Sky has launched a nice little update for its Sky Glass televisions, adding the Sky Box Office channel, voice controls for YouTube and making it easier to access BBC content.
The Sky Glass TVs launched towards the end of last year, giving viewers a way to access its satellite TV services through broadband WiFi for the first time.
Before the Glass TVs arrived, it was always necessary to install a satellite dish on your house to access the Sky Q experience. With Sky Glass TVs, there’s no more need for the dish, as everything is streamed over WiFi in a simple plug-and-play setup.
With today’s update, Sky Glass TV owners will get access to Sky’s pay-per-view Box Office channel, which is the traditional host for many of its exclusive boxing fights. One of the first fights that will be available is Oleksandr Usyk’s rematch with Anthony Joshua for the heavyweight championship of the world, set to take place in about three week’s time, on August 20. The channel also provides pay-per-view access to numerous new movie releases, so it should be a welcome addition for those who don’t mind paying a little more now and again.
Another addition is voice controls for YouTube, meaning it’s possible to search for videos without typing. Simply say “Hello Sky” followed by “kids cartoons on YouTube” or something similar, and it will automatically search for the requested content. Voice search already works with Netflix on Sky Glass, and Sky said it will add support for additional applications in the coming weeks and months.
Sky has also made it a bit easier to access BBC content through the iPlayer and BBC Sounds. By logging into one of those services, users will be automatically logged into the other at the same time.
Sky said it’s making it simpler to delete items from a Playlist too, by clicking the “+” button on the remote with a single click. Finally, the company said it’s adding nine new channels to the platform: Colors HD, Colors Rishtey, Colors Gujrati, Bloomberg, NBC News Now, GB News, TalkTV, Zee TV and Zee Cinema.
The Sky Glass TVs made their debut last October and were generally well received. While they’re certainly not up to the same standards as some of the premium OLED and QLED models sold by the likes of LG Electronics, Samsung Electronics and Sony, they’re pretty decent as far as mid-range LCD TVs go. They’re notably also claimed by Sky to be the world’s first-ever carbon neutral TVs.
The real selling point of Sky Glass is the Sky services integration that does away with the satellite dish requirement. Users get a decent if not spectacular TV with a slick Sky user interface at its core.
If the Sky Glass TVs don’t cut the mustard in terms of picture performance, they might be interested in the upcoming Puck device that’s set to launch later this year. Sky Puck will be a small streaming device that can connect to any TV and soundbar to bring the whole Sky experience to your living room over WiFi, doing away with the need for the Sky Glass TVs.
