Another streaming set-top box is on the way, and it could just unite all the services in one place, as Foxtel offers up what’s coming in Hubbl.
The next streaming set-top box might be one that unifies all of your services, and it could even be integrated into a TV to make it easier.
That may well be what Foxtel is working on with “Hubbl”, a gadget that looks to be coming in both a compact Apple TV-like set-top box as well as a TV with the tech integrated, and it will come with apps aplenty.
While Foxtel has been talking up the Hubbl platform set to launch this year — and hasn’t released the price of the platform or its gadgets — it has this week announced the apps you can expect to find on it, or rather the services.
Specifically, it’ll include local free-to-air players including ABC iview and ABC Kids, SBS On Demand, 7Plus, 9Now, and 10 Play, while also covering paid local options including Binge, Flash, Kayo Sports, Optus Sports, and Stan, with those last two joining Hubbl after launch.
At launch, Hubble will support Apple TV+, Disney+, Netflix, Prime Video, and YouTube, with Paramount+ joining after launch.
Hubbl notes that it will connect the content between these services, bringing together searching between the apps to also improve subscription management, and sounds a little like what the TV app on Apple TV feels designed to do, but doesn’t always deliver on.
Whether Foxtel’s new gadget will achieve this remains to be seen, but you’ll have two ways of trying it out when it happens: the Hubble compact box or the Hubble Glass, a TV with a built-in soundbar that includes the Hubbl technology inside, meaning you only need an internet connection and a power cord to get started.
“Hubbl will effortlessly fuse free and paid entertainment and sport from Australia’s favourite apps, channels, live TV and the internet into one seamless user experience,” said Patrick Delany, CEO of Hubbl.
Pricing and availability is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
