87 
Good and bad news for Sky Go members. The good news: offline viewing is almost here! Woohoo! You’ll be able to download as much Sky on-demand TV or movie goodness to your mobile as you want (and downloads last for a month). Awesomeness. The bad news? You’ll get charged £5 for this “Sky Go Extra” package. Boooooo the evil Sky Corporation stealing more money. Is it worth it? That’s for you to decide. [Telegraph]
Leica Is Charging £14,000 Extra for the Colour White
There Is No Offline Anymore
You Can Now Download Shows From the BBC iPlayer on Your iPhone or iPad For Free, Offline Viewing
It is worth it for those who use Sky Go rather a lot. It doesn’t seem that bad as someone who only occasionally uses Sky Go, like myself, probably wouldn’t need the offline services and therefore would not get charged.
I would pay for it, however, if stuff you set to record on Sky+ downloaded onto your phone for offline viewing, not just on-demand stuff.
A nice logical comment. Yes, this is for those who use it a lot, and also for those who can’t afford multiroom for their kids but have bought them all a tablet for christmas.
In regards to the second bit, something similar is coming soon. They will be updating the Sky+ app (not Sky go) to allow you to view content from your Sky box on your tablet/phone. However you won’t be able to download the content to the device, and it can only be watched on the same network i.e. in your home.
That Sky+ update sounds promising. Would be good if you wanted to watch something recorded yet someone is hogging the Sky+HD box and Multi-Room is only has a basic SkyHD box.
To bad its only on the home network though. Would have loved it on-the-move.
That reminds me, I need to get one of the Sky Wireless Connectors.
I want to post a few comments here before all the hate comes in, as I wasn’t able to do that on Engadget in time
1) Oh Noes, da ebil Sky wants moar monies – Of course they do, they’re a company that is out to make a profit. Think before you type. However they are also a company that knows what it’s customers want, and is constantly improving their service to retain their custom. Most of what they do is free of charge i.e. On Demand, so occasionally they do have to charge extra for things.
2) Pfft, I’ve had that ability on my laptop for years – That is sadly being taken away unless you sign up for Sky Go Extra. The reason for this is that they can’t charge mobile users for the feature and not laptop/desktop users.
3) [when hearing about point 2] OMG how can they take that away?! – Sorry, it’s not as if you’ve not been given a free service for years now, a service that is way better than any other mobile version of another TV service (not including Netflix/Lovefilm in this because they are slightly different). It’s also not as if you get all the prime content that Sky has to offer on the devices, both live streaming and On Demand.
4) Sky should allow me to use Sky Go on rooted/jailbroken devices – Sky need to maintain the restrictions of their app to ensure that it runs the way they want it to. Sure, people have been able to get the app running on rooted unsupported devices before and they claim it works fine, but Sky also has contracts with the content providers that mean they cannot allow rooted devices to be supported. They are doing nothing illegal, so leave them alone.
5) I’d use it if it worked on my device – Sky focus on popular devices first of all, as it gets a wider coverage of users. If you have a niche phone, or something that just wasn’t that popular then Sky aren’t going to prioritise it. I’m sure they’ll figure out a way to get it on more devices, and they are adding more every few months. It’s just a matter of time. though I do agree that it should be done quicker
1) He’s calling Sky evil because they’ve been brought down for anti-competitive behaviour on numerous occasions, and it is generally agreed that Sky are pretty evil about the way they try to monopolise everything, just by using their significant financial grunt.
2) How is this relevant to the article? Chris is reporting on the ability to download to your mobile phone, not about your laptop.
3) I actually agree with Chris, it does seem unjust to charge extra just to download offline, when you may already be paying for the right to stream.
4) DRM rights, it’s the content creators who don’t let Sky run on hacked devices, not Sky themselves. It’s because rooted and jailbroken devices can capture the raw video content, and pirate it easily.
5) Absolutely agreed! They don’t seem to like Android tablets at all…
1) Name more than one, I only remember two cases in the last 6 years and Sky was cleared of both of them.
2) It’s relevant because the article is about Sky Go Extra, and the part about removal of that feature from Laptop/Desktop Sky go was not included. You will need Sky Go Extra to continue to download content offline on the desktop app.
3) Sky TV subscribers have never been charged for Sky Go. It’s always been provided free of charge. Show me on your monthly statement where you are charge for Sky Go and I’ll retract that comment. The current extra subscription is for additional features, not the basic ones provided free.
4) I think that’s what I said in my comment, more or less.
5) Glad you agree.
1) Take your pick. Seriously, you don’t know how many times it’s been done over… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticisms_of_BSkyB . There have been so many investigations, and that Wikipedia article includes at least 2 OFCOM complaints that had to be upheld.
2) But the article is about mobiles….
3) I meant non-Sky subscribers.
1) Actually, if I’ve read them right, the complaints were both later revoked. The movies one entirely, and the Sports one partially (the damage had already been done) so really they haven’t been convicted of monopolising yet.
2) No, it’s about Sky Go extra, or did you not read the title of the article. The content was focused on Mobiles, and as I’ve stated, it missed out the bit I mentioned.
3) That’s different.
1) 2) Buckle my shoe.
3) 4) Shut the door.
5) 6) Pick up sticks.
1) The Ofcom investigation into PayTV services on freeview is ongoing – an investiagtion counts. And a company this big was never ever going to suffer from more than the investigations. Apple are pretty evil, but they’ve had no lawsuits stick. Of course its not going to stick, or they’d stop operating. But the point is, they are evil.
2) I think Chris meant it to focus on mobiles.
3) Well, it’s not for me, it’s just as important for me, as a Virgin subscriber. So no, it isn’t different.
The Ofcom investigation into distribution via DTT has effectively been dropped after Ofcom lost its Sports case in Court (it was a complete as opposed to a partial finding that Ofcom was wrong).
The Movies investigation also found no wrong doing by Sky.
My point has never been about OFFICIAL wrong doing – they’re too big to get punished. But they ARE evil.
@ eddyCJ That makes no sense. unless you can prove they have done wrong, then they are innocent. Isn’t that the way our legal system works, innocent until PROVEN guilty. No proof, No Guilt.
You are prejudiced against Sky, and will find fault in anything they do. However the fact of the matter is that Sky are one of the best companies out there, and offer the best TV service of any provider. There is a reason that Virgin has to advertise that it has Sky channels in order to get custom.
How on earth am I prejudiced against Sky? I’ve set up dozens of boxes in two months of work over summer with one of their engineers… even this mate of mine admits that the boxes don’t cost anything, and he doesn’t know how they can charge as much as they are. They are renowned for being anticompetiive, and you’re just outright wrong about that. Sky is a very good company, but they manipulate the market to be a monopoly, which is an evil practice.
Actually, when it comes to big companies, it isn’t innocent until proven guilty, as anyone over the age of 8 can tell you. This is really pissing me off this argument, absolutely everyone I’ve met is angry over the monopolising of payTV, especially Sky Sports, and I’ve happened to met the only person who disagrees.
In regards to point 1 and 3. It’s not a free service at all. The only way you can get it (as far as I’m aware) is to have an active Sky subscription; therefore it comes as part of a paid package. It can’t be free if the only way you can get it is to pay money.
@charlie120 Look at your statement and find the charge for Sky Go. You won’t find it there, because there isn’t one. They show other free subscriptions, like the Sky+ subscription, as free but not Sky Go. That is because Sky Go does not make up any part of your monthly subscription. It is a benefit, a freebie, a bonus, but not part of the subs.
I do think this is a good idea. I miss the ability to take sky content with me when I travel. However you are dependent upon the size of your device adnd also the channels Sky currently offer on there SKY GO service. There are a few programmes I want to watch on the Ipad but can’t as the channel is not on SKY GO
One major thing sky should also invest in, and I will not pay the £5 untill they do is the HDMI output on the Ipad. I currently pay £90 to sky each month for TV,Phone and Broadband. On my macbook I can go into the spare room, plug the macbook into teh TV and watch sky content full screen via skygo. But plug the Ipad into the same TV and its blocked. I contacted Sky who said this is a licence issue as the ipad is a mobile device….. My reply “well what the hell is a laptop”
It’s the operating system. On a desktop OS it’s much harder to restrict the video output, and even if they did manage it then it’s much easier to get around it. If they could confidently block outputting Sky go on a laptop to an external screen then Sky would do so. On a mobile device, it’s much easier to restrict, and enforce the restriction.
I’m pretty sure it’s because a tablet/phone only outputs the video to the external screen, but a laptop outputs the whole desktop.
Why should that matter. I can set my macbook to clone the desktop. I then only get one screen. Then once I run up sky Go I can maximise the screen exactly the same as if it was on the Ipad.
The point I was trying to make is that Sky would prefer it if you couldn’t output on a laptop, but they can’t prevent it as the ability to output to a screen is tied to the very core of the operating system. They can prevent it on an tablet though, as the outputting is only an API for use with apps and doesn’t output the entire desktop of the tablet to the screen, so they restrict it. If the operating system on your tablet simply output everything to a screen rather than just what an app allowed it then they would have far greater issues preventing it.
I get what you are saying, But if Sky want me to pay even more money for something that I would use every now and then. They better sort out the output. Christ I would pay £5 a month just for that. Plus it would allow me to have a kinda multiroom setup. Sadly I live in a flat with a communal dish and cables pre-installed in the wall so getting multiroom is out of the question.
using sky go would allow me to watch the football on a tv in the spare room via the Ipad rather than stare at a 9.8 inch screen for 105 minutes inclusive of the half time break ( unless your a manchester united fan and the extra 15 minutes is Fergie Time)
Thats one of the other reasons they don’t want it outputting to TVs. They don’t want to have customers using it as a free multiroom. Even if it is a limited multiroom that would be on offer, Sky just don’t want it.
However they are making changes (coming quite soon actually) that will allow you to have multiroom, even when you only have one feed from a communal dish. It’ll be done differently. i can’t say much, but I can say it’s currently being tested.
I know they are making changes afoot. But it does not help matters at present.
In saying that I did sign up for the free 2 months Sky Go Extra yesterday. Means I can now use my Macbook in the bedroom as my free multiroom
Oh and I can use my Ipad as well to stream 2 different sky go at once 
I’d like to pay Sky an extra £5 and have Sky Go on more devices. Sky currently only allow two devices… but I’ve got an iPad, an iPhone, a desktop PC, three laptops, a work computer, and an HTPC… and I’m only one of four people in the household!