NTL unveils personal video recorder

Following on from its merger with Telewest a few weeks back, cable company NTL is finally starting to  rev up for its upcoming battle with Sky, and anyone else for that matter, in  the HDTV and personal video recorder markets. On Saturday the company announced details of its soon-to-be launched personal video recorder the Explorer 8450DVB. The model will apparently be HD and MPEG4 compatible and is being manufactured for NTL by Scientific Atlanta. It will sport a trio of TV tuners enabling users to record three programmes simultaneously. Other features include a 160GB hard drive (the same as Telewest's model and the current top-end Sky+ box), USB 2.0 and Ethernet connectivity, and the option of multi-room which will enable users to stream programmes to other Scientific Atlanta boxes in their home. Telewest, NTL’s one time friendly rival and now partner in the merged company, also has a unit which includes a similar set of features but isn't MPEG4 compatible.