UPC Horizon Set Top Box trial

ciaran75

Eamo71 wrote: »

Just wondering. Will Horizon's ability to stream TV into different rooms mean an end to the multi room charges? Or will they make that cost up in the pricing for the box?

have been wondering that myself, can't see them giving boxes away for free. lets hope its a small initial charge per box rather than a monthly fee which i wouldn't pay.

smurf22

ciaran75 wrote: »

have been wondering that myself, can't see them giving boxes away for free. lets hope its a small initial charge per box rather than a monthly fee which i wouldn't pay.

I could actually see them throwing these boxes at people for nothing, if u think about it these boxes will have things like video on demand plus maybe a pay per view ordering system plus lots of other money making features on it so it would be in their intrest to give them for free.

Hugh Cream

whats the point if theres no improvement on the current hd content, if that is to improve to everything sky has i cant wait.
if not,the ability to stream and rent movies doesnt impress me at all.

Solair

I'm not sure about that Horizon box.

Designing a good GUI isn't easy, and from what I've seen that looks fancy and confusing.

That being said, current set top box GUIs are really awful. That goes for Sky as well as UPC, i don't find either system all that great.

Snowflake makes use of the much higher resolutions available on modern TVs and also the cheap availability of decent processors.

It's NDS' Snowflake UI : http://nds-snowflake.com/

There's a generic version of it :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPm6LHA186E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSJY85szFlw

Solair

Solair wrote: »

I'm not sure about that Horizon box.

Designing a good GUI isn't easy, and from what I've seen that looks fancy and confusing.

That being said, current set top box GUIs are really awful. That goes for Sky as well as UPC, i don't find either system all that great.

Snowflake makes use of the much higher resolutions available on modern TVs and also the cheap availability of decent processors.

It's NDS' Snowflake UI : http://nds-snowflake.com/

Well Cisco bought NDS last month, and UPC use Cisco STB's. So maybe :cool:

Solair

cisk wrote: »

Well Cisco bought NDS last month, and UPC use Cisco STB's. So maybe :cool:

UPC are listed as one of the Snowflake customers on their website.
It's not just a guess, Horizon is Snowflake.

http://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2010/05/12/liberty-home-gateway-brings-in-samsung-intel-and-nds/

ciaran75

it appears it may be delayed again

http://www.csimagazine.com/csi/Horizon-delayed-again.php

BostonB

Sounds to me it will be xmas or later before this box arrives here. So if you need a box now, you might as well get it now and upgrade later.

Eamo71

ciaran75 wrote: »

it appears it may be delayed again

http://www.csimagazine.com/csi/Horizon-delayed-again.php

Mike Fries said the rollout timeframe would depend on how quickly the cloud based side of things is developed. So I'm assuming there's still some work/tweaks to be done there. Still eagerly waiting for it all the same.

Eamo71

BostonB wrote: »

Sounds to me it will be xmas or later before this box arrives here. So if you need a box now, you might as well get it now and upgrade later.

Definitely. With on demand and catch up tv launching soon it makes ordering now a bit sweeter. Then upgrade to the horizon box when it finally sees the light of day.

BostonB

Assuming UPC offer it as an upgrade for existing users not just new ones.

who is this

I have a feeling this could turn into vapourware.

The problem is cable boxes functionality is converging with other types of STBs, like Apple TV etc. And those technologies move much faster than cable boxes do.

When they announced horizon last year, the technology might have been current. But the longer they put it off, the less current it becomes. I'm afraid they end up at a point where (cable TV service aside) its functionality is near obsolete, before they can launch it fully. And why bother to launch something like that if its obsolete?

I think it could turn out like this. I'm not saying probably, but definitely a possibility.

the_rovers_one

icdg wrote: »

Now UPC in Ireland have a particular problem with content that UPC's operations on the continent don't have. This is the fact that their single biggest (by far) provider of content is also their main competitor. That's a constant problem for UPC Ireland and while it hasn't been a major issue until recently, the denying of Sky Atlantic and Sky Sports F1 to UPC means that it looks like Sky are going to pay more hardball with content provision. Add to this the wierd situation where UPC's own content wing provides its channels in Ireland exclusively through Sky and it just makes the situation worse. UPC can come up with all the great technology they like, but if they don't have content it won't be worth anything to them.

A bit late to reply, but Sky's HD pack is much better than UPC's. Along with Sky Sports and Movies in HD, and how come UPC just can't add freesat channels to the EPG? Or would that include having to get licences etc.

ciaran75

the_rovers_one wrote: »

A bit late to reply, but Sky's HD pack is much better than UPC's. Along with Sky Sports and Movies in HD, and how come UPC just can't add freesat channels to the EPG? Or would that include having to get licences etc.

you definitely get way more HD channels on Sky but i think the price is 3times as much as UPC (€15 vs €5) per month + extra for sports

there must be a reason why they dont add the freesat HD channels, no idea myself though...

bk

Well each extra channel takes up more space (bandwidth) and HD channels take up a lot more space then SD channels.

Space (bandwidth) is much more limited on cable then satellite. That isn't to say they can't, just that it is a lot more complicated then just switching them on. Some areas with upgraded cable have plenty of bandwidth. But older areas are very limited.

Also, yes you can't just add freesat channels, you have to approach the channels and negotiate a license with them for additional channels.

Eamo71

who is this wrote: »

I have a feeling this could turn into vapourware.

The problem is cable boxes functionality is converging with other types of STBs, like Apple TV etc. And those technologies move much faster than cable boxes do.

When they announced horizon last year, the technology might have been current. But the longer they put it off, the less current it becomes. I'm afraid they end up at a point where (cable TV service aside) its functionality is near obsolete, before they can launch it fully. And why bother to launch something like that if its obsolete?

I think it could turn out like this. I'm not saying probably, but definitely a possibility.

Well there's always the fallback of going with TiVo as Virgin has done in Britain. But I think this is too far down the line. But as you say everything's changing. I think the issue's been the cloud services. But we'll see I'm sure. If it moves out again from Q3 to Q4 or Q1 2013 then you'll be on to something. Let's hope not.

adamburke83

This is the horizon box, did a survey about it today and looks great, think they are trying to get the general joe soaps opinion to iron out creases before a launch

Eamo71

adamburke83 wrote: »

This is the horizon box, did a survey about it today and looks great, think they are trying to get the general joe soaps opinion to iron out creases before a launch

Good man! That looks great. Any more info on the survey RE questions asked etc?

adamburke83

Eamo71 wrote: »

Good man! That looks great. Any more info on the survey RE questions asked etc?

Was basically asking what would i do to improve it to order it, what features id like to see on it,how much im willing to pay and that sort of stuff.
€50 for 20 mins, will take that all day long,

Eamo71

The latest news for Horizon here. By the sound of it it might not be here till 2013. But Fries did say Ireland would be involved in the initial rollout so who knows... http://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2012/06/12/dutch-horizon-launch-scheduled-for-q3/

ciaran75

new video of horizon here

http://vimeo.com/44319569

Eamo71

If it performs half as good as it looks it'll be immense. There is just no comparison between the current UPC interface and what it's capable of and this box. Indeed Mike Fries said the current interface was "horrible". Hope it won't cost too much extra.

Eamo71

Well it's been a long time coming, Horizon is to finally launch in the Netherlands next month. Lets hope it's here by Q1 next year.
http://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2012/08/03/september-launch-for-horizon/

Eamo71

Thanks to TCP/IP for finding this updated vid of Horizon. This one has an English voice over. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1POt5qJOsPw

Charlie-Bravo

Amazed by this box - video says it has access to countless apps, so would this be android based, or has some sort of mechanism to run common apps for certain OS?

Solair

It's not running Android. It's based around a platform called Snowflake from NDS.

blindsider

Eamo71 wrote: »

Thanks to TCP/IP for finding this updated vid of Horizon. This one has an English voice over. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1POt5qJOsPw

Now removed fromYT (

Eamo71

blindsider wrote: »

Eamo71 wrote: »

Thanks to TCP/IP for finding this updated vid of Horizon. This one has an English voice over. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1POt5qJOsPw

Now removed fromYT (

Interesting that it's been taken down. Anyhoo here a link to a snowflake vid. It's essentially the new UPC Horizon Interface without the UPC branding etc...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAEQKqXShXk&feature=youtube_gdata_player

And another

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZee9-PrNX0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Eamo71

Another bit of Horizon news.
http://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2012/08/28/theplatform-ready-for-horizon-launch/

ciaran75

it seems the horizon box is now live in holland.

http://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2012/09/07/upc-launches-horizon-in-holland/

http://www.heraldonline.com/2012/09/07/4243688/liberty-global-launches-horizon.html

"will be rolled out in Switzerland, Germany and Ireland over the next 3-6 months"


http://advanced-television.com/index.php/2012/09/07/horizon-dawns-for-upc-netherlands/