UPC Horizon Set Top Box trial

thefishone

flanna wrote: »

Does anyone know if the testers are charged install/activation fee's as well as the monthly cost?

Both were free.

Not Telling My Name

thefishone wrote: »

Was this from the initial email or was it said to you over the phone?

It's the way we got it, anyone I know has it either works for UPC or knows someone who does in a management capacity.

I don't work for UPC and the someone I know told me that was the condition I would get it on.

thefishone

Not Telling My Name wrote: »

It's the way we got it, anyone I know has it either works for UPC or knows someone who does in a management capacity.

I don't work for UPC and the someone I know told me that was the condition I would get it on.

Mmmmmm, cause I told them I would be discussing the box on boards and they had no problem.

Not Telling My Name

thefishone wrote: »

Mmmmmm, cause I told them I would be discussing the box on boards and had no problem.

What can I tell you, that's what I was told. Lucky you though, I'd much rather be discussing it as I'd love to see if other people can do certain stuff.

But I really don't want it taken off me.

iDann

Why do they want it confidential? We know so much about it already, what's there to hide! They're not Apple at all

Not Telling My Name

iDann wrote: »

Why do they want it confidential? We know so much about it already, what's there to hide! They're not Apple at all

I'm guessing for 2 reasons...

1) There's inevitably problems with any launch of a new product so they don't want people online saying "this thing is fecking crap, it's not working" type stuff.

2) They'll have an influx of calls from people wanting it.

thefishone

They already had an influx of people, ever since it was first introduced in Europe.

iDann

Not Telling My Name wrote: »

I'm guessing for 2 reasons...

1) There's inevitably problems with any launch of a new product so they don't want people online saying "this thing is fecking crap, it's not working" type stuff.

2) They'll have an influx of calls from people wanting it.

Ah I see!

Dravokivich

Mr.S wrote: »

Realistically unless you signed a NDA you can do what you want! Perhaps don't use your firstname.lastname as a username though!

Well, they're not telling their name anyways ;P

SteM

Mr.S wrote: »

Just got an email saying I was accepted onto the Horizon trial! wohooo

Yeah, me too. A few hundred people they said in their email.

ciaran75

me too

Blazer

^^c0cksuckers :mad:

patrickc

accepted too :)

SoundWave

me to.. whoop whoop

grindle

Me too - better be good or my GF will slit my throat.

Mikey23

Ditto. Now, what to do with all the unwatched recordings on the current box...

SteM

Mikey23 wrote: »

Ditto. Now, what to do with all the unwatched recordings on the current box...

Good point, never thought of that.

grindle

Ether get watching or put the broadband to use. That's our plan anyway.

who_me

Me 3! Yay!

(Really hope it works now...)

The Cush

Article in yesterday's Irish Times on this

UPC to trial Horizon TV with 1,200 customers

UPC is warming up for the launch of its next-generation Horizon TV box in the Irish market by asking existing customers to trial a beta version of the new service.

About 1,200 UPC television and broadband customers will be selected for the trial, which includes the installation of a new mediabox, a higher-cost package and a confidentiality requirement that asks the testers not to discuss the service on social media.

The aim of the trial, which will begin “in the coming weeks”, is to collate feedback from users of the service. A date for the full commercial launch of Horizon TV in Ireland has not yet been announced, but Mike Fries, chief executive of UPC parent company Liberty Global, indicated last November that it would be introduced in Ireland this year.

Also from April 3rd UPC Netherlands is to make available 29 main digital TV channels (+12 local/reginal channels) without encryption that can be viewed on any DVB-C receiver, aimed primarily at their analogue customers who won't require a new digital STB if their TV already has a built-in DVB-C tuner - http://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2013/03/27/upc-netherlands-decrypts-main-channels/, http://www.telecompaper.com/news/upc-to-offer-free-digital-pack-to-analogue-customers--933766. Internet only customers must pay €18.20 for the analogue channels but will have the basic digital TV channels now if they have the required DVB-C receiver.

Heisenberg1

Got accepted too anybody no how long it will be until I get the box email just says a few weeks.

Got accepted too. Looking forward to it.

StaticNoise

Yeah, the emails have gone out today, and calls will start on Monday for the next two weeks.

Professey Chin

Got it too \o/

Saint_Mel

I'm in too

Deep Thought

Moi aussi...

should be intresting...wonder what the Reward will be`..

Also wonders, if you can decide not to go ahead...

omahaid

Woohoo, just accepted onto trial, let the good times roll!

thefishone

Deep Thought wrote: »

Moi aussi...

should be intresting...wonder what the Reward will be`..

Also wonders, if you can decide not to go ahead...

I've said it before, I am very happy with the reward.
Yes you can refuse/cancel the trail any time, you will be left with your old box.

coylemj

Me too.

Though giving a test box to 1,200 people and telling them not to discuss it on social media is totally bonkers - didn't they go asking for testers on Facebook in the first place FFS

And for those who don't get the irony, that means that by design a large number of the testers will be people with tablets, laptops and smartphones who are on FB and Twitter so go figure whether they won't discuss it online or not.

thefishone

coylemj wrote: »

Me too.

Though giving a test box to 1,200 people and telling them not to discuss it on social media is totally bonkers - didn't they go asking for testers on Facebook in the first place FFS

And for those who don't get the irony, that means that by design a large number of the testers will be people with tablets, laptops and smartphones who are on FB and Twitter so go figure whether they won't discuss it online or not.

Again, as I said earlier, I told them I would be discussing it on boards, the didn't say I couldn't and I know they are aware of this thread.
The only mention of it being a secret was the original email and didn't say NEVER mention the box to anyone.

coylemj

thefishone wrote: »

Again, as I said earlier, I told them I would be discussing it on boards, the didn't say I couldn't and I know they are aware of this thread.
The only mention of it being a secret was the original email and didn't say NEVER mention the box to anyone.

Wasn't addressing you personally in my remarks, I was responding to the quote in the Irish Times article referred to earlier.

SteM

thefishone wrote: »

Again, as I said earlier, I told them I would be discussing it on boards, the didn't say I couldn't and I know they are aware of this thread.
The only mention of it being a secret was the original email and didn't say NEVER mention the box to anyone.

When I put my name down for it the other day the web page I used specifically said that if you were accepted you could not discuss the box on forums.

coylemj

Imposing an NDA on consumers in this day and age is meaningless.

omahaid

Does anyone know if this is all geared towards apple products. From the nl site I read "Download the Horizon TV Remote App in the App Store to your iPad or iPhone as a remote control. " As a house full of android and blackberry products this would put me off.

iDann

Got accepted happy days!

coylemj

omahaid wrote: »

Does anyone know if this is all geared towards apple products. From the nl site I read "Download the Horizon TV Remote App in the App Store to your iPad or iPhone as a remote control. " As a house full of android and blackberry products this would put me off.

Most of these types of apps are developed first for iPhone so they appear on the iTunes Store initially and then on the Google Play Store for Android.

Examples where this happened are the apps for controlling a network-attached Phillips TV or Sony Blu-Ray player and the Bank of Ireland mobile banking app. I have all three installed on my Apple iTouch and Android phone but they all appeared first on the Apple platform.

omahaid

coylemj wrote: »

Most of these types of apps are developed first for iPhone so they appear on the iTunes Store initially and then on the Google Play Store for Android.

Examples where this happened are the apps for controlling a Phillips TV, Sony Blu-Ray player and the Bank of Ireland mobile banking app. I have all three installed on my Apple iTouch and Android phone but they all appeared first on the Apple platform.

Yes, I'm familiar with this however I'm not pleased. If UPC have all these snazzy apps and I'm unable to use them then they wouldn't be of much benefit to me. I believe the DLNA might work on any DLNA client though.

dregin

Tweeted UPC asking if the app will be available in the play store. No reply yet. I don't see the point in expected people to pay extra, if they're not going to develop an app for the most popular mobile OS.

belmulletman

currently there is no where that testers can go to discuss / give feedback. I really hope they put something in place soon, as sending emails / fb messages isn't going to be the best solution and it woulld be great to discuss it with other people who are trialing it!

Also, there is no apps for it yet and no Android App. According to sites i've read the Android is 2h 2013.
As noted before, I can't find any way to remotely access recorded content / live tv from the box on any device I have at home. that was the main selling feature to me to be honest. Me being able to play xbox and have the other half watch TV on the laptop / iPad. Hope they get this out soon.

so far, i've had no problems with it really. UI isn't the most intuitive, but they've noted that in the other countries and seemingly will be addressed. I'm LOVING all the extra tuners and being able to record overlapping programms and watch tv as well. Also they seem to have properly sorted the start and end time of shows. i've yet to come acorss a recording that wasn't fully recorded! :-D

belmulletman

omahaid wrote: »

Yes, I'm familiar with this however I'm not pleased. If UPC have all these snazzy apps and I'm unable to use them then they wouldn't be of much benefit to me. I believe the DLNA might work on any DLNA client though.

dregin wrote: »

Tweeted UPC asking if the app will be available in the play store. No reply yet. I don't see the point in expected people to pay extra, if they're not going to develop an app for the most popular mobile OS.

See my last post. There are no Apps yet, and android isn't until later in the yaer. I was reading a forum from one of the other countries where people were saying the exact same thing. Android is now the most popular OS and because of this, from the translation, the agent admited it's been bumped up the development list. But these apps take time, 2 / 3 months to develops, so 2h 2013 is probably right.

As for DLNA, the box can see content (though it can't play all content) from other DLNA servers, but it is not a server so you can't see it's content on other DLNA devices.
I have Plex running and it's DLNA server is amazing, but Plex can't play anything off it. just FYI.

pauleoin

Dutch & Swiss IOS App

There seems to be an app for IPad2/3 & iphone4/5 according to this article available to the Dutch and Swiss markets (noted elsewhere that this app will not work on Jailbroken devices) don't know if this would work for Irish devices though, probably not for TV but maybe for home network videos etc.

Link to article about it here http://www.appannie.com/app/ios/horizon-tv-remote/

p.s. does anyone know what the capacity of the hard drive is in the Horizon box?

iDann

Just downloaded the apps, they seem good and fluid but can't do much without having the box

thefishone

belmulletman wrote: »

As noted before, I can't find any way to remotely access recorded content / live tv from the box on any device I have at home. that was the main selling feature to me to be honest. Me being able to play xbox and have the other half watch TV on the laptop / iPad. Hope they get this out soon.

The installer mentioned something about this, can't remember what he called it (mytv, something like that) but to connect it you had to log on to My UPC, but can't find it there.....
It was one of many questions I forgot to ask before the installer left

StaticNoise

It is exactly this: they want people talking about it, but all amongst themselves.
People talking up the excitement to try the box is exactly what they want to see.

lapua20grain

i got accepted for the trial wondering are they going to charge more and if has anybody found out how much looking forward to it

thefishone

lapua20grain wrote: »

i got accepted for the trial wondering are they going to charge more and if has anybody found out how much looking forward to it

€2.50pm,but the reward should more than make up for it;)

Evilbart

grindle wrote: »

Me too - better be good or my GF will slit my throat.

Haha same here just got the email and was thinking the same thing it better be good or the GF won't be happy

ted1

belmulletman wrote: »

See my last post. There are no Apps yet, and android isn't until later in the yaer. I was reading a forum from one of the other countries where people were saying the exact same thing. Android is now the most popular OS and because of this, from the translation, the agent admited it's been bumped up the development list. But these apps take time, 2 / 3 months to develops, so 2h 2013 is probably right.

As for DLNA, the box can see content (though it can't play all content) from other DLNA servers, but it is not a server so you can't see it's content on other DLNA devices.
I have Plex running and it's DLNA server is amazing, but Plex can't play anything off it. just FYI.

Android may be the most used mobile OS but because of all the different hardware configurations and screen resolutions its a nightmare to develop a decent app that is more than just a web page. You have to test it in different pieces of kit and then support it. Total pain in the ass

ted1

thefishone wrote: »

Again, as I said earlier, I told them I would be discussing it on boards, the didn't say I couldn't and I know they are aware of this thread.
The only mention of it being a secret was the original email and didn't say NEVER mention the box to anyone.

If you filled up the form online then you ticked the terms and conditions saying that you would not talk about it.

JoeyJJ

I'll be in the Trial too