[bkman1990]

According to some posts on Digital Spy Forums; Sky customers in the UK are receiving emails about the future of the Sky+HD box today.

It's said in the emails that Sky is getting rid of the Sky+HD boxes and asking subscribers to upgrade to a free SkyQ box at no extra cost.

[Neil Jones]

According to some posts on Digital Spy Forums; Sky customers in the UK are receiving emails about the future of the Sky+HD box today.

It's said in the emails that Sky is getting rid of the Sky+HD boxes and asking subscribers to upgrade to a free SkyQ box at no extra cost.

Yeah those boxes are like best part of 15 years old by now, I think the most recent was the DRX895 which is from 2014?

There's only really two or three of the whole Amstrad Sky+HD boxes that get any love and attention from Sky now, and that's the DRX890 and the DRX895 series. Everything else only gets an update when something changes on the back end to keep them going, they haven't had any new features for literally years.

Think we said before Sky managed to get everybody off Sky Analogue in about three years flat. Whether they'd have the impetus to get everybody off Sky+HD as fast remains to be seen.

[Stuart]

It's said in the emails that Sky is getting rid of the Sky+HD boxes and asking subscribers to upgrade to a free SkyQ box at no extra cost.

I can't see this being very successful. Many people (like me) use my old DRX890 as a FSfS box. I pay Sky £10 a month for the ability to access the Sky+ facility and download from all the catch-up services.

It also gives me the RF link to the TV in my bedroom.

I have no interest in 'upgrading' to something that would cost me far more. If the DRX890 stops working it goes in the bin.

[Spencer]

Are they only offering to migrate Sky+HD users to Q, or are they giving them the choice of Stream? It seems odd that they’d direct customers to another product which is expected to be phased out before long.

[Neil Jones]

Are they only offering to migrate Sky+HD users to Q, or are they giving them the choice of Stream? It seems odd that they’d direct customers to another product which is expected to be phased out before long.

Sky Q is still showing as available on Sky's website for new customers.

[Rdd]

From what I can see nothing is being done at this point to “brick” the Sky+HD boxes, they will continue to work, but the software will no longer be updated.

This is in contrast to the first generation Digibox/Sky+ boxes, which won’t be able to receive Sky-owned channels after the switch to DVB-S2.

Sky Q should still have another few years of life in it, the satellites won’t be shut down today or tomorrow, even if Sky do let most of their installation crews go as has been reported. I’d personally take Sky Q over Stream if I were offered the choice and had to choose one, Q can do everything Stream can plus recording and more channels.

[Spencer]

Sky Q is still showing as available on Sky's website for new customers.

It's still available, but their focus is very much on pushing their IP products now. The sky.com homepage doesn't even feature Q anymore, other than within a drop-down menu. They're also laying off a lot of their installers as they move away from satellite broadcasting.

[Keith]

From what I can see nothing is being done at this point to “brick” the Sky+HD boxes, they will continue to work, but the software will no longer be updated.

What they are however doing is removing functionality from Sky+ HD boxes. Currently with Sky Sports additional streams are available via the red button, which are powered by satellite feeds. Going forward additional streams shown in the red button will be powered by the internet, and therefore not available to Sky+ HD box users. In a similar way the BBC use iPlayer for most live streams, instead of the traditional red button.

I wonder if Sky will also be tempted to move their +1 channels to being streaming only. This would remove the need to transmit them via satellite, and the number of users affected would presumably be relatively minimal. (One might argue that there's even little or no point of these channels anymore.)

[bilky asko]

It's still available, but their focus is very much on pushing their IP products now. The sky.com homepage doesn't even feature Q anymore, other than within a drop-down menu. They're also laying off a lot of their installers as they move away from satellite broadcasting.

Wasn't the point of the Sky Q boxes that they could have IP capabilities enabled in the future, so they wouldn't have to replace them come a switch?

[i.h]

It wouldn't be impossible to do so, but that was several years ago and under different ownership. Sky Stream/Glass is a ready made solution that its new parent company is pushing (including to non-Comcast companies) and it wouldn't make sense to them to adopt a different system for the UK and Ireland.