Speaking to PVRJunction, Director of Communications at Harvard International PLC, John Edwards took the opportunity to discuss their plans for Freesat+ and FreeviewHD PVRs.

Last month PVRJunction broke the news of a new Goodmans branded 320GB Freesat+ PVR, the GFSDTR320HD and the 500GB Goodmans GFSDTR500HD. Argos followed soon after with live product listings, but as the new Freesat+ PVRs haven’t even been launched as yet we’re interested to know how development was progressing. John says

Yes this was a little premature, but what it did do is announce our intention to have a PVR. We do have a PVR; it’s in final testing with industry bodies at this time. So we are close to manufacture and close to release in the UK.

With the Humax exclusivity deal on the sale of Freesat+ PVRs effectively over since around the end of last year, one might have expected more PVR manufacturers unleashing a stockpile of Freesat+ recorders in the new year. But it’s been strangely quiet on PVR scene until recently. We asked Harvard if there is much longer to wait for affordable competition in the Freesat PVR market. John says

We will release ASAP. These particular hardware items are nothing if not complex. Then the testing is extremely laborious. This is done not only by ourselves but also by the DTG (Digital Television Group). When that testing is going to be finally complete I really couldn’t say but if I were to give PVRJunction some sort of steer on it, I would expect the product to be in the market by next month.

The industry is currently hard at work on the Freeview platform too; busy working towards the provision of high definition channels on DTT (digital terrestrial television). The working title is T2 (DVB-T2), and together with most other key hardware suppliers Harvard are watching developments extremely closely on T2. According to John Edwards there will be no significant announcement yet because this has got to come through Freeview, as its going to become FreeviewHD. The industry is looking to have some sort of start to HD broadcasting by the end of the year, with broadcasts happening both in the Granada region, and also in the metropolitan London region. The scope of those broadcasts hasn’t yet been defined and most of the industry is awaiting a fuller announcement by Freeview themselves. Hardware-wise John says

As far as hardware goes I think it’s probably unlikely in that timescale. Whilst you may have one or two token pieces of hardware by the end of the year, in terms of anything like a significant volume I think you’ve really got to have a look at Q1/ Q2 next year.

It seems too early to talk about the hardware and obtain some sort of scope but talking to manufacturers over the last few weeks its clear many of them are yet to get their hands on the silicon needed for DVB-T2, and probably will not do until the latter part of the year. Launch products will likely be thin on the ground – perhaps set top boxes rather than PVRs. We asked John if Harvard will be releasing a FreeviewHD PVR for early next year

Yes. I wouldn’t claim that we’re going to be right in the lead. I would claim that we are going to be close followers. I expect there is going to be hardware around by Easter; there should be broadcast coverage in HD up to 48% of the current DTT coverage before the world cup which is June next year.

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