Star Wars fever is definitely back and you're going to struggle to move this Christmas without bumping into branded products. The latest tie-in comes courtesy of Sky, which is selling Star Wars themed remotes, to celebrate Sky Movies getting the existing films on-demand and via the dedicated channel, which are available from the 11 December until the 3 January.
There are 10 remotes to choose from, each one featuring characters from the films: Darth Vader (two varieties), Storm Troopers (two varieties), R2-D2, C-3PO, Luke Skywalker, Yoda, Princess Leia and Han Solo. Essentially, it's all of the classic characters and none of the bumbling newer ones. Aside from the new design, they're regular Sky remotes with the same layout and features as the regular Sky+ model. It means you can pause and rewind to watch your favourite bits, and delete Episodes I, II and III if you accidentally record them.
Each remote costs £25 and is available through the Sky Store. If you're not sure which one you want, check out our gallery of all of the remotes below - for me, it's got to be one of the Darth Vader models.
Everything you need to know about Sky
The first premium TV provider in the UK, Sky delivers its TV via satellite to millions of homes in the UK, although it has expanded its reach via the internet streaming Now TV service. It's on the brink of releasing its most ambitious multi-room, multi-device TV service with the recently-announced Sky Q - I'll have more details on that and a hands-on review shortly. In the meantime, here's how you can get Sky and its various services in the UK.
How to get Sky in the UK and what you get
The core Sky service is delivered by satellite to a Sky+ HD box. This PVR has dual HD tuners, so you can record two channels at the same time (or watch one and record another). Sky also has a comprehensive on-demand service available, with programmes downloading directly to the Sky+ HD box. This means that you don't need to worry about streaming bandwidth, as you don't need a constant download speed, and that Sky can offer the best quality catch-up TV. When I tested Sky+ HD I found that its on-demand service, including iPlayer, was broadcast quality; streaming services are significantly worse. As well as catch-up shows, Sky also sells movies (you get a 'free' DVD in the post, too) and lets you rent top titles. Sky's main pull is the quality of its content, ranging from the latest HBO shows, such as Game of Thrones, on Sky Atlantic, to Premier League football and the F1.
Sky+ HD costs from £20 a month for the basic package, which gets you 35+ entertainment channels, including the big main Sky channels in standard definition (Sky One and Sky Atlantic), plus the 11 free HD channels, including BBC One HD, BBC Two HD, ITV HD and Four HD. Most people will want to take the Family Bundle (£36 a month), which gets you 75+ entertainment channels and 50+ HD channels, including Sky One HD and Sky Atlantic HD. Movie channels and sports channels can be added on as optional extras.
If you don't like the idea of a contract, or you only want some of Sky's content for a short period of time, then Now TV could be the service for you. Delivered over the internet, Now TV brings you the best of Sky's content (Sky Atlantic, Sports and Movies) for lower cost with no contract. Entertainment channels cost £6.99 a month, movies cost £9.99 a month and sports start at £6.99 for a day. Sky also offers its own-brand broadband, which costs from £10 a month, although more expensive and faster fibre connections are also available.
Recent Sky stories
Sky boosts movie features with Sky+ HD update - 20/8
You certainly can't accuse Sky of sitting on its laurels and not updating its main product, as it has released another update and improvement to its Sky+ HD box. This time around, it's all about improving the movie experience for Sky Movies subscribers, adding a range of new features to make the service easier to use.
First up is the More Like This feature, which will give you recommendations based on the title that you're looking at. Customers can just hit the Yellow button on their remote to bring up the new details. It's a neat way of getting more from your box and adds a feature that's already common with streaming movies services. Next, you can build your own Watchlist, saving titles that you're interested in as you discover them. A click of the green button does the job quickly. Again, it's a feature that exists with a lot of streaming services, such as Netflix, but it's an important one to have, as it means you can quickly start watching something you want to watch, rather than ploughing through the guide.
Customers in Italy have had the Watch from Start tool for a while, but it now makes its appearance in the UK. If you find a film that has already started on one of the movie channels, you can just tap the green button and the film will be downloaded to your box, so you can start watching it. As Expert Reviews proved in its Sky+ HD vs Virgin Tivo article, Sky's on-demand service downloads the broadcast-quality show, so you don't have to suffer inferior quality for the sake of convenience. Later on in the year, the company will roll out Rotten Tomatoes scores, so you'll have a better idea of what's worth watching, too.
Sky has started to roll out the new update now and has promised that it will be available to everyone later in Autumn. As usual with these updates, your box will download and complete the upgrade automatically, provided that it's powered on. Check out how the Sky EPG has evolved in our full gallery.
Sky records 1.5 billion on-demand downloads in a year
Sky recorded a huge surge in people using video-on-demand services over the past year, according to the company's latest trading figures. The broadcaster recorded a total of 1.5 billion on-demand downloads over the past 12 months, an increase of 60% on the year before.
The company reports that 65% of Sky homes have now connected their set-top box to the internet, giving them full access to Sky's on-demand services, such as Box Sets and catch-up TV services such as the BBC iPlayer. The Box Sets themselves - which allow users to stream entire series of television shows via their Sky+ box - have recorded more than 600 million views since their launch last year. Sky says that's the equivalent of the fourth most popular channel on its service.
The company also reported "strong growth" in Now TV, the on-demand and streaming service that doesn't require a full satellite subscription. Although it doesn't offer specific figures for Now TV adoption, the company claims it sold three times as many Sky Sports passes in the past year as it did in the year previous, largely "thanks to increased awareness of the new Now TV week pass", which gives access to all the Sky Sports channels for seven days for £10.99. Recently Sky also introduced a month pass for £31.99.
Sky has overcome many of the reliability problems that beset Now TV in its early days, where streams would routinely fail on big occasions such as key football matches or new episodes of popular series such as Game of Thrones. An updated version of the Sky Now streaming device was launched last month, although it still won't deliver the Full HD streams that many were hoping for, even though the hardware is technically capable of delivering that resolution.
Sky is reported to be improving the on-demand facilities with its new 4K-compatible set-top box, SkyQ, which is expected to be unveiled imminently. The box will reportedly record up to four TV channels simultaneously and allow users to wirelessly stream recorded content on other devices, such as smartphones and tablets.
The shift towards fibre broadband - which Sky now offers for "free" with premium television subscriptions - and on-demand viewing raises questions over the long-term future of satellite broadcasts.
Sky wants BT ripped apart for broadband failures
Sky is pushing for BT to be ripped in two, after accusing its rival of failing to repair and install new broadband lines promptly. Sky wants Openreach - the division of BT that manages the broadband and telephone network - separated from BT Retail, to ensure that BT doesn't favour its own retail division when it comes to repairs.
Sky claims that Openreach misses more than 500 appointments a month to install new lines for Sky customers, and fails to complete a further 4,000 jobs per month, according to a report in the Financial Times. Sky also claims that fault rates across the Openreach network increased by half between 2009 and 2012 - the last year for which figures were made publicly available.
Sky claims that BT is underinvesting in Openreach and giving its own Retail division preferential treatment when it comes to repairs and installations, an accusation that BT has long denied. Sky wants Ofcom to force BT to spin-off Openreach, creating two different companies.
The proposal comes in Sky's formal submission to regulator Ofcom's regular review of the digital communications market. "We are drawing attention to the problems in broadband because they are important to the economy as a whole," Sky's chief strategy officer, Mai Fyfield, told the FT. "They affect competition between providers and have a direct impact on consumers and small businesses, resulting in inconvenience, dissatisfaction and loss of productivity."
Sky's intervention comes as BT faces enormous regulatory scrutiny, as it attempts to push through its £12 billion takeover of EE. That takeover is currently subject to an investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority, and has also raised concerns that BT will favour EE over other mobile providers by giving its own network cheaper access to the bandwidth required for mobile data services.
BT told the FT that it was "disappointing that Sky are engaging in selective spin rather than constructive dialogue", and that splitting Openreach from the rest of the company would "lead to huge uncertainty and fundamentally undermine the case for future investment".
Sky app to stop kids sneaking a glimpse of Game of Thrones - 29/6
Sky is planning to launch a video-on-demand app geared specifically towards children, reducing the risk of the kids accidentally (or otherwise) watching something they shouldn't. The app is expected to launch early next year and will include a variety of parental controls.
Currently, Sky's kids programming is delivered through the same Sky Go app as the rest of its shows. That means kids watching Peppa Pig on a parent's tablet or smartphone are just a few clicks away from shows such as Game of Thrones and True Detective, which both contain scenes that even the most liberal of parents would agree are unsuitable for minors. That adds an unwanted element of risk to handing the tablet over to young children.
The new app will be aimed at children aged 4-9, and will collate all the on-demand programming from channels such as Nickleodeon, The Cartoon Network and Disney. Even though it will only show child-friendly programmes, parents can still filter what's available to their children. The app will include bedtime settings, preventing kids from sneaking a tablet upstairs to watch Ben ans Holly under the duvet. Sky says the app will also let parents "understand what their child has been watching" - which presumably means some kind of viewing history will be available to parents.
"We want kids to have access to all their favourite shows when and on whatever device they want, in a way that parents know is creative, engaging but ultimately, safe," says Stephen van Rooyen, chief marketing and digital officer at Sky. "Sky has always focused on providing great entertainment for the whole family which is why we are continuing to invest in what we offer the youngest members of the household."
Sky's approach differs somewhat from rival Netflix. The streaming media service gives kids their own account within the same app, which hides away all the adult content, such as the potential counselling sessions awaiting kids who watch a few minutes of Breaking Bad. However, the Netflix app also relies on the child's honesty - there's no PIN or other security measure to prevent kids from accessing mum and dad's profile. With Sky's separate apps, device-level parental controls could be used to bar access to the adult app.
