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Not having to pay fees to Apple and Google would also be another benefit of their own hardware.
IIRC News Corp had investments in Roku, so that was why they made all of the NOW TV devices. Similarly, Comcast has been pursuing their own line of IP based streaming devices (as they need to get away from traditional cable TV to free up capacity on their US networks) and it seems that's where Sky Glass/Stream originate from.
(This post was last modified: 28-05-2023, 05:38 PM by
i.h.)
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(28-05-2023, 04:45 PM)Josh Wrote: Am I right in thinking the Smart Stick was just a glorified Roku streaming stick though?
All of the Now TV devices were stripped down Roku's that could only allow access to Roku apps that Sky allowed to be used, this is why it took a long time for Netflix to be allowed on them. So the additional apps were largely the catch-up services from the BBC, ITV, C4 and C5, YouTube, Sky Store plus some obscure apps. Eventually Sky had agreements with UKTV, Netflix and Disney which were added to the platform.
In the early days, you could also sideload other Roku apps, Emby and Plex were popular sideloaded apps, but Sky took away that functionality as well.
(This post was last modified: 28-05-2023, 05:40 PM by
London Lite.)
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(28-05-2023, 05:37 PM)i.h Wrote: Not having to pay fees to Apple and Google would also be another benefit of their own hardware.
IIRC News Corp had investments in Roku, so that was why they made all of the NOW TV devices. Similarly, Comcast has been pursuing their own line of IP based streaming devices (as they need to get away from traditional cable TV to free up capacity on their US networks) and it seems that's where Sky Glass/Stream originate from.
Yes, apparently Entertainment OS (the operating system on Sky Glass and Stream) is basically the same underlying OS used on some of Comcast's kit in the US. In fact, the Sky Stream puck appears to be closely modelled on Comcast's XiOne:
corporate.comcast.com
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On the subject of Sky Glass, I also believe its disliked by joiners and others in the trade due to its sheer weight necessitating over-the-top anchors for wall mounting.
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One of the issues with the Now Smart Stick is that they were typically bundled with a pass/membership which was worth more than the (ridiculously low) price of the stick. It seems there was a trade in people buying multiple sticks in order to get multiple passes, with the hardware itself going unused once the pass was activated. Certainly you’ll find plenty of used Now Smart Sticks in the likes of Cex for that reason. There were still some new ones in my local Tesco up to recently.
(This post was last modified: 29-05-2023, 09:48 AM by
Rdd.)
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(29-05-2023, 08:57 AM)Pete Wrote: On the subject of Sky Glass, I also believe its disliked by joiners and others in the trade due to its sheer weight necessitating over-the-top anchors for wall mounting.
I've never understood people who want their TVs 5 feet off the floor so they have to crane their neck when sitting on the sofa.
Each to their own, of course, but I prefer something at eye level to how I'm sat. Perhaps I'm just bone-idle.
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(29-05-2023, 10:19 PM)Stuart Wrote: I've never understood people who want their TVs 5 feet off the floor so they have to crane their neck when sitting on the sofa.
Each to their own, of course, but I prefer something at eye level to how I'm sat. Perhaps I'm just bone-idle.
If you happen to live somewhere where there isn't enough room to swing a cat, you might not have a lot of choice where the TV goes - either it goes on the wall or you don't have it at all.
Of course you could have it on the ceiling if you're so inclined (I mean flat against it, not "sticking down" and rotatable). Now if that isn't neck craning I don't know what is.
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I hope Sky Go finally enables you to sync to the extra channels you've paid for on Sky Stream similar to apparently how your Sky Q channels sync to Sky Go.
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Not sure what you mean by “sync”, or for that matter how it works on Sky Stream. But on Sky Q, if you are on your LAN, and you have Multiscreen entitlement on your package, you can stream through the Sky Go mobile/tablet app any channel that’s part of your Sky package, not just channels that are normally available on Sky Go. The channels are streamed from your main Sky Q box in similar manner to how the Sky Q mini box does so, and you have access to all your recordings too.
This doesn’t apply by the way to the Apple TV app, which has none of those features and just works the same no matter where you are (Sky Go features only, not Sky Q). Not sure if that’s due to technical or rights issues or even Sky just wanting it not to be used as a substitute for Sky Q mini.
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(30-05-2023, 11:13 PM)Rdd Wrote: Not sure what you mean by “sync”, or for that matter how it works on Sky Stream. But on Sky Q, if you are on your LAN, and you have Multiscreen entitlement on your package, you can stream through the Sky Go mobile/tablet app any channel that’s part of your Sky package, not just channels that are normally available on Sky Go. The channels are streamed from your main Sky Q box in similar manner to how the Sky Q mini box does so, and you have access to all your recordings too.
This doesn’t apply by the way to the Apple TV app, which has none of those features and just works the same no matter where you are (Sky Go features only, not Sky Q). Not sure if that’s due to technical or rights issues or even Sky just wanting it not to be used as a substitute for Sky Q mini.
From what I've understood from Sky's website and forum posts, this feature is unavailable on Sky Stream. Likely due to the same reasons you listed for Apple TV unfortunately.