FIRST LOOK: The New ITVN!

[Scott Greczkowski]

(Notice - This review was done with Beta Software and some of the screen shots seen below may be different then the release version)

For months and months we have hearing about new offerings from ITVN, well finally they are here.

At one time it seemed like the ITVN Service was doomed, with no new content in the general areas with promises of new channels "Coming in March 2006" yet to be seen until now.

While nothing has been said publiclly I believe that ITVN was up against the ropes however a company named Radium Ventures believed in the ITVN service and aquired ITVN on July 15th.

Radium Ventures took ITVN which was mainly known for its adult XTV service and has now taken the service out of the seedy backroom and has made it mainstream. I am happy to report that ITVN is back and better then ever!

A few months ago I was invited by Fabian Citraro of ITVN to test the new service, I accepted his offer and was actually a lot more impressed then I thought I would be.

One of the big additions to the service is a major coup for ITVN, and that is the addition of Statz and Encore, which features all 15 Startz and Encore Movie channels plus Starz on Demand and Encore on Demand, both on demand service each offer 75 movies a month for you to watch when you want.

I knew that Starz was coming in April when it was the highlight of the ITVN Booth at Satellite Expo. When I heard the news I thought it was nice to see real mainstream programming over IPTV, however I immediately dismissed it due to the fact that I already get Starz and Encore via Satellite, I figured why pay for it again.

Well the new receiver that Fabian sent me arrived (It was the same box as the XTV box I had now, except for the fact it had a black stocker with the ITVN logo over the XTV logo on the receiver, and that the remote cntrol had its MY XTV button sliced off.

I plugged it in and was amazed with what I saw. The graphics in the new software are 100 times better then the old graphics!

Startup of the box is still the same, the color bars come up and it does its internet check then you see the main screen. I like the fact that they added a phone number on this screen for support.

Click on Launch XTV and you see the new world of ITVN. On the left side of the screen you see a quick launch bar. Featured first is Starz HD.

I selected this to see what the fuss was about. And there was the two on demand channels and a selection for the 15 live Starz Encore Channels.

I went through it all trying everything else. I actually liked the On Demand Channels but again thought to myself I would never use them as I already get Starz and Encore via Satellite... A few days went by and there was nothing on TV to watch so I turned on the ITVN and went to Starz on Demand, found a movie I liked and watch it. I was able to pause, rewind, fast forward just like I was watching a dvd. My movie ended and my wife looked through the On Demand selectionand found a movie she liked. We ended up watching the on demand channels most of the weekend!

I got to admit now that I have been spoiled by the Starz and Encore on Demand that I was wrong in my thinking by thinking Starz was a waste. I am now a firm believer that the Starz service from ITVN was worth it after all! In fact since getting the beta unit installed it has become a large part of my TV viewing.

Now before I go any further about the new service let me comment on picture quality. When you think of IPTV, you think of video from Real Video, however with ITVN this PQ is better. I would say the Picture quality is almost as good the SD Channels on Dish Network, sometimes better and sometimes worse. The audio quality is very good. However with that said, I would not recommend ITVN for your main High Definition TV, I believe you would enjoy it more if it was on a TV in your bedroom, or on a secondary TV. ITVN does not have any High Definition content. The amazing thing about ITVN is after your watching you forget your watching TV via the Internet, it's that good.

Ok now back to the new stuff... THE PULSE!

Yes folks we have been promised The Pulse for a long time and its finally here! The Pulse is the first real Music Video Service where you are at the controls. There are thousands and thousands of videos available. I was both amazed and disapointed with the music video selection, I searched for some obscure videos and it had them, yet I searched for common videos from the 80's and it did not have most of the common songs I searched for.

(Suggestion for ITVN, More 80's Music Videos please!)

This would be a great thing for a party though, like your own video jukebox!

Another new feature that is also great for parties is the new Karaoke Selection. ITVN went all out with the Karaoke Feature by using Music Choice as their provider for the Karaoke Music, the Sound Choice Karaoke songs are the best sounding and most accurate karaoke available. The selection of choices available a very good!

When I told my wife that one of the new features is Karaoke she told me "thats dumb" however while reviewing the unit I was playing some of the songs sometimes singing along other times just listening to the music, soon she was singing along, boping to the music. My 3 year old son came in and I selected some kids songs and he was also singing along. It was fun. Not an option I can see people using a lot but very fun for parties or those times you feel like singing a song.

One bug I have found that is still not fixed as of this writing is there is an option for a Quick Selection of songs, the screen tells you to go to ITVN.COM and look at the song list and get the codes for the songs you like, however I have not found this list at ITVN.COM as of yet.

Another new service is Setanta Sports. One day while I was testing things the Setanta Sports logo appeared on the screen as coming soon. I was excited by the news as I knew a lot of folks want EPL soccer. I was able to view Setanta on both ITVN and a Globecast Setup and the PQ was equal, it would not surprise me if ITVN was getting their feed from Globecast, as one time there was some heavy pixelation and I looked at the Globecast feed and it had the same pixelation.

Another new service is ITVN Radio, this is a cool feature which lets you listen to radio stations from around the world. And there are thousands of stations available, however in my opinion there are many missing that could be added which I know are broadcasting on the Internet. When I seached for stations here in Connecticut only a few stations were listed and they were college stations. Another thing that needed improvement here is when music is playing you see a picture of an antenna, this picture remains up the entire time your listening. Out of concern for screen burn in I would rather see a moving image or an option to blank the screen.

There is another selection on the main screen is Interactive Network, this breaks down the service by type , Movies, Sports, Music, Live TV and Late Night (Adult).

Now one of the things that is not on the main page is XTV, its now hidden under the Late Night Category. And I am happy to report that as of this update XTV is available for $29.99 a month, or you can order it for 24 hours as a PPV service for $9.99 a day. The XTV service has been expanded to over 175 adult channels and the look of XTV now matches the rest of the service.

For Live TV selections there is MavTV and Lacrosse TV. MavTV is like a SD version of HD Net and is TV for guys! Earlier this week MavTV has announced it will be airing wrestling from 3 seperate wrestling companies, I am gald I will be able to see it on ITVN!

Another selection from the Main Menu is My ITVN, which offers you account management including a full billing menu.

Overall this upgrade is above an beyond what I expected, they have truely taken out the backroom feel of the old XTV days and have turned this into a product you would be proud to show off to friends. I will admit its not perfect there are some things that still need some work, but this is above and beyond anything else out there, and I also know that Rome was not built in a day. I got to admit with this upgrade I honestly believe that this is the future of television.

One closing comment I will add and I talked about it a little earlier, ITVN is a great service, however I do not recommend it as your only source of entertainment, ITVN is great to use in conjunction with your satellite or cable tv service. ITVN adds a new interactive layer to your world of entertainment that makes it worth it. Again I didn't think I would ever use Starz but now I am hooked. If your looking for more control of your TV I invite you to try ITVN for yourself.

If you are interested in ITVN please CLICK HERE by using this link you can sign up for a free 30 day trial, also by using the above link you will help keep the lights on here at SatelliteGuys.

Thanks for reading! I will do my best to answer any questions that pop up.

 

[iafirebuff]

Sounds cool! Thanks for the review! Is there still free hardware?

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Yes there is.

BTW the picture above which show XTV and the 6 circles look of the old ITVN are now gone and are updated. I need to grab some new screen shots.

One thing I didn't mention is on the website is says Karaoke is $9.95 a month, however on the ITVN box it says its $4.95 I hope its the second over the first. if not then I would love to see them make it available on a PPV basis or charge you $.25 per song.

 

[jokeworm]

looks excellent ... throw the switch guys - throw the switch -

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

The switch will be thrown in the next half hour or so.

 

[jokeworm]

..... or so .... I give in - they beat me - I thought i could stay awake long enough to catch a glimpse of it before i went to sleep - but I've been awake 26 hours now and i should probably give my remote finger a rest for a while

It'll still be there when i wake up though right ?

 

[riffjim4069]

Well, it's beginning to look like the new and improved ITVN won't be available September 5th...

 

[dont24]

Does the 30 day trial include all programming?

 

[gallifrey]

I've been going to the website to try and order it today but no luck
September 6 perhaps?
Can someone tell me if a verizon DSL line would be enough for this? I allegedly have the "up to" 3mb DL package but it's more like 1.6-2
thanks

 

[charper1]

yes that is plenty of speed

 

[dstrouth]

I do not see new stuff yet... its almost 8pm eastern

 

[Captain591]

The switch will be thrown in the next half hour or so.

Is there another software update available? I am still not receiving any new channels...

 

[riffjim4069]

Ok, I have been trying to view the new lineup for all day. Not a great launch of new their new programming services, I must say. Anyway, what's the deal with ITVN's website? Also, since today is the "official" launch, can anybody in the know (Scott) list the new LiveTV and Radio stations...and also what ITVN has in the works?

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Not yet, not sure whats up. Fabian from ITVN said they were aiming to have the new stuff available at around 2PM Pacific Time in the other thread.

 

[FabianC]

Satguys,

Before you start to roast us for being a day late, please understand there's a legit reason for our tardiness.

We're bumping the launch back 24 hours and we're aiming to release tomorrow, Wednesday, Sept 6th at 2pm.

At this time we'd like to thank Scott for his review; it's truly an honor to have gained the support of Scott and the Satguys forum. We know everyone will find themselves realizing all the hard work that has gone into making ITVN what it is today.

We're less than 24 hours away - thank you for your patience!

 

[riffjim4069]

Satguys,

Before you start to roast us for being a day late, please understand there's a legit reason for our tardiness.

Not roasting, but you must admit that Scott's review had us looking. Thanks for the info!

 

[FabianC]

Not roasting, but you must admit that Scott's review had us looking. Thanks for the info!

We're all excited to flip the switch and get everyone's opinion. However, our tech team wanted to play it safe and get an extra 24 hours before the "point of no return".

 

[wherron]

I’m a little confused…what’s new in this review that hasn’t already been advertised? I was under the impression additional channels besides Starz/Encore, Setanta were coming. Are they? Also, I’m confused over their web site with “Live TV”. It says “more channels added every month”, but what channels, besides MAV TV, do they currently have? I’ve been considering ITVN for Setanta, but have been on the fence. I was hoping some new channels would put me over the edge. Please tell me there is something new besides a new look + Starz/Encore.

Thanks

 

[jokeworm]

Nothing new right now i don't think.
If you are not put over the edge with what is already there - wait a few weeks until there is enough there to sway you. Right now the live stuff is only one channel - i'm sure it will expand .. little steps .. they can only add one channel at a time...

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

This launch (while delayed a day) is the framework for them to be able to easily add more channels and services without needing to try fitting the new service in, which was very hard under the old software.

Again ITVN has new owners and you can really see the pride they have taken with the upgrade. I have said it before but will say it again, THIS IS THE FUTURE OF TELEVISION.

I look forward to seeing your reviews when the new software comes today.