DStv customers with MultiChoice's flagship decoder, the Explora, will soon have access to a suite of online services, including remote recording and Catch Up Plus - an amplified version of its current push video-on-demand (VOD) service, via the Internet.
Naspers-owned MultiChoice this evening announced the Explora - launched around August 2013 - would go online this weekend.
The move to Internet connectivity, which was already alluded to by the company at the Explora launch and detailed last month, means customers will be able to connect and gain access to an additional 300 titles of new series, movies and other exclusive content via DStv Catch Up Plus.
To access the connected services, customers need to link their DStv Explora to their existing Internet router - either by Ethernet cable or using the DStv WiFi Connector, which will be available in retail stores for about R400.
As it stands, DStv premium customers have access to about 300 titles on DStv Catch Up, all automatically delivered via satellite. When the Explora is connected to the Internet, customers will have access to an additional 300 titles of new series, movies and other exclusive content on DStv Catch Up Plus.
"Customers can choose up to 25 titles from the DStv Catch Up Plus library to download to their Explora, to watch when it suits them."
However, warns MultiChoice, customers will need to plan their viewing ahead of time, "as broadband speeds are not yet fast enough for instant downloads or streaming".
The company says it will make progressive downloads available on DStv Catch Up Plus during the first half of 2015, so "customers can watch what they want, when they want without having to plan ahead".
DStv Now
Regarding the remote recording functionality MultiChoice previously referred to, the company says its new app, DStv Now, will be launched in December.
The mobile app will give DStv premium customers with personal video recorders (PVRs) the ability to take some of the functionality the PVR decoder includes with them "on the go".
MultiChoice says the app will enable PVR users to set remote recordings from any iOS or Android mobile device, and access 12 channels and DStv Catch Up content.
The company notes that access to the said connected services is included in customers' monthly DStv premium subscription and access fees. "Any DStv Explora customer can use remote recording, [but] DStv Catch Up Plus is exclusively available to DStv premium customers."
The data charges for downloads will be as per the customer's data plan with their Internet service provider.
CEO of MultiChoice SA, Imtiaz Patel, says this evening's unveiling of connected services is "a big step forward in the evolution of [the company's] innovation roadmap".
He says the company will take "another step to making these services more accessible to customers" next week.
Connected services will be available from 14 November and the DStv WiFi Connector will be in retail stores from 18 November.
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