YouView unveils further partners and technical details

YouView, the BBC-backed IPTV venture, has announced more hardware partners and has released the final technical specification for its set top boxes.

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The new device partners include Huawei, Manhattan3, Vestel and Pace, which also develops digiboxes for Sky. They join Cisco, Humax and Technicolor who have all confirmed they will develop YouView set top boxes in time for the platform’s planned launch in the first half of 2012.

Richard Halton, YouView CEO, says: “All of these companies have demonstrated expertise in bringing consumer electronics products to market, with wide reach and strong brands.”

The launch of YouView, originally named Project Canvas, has been dogged by a series of delays that it says were due to technological reasons given the project’s scale and complexity.

When the platform is eventually rolled out, it will bring video-on demand content, web applications and other internet services to home TV sets.

The £115m venture is backed by broadcasters including the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, and ISPs BT, TalkTalk and Arqiva.

According to the latest technical specifications, YouView boxes will require a hard disk at least 320 GB in size and will carry a minimum of two USB ports, an Ethernet port for cable internet connection and integrated WiFi technology. The box will also support external memory devices.

The full technical specifications document can be downloaded from the YouView website here