Sky Shows Off STB for HD

Sky continues to whet the appetites of prospective HD consumers in Europe this summer with a marketing campaign designed to peak in early 2006 with the launch of its HD offerings in the United Kingdom. Sky promises its new services will provide several channels of HD for coverage of live special events, movies, sports--such as next summer's World Cup--concerts and documentaries.

Its newly unveiled sleek black and silver HD set-top box is described by British gadget publication T3 as "looking much slicker than Sky's previous under-the-telly offerings, thanks to those smooth black curves. Plus the layout is starkly different, with standard playback controls situated on the face and an intriguing set of extra functions situated in a dial on the top of the machine."

Sky recently went online with a consumer Web site dedicated to its HD roll-out. Sky (or BSkyB) is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, which also owns satellite firms DirecTV, Foxtel and Sky Italia--not to mention Fox Broadcasting, Twentieth Century Fox, and a ton of print media. Sky's price points have not yet been announced for its HD venture in the U.K., but presumably they won't be marketed as "Sky high."