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Liberty Global Launches 'Horizon 4' - Superfast STB with 4K Quality, Cloud DVR and Voice Navigation

Liberty Global Launches 'Horizon 4' - Superfast STB with 4K Quality, Cloud DVR and Voice Navigation Image Credit: Liberty Global

Liberty Global has unveiled its next-generation TV entertainment platform, ‘Horizon 4’, at the company’s annual Tech Summit in Amsterdam.

The new Horizon 4 suite of products includes a superfast set-top box with 4K Ultra HD picture quality, a remote-control with voice capabilities and an upgraded version of Liberty’s ‘GO’ mobile app, which works together with the set-top box to deliver a seamless viewing experience.

With Horizon, users can access linear TV, Replay and Video on Demand and OTT apps such as Netflix and YouTube, all with cloud storage of recordings. The Operator also plans to include constantly-updated selection of web videos and online TV channels at a later stage.

The platform will be introduced over the coming months to selected customers in The Netherlands, Switzerland and Belgium, with a wider rollout in these and other Liberty Global markets to follow.

The new, modern-design Horizon 4 set-top box has already been introduced as the ‘V6 box’ in the UK, where nearly 2 million customers are now using it in combination with TiVo software. The new platform to be rolled out in the coming months combines this set-top box with the new Horizon 4 user interface instead.

Horizon 4 is the latest chapter in Liberty Global’s Horizon story, which began in 2012 when the Horizon TV platform was launched in The Netherlands. Since then, the Horizon next-gen TV products have been introduced in a total of seven European markets.

The Horizon 4 software powering the new 4K set-top box was developed using RDK (Reference Design Kit), which is supported by a software consortium with more than 350 members, managed by a joint-venture between Liberty Global, Comcast Cable and Charter Communications.

Enrique Rodriguez, EVP and CTO, Liberty Global
Horizon 4 brings our customers the best user experience from Liberty Global’s ‘one platform’ strategy. Our teams develop a common set of products and services which are then rolled out across our local operating companies. This allows us to achieve significant scale and operating synergies.

Mark Giesbers, VP Entertainment Prodycts, Liberty Global
We want to add value to customers’ lives and deliver on their expectation of ‘any content, any device, anywhere, anytime’. That means aggregating all those TV channels, movies, series and apps into one easy-to-use, seamless viewing experience – and across multiple devices. 

Author

Ray is a news editor at The Fast Mode, bringing with him more than 10 years of experience in the wireless industry.

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