Sky UK Makes Improvements to Sky Glass and Sky Stream Firmware
Sky (Sky Broadband, Sky TV etc.) has begun to rollout a new firmware update (aka – Entertainment OS 1.1) for the operating system software that underpins their broadband-based Sky Glass and Sky Stream TV services, which adds a number of new features (e.g. Personalised Playlists and enhanced Bluetooth features).
The update was confirmed last week, but due to other distractions, we missed it. In short, it adds the somewhat self-explanatory “Personalised Playlists” feature (i.e. create a list of everything you want to watch from the TV guide, on demand and apps – simply by pressing the ‘+’ button on your remote), as well as the new “Play” voice command that starts or resumes shows with a few words (e.g. “Play The Last of Us“).
Sky has also added a new “Cast and Crew” rail on Show Pages, which makes it easier to find info. and watch the back catalogue of actors or directors who might be associated with something you’re actively watching. Finally, on Sky Glass (no mention of Stream), you can now listen via Bluetooth headphones at the same time as Sky Glass’ speakers are playing (useful for those with hearing problems).
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The latest update follows the release of Entertainment OS 1.0 (aka – QS013) in October last year, which among other things improved image quality by enabling local area dimming on LED screens and enhancing the existing “Vivid Mode” feature in the options’ menu (i.e. improved contrast and colour saturation).
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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Is “Cast and Crew” feature extra paid?
Wonder when they will sort the absolutely rubbish and unreliable continue watching feature
works flawlessly for me
I got Stream recently as they offered me 3 months free – it’s basically a Q box with no HDD and works fine for me although not sure yet it’s worth the £29 a month 31 day contract but time will tell. I did get Netflix and Discovery + included too so not too shabby
I recently did a price compare of Sky Q vs Sky Stream and it’s basically the same price. I don’t really get Sky’s product strategy, how can a streaming product be priced the same as one delivered via Sat dish? Personally I wouldn’t touch Sky Stream as Sky Q seems to be much better and refined product. I understand some people won’t be able to have Sat a dish but I do. Why would I choose Stream over Q at the same price? It’s laggy and the integration with catch up apps is confusing and slow.
And yet you have never used it… I have and I can tell you that you are wrong.
Its just as fast a Q if you have a decent connection. Yes the price is a bit high but you can also have it contract free so for me that was the best option. I am trying it free at the moment anyway.
I do agree with the whole price thing however – I got entertainment and cinema for £12 a month from Nowtv a month before this so I cancelled entertainment and movies and they offered me movies for £1 a month for 6 months – better than £13 a month
Depends on your definition of “as fast as Sky Q”.
The UI might be as responsive but pretty much everything is received by the stream a minute behind the dish service.
It’s useless for watching live sports. I can hear the neighbour celebrating goals during football almost a full minute before it shows on Sky Stream.
Sky promise to lower this delay over time but there will always be some delay.
@John
Sky stream is 25-30 secs behind broadcast tv, even on SkyQ there is an 8-10 second delay on live broadcasts. Also, the PQ on stream is far superior to Q imo.
My issue with Sky at the moment is the complete lack of subtitles on UHD and large unscalable subtitles on all channels. I’ve been in touch and it’s something they are working on so looking forward to that update!
Please let me know if you manage to get them working. I have yet to get them on any live channel 🙁 when hard of hearing they are very much missed.
What gets me is that development on Sky Q has now stopped due to Sky Stream. Updates nowadays are few and far between and when they happen, I don’t see any difference, plus there’s no changelog published either.
The satellites have about another decade of life left in them and then Sky will be going streaming only which is the cause of this situation. At least if they charged a bit less it would make this bitter pill a bit easier to swallow.
HAVE A SKY GLASS BUT CANNOT GET ANY SOUND FROM A DVD player