Sky + Recording by text & online. [Archive]

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Neil

07-07-2006, 20:52

Geek TV Sky subscribers can now text instructions to their Sky+ boxes from anywhere in the world, thanks to a new service that makes your remote look as slick as the penny farthing.

The service, which launched yesterday, is available to all Sky+ customers. Once users have registered their mobile phone numbers on the My Sky section of the Sky Active menu, they can instruct the box to record a show by texting its name, channel, date and time to a special number.

How cool is that? :disturbd:

In a month or so, users will be able to access their Sky+ menus online and on 3G handsets.

OMFG! :Yikes:

Now that is completely awesome is it not?

Well done Sky. :tu:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/07/07/geek_tv_sky_launches_video_by_text/

Bob

07-07-2006, 22:29

That is really cool - the number of times that could have come in useful (if I had Sky lol :D)

James Henry

08-07-2006, 10:05

Very, very nice indeed :)

I was going to make a comment about how I'm sure ntl would be coming out with a competing service at some point as part of this whole 'convergence' thing their COO keeps twittering on about then I remembered they are still yet to make a PVR available to over 60% of their entire customer base (ntl:Telewest).

ben1390

10-07-2006, 16:02

Hugh

10-07-2006, 16:03

Why is it that Sky have advanced to having this text service, HD, PVR's etc. when they control less of the market and have less money than ntl. Whereas ntl which has more money and contols more of the DTV market not have these services yet?????

erm, Sky are part of News International (Times, Fox, etc, etc) - probably got a bit more money than NTL.

Stuart

10-07-2006, 16:05

Why is it that Sky have advanced to having this text service, HD, PVR's etc. when they control less of the market and have less money than ntl. Whereas ntl which has more money and contols more of the DTV market not have these services yet?????

Actually, it's the other way around. Sky have access to far more money than NTL, and also have more subscribers nationwide.

Remember, Sky have one of the largest corporations on the planet (News Corp) backing them, and NTL have one of the largest debts in UK Commercial History.

They also have the advantage that they don't have nearly as much hardware to upgrade, and have three types of platform to support (Sky, Sky+ and Sky HD) as opposed to the multiple types of STB NTL support.

I am not saying NTL are perfect. Far from it. They have had years to get a PVR working, and had at least one year to have a HD STB in testing. This service should be a fairly simple upgrade after those two..

BTW, Sky *aren't* the first to offer this. TivoWeb has been offering this functionality on Tivo for years, and, IIRC, Series 2 Tivos (sadly only in the US) also offer the ability to stream your recordings to the Internet (DRM protected, of course). Tivo Series 2 also offers remote setting via the web.

ben1390

10-07-2006, 16:10

erm, Sky are part of News International (Times, Fox, etc, etc) - probably got a bit more money than NTL.
:Yikes: I never knew that they were part of those companies. Well you learn something new everyday :D

---------- Post added at 16:10 ---------- Previous post was at 16:06 ----------

NTL have one of the largest debts in UK Commercial History.
That doesn't suprise me :)

orangebird

10-07-2006, 16:50

When did it become OK to base so much of your life around television? NO bloody wonder there's so much child obesity these days... :rolleyes:

James Henry

11-07-2006, 07:16

It isn't OB, that's why this is cool, you can be out of the house doing stuff and can request that your box records something whie you're doing it.

With ntl it's VHS or stay at home :(

zing_deleted

11-07-2006, 07:33

It isn't OB, that's why this is cool, you can be out of the house doing stuff and can request that your box records something whie you're doing it.

With ntl it's VHS or stay at home :(

or dvd recorder or hard drive based secondary pvr unit not just vhs ;)

orangebird

11-07-2006, 09:04

or dvd recorder or hard drive based secondary pvr unit not just vhs ;)
So you're out all day, then come home and sit on your **** for 4 hours watching stuff you've recorded. Brilliant :tu: :rolleyes:

A cure for cancer would be awesome, world peace would be awesome. Sending a text to record a program is not awesome. Perspective people, let's have some eh?

Stuart

11-07-2006, 10:34

A cure for cancer would be awesome, world peace would be awesome. Sending a text to record a program is not awesome. Perspective people, let's have some eh?

Awsome? Not really. Handy? Perhaps. There have been a few times when I have been out, and suddenly realised I forgot to set the Tivo to record a programme. Having said that, any programme I watch regularly has a Season Pass (Tivo's superior version of a Series Link), so the Tivo records it anyway. Innovative? Not really. It would be if Tivo hadn't got there first.

---------- Post added at 10:34 ---------- Previous post was at 10:34 ----------

As for using the menus via the web or a 3G handset, well, as far as I can see, that is totally pointless, unless it allows you to play back recordings via the 3G handset, and I cannot see this happening as the Sky + box does not have (AFAIK) the processing power required to re-encode the video, or the bandwidth required to send it to your handset.

Also, why does it require 3G? Surely simple things like managing recordings,series links and PPV events could be done by a standard WAP or GPRS connection?

Having said that, I can honestly say that on my Tivo/NTL setup, I have never needed to manage any of that while I have been away from the NTL Box and Tivo.

James Henry

11-07-2006, 12:00

or dvd recorder or hard drive based secondary pvr unit not just vhs ;)
Most people (99%+) still don't have one of those dude ;) Everybody has a VCR.

Odd that the demand for a PVR is there and strong but ntl continue to drag their feet, oh well.

OB - Calm down, I'm sure your response would be somewhat warmer had this been ntl doing it. Sadly they are too busy prattling about quadruple play and how scared Sky and BT should be while delivering nothing.

orangebird

11-07-2006, 12:43

Most people (99%+) still don't have one of those dude ;) Everybody has a VCR.

Odd that the demand for a PVR is there and strong but ntl continue to drag their feet, oh well.

OB - Calm down, I'm sure your response would be somewhat warmer had this been ntl doing it. Sadly they are too busy prattling about quadruple play and how scared Sky and BT should be while delivering nothing.

Wrong again JH. I for one have a life - I couldn't give a flying toss about the ability to record stuff when I'm out of the house, regardless of who made this 'awesome' crap up. :shrug:

zing_deleted

11-07-2006, 12:47

orangebird

11-07-2006, 12:49

you seem to spend a long time sat on here ;)
Whilst I'm at work I'm on here - evenings and weekends, never. Again, I have a life, that reaches to the great outdoors. :) :shrug:

zing_deleted

11-07-2006, 12:50

Yeah and fair play I have got a life too but I work from home.However im a gadget freak and think this is quite nifty if nothing else :)

altis

11-07-2006, 13:03

You can do summat similar on Freeview with a Slingbox:
http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/showthread.php?t=48000

Integration of TV, internet and phone is proceeding fast. Pity the poor manufacturer trying to work out which way the market is headed. My bet is that it wont be long before everything is done over IP.

punky

11-07-2006, 13:34

Integration of TV, internet and phone is proceeding fast. Pity the poor manufacturer trying to work out which way the market is headed. My bet is that it wont be long before everything is done over IP.

Indeed. One of the ideas/advantages about IPv6 was that every device in your home can have an IP address and can be controlled by remote over the web.