The new box also seems to come with the old bog standard remote too, so no easy keying in of freeview channel numbers.

You'll probably have to use the epg to select a freeview channel to watch, which is a bit cumbersome.

More info here and here

Darren

duplicate

Doesnt appeal to me whatsoever, I already get Freeview through my Normal TV. No mention of 4k that will be of course to stop people not purchasing Sky Q. And seeing that it was made by Roku you can bet that the Roku 4 will have 4K.

It doesn't have a hard drive but can store live TV for 30 minutes. It is a bit of a fudge.

Do we know if the freeview channels will be HD as well as SD?

Also can you pause the freeview channels? (are the freeview channels streamed or through an aerial like your TV?)

Thanks for any help

"Easy to set up, simply connect the box to a digital TV aerial and broadband to start watching both free to air and Pay TV all in one place"

No advantage over old now tv box for me as no freeview reception.

15 Freeview HD channels.
Freeview channels are through the aerial.

The 30 minute pause only applies to some channels. It doesn't say if it applies to Sky Sports (which for me would be the useful bit).

I won't be buying it the new Now TV Combo box.
If the next one after this, has a recording features, I could be interested

No news so far on Now TV app coming to freesat

Hopefully there'll be a Roku variant - I could do with upgrading the HDMI Streaming stick (it's rather lethargic) and adding HD channels to my TV* - alas as a Now TV only product it's not much use as Amazon prime and Google Play movies are essential apps.


* since I've started using my Roku via the original Now TV I hardly ever use my media centre PC so could do with replacing with a Freeview HD box

Have to say that overall the new box is all rather disappointing and I can't really see any advantage to getting one if you have any type of Freeview HD PVR already.

No numbers on the remote to access freeview channels is beyond stupid, and only 'Now and Next' on the EPG does it no favours either.

Does this even support 50Hz now, or are we forced to view Freeview at 60Hz?

That is a thought, thanks for that. I have a version 2 and a old version 1 which can be used if need be, but for a fiver I can get another version 2 and put it in storage.

Not interested in the new box with Freeview, live Tv do not interest me.

Hmmm gonna have to wait for reviews of this box, I'm quite interested but as its developed by Roku I'm skeptical about it having 50hz output.
I wouldn't mind combining Now TV and Freeview into one cheap and low powered device within my setup but no 50Hz will mean I'll stick to my seperates setup.

Rather underwhelming. Seemingly the only difference with the new box vs old box + TV Tuner is:

1) Pause and rewind buffer on Freeview channels
2) No need to switch HMDI inputs when moving from Freeview viewing to Now TV.

Will wait for actual reviews of using the box in case there are any additional features...but yeah, expected a little more innovation!

I don't see them ever adding PVR features to Now TV. That strays too far into the territory of their flagship Sky service. It would also add a lot of cost to the box at least £100 more. And Sky would have to invest significant resources writing new software to handle it.

Now TV doesn't need PVR anyway. You just stream the content you want to watch on demand. That's the whole concept.

Today's announcement is very much going after BT YouView with a low cost freeview solution, access to the best premium channels on Sky and an affordable phone & broadband bundled deal. Obviously the PVR omission is the big advantage BT has, but Now TV is contract-free and has amazing channels like Sky Atlantic.

A bit of scouting around the net and I can say that it IS a 50Hz box, which is good news.

The lack of an 8 day EPG and no ability to key in freeview channels via the remote is a big let down for me though.

I'm disappointed that the optical output has been replaced by a hdmi logo.

On the Roku4 optical output is there but not on back of the new NowTV box. I was hoping for that too.

Roku4 has been out in the US for a while, I believe NowTV/Sky have blocked Roku releasing their box here.

IF you can receive the HD channels

there are a few new Roku products that have been out in the USA for quite a while, and not in the UK- maybe a Sky influence?

such as
New Roku 3 with voice search
Roku 4 with 4k HD
New faster improved roku stick

Pocketlint had expected a 4k output.... that was all that thrilled me. Might as get an Nvidia Shield box now,

It makes a lot of sense to let Sky handle its future in the UK. It's probably a better strategy than Apple's which is throw out a box and hope content providers create apps and deliver content in markets outside of the USA.

I'm amazed Apple hasn't hired someone to handle content deals in the UK. Even if they had to throw the likes of ITV and Channel 4 a bit of money to build apps and bring content to the device, it would be pocket change for Apple and would add a ton of value to the devices. I know Now TV has an app on Apple TV (one of the very few who do), but even that is basic in comparison to the richness of the software on their own branded boxes.

Sky's investments in Roku certainly look to have had a negative impact on Roku.

Just look how long it took for Amazon to appear on Roku in the UK.

We'll get the Roku 4 eventually hopefully

So the broadband is without a contract too? It's not exactly clear

I wonder how that works, given that Openreach imposes a 12 month minimum term on fibre services

Broadband is for 12 months

Now TV can cancel after 1 month

Guessing Sky are willing to take the hit on it. If you do go for the no contract broadband you have install and hardware fees upfront and have to pay full price for the passes.