Sky has announced a new update for its Sky+HD boxes that will improve the service’s electronic programming guide (EPG).
The update, which goes live today, will bring changes to the Planner, parental controls, the Eco Mode, Sky Movies and the Sky Store, as well as a new accessibility feature.
For starters, the Planner is being improved to make it ‘more intuitive’, with recent recordings and downloads having now been moved to the top of the first page.
Upcoming recordings will appear in a brand new ‘Scheduled’ page. This is paired with Smart Series Links, which remembers to record both current and future seasons of a TV show.
You’ll also be able to delete entire series from the Planner using the new yellow ‘Delete All’ button, which should come as a big relief for box-set bingers.
There are now also hundreds of full screen theatrical trailers for movies on the Sky Movies and Sky Store pages.
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Sky has also worked with the Royal National Institute of Blind People to create a new accessibility setting for partially sighted customers, which lets users increase colour contrast and embolden lettering.
The new ‘Family’ setting on parental controls will hide all adult channels, pin protect pre-watershed playback of on-demand content and movies with a 12 rating or above, as well as Sky Store purchases.
Finally, Eco Mode has been extended by 50 per cent, which means your Sky+HD box will now switch off between 2.45am to 5.45am to save energy.
Luke Bradley-Jones, Sky’s Brand Director for TV Products, said: “We know the Planner is crucial in helping customers organise their TV viewing so we’ve made some neat changes.”
“And that’s not all, there are even more improvements coming later this year, including a simple but very clever feature that lets customers go back to the start of a film on Sky Movies if they’ve missed the beginning.”
The software update is gradually rolling out to customers starting today, and will be available to all 8.5 million Sky+HD homes by the end of June.
