Rumours of freesat changing its specification

[hawkish]

There is plenty of buzz about freesat launching an updated service for a new breed of freesat equipment. Has anyone else heard of such a thing yet. Rumor has it that the reason Panasonic are not including freesat this year is due to this apparant imminent specification change.

Meanwhile Samsung dont seem to be bothered by it as they are launching a full freesat range and even a PVR in the coming months

 

[Utopie]

What sort of changes 'might' we expect do you think?

 

[dj999]

heard something a while, that the next generation of freesat boxes would have a card/cam slot.

 

[jamrop]

thought it was more to do with iptv

 

[hawkish]

I have also heard about more iptv avenues. Its all really sketchy information and when I was chatting to the freesat rep about it he got all serious and said he cant talk about it

 

[MH]

I cant imagine that they are changing the spec, but possibly the addition of features.

 

[hawkish]

Freesat G2 Spec: DiSEqC, Single Cable PVR, On-demand





Wotsat have managed to find out some more information about the proposed roll-out of the G2 spec Freesat standard; here is a copy of what Wotsat have posted on their website.
Freesat’s next-generation G2 spec will include DiSEqC, single cable routing and core support for iPlayer-style hybrid TV services.
In the works for more than a year, G2 is set to bring Freesat some features we’ve been looking forward to for some time.
It’s essentially a gathering of new standards which will be supported by the wave of digital TV chipsets expected from manufacturers like ST and Broadcom in the next 12 months.
James Strickland, Freesat’s director of product and technology development, explained that G2 is similar to HbbTV, the European standard which combines both broadcast and broadband-delivered TV technology;

If you see what’s going on with HbbTV in Germany, that’s a roll-up of all the standards work that’s been going on with different bodies.
G2 is basically a hybrid between HbbTV and the MHEG world we have in the the UK. You get the best out of all the international standards that all the manufacturers are working on, rather than rolling out our own.
We want to encourage in the next generation all the best elements that are already being worked on, to get the best hybrid of broadcast and broadband TV.
​

There’s no launch date yet for the G2 spec or G2 products, although some – like Samsung’s forthcoming Freesat HD box – will be upgradeable via software downloads.
Some manufacturers, like Panasonic, are waiting for the G2 spec to be ready before they launch new Freesat products.
Exact details of what’s in G2 only come with some direct questioning at this stage, but we did discover that it will include:
* MoCA (Multimedia over Coax Alliance) support, which potentially enables a whole host of advanced media streaming and multiroom features that manufacturers might use.
* Single cable routing as part of the MoCA standard (Multimedia over Coax Alliance). SCR lets a PVR take multiple tuner feeds through a single cable, but so far there have been several competing methods.
* DiSEqC switching, as part of SCR. Only switching,however, there’s no DiSEqC 1.2 for motorised sat.
* HTML, Javascript and CSS: internet technologies that should make it a lot easier to add broadband-delivered interactive services.
* DRM for non-subscription channels who want some sort of encryption, via broadband or broadcast.
* Payment mechanisms for broadband services like LoveFilm.
James Strickland continued;

It will be easier to write apps and easier to launch online services,[..]. The barriers to entry, the time and the cost of launching new services, will be less than they are currently on other platforms and on this platform. It’s not just about the receiver, it’s about a whole end to end thing.
The core of the technology is internet-based technology. Use of new presentation environments like HTML, Javascript, and CSS that come from the internet, that now we can apply to STB technology.
And not for pay-TV but for free-to-air TV, we are making it easier for people to put their content on the platform by promoting certain DRM elements. It can easily be for free-to-air content, free to the user within the platform, but not necessarily pay-TV.
We are still very cautious about pay-TV and the effect it would have on the platform if we were to allow any pay-TV services on board. It’s a watching brief, and they would be complementary service.
The potential is there for services like LoveFilm to come to the platform and it’s not there today. If you had something like LoveFilm, to be able to transfer your account to the main screen from the PC, that would make sense.
​

The above was copied from Wotsat.
Freesat clearly have large plans with on-demand online based services seen as the future of all television platforms. Hopefully we’ll see roll-out later in the year.

 

[baron]

heard something a while, that the next generation of freesat boxes would have a card/cam slot.

The tevion box from aldi this week has a card slot in it

 

[Magic94]

I have freesat built into my Panasonic TV surely it will not become obselete ??

 

[M3NTAL]

No, it just means that all of us with standard Freesat equipment won't be able to use the extra functions, your TV viewing will not change.

 

[hawkish]

Yeah, the pannys will continue to work as normal. Looks like they wont be doing the ITV Player though