Entertainment at home set for a huge makeover

THE shape of home entertainment is changing rapidly, giving consumers a broader choice following the launch of two new products in the last few weeks.

THE shape of home entertainment is changing rapidly, giving consumers a broader choice following the launch of two new products in the last few weeks.

The Node from Altech and Vidi from Times Media Group (TMG), owner of the Sunday Times, will be up against Naspers-owned MultiChoice with its dominant DStv product.

The Node, which began selling this week, is targeting at least 100000 customers within 18 months, depending on the strength of its partners , according to Willie Oosthuysen, chief technology officer.

Altech, a subsidiary of JSE-listed Altron, claims its offering is the world's first fully converged entertainment and smart home solution, which offers home automation, more than 700 hours of content, security surveillance, telephone calls over the internet and bill payments with the flick of a remote control from the couch.

The launch comes a week after TMG unveiled its online content streaming service, Vidi, which offers movies and series on cellphone, laptop and any other device over the internet.

The Node delivers content over satellite to a set-top box with a one terabyte hard drive.

The company has signed satellite deals with Sentech, the state-owned signal distributor and Intelsat. MultiChoice's DStv subscribers can use their existing satellite dish.

Craig Venter, Altech CEO, said the product was like a "DVD store in the home". Content is updated regularly via satellite. Retailers had placed orders for over 14200 units, valued in excess of R40-million, according to Venter.

The concept for Node was developed two to three years ago by 245 software engineers employed at the company.

The firm has filed 40 patents in the US, Europe, Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa and owns the intellectual property.

Altech has spent over R50-million on research and development and between R50-million and R60-million on procuring content in a three-year deal from Sony, Universal and MGM, according to Oosthuysen.

Altech is talking to MultiChoice on some offerings.

"We talk to them every day, and they are definitely seeing potential in parts that are noncore to MultiChoice [such as offering prepaid airtime]," Venter said.

The Node costs R3499 for the set-top box including installation, and charges a monthly subscription of R299. In comparison, DStv launched VOD services in 2010 on any device, offering Box Office movies online to all customers and non-subscribers for R10 for library movies and R27 for blockbusters.

A DStv decoder costs from R999 to R1999 and subscriptions from R29 to R665 for the premium package.

MultiChoice, which has more than eight million pay-TV customers in Africa, sources its decoders from Altech's Durban factory.

It said: "Altech's entry into the VOD space has no impact on our business relationship. We welcome competition as it stimulates interest in our industry."

Vidi offers a subscription requiring at least a 1 megabit per second internet connection for R149 a month, movie rentals for R15 for older films and R27 for newer movies.

Andrew Gill, MD for TMG broadcasting and content, said the company was looking to add at least 200 hours of TV series and 30 movies a month, and was about to sign up new studios.

"Within 12 months, we expect to be at least two to three times larger in terms of content."

Breaking into this market is tough. Top TV, now StarSat, launched in 2010 but is in business rescue after struggling to provide sufficiently appealing content to attract viewers.

Chris Moerdyk, a media market analyst, said: "VOD is the way things are going in the future. At the moment there is certainly not enough bandwidth and speed for all except for a few people to stream."