New Media News

Pioneers in the new media space

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 13:23

HD PVR Decoder and Drifta mobile decoder

Africa’s first ever satellite pay-TV service, MultiChoice’s DStv, has made significant inroads into the new media space with the launch of a mobile TV service as well as a mobile decoder, Drifta, and the latest addition to the DStv line-up, the video on demand (VOD) service, DStv BoxOffice.

The DStv high definition (HD) PVR was the first decoder in Africa capable of outputting HD content to HD television sets. Another innovation of this decoder was the ability to record two programmes simultaneously.

Says Jackie Rakitla, MultiChoice GM Corporate Affairs: “The software components which give the PVR its functionality are supplied by Open TV of California for the middleware and TeleIdea of Holland for the user interface. Our decoders are manufactured by UK-based PACE and Durban-based UEC.”

Providing a transactional movie rental service for subscribers via the PVR was the logical next step for MultiChoice, leading to the development of DStv BoxOffice.

Launched on 22 July this year, DStv BoxOffice gives subscribers the choice of about 120 of the latest blockbuster movies per annum to rent directly from their PVR decoders. The movies are refreshed regularly with anywhere from two to four new movies added to the selection on a weekly basis.

“Movies are pre-loaded onto subscribers’ PVR decoders and do not affect the storage space that they would normally use for personal scheduled recordings,” says Rakitla. “When a rental code is sent through, the movie is simply ‘unlocked’ and made viewable, which also makes the rental process quick and easy.”

The payment for the movies can be made with either a BoxOffice account or via credit card. Subscribers can also pre-pay funds into their BoxOffice accounts via either EFT, credit card, or by making a deposit at any MultiChoice branch.

Movies are available in both standard definition on SD PVRs and in HD on HD PVRs. Rakitla notes that the next phase of the BoxOffice roll-out will be an online offering, available to all South African broadband users by the end of this year.

Getting mobile

MultiChoice launched the Drifta mobile decoder to complement its DStv Mobile service.
“The Drifta is a mobile TV decoder that receives the DVB-H signal and converts it into Wi-Fi signal for Wi-Fi enabled viewing devices,” explains Rakitla. “It was developed and introduced in South Africa. The Drifta enables broadcast of mobile TV on compatible handheld devices such as the iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad, select Android devices and Windows PCs, including laptops and notebooks. Users have access to the mobile DStv guide with up to three hours of viewing. The device is manufactured in Korea. This decoder has also been made available in Nigeria, Namibia and Kenya.

“On a cellphone, smartphone and tablet, DStv Mobile can be viewed full screen. The screen size on a laptop or PC is 320 x 240 or 640 x 480. It’s important to note that the screen size projected by the Drifta application can never be more than 35% of the screen the device is being viewed on.”

SCREENAFRICA Print Magazine – November 2011 (view here)

By Andy Stead

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