Sky Go Extra download service goes live, costs £5/month for up to four devices
Sky Go Extra has gone live: a new service that brings TV and film downloads to Sky Go for offline viewing on tablets and smartphones.
The subscription service will cost £5/month on top of your existing Sky deal and allows for up to four devices for every subscription, an improvement on the existing two for the Sky Go app.
Downloading allows you to watch the content wherever you are and whenever you want, without the need for a 3G/4G connection or WiFi.
Sky Go users will be able to sign up to a two-month free trial of Sky Go Extra until the end of March.
Films and TV from channels including Sky Movies, Sky Atlantic and Sky 1 will be available, with Sky promising exclusive content that you won't find on Lovefilm, Netflix or any other online service.
Sky Go Extra: Bond exclusive
The first subscription service to make films available to view offline, Sky Go Extra will have the entire James Bond film catalogue, plus films such as Avengers Assemble and Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows at launch.
Sky launched its Sky Movies 007 channel last year and the twenty-two Bond films are exclusive to Sky Movies and Sky Go Extra subscribers: no other subscription service will have them available "for at least a year after they first appear on Sky Movies". We're guessing this will be the case with Skyfall, too.
Sky says hundreds of films will be available, with blockbuster movies promised "around six months after they have ended their run in cinemas".
Sky Go Extra: how does it work
The service is available to all Sky customers. Visit the Sky Go Extra website then the next time you sign-in to Sky Go you will be able to download content and register an additional two portable devices for a total of four.
Sky Movies content can be watched for up to 30 days, with users having 48 hours to watch a film once viewing commences.
Most other Sky content will be available for up to 7 days and once viewing commences available for up to 48 hours.
Users can "cancel the service at any time, subject to giving 31 days' notice".
Sky Go will be available to Sky Go Extra customers on four internet-enabled devices, bringing live and on demand viewing over 3G/4G/WiFi, though only two devices can be used at any one time.
Sky Go: more Android devices
Sky Go is already available on PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Xbox 360 and selected Android devices including the Google Nexus 4 and Nexus 7, plus phones from HTC, Samsung and Sony phones.
Users can access up to 43 live TV channels, including all Sky Sports channels, Sky Movies, Sky News, Sky 1, Sky Atlantic and more, plus on-demand content. The channels you can access depends on your Sky subscription, however.
Sky Go is also available to non-Sky TV customers, with monthly subscriptions priced from £15-£40. Sky Go Extra is not available to non-Sky subscribers, however.
Sky says the service now attracts more than 3 million unique users each quarter, with Bad Teacher, Transformers: Dark of the Moon and Captain America: The First Avenger, the three most popular films on Sky Go last year.
Sky Go Extra adds more weight to Sky's on-demand offering. Last year Sky began rolling out catch-up TV services as part of its new look EPG, with BBC iPlayer, ITV Player and more.
See also: Sky+ HD 2TB box review
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Comments
Yes, you'd need to upgrade to Sky Movies to be able to watch them on your tablet.
I don't subscribe to Sky Movies or Sport but have the basic package. Can I pay the £5 to watch movies on my 4 devices or does the £5 just let me view my TV package on 4 devices with the ability to download for offline viewing? Meaning I would need to upgrade to Sky Movies to be able to watch them on my tablet?
I never have enough space on my tablet or smartphone for movies or TV shows because I like to try out lots of apps. Even with 32Gb on both, having a few 1Gb+ apps limits your options too much. We've been needing 3x-10x the storage space on these devices to be useful for downloading.
Interesting though seems a little expensive, you could already download onto a laptop and desktop computer before this so have sky removed that option now for standard Sky Go customers?
As you are not required to have a great 3G speed to watch on a mobile i can see this being more benefit for those who have an iPod touch or a Tablet with no 3G connection which could prove to be handy
Maybe its me or does £5 seem alot for such a service?