StarHub is prepping its hardware for a roll-out of its upcoming Internet TV on-demand service.
The cable TV operator will be offering a device called Popbox, which combines a media player and Internet content streaming device, in an exclusive deal with the device’s local distributor servTouch.
This device is expected to be the conduit to StarHub’s Internet TV service, which Digital Life first reported last September.
Slated for launch at Thursday's IT Show, the device will be given free to subscribers of StarHub’s MaxInfinity fibre broadband plans.
Popbox works like other content devices and online media playback devices, like one by D-Link called the Boxee.
It delivers content via apps and widgets, such as those from popular online video sites and services like blip.tv and Channels.com.
But access to web content is limited by certain geographical restrictions, so most of the content of services like Channels.com, which has a library of over 150,000 shows from American networks like CBS, ABC, Fox, Disney and HBO, are not available outside of the United States.
What is available from Channels.com via Popbox will be movie trailers and making-of clips from shows like Entourage and True Blood.
When the upcoming StarHub Internet TV on-demand service becomes available, Popbox will let viewers access that content.
Meanwhile, servTouch, has tied up with local content owners like the National Library Board and the National University Hospital to supply local produced content, like recorded health talks given during lunch hours.
But the main objective of the device will be to drive StarHub’s upcoming web TV service.
StarHub has remained tight-lipped on the pricing and content details of the service, expected to be launched in the coming weeks.
Ms Ong Bee Lian, StarHub’s vice-president of home broadband, voice and home technologies would only say that Popbox will allow "our customers to enjoy a truly lean-back experience in streaming their favourite HD Internet content as well as connecting to social networks on TV, in the comfort of their couch or bed".
StarHub has previously said it was readying over 1,000 hours of video-on-demand content on the Web, which includes Hollywood movies and Hong Kong TVB dramas.
According to sources close to the subject, StarHub will create a widget for the Popbox, where users can buy on-demand content direct to their TV.
Consumers will also have the option of buying the content via their PC’s or laptop’s Web browser and having it stream to their TVs. The device has an optional Wi-Fi dongle for those who may not like to use a wired connection.
-
http://4pmo5o2f.com ubs