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A strange new logo, and FreeView Connect becomes Freeview Play.
http://advanced-television.com/2015/02/12/freeview-rebrands-for-connected-future/
I remember reading something somewhere recently about the BBC being advised to just port over freetime to their new freeview connect service. If they did which they probably won’t they should just name it freeview freetime instead.
It would be a lot easier and cheaper for content providers if they standardised the software between the 2 platforms.
Unfortunately a lot of squabbling goes on between the various shareholders of these various projects.
Arqiva didn’t want Freetime to be used. Arqiva wanted the contract for themselves. And got it.
http://www.digitaltveurope.net/283942/digital-uk-awards-contracts-for-connected-freeview-service/
http://www.techradar.com/news/television/freesat-s-emma-scott-to-step-down-as-md-1266832
From informitv:
Quote:The ‘launch profile’ for Freeview Play will ‘draw on’ the new HbbTV 2.0 specification and be based on the current D-Book 7. At some point it will evolve to the yet to be finalized D-Book 8. It will continue to support MHEG-5, developed in the mid nineties, while embracing HTML-5, which has only recently become a formal ‘recommendation’ or standard.If Freeview Play simply integrates broadcaster services delivered over broadband it will be playing catch-up with YouView. Its sister satellite service Freesat already has similar features.
So Freeview Play is both long overdue and premature. As informitv has previously observed, what is required is not only a pragmatic launch proposition but also a long-term vision and a road map for the development of television over the next decade.
Not so easy to accomplish while still lugging along a zillion legacy compatibility commitments.
http://informitv.com/2015/02/15/freeview-play-offers-a-connected-future/
More fragmentation most consumers will find it all very confusing.
I think freesat should have made it compulsory for all new freesat products to include freetime as standard. Only the latest Humax freesat boxes have freetime outside of it being built into some smart TV’s.
All the other box manufactures seem content skipping freetime functionality altogether.
I almost went with the Manhattan Plaza HD-S2 until I came across the Humax HB-1000S at a much cheaper price point. I wouldn’t have even known about freetime otherwise.
Manhattan are developing a Freetime box. The others may not think there would be enough added sales to recoup the cost of development.
jamonbread – 15 hours ago »
More fragmentation most consumers will find it all very confusing.
I think FreeView Play is meant to try to repair some of the fragmentation that has already started confusing consumers.
YouView was supposed to be the system that would replace Freeview and shepherd the FTA broadcasters through the transition to IPTV. Interesting speech from Mark Thompson, back before YouView launched, on what the hopes and expectations were: http://www.ex-bbc.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1295518368
But once launched, YouView rapidly lost its original purpose and turned into a system box for pay-tv-lite. So the FTA broadcasters went back to Freeview, which arguably they should’ve stuck with in the first place. If the manufacturers all come on board, Freeview Play will perhaps succeed in offering consumers a smooth move into IPTV within the familiar Freeview environment.
All ready, in time, for the next big switch
offover. Easy peasy. I hope.
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