Sky Q gets the 4K green light for the summer
Voice control and a new Now TV box could be on the way too
4K is officially on the way – Sky has set a ballpark date for when Sky Q customers can expect to get UHD broadcasts.
Sky’s Director of Strategy Nick Hern spilled the beans at the Connected TV Summit in London this morning, pencilling in “this summer” for 4K transmissions.
The Sky Q set-top box was built to handle UHD video, but at launch Sky still hadn’t flipped the switch to start broadcasting in the higher resolution format.
It now looks like that will come just in time for the start of the Premier League, so football fans will be able to see every blade of grass – and make out every player’s gobby language, even when the camera cuts to a wide shot.
There’s no set date just yet, and no word what channels will be getting a 4K option. Sports are a given, but we’ll have to wait to see if 4K movies will be on the way too.
According to Digital TV Europe, Sky is also planning to add voice control to Sky Q. That would bring it up to par with Amazon’s 4K Fire TV box, and compete with the Siri-powered Apple TV too.
Finally, a new Now TV box is definitely in the works – only this time it won’t just be for streaming video.
Hern said that while “the barrier to taking this product will be very low”, meaning you won’t break the bank if you buy one, it should still have a built-in digital TV tuner for watching live broadcasts.
Hern didn’t give any clues as to when the new features or hardware would see the light of day, but we’re expecting the summer to be pretty busy for Sky.
Tom Morgan-Freelander
Deputy Editor 
