ntl Launch New DTV Keyboard

We have received word from ntl that they have released a brand new wireless DTV keyboard. These are now available for customers to buy from ntl Customer Services. The new Keyboards are available to customers priced at £30.00 (inclusive of VAT, postage and packaging).

Having a keyboard makes it quicker and easier to use Interactive, especially for services which require a large amount of text entry such as †œTV Mailââ‚ ¬Ã‚ÂÂÂ�, †œTelemessengerÃà ƒâ€šÃ‚¢ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚¬Ã ¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â�, and the †œInternet on TVââ‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ÂÂ� service.

As shown above †“ The new keyboards are especially designed to be used with ntlââ‚Âà ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢s digital TV service. They are small and easy to use. Customers need to call customers services (0800 052 2000) to order one and there will be a one off £30 charge on the customers next bill.

The old-style keyboards will be unavailable as from today.

[Tristan]

Those are nice -- and pretty tiny! Can we assume they come in blue and black varieties, and are TV programmable?

[quadplay]

I've used one of these, and they are MUCH better than the original keyboards. They do indeed come in both blue and black (blue for Langley areas and those with Samsungs, black for those with Pace boxes in Bromley regions), but I can't remember off the top of my head whether they can be programmed to control the TV - will confirm in work tomorrow if nobody else has first!

[mrlipring]

Surely it would be better to work on the stability and responsiveness of the interactive features before inviting people to pay £30 for a keyboard, however nifty it might look?

[quadplay]

They're being worked on concurrently!

[jtwn]

Looks like a proper good job done, but for £30? FO. Probably costs nothing to make and little spent in R&D costs. This isn't the way to move people to use interactive more (or attempt to).

[paul11974]

[captain747480]

Originally Posted by mrlipring

Surely it would be better to work on the stability and responsiveness of the interactive features before inviting people to pay £30 for a keyboard, however nifty it might look?

Or perhaps actually launching it in certain areas!

[Ignition]

Originally Posted by jimbo

They're being worked on concurrently!

Ah 'coming soon' then Jimbo

[Stephen]

It certainly looks a lot better than the old ones. I have one and very rarely use it.

[jonifen]

Now then... I'm a little disillusioned by all this... for a few reasons
1. We bought a keyboard for the pace box a good few years ago. We used it for the tv email, and mainly as a spare remote as the kids thought it humourous to carry the normal remote around the house (of course without realising it) or basically lose it down the side of the chair or under the couch.

We got a SACM when we got the broadband upgraded to 1.5Mb. NTL insisted on us having a 2nd bill and paying for it by DD. We use a payment card, but pay the total amount at the beginning of each month so we can keep a proper eye on monies etc. NTL wouldnt allow us to do this. So... they offered a Samsung box which we accepted - very nice box, looks good with the silver TV. New remote (great, the old one was looking a bit chewed (kids again... pfff)) but the keyboard doesnt work (I didnt think it would to be honest, but still).

Now they bring out a new one and want £30 for it. Meanwhile we have a perfectly good condition keyboard for the pace box which we cant use that we paid for when we had the pace box.

Are we going to be given a reduction and have the opportunity to trade in the old one? (highly unlikely I'm sure). The only reason we took the samsung box was because NTL couldnt put the SACM onto the same account as our TV (they said our TV package was on the old system and the SACM was on the new system or something along those lines) and we wanted the 1.5Mb which we couldnt do on the Pace box.

This has been a gripe of mine since we got the samsung box, but we didnt really have much of a choice but to accept it if we wanted the 1.5Mb broadband package but to keep it all on the same bill.

Anything we can do about this?

[Roy MM]

Phone CS tell them you need a replacement kb, i did and was asked to send old one back in the packaging provided, just write on reason for return, "incompatable with new Samsung STB" no charge.

[jonifen]

Originally Posted by Roy MM

Phone CS tell them you need a replacement kb, i did and was asked to send old one back in the packaging provided, just write on reason for return, "incompatable with new Samsung STB" no charge.

I will give that a go later... Thanks for the information Roy.

[mattfrn]

i have one myself , very good wee peice of kit , had it for a while now and no probs , it can be tuned to work with the tv as well btw