Australian pay-TV provider, Foxtel, has tapped US set-top box manufacturer, Pace, to supply it with HD DVR's for its new HDTV service, HD+. Pace is providing two DVR models--the TDC850NF and the TDS850NS--both of which feature 320GB hard drives and quad tuners: two of the tuners will be dedicated to program recording, while the third will enable end-users to continue to view live TV while two programs are being recorded, and the fourth will be dedicated to the EPG, so that full program information can be accessed even when all three other tuners are being used. The fourth tuner will also be capable of delivering HD and SD push-VOD content to end-users. Foxtel's HD PVR service, which is branded as Foxtel iQ2, is powered by software from OpenTV and NDS (see articles in this issue). "We have worked closely with
Foxtel to develop a product that will provide them with an excellent
base of HD technology in their customers' homes, not just for the initial
HD launch but also in preparation for future applications and services,"
Richard Slee, Pace's president of EMEA and APAC, said in a prepared
statement. "We are very pleased to be continuing our relationship in
this way with this leading, innovative pay-TV operator." At launch,
Foxtel HD+ will offer five HD channels--Discovery-HD, National
Geographic-HD, Fox Sports-HD, ESPN-HD and BBC-HD--plus a
selection of HD movies that can be accessed via the Foxtel Box Office
HD On Demand service.
In other Pace news: Italian satellite TV provider, Sky Italia, has
selected the company's TDS850NS HD DVR for the launch of its HD
PVR service. The device features dual DVB-S2 tuners, H.264
compression, and a 250GB hard drive (stores up to 60 hours of HD
programming). The Sky Italia deployment sees it working in tandem
with OpenTV middleware and NDS conditional access technology.
Pace is also providing Sky Italia with an MPEG-4-capable
standard-definition DVR, the TDS480NS. The box features twin tuners
and a 160GB hard drive, capable of storing up to 60 hours of SD
programming. Both the 850NS and the 480NS feature SVP, Ethernet
and USB hardware support. In addition, Pace has won new orders from
Sky Italia for two non-DVR products: the DS255NS
standard-definition set-top (this will be Pace's fifth-generation SD
set-top for Sky Italia) and the DS830NS high-definition set-top (this
will be Pace's third-generation HD set-top for the satellite TV
provider). "Pace has been our prime set-top box partner for many of our
service launches to date--from our first digital deployment with NDS
conditional access in 2003, to PVR and HD in 2006," Sky Italia
technical director, Paola Formenti, said in a prepared statement. "They
have successfully demonstrated their expertise in delivering the whole
family of set-top box technologies and we look forward to continuing
to work together in bringing the latest technologies to our customers."
