3D didn’t really pan out like everyone wanted, but it would appear that 4K is the future of our living rooms, as word is coming today that Sky are looking to rush forward its planned 4K set top box production, to compete with BT.
Apparently Sky is looking to launch a 4K Ultra HD-enabled set-top-box to spring in the UK, which is such sooner than its initial plans to launch later on in the year.
The Daily Telegraph brings the claims, and says that some of their industry sources have revealed that Sky has plans for a new premium service, which will come with a new, higher level premium subscription and the Ultra HD 4K boxes.
See also: Virgin Media and Sky Extend HD Deal – All channels but Sky Atlantic coming to Virgin
Currently most of the K’s broadcasters have yet to jump on-board of the 4K bandwagon, so users who do go ahead with the new service may be struggling for 4K content, but Sky are pretty good at persuading its channel and content suppliers, especially if the new service is charged at a premium.
Additionally Sky has access to a larger amount of international TV to access onto.
In the past 2 years Sky have seem a massive increase in pressure an competition from BT surrounding its TV services from both the BT Vision boxes, but more importantly the BT Sport channels which are causing a bidding war on all major sports franchises. Sports are normally the area that see’s change first too, so we could expect BT or Sky to announce new Premiership football to be streamed in 4K in the coming months.
If the box is launched, the telegraph reports that Sky’s customer focus will centre on the new box’s ability to link with smartphones and tablets, for viewing remotely instead of the 4K functionality. The report also states that the store recorded programmes functionality will be stored on a cloud based service instead of the temperamental physical hard drive seen I current set top boxes.
Both BT and Sky are rumoured to be moving into 4K in the next year, with virgin Media already trialling 4K content delivery in the UK.
4K may well be here, much sooner than we all thought!