Sky Q looks to boost video over Wi-Fi with AirTies Mesh Technology
As the pay-TV giant looks to get all the right bits in place to launch its next-gen service with a bang, Sky is to use AirTies Mesh technology to ‘supercharge’ Wi-Fi on all of its forthcoming Sky Q devices
Sky is calling the launch its ‘biggest re-imagining’ opening up a whole new way of watching TV. The new Sky Q family of products is designed to connect wirelessly to create a new ecosystem that, claims the company, makes TV viewing seamless. It allows viewers to watch shows from a box, whether live, recorded or on-demand, either on a TV or another set or a connected device such as a tablet, and also to watch different programmes on up to five screens simultaneously while also recording four other channels.
Sky Q is said, for the first time in a Sky package, to enable viewers to save recordings onto a tablet to watch anywhere in what the company calls a ‘fluid viewing’ experience. It will be Ultra HD-ready in advance of the launch of what Sky promises to be UK’s most comprehensive 4KTV service later in the year.
To support the launch Sky has been busily adding content partners and implementing supporting technology such as Mesh. As mobile devices move throughout the home, AirTies Mesh software maps the home network, monitoring the shifting demands for broadband and TV streams from a multitude of devices. It decides in near real-time which path to send data packets through to optimise performance. AirTies Mesh is also attributed with being able to improve connection speed for Sky customers, while also enabling a simplified and improved user experience.
AirTies believes that its technology addresses the so-called bad apple Wi-Fi performance problem, whereby the slowest performing device degrades overall performance for all other devices in the home. To ensure video quality around the house, even in thick stone walled homes such as typically is the case in the UK, the AirTies system uses power-line (PLC) as additional mesh links between the smart devices. …
… read on at rapidtvnews.com
Originally posted at Rapid TV News
26th January 2016