Foxtel announces Hubbl puck and TV
A single puck to bring together Free to Air, Streaming and Subscriptions, or a new TV unit that does away with extra wires.
- Published by David Knox
- on
- Filed under Subscription
Foxtel last night confirmed the name of its new single interface, Hubbl which promises “TV and streaming made easy.”
To be available as a puck to plug into a Smart TV, or as a single TV unit, it will help viewers to avoid going in and out of apps to find content and unite different subscriptions into one.
Previously known as ‘Project Magneto’, Hubble is backed by Comcast USA and Sky UK – but has been designed for Australia and will continuously evolve its entertainment OS with regular software updates.
Hubbl Glass – a TV set based on UK’s Sky Glass, comes with a high-quality built-in sound bar that only requires an internet connection and a power cord, no other wires.
Patrick Delany, CEO, Hubbl and Foxtel Group, said: “We all love the explosion of choice that streaming has delivered us over the past few years. But there is no doubt we are all experiencing the same frustrations: having to go in and out of apps, keeping track of show recommendations, remembering what we started but did not finish watching and who in the family is paying for what. Hubbl solves these frustrations.
“Hubbl is the next quantum leap in entertainment technology and is the solution to a complex Australian streaming landscape caused by the fabulous explosion of choice in streaming services available to Australians.
“Hubbl is like nothing in the market – ‘it is TV and streaming made easy’ – seamlessly integrating world-leading technology with a purpose-built design and unrivaled app integration that sets it well ahead of the curve.
“It has been built with Australian consumers in mind, effortlessly fusing free and paid entertainment and sport from apps, channels and the internet into one seamless user experience – delivered via Hubbl Hub or a world leading TV, Hubbl Glass. It will deliver a frictionless paid and free entertainment environment, and we believe will become the heart of the home for millions of Australians.”
Hubbl will launch in Australia in the coming months.
More announcements on app partners and product features will be released soon.
14 Responses
Why would you Hubbl when Fetch does all this and more?
We have finally disconnected from Foxtel after 10 years using satellite and an IQ2 box which has worked flawlessly in that time. They tried to bully us to “upgrade” by slowly removing functions from it (e.g. on demand) which made us more determined to stay put, and I’m glad we did after hearing of all the dramas people have been having with later model boxes.
But this operating model and failure to keep up has lost us. We currently subscribe to Netflix, Stan and Prime and that is more than enough content for us on top of the odd thing you might find on free to air. And the worst of it, ads. We are paying for a service not to see ads so they are trying to have their cake and eat it too – we gave ceased contributing to the feast. After a huge jump in our mortgage after we came off fixed interest, something had to go and they made it an easy choice.
I have to laugh about how Foxtel embrace streaming, because a decade ago, they (Murdoch and co) raged so hard about the demise of Pay TV due to streaming and piracy, they hobbled the NBN rollout. They are single handedly responsible for the mess we now have to deal with when it comes to the NBN. I haven’t forgotten and it’s why I will never give a single red cent to that company.
This!
In my opinion, I can’t help thinking that with the commercial dominance of global streamed entertainment, Foxtel along with its big brother in the UK Sky have not given up being a premium pay TV market player, as they once were during the set top box cable TV era, but whether it is a mid range Smart QLED TV called Hubbl Glass, or a Hubbl Hub, Foxtel will still need to rely on some good old customer service and quality products if it wants to maintain its client loyalty. Whether current Foxtel subscribers or potential new subscribers will see any advantage purchasing a tricked out TV from Foxtel or having one more set top streaming device like the Hubbl Hub is debatable, technology is always developing and there are better well proven set top boxes available with better integrated AV technology for most of the popular apps available right now.
Hold the power button in for a few seconds to reset it (I’ve also had to do it a lot)
So this Hubbl puck will be just like Google’s Chromecast dongle or Amazon’s Fire Stick? Nothing really new or innovative here.
Correct me if I’m wrong but hasn’t Foxtel done this all before?
Is this something you have to buy or will it appear on your foxtel box? Wonder if it will have 7plus.
It would be a new purchase.
It couldn’t be worse than the IQ5, I still have mine in cupboard they don’t appear to want it either. They claim it’s like nothing else on the market but they have stolen Fetch’s marketing line almost word for word. Stream offer us lots of stuff, much of it rubbish and repeats, but it was cheap. It is no longer going to be cheap and any TV or device can access it just as easily. Middle men will be first casuality of the streaming wars.
You could not have hit the nail on the head more precisely..the IQ5 is a load of rubbish…it is a useless bit of kit, badly designed, not user friendly especially for vision impaired…it never holds it setting not even audio or vision…you can’t tell if it is recording unless it’s turned on and worse no reset button other than a dot you stick a pen/pencil in to reset…its easier to disconnect it from the electric socket but sometimes you have to do that a few times to reset it…I’ve had issues with it since May and all I get from technical support is we appreciate your feedback..it is not fit for purpose as far as I’m concerned…the voice remote gets itself in a tangle too…even the 30 minute video on how to use it on YouTube is a waste of time to watch because PD the CEO can’t explain it to well other than how good he thinks Foxtel is before getting a technician to explain how to use it…it will be interesting to see how much they sting their subscribers for an upgrade on this bit of kit.
Sorry I have to disagree with you. I’ve only had the iQ5 box for only a few months and it works great. No issues recording. Interface is very easy to use and I like everything in one place. Hard refresh or forced update can be done by turning off the unit to standby power, then hold the power button on the unit until you see blue light come on, then quicly press that same button 5 times. The unit will do a forced refresh and update. This should fix any account not displaying correctly on the iQ5. I only had the iQ5 for a short time and worked that out pretty quickly!
I still have 3 fetch boxes, 1 mighty and 2 mini, they fill my tv requirements.. anything extra use my Apple TV, I miss content like CNN etc that we have lost on fetch, but they have added some stuff that is remotely interesting.