Top Up TV Anytime details

Details are slowing becoming available of TopUp TV Anytime.

It seems that the current subscription service will be reducing its output to make way for a new service. Top Up TV Anytime will cost an additional £2, there are some changes to the lineup, and the service needs a PVR (digital recorder) to capture programmes. The set-top box is being manufactured by Thomson (model DTI 6300-16), and it has a twin tuner plus 160gig hard-drive (for 120 hours of TV). Boxes will be available from October 2006, priced £180 to new customers or £100 to existing customers.

FrequencyCast will be sticking with this story and featuring it in the next show. You can find more details on this at www.frequencycast.co.uk/topuptv.html

161 comments

  • Anonymous

    One word to describe the whole TUTV thing C*!p.

  • hondaking.kinghonda

    tutv in two words dont bother

  • hondaking.kinghonda

    just glad ive read all the reviews as i thought it was me doing something wrong with dti box and im still only on the first week of my tutv trial so yes you guess it im going to cancel

    WHAT A CON

  • Alan Brown

    TUTV DTI1600 – UNFIT FOR PURPOSE and PROBABLY PIRATED INTERNAL SOFTWARE.

    OK, I’ve been playing with my one for the last 4 months and all I can say is – THE DEVICE IS UNFIT FOR THE PURPOSE FOR WHICH IT IS SOLD

    After being used as a recorder for some months, the unit now regularly corrupts recordings – AND when this happens IT ALSO LOSES ANY SERIES LINK ENTRIES – this means if you were recording a series, it stops doing it!

    It locks up regularly to the point of requiring power cycling at the wall switch and many times it ranges from difficult to almost impossible to delete corrupt recordings – attempting to play or delete them ofetn results in a system lockup.

    I believe this box is Linux-based, after observing the hard drive format and the way certain things are done – Linux/GPL licensing conditions REQUIRE that customers be made aware that they are buying GPL software-based equipment, and the software + SOURCE CODE must be made available, along with the source code of any modifications made to the software – this is not done with the TUTV box – that makes the device a copyright violation and TopUpTV a bunch of SOFTWARE PIRATE

    Internally – the chipset was obseleted 2 years ago and chipset manufacturer data (SG/Thomson) makes it clear that it’s specifically intended for this purpose – however they refuse to divulge technical specifications – Thomson have been sucessfully sued for GPL software violations in the past and I believe they’re doing it again.

    Moving onto the software – the front panel USB slot is intended for a hard drive. This is part of the software in the chipset. It appears that TUTV had deliberately disabled it, as well as encrypting even freeview recordings on the internal hard drive, making it impossible for users to extract their recordings.

    I am currently working on finding out how they’re encrypted as I believe the frontend software being used is GPL software being used illegally with obfustication being used to disguise this – TUTV whould take note that the last UK company found to be doing this went out of business as a direct result of legal action which proved “willful” copyright violations instead of merely accidental/unintentional violation

    I believe the instability and terrible general performance is a direct result of incompetent and obfusticated modifications of existing programs by TUTV – there are other boxes based on this chipset on the market and they work fine.

    Looking forward to seeing court orders blowing this mess open. Just because TUTV is Jersey based won’t protect them and there is plenty of european legal precedent over the last 10 years.

    Guys: Comply with GPL conditions, it would take you 45 minutes to do so. The last judgment against a company which deliberately violated GPL and set out to obscure that they’d done so resulted in costs, legal fees, damages approching 250,000 pounds and orders requiring they not only remove the product from the market but also that all sold copies be taken back and purshasers compensated – that was a small company. Judgements go up with the egariousness of the violations.

    Software piracy is software piracy. If TUTV do not comply with licensing conditions then they as pirates as much as any knockoff artist flogging counterfeit copies of Microsoft Office.

  • blogs

    hi why can’t uktv style be unscrambled?

  • anon

    Cancelled subscription to TopUpTV, downloaded programmes were either repeats of ex terrestrial series or just not my choice of viewing. Since cancelling, my box keeps being sent upgrades, the latest has managed to make the box virtually useless, it locks up Live TV approximately every 25 minutes. So if you’re considering this as an option be aware that the programmes may not be worth the extra and the box has been problematic from day one, but is now worse than ever.

  • Barry

    Hi I have purchased the 250GB model and it says I have 60 odd hours of recording time but I was lead to beleive it had 180 hours. I was swapped tuners to see if it was distributed between to the two but the both give the same value.

    Thanks

    Barry

  • pete n

    All TUTV progs should be unscrambled cus all they got is repeated repeats of repeats of repeats ad infinitum the service now is a pile of hog wallop think i am going to have to look at freesat and a decent dish we pay an license fee in this country therefore we should NOT pe asked to pay to watch TV rules should be if it is broadcast in this country or beamed at this country then it has to be UN scrambled and FREE

    YMMV mine dont !

  • joe

    Top Up TV, Well its the worse investment i’ve made in a while . I have had no end of problems with my box and the lock out over the bank holliday was the last straw.
    I was also charged exra on my monthly bill without notice and was told because i whish to cancel my top up tv and stetanta sport subs i would have to pay an etra admin fee without revceiving the channel for my payment.

    TRake my word for it go with Sky at least you know were you are and no signal interferance and missed recrdings etc to contend with. Top up tv is the pits.

  • dave

    Why should we pay for channels like Sky and UK Gold. It’s just a plot to extort more money from us. I’d like to hear from anyone who knows how to bypass these decoder things.

  • Anthony

    Same with me – box freezes for no reason, and sometimes shows the recording light but fails to actually record, meaning if you go on holiday for a week and this happens first night, everything else also fails.
    Nothing but problems since day 1, and trying to cancel the subscription channel took half an hour on the phone!

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