swipe to choose what to watch, with the help of cover art so you can instantly recognise your favourite shows.
The new guide provides a great combination of recommendations – a curated Top Picks selection on the home page, alongside personalised options found in the new My Q section which are based on what you have watched at different times of day. My Q lets you pause what you’re watching in one room and carry on in another on a TV or tablet. It also lets you easily find and watch the next episode of a series.
In addition, Sky Q’s powerful new search capability brings together live, recorded and on demand content in one place. It shows you everything related to a show you have searched for – whether from live channels, recordings or on demand – and will suggest similar shows that you may like to try.
Bringing more to the big screen
On top of Sky’s unrivalled range of the best TV and movies from around the world, Sky Q opens up access to an even wider range of content. Customers will be able to browse their Facebook photos and stream music wirelessly over their TV sound system with Bluetooth or Apple’s AirPlay. And they can catch up with the latest news and sport through interactive sidebar apps which are seamlessly integrated into the viewing experience.
Sky Q will also allow you to watch your favourite videos from YouTube, watch on demand music videos from the new Vevo app and stream the best of the web to any TV connected to Sky Q or Sky Q Mini. Initial streaming partners announced today include Condé Nast Entertainment including GQ, Vanity Fair, Vogue and WIRED, GoPro, Jukin Media, Kin Community, Red Bull Media House and Whistle Sports with even more content creators to be added.
Even more to come
After launch, Sky Q will keep getting better for customers with the launch of Ultra High Definition later in 2016 and a pipeline of other innovative new features. To make searching for programmes even easier, Sky Q will add a powerful voice search capability. In addition, the ‘Fluid Viewing’ experience will come to even more screens with a new app for smartphones, with other devices to follow.
A new family of products
Sky Q’s ‘Fluid Viewing’ experience is powered by a new range of Sky’s most advanced products yet, all designed to work together in one seamless ecosystem. The new range of products includes:
Sky Q Silver and Sky Q – two new super-slim, powerful boxes for the main TV set, featuring up to 12 tuners and up to 2TB of storage
Sky Q Mini – a new plug and play box giving wireless access to Sky Q in other rooms in the home without running cables from the dish
Sky Q Hub – the all new Hub has built in Powerline networking technology, so it can use in-home electrical wiring as well as Wi-Fi to communicate with Sky Q boxes, automatically giving the best connection available. The Sky Q Hub also turns Sky Q boxes into Wi-Fi hotspots which means Sky Broadband customers get a stronger signal and better coverage throughout the home
Sky Q app – a brand new app for your tablets that lets you enjoy all of the Sky Q experience at home, and take recordings with you and watch live and on demand content on the go
Availability and pricing
Sky Q will be available in the UK and Ireland in early 2016, with pricing to be announced closer to launch. It will join Sky’s existing line-up of TV products including the UK’s most popular PVR, Sky+, and the online streaming service, NOW TV.
