My Cart - A new set top box, that manufacturers are hoping will revolutionise the way we watch TV, is currently under development and will hopefully be available to buy early next year.
The new device, which is set to supersede the Freeview Boxes currently used by most British households to access digital TV is known as ‘YouView’ and will allow viewers to access the internet, pause and rewind live TV, and grant them access to a week’s worth of TV that they can view whenever the please, much like the BBC iPlayer service.
The YouView concept has been brought about through a partnership with the BBC, ITV, BT, Channel 4, Five and Talk Talk, each of whom has invest a serious amount of money to get the new service off the ground. The involvement of the BBC has led to some controversy over the use of public money by the corporation to secure itself as one of the leading players in the next generation of TV technology.
Nevertheless the YouView boxes are set to be made available to the public within the next twelve months and they’re expected to be hugely popular. One of the major advantages of the YouView box is that there will be no subscription charges, just the one off payment for the box itself. This has angered Sky, one of the leading providers of subscription based TV services in the UK, who claim the project is anti-competitive.
However, this is unlikely to be a cause of concern for viewers who will almost certainly be more than happy to embrace the new YouView system. As well as allowing viewers an unbelievable amount of choice and freedom when it comes to TV programming it will also allow them to make use of online music and shopping services from the comfort of their own home, something else which is likely to make YouView extremely appealing to consumers.
Once the units have hit the shelves it is quite possible that TV manufacturers will be keen to integrate the system into their products, in much the same way Freeview has. Most modern cheap LCD TVs currently on the market do not require the viewer to purchase a Freeview Box thanks to the integration into the TV itself. So, hopefully next year TVs with built in YouView will be available to the public.
