UPC Cablecom unveils details of Horizon improvements

Liberty Global’s Swiss unit UPC Cablecom has unveiled some of the improvements to the Horizon platform promised earlier this week by Liberty Global CEO Mike Fries.

UPC Cablecom has given details of its plan to provide new remote controls for its advanced Horizon set-top box to customers free of charge and has made 18 new apps available on the platform.

The improvements to the platform have been made following customer surveys conducted by the operator.
The new remote offers ‘hot keys’ for the TV guide, on-demand, record, information about current programmes, help, and a return to TV/return to last channel function. It also includes a full keyboard on the reverse side. The remote communicates via radio rather than infrared, meaning no line of sight is required with the set-top.

In addition to improvements to the navigation system, UPC Cablecom is adding 18 new apps, including ones from CNN, Google Maps, Twitter, Flickr and Picasa, taking the total to 27.