3view Freeview HD box and home media hub
A newcomer to the set-top-box market place looks set to bring to the UK one of the first Freeview HD receivers. And looking at the intended specification, this Freeview HD box would appear to have lots of ticks in lots of boxes.
The device is being launched by 3view, a London based company with no apparent previous experience in this field.
Not only does it look visually appealing, but the 3view box has a whole lot more to offer over and above the DVB-T2 tuner required to receive free-to-air Freeview HD television in the UK, claiming to be an all-singing, all-dancing home media hub.
The details available so far describe the device as a ‘next generation high deifnition and internet ready set top box’ with support for 720p and 1080p broadcasts.
The Freeview HD potential is maximised with dual tuners and an integrated 320Gb hard drive, offering full Freeview HD + capabilities. With this comes all of the features you would expect to find in a Freeview PVR – electronic programme guide (EPG), pause and rewind live TV, series link, chase play etc.
Next on the feature list is internet connectivity, adding YouTube and Channel 4 On Demand (4oD) players with BBC iPlayer support coming soon. This is in addition to the ability to stream music and show photos from a Windows PC connected to the network, or from a portable storage device connected to one of the two USB 2 interfaces.
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- 3view Freeview HD box and home media hub
If that’s not enough, there’s always the promise of web browsing via the Opera browser (the same one utilised by many mobile phones and the Nintendo Wii), as well as ‘TV widgets’ – applications that give access to the likes of Facebook and Twitter. Simply connect the optional wireless keyboard and mouse to browse the web from the comfort of your sofa.
UPnP, DLNA and Z Wave are all supported, making this Freeview HD box a truly ‘connected’ box. It is not certain whether this will be a wi-fi enabled device or whether you will need to use the integrated LAN ports. Due to the high bandwidth required to stream HD content, it is likely that a wired connectionn will be required. However, this could be made easier with a powerline network kit.
A full review will be posted on this site, with a liist of stockists and price comparison just as soon as the boxes are launched – hopefully sometime in March 2010. In the meantime, sign up to our free email updates to keep up to date with launches of other Freeview HD recorders.
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Great work
like to participate in HD box testing and feedback.
with regards
yasminda
Have Pansonic viera, would be happy to test and report 3View.
would be happy to test out the 3view system with my home setup the streaming is very appealing
Love the look and spec of the 3view system, I would be more than happy to try and review the box for you.
Would love to test this box out, not everyone wants a dish on the outside of there houses.
I would love to tryal the new 3view box for you.
Features look great, box looks great, the thing you’ll actually hold every day, the remote, looks cheap and nasty. Shame… Humax will no doubt do it all better.
In Serbia both SD and HD broadcasts will be in DVB-T2 (standard used for FreeView HD in UK). Where on i-net I will found some good Freeview HD receivers?
Hi Bosko, at the moment there aren’t many DVB-T2 boxes available in the UK as it is a new technology here too. Check out the reviews of the Humax Fox HD DVB-T2 and the Bush DVB680 devices.
i would to trail and test for you i have a standard pvr at the moment eager to find out wot the new ones are like??
Dont want Sky + but want my HD television to bee more than just ready. Want this technology now would be happy to test and give feedback !
Andrew, do you already have a Sky satellite dish installed? If you do, then you may wish to consider Freesat HD – very similar to Freeview HD only it works using a satellite dish rather than an aerial. As with Freeview, there are no subscription fees, and you can receive BBC HD and ITV 1 HD. Best of all, it is currently available to the entire country NOW! We will be adding some Freesat box reviews shortly, so watch this space.
I am looking forward to getting my mitts on one of these. Living in SW1 is a pain as we are not allowed a dish, and we can’t get cable, so this is just the ticket. I’d be very willing to test for you too.
hi
cant wait for this box of tricks
when is it released?
thx
It’s just been delayed until the end of June/July…
http://3viewer.elementfx.com/
..looks like they’ll be able to definitively say that everyone who wants one will get it by the end of July. Bit of a shame it’s after the World Cup!
sounds great ,looks good , whens the release date and will it come in black
and is it worth the wait , looking for hd freeview soon as just bought new led tv
Would be noce to actually be able to get/buy this, company has delayed shipping/production that many times. Looking at HumaxT2Fox or Smartbox now :/