Humax have said that on December 9th 2009 they will release further details of what is anticipated be the first Freeview HD Box available in the shops, just days after Freeview HD will be made available in selected areas in the UK.
It is currently unclear whether the announcement will be to say that the product is available to buy in the shops with immediate effect, or more likely is that the full specifications will be revealed on the 9th, with an ‘available from’ date early in 2010. Even if there is a limited supply of units in shops in time for Christmas, these are only likely to be available in London and Manchester (possibly Liverpool) as only the Winter Hill and Crystal Palace transmitters will be broadcasting Freeview HD at this stage.
Humax already have arguably the most respected range of Freeview Recorders (SD not HD) at present and leads the market with its PVR9150T and PVR9300T models. The Fox-HD-T2 is only expected to be a Freeview HD Receiver and not a Freeview HD recorder, although recorders are believed to be in development to be launched not long after the receiver-only models.
No clear information is available to suggest what price the Fox-HD-T2 will be at launch, but you can be certain they will come at a premium over the existing standard definition Freeview boxes. At the beginning don’t be surprised to see prices in the region of £150-£250 for a receiver and £200-£300 for a recorder (some reports suggest even more than these prices). Prices will no-doubt come down in time as more manufacturers release their own devices and as Freeview HD is broadcast to more regions increasing the demand. How long it will take to reach the current £30 price tags on standard definition Freeview boxes in supermarkets is anyone’s guess, but this isn’t likely to happen until 2012 when the whole of the UK has access to Freeview HD.
As was seen with the launch of Freeview, you should see the introduction of digital televisions with integrated Freeview HD DVB-T2 tuners during mid-to-late 2010, but this is no good if you have just splashed out on a new TV.
In the meantime, Sky HD and Freesat are advertising agressively on television (particularly to the regions where Freeview HD is launched in December) and hope to benefit from the frustration of 50% of the UK population who seem condemned to waiting until the analogue switch-off in as late as 2012 before they can receive Freeview HD. For these people, subscription-free Freesat could be a favourite for those on a budget, whilst Sky HD will dominate amongst the sport-lovers.
Just as soon as the Fox-HD-T2 is released we will publish a review of the device as with any other devices that come to market. If you haven’t already done so, enter your email address in the box at the top right hand side of this page to receive any future Freeview HD news and product reviews directly by email.
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The big problem with Freeview HD is the same one as Freesat HD.
Namely the programming or rather lack of it!
BBC HD is only a skeleton service,with just a few simulcasts with SD transmissions.
ITV HD is a joke,showing only tiny amounts of HD content.They do not even have their own transponder,offering only a red button service.
Channel 4 HD are O.K.,but to date,Channel 5 HD doesn’t even exist!
What is the point of buying a Freeview HD box if there is little to watch on it?
Waste of money until the broadcasters get their acts together.
I do believe eventually however that Freeview HD will succeed at the expense of Freesat HD
which I think will die a death,mainly because people will be able to get Freeview HD on their existing aerials,without the need of a satellite dish.
At the moment, I would agreee… but I think all of the channels are very committed to HD content – and the BBC in particular. ITV is a long way behind, but has to play catch up if it wants to compete for viewer numbers (and therefore advertising revenue) in my opinion. For those people who are still in the dark about Freeview HD (and Freesat HD to a lesser extent), I believe the World Cup 2010 will be a big eye-opener to many, and the broadcasters will start boasting about and increasing the number of HD transmissions from then onwards.
Freesat HD has won a significant number of customers already – and I agree, the reason for which is simply that Freeview HD isn’t yet available (and they don’t want to pay a subscription for Sky HD). Once Freeview HD is available (and there are HD boxes on the market) the only people who will use Freesat HD will be those who can’t get a decent reception via a terrestrial aerial, and those who perhaps ‘downgrade’ from Sky and already have a dish installed.
The gumpf I have seen is that additional HD channels with come on to Freeview HD by the summer. What people will get annoyed with is that many have bought HD tellys wiith a freeview turner built in only to realise that when publicity breaks with awareness of Freeview HD around the time of the world cup that the telly they have just bought six months ago won’t be able to get the HD transmission