freeviewplay
Latest
YouView lands on Sony's Bravia TVs next month, no set-top box needed
After announcing a tie-up earlier this year, we now know that November 4th will mark the launch of YouView on Sony's 2015 range of Bravia TVs. Arriving a little later than originally planned, the update for Sony's Android-based TVs will add YouView's time-travelling EPG and various other content discovery features. It will be the first time YouView has ever been available without a dedicated set-top box, which is actually a pretty big deal in the advent of Freeview Play. One of the unique features of YouView is being able to scroll back through the past seven days of programming and jump seamlessly into catch-up services when you come across a broadcast you'd rather not have missed. Well, it was unique until Freeview launched Play, a new service that affords exactly the same functionality.
The first Freeview Play set-top box is now on sale
Freeview Play, the new service that marries live and catch-up TV in the same programming guide, launched earlier this month. Not that many people have been able to give it a whirl, since it's only been accessible on Panasonic's 2015 range of Viera TVs via a software update. You'll see plenty of new goggleboxes supporting Freeview Play as standard in the near future, but today Humax has released the first set-top box that adds Play functionality to whatever currently takes pride of place in your living room. The WiFi-enabled Humax FVP-4000T boasts a compact design and "leather-look top," available in "mocha" or "cappuccino" colour schemes and two storage configurations. The 500GB version, which should afford enough space for around 300 hours of recorded TV, is priced at £200, while the 1TB model is only a little more expensive at £230. You'll find them on sale now through Humax's online store, as well as at retailers including Argos, Tesco, Maplin, Currys/PC World and John Lewis.
The next generation of Freeview arrives next month
More than ever before, Brits are using catch-up services to watch their favourite TV shows from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5. YouView is already fusing those services with the traditional Freeview experience, and now, realising its potential, the brains behind Freeview are preparing a similar platform themselves. It's called Freeview Play and we've been told that it'll be launching in October on Panasonic's 2015 line-up of Viera TVs. The idea is that you'll be able to scroll back through the guide and watch an old TV show immediately -- one unified experience for browsing and discovery, rather than launching and navigating separate apps. Not all catch-up services will be integrated at launch, however. Freeview says Demand 5 will be available straight away as a standalone app, but won't support its TV guide experience until later. We suspect more TV manufacturers will launch and update their sets with Freeview Play throughout the year -- if you want to be an early adopter, just look for the "Freeview Play inside" branding on Panasonic's site.
