If you’ve got a whopping great satellite dish on your roof (or have discreet access to your neighbour’s) you now have the chance to watch free satelite programmes on your PC or Mac without needing any subscription to Sky.
Elgato have released the EyeTV satellite TV tuner that easily connects directly to your Mac through a USB port. Once hooked-up, you’ll be able to receive DVD-S and DVB-S2 transmissions.
If you’re wondering what you’ll actually end up sitting down to watch with your cup of tea, there are currently hundreds of channels that broadcast free-to-air satellite programmes such as BBC HD and ITV HD.
There is also an integrated CI slot for satellite Pay TV, but check with your subscription provider as to whether the relevant smartcard will work. Unfortunately BSkyB isn’t supported.
EyeTV Sat can also be used as a DVR so you can watch, record and edit programmes for future HD enjoyment later. There is also the option to pause and rewind live broadcasts.
This device further supports multilingual programming, Teletext and Dolby Digital sound.
The accompanying software will also allow you to drop recorded TV shows into iTunes so you can watch them on your iPod on the way to work, or share across a network.
To the nitty gritty, Mac system requirements involve a PowerPC G4, G5 or Intel Core processor. For PCs you’ll need a 2,0 GHz Intel or AMD CPU or Intel Centrino CPU.
The EyeTV is available now from Elgato for £180 and will also be stocked by Apple retailers.
Source: ElectricPig