Sky to launch Sky Q without dish by Xmas based on Xfinity X1 box

[tarbat]

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@Raider999 wrote:

Is this box a glorified nowTV box or does it have recording capabilities?

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The first post says it will be able to record, and the box that's being tested is the Xfinity X1. Whether that's the box that will actually be used at launch, or is just a testing mule, nobody knows.

[best+of+the+best]

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@Raider999 wrote:

Is this box a glorified nowTV box or does it have recording capabilities?

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@Raider999 Have a read of this X1 TV Box Comparison - DVR vs. Non-DVR - Xfinity Support depending on the cost and multi room capabilities I'd be interested in one XG1v4 as the main box for recordings and a couple of Xi6 (Wireless) to replicate what I have now mainbox plus 2 miniboxes 

[TimmyBGood]

@best+of+the+best @Raider999 @tarbat 

However the newspaper article specifically mentions '1000 hours of cloud recording' rather than local storage, and there is an existing cloud-storage offering in the Comcast X1 stable (though with much lower space allowance than that)

https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/x1-dvr-cloud-technology-general-faqs 

[best+of+the+best]

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@TimmyBGood wrote:

@best+of+the+best @Raider999 @tarbat 

However the newspaper article specifically says '1000 hours of cloud recording', not local storage, and there is an existing cloud-storage device in the Comcast stable.

https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/x1-dvr-cloud-technology-general-faqs 

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Fair comment @TimmyBGood should have stated that recordings are cloud based and not local storage but it did mention that in the link provided in previous post.

[Doc5907]

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@best+of+the+best wrote:

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Fair comment @TimmyBGood should have stated that recordings are cloud based and not local storage but it did mention that in the link provided in previous post.

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It's going to need an extremely long cable from the box to the storage device up there in the clouds....

[bob1234]

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@Doc5907 wrote:

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@best+of+the+best wrote:

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Fair comment @TimmyBGood should have stated that recordings are cloud based and not local storage but it did mention that in the link provided in previous post.

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It's going to need an extremely long cable from the box to the storage device up there in the clouds....

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Now I know what the working at heights team is for.

[Daniel0210]

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@Doc5907 wrote:

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@best+of+the+best wrote:

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Fair comment @TimmyBGood should have stated that recordings are cloud based and not local storage but it did mention that in the link provided in previous post.

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It's going to need an extremely long cable from the box to the storage device up there in the clouds....

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@Doc5907 And too high for the Sky engineer to fix his ladder. 

[Doc5907]

@Daniel0210 Good point....... Will need a very special heights team... 

[kevin88]

This sounds great if Sky are going down this route it would great as this will do away with the current issue of a box failure meaning you loose your recordings.  

[CyberFriday]

Careful what we wish for

https://downdetector.com/status/xfinity/

I know a number of these complaints is about their internet service. But shows a trend in their "customer service". Not that there any issues with customer service on here 😉 At least they are different companies - oh wait.....

[Raider999]

Thanks all for the replies.

to summarise the proposed box does not have any hard disk for recordings, they are in the cloud - as such they will disappear at Sky's whim.

to me this makes in more like a glorified nowTV box which as I understand it shows whatever is on on the channels you subscribe to and has catchup capabilities.

[TimmyBGood]

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@Raider999 wrote:

as such they will disappear at Sky's whim.

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That was always an option with local HDDs too, though, and downloaded Box Set content routinely disappears from them now: rights owners just choose not to require deletion of material recorded live.

Presumably Sky could attempt to negotiate agreement with the rights owners to treat the 'cloud storage' as if it were local.

[AnytimePlus+On+VM]

I know this is all rumour and supposition at the moment.

I'm a tad confused as to why it's a box?

Surely if there are no wires (no dish) and no local HDD (cloud recording) there's no need for a box at all and it's just a regular android/ios app - an evolution of the Sky Q app?

Maybe I'm making it too simple!  Surely the Sky Q app does everything already except for the cloud recording, which must be server based anyway.  Just make it Android TV & Apple TV friendly - job done 😉

Isn't it just hassle & cost that's not required.

Or am I missing something entirely?

[tarbat]

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@AnytimePlus+On+VM wrote:

Or am I missing something entirely?

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Perfectly feasible for Sky to just provide an app on a multitude of devices, but presumably Sky want to keep control over the devices used to stream their content. After all, the minibox isn't really necessary given that you can do the same functionality on the iOS/Android/PC apps.

EDIT: For all we know, the xFinity X1 box being used for testing is just a testing mule, and the final service may be an app. It's all speculation.

[fizzdisco]

The lines between Sky & NOW are going to become more blurred, particularly when it comes to pricing. Perhaps NOW will be capped at 1080P/5.1 streaming and be entirely app based (and cheaper) while the new version of Q will allow UHD/Atmos streaming and require a box (maybe with a hard drive) and will cost more.