In a world where the nearest screen is less than an arm’s length away at all times, the living room couch is no longer the center of the television experience.
The newest offering from DTH television provider Tata Sky is a set top box that attempts to address this issue by clawing the TV and by extension, the set top box attached to it, back into prime position in the average user’s media consumption.
Simply put, Tata Sky+ Transfer, which costs ₹9,300 for the set top box and installation, allows users to transfer recorded content from their set top boxes to mobile devices for later consumption.
Restrictions abound
Unfortunately, due to the convoluted nature of television and film copyright, that proposition comes with a number of caveats. Content that you to transfer to your device can only be accessed from within the Tata Sky mobile application, is only available at a significantly reduced quality, has to be viewed within 48 hours (or 24 hours from the first time it is opened) and the transfer feature can only be activated on two mobile devices at a time. The service allows users to transfer or stream both recorded broadcast content and downloaded video on demand content to compatible Android and iOS devices over a local WiFi network. While streaming is near instantaneous as you would expect, transferring a video involves a preparation stage where the selected video file is compressed to a resolution of 400x224.
Average file sizes after conversion ranged between 250mb for 30 minutes of content to 500 mb or more for 60 minutes. Sacrificing video quality to save on file size is a one-size-fits-all solution that makes no sense considering that this is a service with a hefty price tag and a niche audience.
As for the transferring, speed is dependent on the bandwidth capabilities of your router and the amount of traffic on it at the time. Once on the device, content can be accessed offline with the app’s built in viewer, which is a pretty spartan affair that offers only a timeline, a play/pause button and a close button by way of features.
Poor user experience
Tata Sky, in its attempt to enter the mobile space, has created a product riddled with hoops that paying customers have to jump through in order to access their content. The restrictive environment, ostensibly designed to prevent personal sharing (or large-scale piracy) of broadcast content, will end up driving more users to pirated content.
If companies like Netflix and iTunes have proved something, it is that consumers will pay for content if the service offers a better experience than piracy.
Tata Sky has clearly not paid heed to these lessons and its Transfer box will as a result, be greeted with overwhelming indifference.