Some thoughts on DSTV mobile and the Drifta #in
Posted on December 12, 2010A couple of weeks ago I saw that the DSTV mobile offering was being launched, not having a compatible phone nor having a contract due for upgrade any time soon it was with a little bit of jealousy. Then in the release article was mention of a little device that could connect to a laptop or iDevice – enter the Drifta.
I was rather keen to get hold of one of these devices so the week after launch I looked in the DSTV website, found the participating dealers and went to visit a few of them. Sadly none of them had a clue as to what it was (Yup, that’s you GAME, Pick n Pay, Incredible connection etc). I phoned the DSTV customer care and they couldn’t tell me who had stock either. Eventually I discovered that Makro had them listed and in stock (very useful function on the website). So last Thursday I went and picked one up. R599 later I had one in my hands. Neat little box too.
DSTV Drifta Box
In the box is the install CD, a one page installation leaflet, a USB cable, AC adapter (connects to the USB cable), the Drifta and a battery. Popped the battery in and plugged it all in.
Drifta with usb cable and charger
I installed the software from the CD, had it all set up, the lights on the device were all correctly lit, but I was still getting error messages and no picture. Eventually an error message came up saying the signal was scrambled. At this point my son was reading the install leaflet a little more closely and pointed out to me that the device needed to be activated by DSTV before it could be used. Phoned through to the call centre, took a few transfers before ending up in the right place. Thankfully I already had a DSTV account (which wasn’t active) and they quickly got me set up and running. They stayed on the phone up until I had a picture. Good service. They then offered my a monthly insurance of R5/month on the device. My advise, take it. The aerial is really flimsy and will break soon. More on that later.
So with the Drifta up and running this is what appeared.
Supersport picture at original size
The picture is quite small. I am not sure what i expected, I knew it was meant for mobile devices so expected small, it is really small though. There is a “zoom” option, clicking it gives a little bigger picture, but it is a whole lot more blocky.
The zoomed full size picture
Next to the picture you can bring up the channel list and the schedule of upcoming programs on that channel.
Channel listing and programme schedule
The number of channels if fairly limited. As you can see from the screenshot, channels available include :
- Africa Magic
- Channel O
- Trace TV
- The eNews Channel
- SuperSport Blitz
- SuperSport 1
- SuperSport 2
- SuperSport 3
- Cartoon Network
I mainly wanted it for the sports channels, so to have Supersport 1,2,3 and blitz is quite acceptable. There is also e-news if you want to catch up on news inbetween the sport. As for the rest of the channels, not really much of interest there to me. For the price we will be paying, I think it’s a fair compromise and am quite happy with the value for money.
The player application also has some settings / options. Screenshots of these included below for completeness.
Drifta settings - status
Drifta settings - options
Drifta settings - about
Using it as a mobile device
Now the Drifta is meant to be about mobile TV. While I am using it connected to the laptop rather than as mobile, it does support wireless streaming over wifi to iDevices (iPhone, iPod touch, iPad). I had originally though to use the wifi to also connect to my laptop, forgetting that I use wifi for my internet access, so if connecting Drifta this way, no internet access. USB works just fine and keeps the device charged too so Im fine with that. Connecting to the iDevices though means it’s either wifi or Drifta. Probably not an issue for most, be just beware of it. Battery life is quoted as being 3 hours, I haven’t tested that (read updated comment below in iPhone section). With the laptop it’s not an issue for me as it charges while being used.
So find the DSTV mobile application in iTunes :
Drifta iphone application in itunes info
Download it and sync it across :
Drifta iphone application in itunes
Once it’s synched across it’s all good to go. Just turn on wi-fi then load up the app. Turn on the Drifta and it sync’s to the device. Once I loaded the up it checked the firmware version on the Drifta. Strangely enough, I had done this already from the PC client and it had said it was up to date, however, the iPhone version figured out there was a new version which it kindly downloaded and installed onto the Drifta before rebooting it. Once all done straight into live tv :
Drifta iphone tv picture
I was quite impressed with the picture quality. It actually looks better than what it did on the PC. I’m not a regular iphone user, so excuse the pics, they were taken with a DSLR and cropped down rather than just being screenshots. Still, the picture on the iphone actually looked better than on the laptop.
Touch the screen while the tv channel is playing and it pops up some info :
Drifta iphone status pane
Click again on the screen and you can pop up the channel selector and the programme listing screens :
Drifta iphone channel list
Drifta iphone programme listing
Overall the iphone app was simple, slick and worked really well. Can see this being a real gem for those who are out and about on the move and wanting to stay in touch with whatever sporting events are happening.
The range of the wifi signal is quoted as being around 15m and in practice I found this to be the case. The wifi signal is a little prone to interference, and when watching in the kitchen I did lose picture whenever the Microwave was turned on. It reconnected quite rapidly (within 5 seconds or so) once the microwave was switched off.
Battery life of the iPhone (3GS) wasn’t that great. I seem to get around 2.5 hrs of use out of it from a full charge. The battery life actually seems pretty similar to that of the Drifta device itself. From a full charge the iPhone battery died before the Drifta, though the Drifta was close to being flat too.
Final thoughts
Having now been using the Drifta for 4 days, and had it running for probably 8 hours each of those days, I must say I am really impressed. Changing channels is a little slow, taking maybe 6-8 seconds to retune each time, less than the 15 seconds I had heard others quote. Also once tuned in the picture and sound are very stable, hardly ever losing synch. The sound quality was really great, with no breakup at all as I would have expected if it was an IP based streaming service.
It would have been nicer if the Drifta has an LCD screen and speaker/headphone socket. It would have increased the usefulness significantly, but i guess the cost would have gone up too. I would have paid a couple hundred extra for that, but maybe DSTV can do something like that next time.
As I alluded to earlier, there is a little bit of an issue with the design of the aerial. It really is flimsy when fully extruded. The design is a little strange, in that unlike a normal extension aerial, where the base is thick and the tip is thinner, it works in the reverse here with the thinnest end connected into the Drifta. When fully extended I really expect it to snap off at any time. Take a look in the pic below :
Drifta fully extended aerial
Thankfully here the signal strength is sufficient that I can leave the aerial only partially extended. This way the thickest part remains in the Drifta and the whole affair is a whole lot more solid and less likely to snap off. Would definitely recommend trying it in stages and leave it as solidly connected as possible.
Drifta arial partially extended
Well done to DSTV. This is a really nifty little device and I’m most glad to have it. It will be interesting to see if any further channels are added when it goes into a fully paid service. Still, even with those on offer I am delighted with it.
Updates :
Resolution of the transmission:
The native resolution of the transmission is 320×240, and is limited to this by the bandwidth available in the DVB-H spectrum. While the application allows a zoomed in view, it just doubles the pixels. There is no full screen mode available. You can use the windows magnifier to zoom in further but it looks terrible. Better just to watch in the smaller window and enjoy it for what it is – a mobile service. Don’t expect an upgrade in the resolution any time soon, it seems this is not technically possible.
Coverage:
Drifta coverage map
The map isn’t that clear. There is coverage across :
- Durban
- Capetown
- Johannesburg
- Pretoria
- Port Elizabeth
- Bloemfontein
You can visit the DSTV website for the interactive map where you can put your address in and see what coverage is available in your area :
Update 2 :
This review has elicited an overwhelming response, way beyond what I had expected. I have taken many of the questions and answers from here and put them into an FAQ document which can be found here. DSTV mobile/Drifta FAQ Thanks to everyone for the contributions.
Tags: drifta, dstv mobile, mobile tv
Categories: Mobile
hi. I would like to know. When you use the Drifta, do you still needs to pay data charges?
02.02.2011 05:56
@Derik. No data charges apply. You don’t need to be connected to the internet.
02.02.2011 07:26
hi can dstv put some more channels with the current package like movie mm2 ,kyk net,discoveryand animal planet
so when u on the go or on a a trip somewhere u so that u dont misout on your tv time
26.01.2011 22:19
@Boeta. More channels would be great, though i suspect at the current advertised fee this is unlikely to happen. The live sport seems to be the main target marget, i guess as the service progresses demand will determine what else DSTV choose to add.
27.01.2011 16:26
hi does the drifta have coverage in Malmesbury ias i have bought 1 from kalahari please ineeds to know
26.01.2011 22:12
Check here : http://www.dstvmobile.com/dstvmobile/content/en/south-africa-plus/south-africa-plus-coverage-map
There doesn’t seem to be coverage from what I can see, but you may be lucky with your specific address.
27.01.2011 16:29
R599 for the drifter device… and thereafter is there a monthly subscription one needs to pay for these channels from MUTLICHOICE ?
25.01.2011 08:30
@Anon Its free for now, from 1 April onwards will be R36 per month for the subscription.
25.01.2011 11:51
Ja, I don’t know whether it’s streaming. I’m not realy a fundi on this.I,ll get my son to check it out for me and give a feed back. I do know it connects via MTN GPRS. It allso ask to allow flash content. I dont have to plug in anything to get a reception, and I used it on the bluff and port of Durban. Reception is very good so is the sound. Pitty the picture wont enlarge when I turn the phone horizontal. I’ll fiddle with it and give feedback asap.
22.01.2011 07:27
@pieterj You should be able to tell from the channel list. From what I understand the streaming solution doesn’t have Supersport 1, 2 and 3. The Broadcast solution also doesn’t need any kind of internet connection.
23.01.2011 10:49
Yes, it works perfect on N8 In Durban with out a headset. Small picture though.
21.01.2011 13:59
@pieterJ. That sounds good, thanks for the feedback. Is that the streaming signal or the dvb-h broadcast that you are using without the headset? I was under (the possibly mistaken) impression the broadcast could only be received with the headset.
21.01.2011 15:41
Do i still have to purchase the drifta if i already have a DVB-H enabled phone (N8-enabled headsets)
21.01.2011 08:31
@Vha-D you are not supposed to need a drifta. I haven’t seen posts from anyone who has tried the N8 but there is no reason it shouldn’t work. Call dstv mobile see if they can activate for you. Take care not to download the mobile app, it has limited channels and uses data which you pay for. There was also a post today on mybroadband saying android and nokia apps available for Drifta in april. No point doing that though if you have the headset. Let us know if you get it to work.
21.01.2011 13:26
If anyone from DSTV Mobile is reading this, I would really like to get onto the Beta test programme for the Android, Nokia and Blackberry applications, provided the apps work on the Sony-Ericsson X10 Mini, Nokia E71 and the Bold 9000.
24.01.2011 18:42
Can the drifta work with VCL to increase the resolution.
20.01.2011 15:01
@Anca : the resolution is a hardware / broadcast standard limitation. You can use various solutions to “zoom” the picture but that just makes it blocky, so while it helps to make it a little bigger, it doesn’t improve the picture at all. This isn’t something you want to watch on even a 15″ laptop display let alone a 40″ tv.
23.01.2011 10:51
Make sure that your area can receive a Signal. No Signal in Ballito near Cravan Park. Multichoice advertise as if you can receive a signal everywhere!
19.01.2011 17:01
@Daan I would recommend that any buyer check the coverage map first. Multichoice don’t seem to be giving hassles to people who return it because of poor coverage in their area either. It is a pain though to have to pick one up and then return it later. Also keep checking the maps. I received a number of SMSs a few days ago from multichoice notifying of down time due to upgrades of the transmission sites in Durban. Being currently in Capetown I don’t know what the impact was.
19.01.2011 17:20
Thanks for the review. I am currently upgrading my phone and am choosing the iPhone 4 for its compatibility with devices like this!
19.01.2011 13:23
Hi
Does anyone know when the drifta signal will be improved in the westville area in durban. The 2 places that i stay and work at does not have signal
Had to return decoder
17.01.2011 11:19
@Dazzle Where about in Westville are you? I had no problem in Dawncliffe. Give me some details can maybe do some tests over the weekend for you.
19.01.2011 17:23
Started using the Drifta based primarily on your review – Great when I want to watch some news and the kids insist on watching a DVD.
Some issues and thoughts:
Sometimes I battle to catch a signal. I seem to live on one of the ‘edges’ of current reception area. Not sure why, but sometimes it shows I’m connected, but still cannot tune into channel. Have to switch off & retry.
No MacOS support to date.
Flimsy aerial – Greatest disappointment of an otherwise attractive product. Although I can often catch signal with aerial only slightly extended.
16.01.2011 22:25
@haneef I also find that sometimes I lose connection, after a restart of the Drifta it’s then fine for hours. Using it with the aerial partly extended makes it feel much more solid. I use mine like that 99% of the time.
19.01.2011 17:18
Does anybody know if this will work in Somerset-West,
Thanks
15.01.2011 10:48
@Kobus I will take it with me next time I drive that way and then let u know if there is a signal that side.
16.01.2011 22:18
@kobus I took the Drifta with me this afternoon to Somerset-West and tried it on the main street through Somerset-West. There was no signal at all. When I checked the dstv-mobile coverage map it seemed to confirm that there was no coverage.
19.01.2011 21:59
The Drifta sometimes need a little help to get signal – see my post here:
http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/298157-DSTV-Drifta-Getting-it-to-work-where-the-signal-is-weak.
13.01.2011 15:44
@JoeSoap
I can 100% confirm that Justin has no affiliation with Multichoice, MWEB or DSTV.
I, on the other hand, do and that is why I can be so certain in my confirmation
10.01.2011 09:47
Isn’t it strange that you will always find a stupid fart on any blog – where you can clearly read between the lines this guy was trying to do good?
@Joe Soap – Go find somethig useful to do and don’t breed!
@Justin – Well done, great article.
08.01.2011 17:15
Hi Justin,
icetigerza buzzed your review and I was curious, having used it for a couple weeks, to see how accurate your review was.
it’s very accurate. all the things I’ve found over the last couple weeks you’ve picked up – the flimsy aerial. that it appears easier to view on iphone than laptop. etc.
two thumbs on the accuracy of your review.
I’ll also add it’s clear from the channel bouquet is a demographic decision. and what a great decision! well done multichoice.
08.01.2011 10:51
Hi Dan
Thanks for the feedback, its great to get some alternate feedback from other users of the device. Glad you agree with most of what I was saying and I agree with you around the target audience of the device. Those in that audience are just going to love it.
Justin
08.01.2011 13:16
Justin, this blog of yours is registered under WorldOnline.co.za the reverse of which is new.mweb.co.za. Mweb as well as dstv mobile are Multichoice brands. What the crap is it that u want to tell us? That u are an independent reviewer? You pretend to be naive, bt ur scam is not working.
06.01.2011 16:33
Joe, I rescued your reply from the SPAM filter, perhaps I should have left it there. If you wish to attack me, have the common decency to sign your post with your real name. Worldonline happens to be an ISP that I used many years ago, and as many people used the email address I kept it. I currently pay mweb a small monthly fee to host that mailbox for me. I am a real person, with absolutely no affiliation to MWEB or Multichoice, having never received any product or payment from them. The device I reviewed I purchased for myself. I run my blog for my own purposes and post whatever I feel like on it, and have had one site or another running on the address for the last 7 years. If you bothered to do proper research you would find my contact details on the whois lookup, could google me, find me on linked in etc and very quickly see that your unfounded accusations are a load of BS.
If you have an issue with something I have written, let’s have a factual intellectual debate on the matter which can benefit all of the readers.
07.01.2011 16:41
I see there was a software update on the dstv mobile website, so I downloaded and installed it. It first made me go and uninstall the current version manually from the windows control panel – which I did. It then installed, it upgraded the client software from 1.0.3 to 1.1.0. I can’t see any differences offhand, will post if I find any. The download link is here :
http://www.dstvmobile.com/dstvmobile/content/en/south-africa-plus/south-africa-plus-downloads
The manual doesn’t seem to have been updated.
The Install Archive is titled : DStvWindowsInstall_1130 and the executable is dated the 30 November 2010. Interesting that it has only been released now.
Anybody know what the changes are? Can’t find anything on the dstv mobile forums.
05.01.2011 21:33
What is the monthly subscription for the viewing of these few channels?
05.01.2011 12:32
The quoted monthly subs is under R40. I have seen various prices quotes ranging from R36 to R38.
05.01.2011 21:16
do you know if they will add more channels..?
sorry haha im just to lazy to find out myself…
05.01.2011 01:42
I haven’t seen anything official saying that they definitely will, but, the rumour mill is that once they start charging in April they are likely to add one or two more.
05.01.2011 21:13
omg thats asum…!! thats the only thing that kept me from buying it but now i know..!! thanks =)
04.01.2011 21:53
It is really great. I use mine a lot with my laptop, almost as a digital radio at times, so even when not watching the picture am listening. Right now Man U vs Stoke is on, heard the goal, switch, watch the replay. Just perfect
Carry on browsing and doing what I was. Just love this little device.
04.01.2011 22:39
sooo like does it use the internet connection on my iphone at all..? or just the DStv network..?
04.01.2011 21:05
The Drifta doesn’t make use of the cell phone network at all. It makes use of a digital mobile broadcast signal so there are no data charges or any charges on your iPhone bill. That’s the beauty of it.
04.01.2011 21:08
Thanks for the review. Wish they had more of the other channels (news, knowledge & lifestyle)
BTW – to do a screen shot on iPhone, press main button, hold it in, then press top right button
03.01.2011 23:56
Thanks Haneef. Will make my life easier next time.
04.01.2011 17:13
Thanks Naushaad. @PatB, have you confirmed that the sound wasn’t accidentally muted in the DSTV Mobile application on the device ? Also what level signal did you have ?
01.01.2011 14:01
Hi Nick, Other than the coverage map on the DSTV site mobile site, which they are updating as they roll out, there doesn’t seem to be firm information available around where they are rolling out the service next and how the gaps will be patched. Hopefully as more people use the service it becomes economically viable to increase the coverage.
01.01.2011 14:00
@bryan Sadly at this stage it’s only the iDevices (iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone) that work as mobile devices with the Drfita. More should come around about April, sounding like Blackberry, Android and Nokia devices next.
01.01.2011 13:52
Does any one know it the Drifta will work off the Palm Tungston T2
30.12.2010 19:23
Hi Justin, just got my Drifta and quite surprised to find there is no coverage in my part of Hout Bay, which is a heavy residential area in Cape Town. Not a train-smash as I travel a lot so the main reason for me getting it was to use when I am out the house, but do you know if DSTV plan to fill these gaping holes in coverage in major urban areas quite soon? Many thanks for a great review, Nick
30.12.2010 13:34
I ran the drifta with my iPad with sound and full screen. I can live with the picture and sound quality. Was not not running the latest OS,
30.12.2010 11:39
@Adam Agreed, they should provide us with the choice. They have probably made this choice as they don’t want people using this a replacement to the full DSTV service. They have disabled TV out on the iPhone application as they don’t want people hooking it up to their tv’s.
30.12.2010 11:24
They only broadcast low resolution as it is a mobile technology. However, when you stream from Supersport.com the resolution is also low and you can stretch to full screen. It is pixelated but is acceptable. Multichoice should allow the application to stretch to fullscreen, but on emailing them, they said they do it like this to preserve image quality. Is it not your choice to accept lower quality at bigger size?
30.12.2010 10:42
@PatB Unfortunately it sounds like the Drifa is not going to make you or your partner happy. Sadly there is no Blackberry support yet, wish the would hurry up and sort that one. A date of April has been discussed so hopefully it will be done by then. As for the movies, yeah, the only channels worth anything are the sports channels, and cartoon network if you have kids.
Sadly I don’t have an iPad to do any testing on. It runs the same iOS as the iPhone and iPod Touch. Are you running the latest version of the iPad firmware ?
29.12.2010 15:29
@Shiraj I don’t know for sure but don’t see any reason that it shouldn’t work on the 3G 8GB. It has been advertised to work with the 8GB iPod Touch.
29.12.2010 15:19
@JohnT are you getting reception from anywhere? Have you activated with DSTV ?
29.12.2010 15:18
Bought 2 x Drifta’s and received them yesterday afternoon. One was a Christmas gift for partner with Blackberry (ad says will play on all smart phones) – MultiChoice couldn’t help. Second one was for me so that I could watch movies when all the other TVs are tuned to sport. This is very disappointing as there are no movies which I was lead to believe when I was checking it out before buying. It works beautifully, with great resolution on my iPhone – I cannot complain, it is stunning technology. However, for some reason, it plays on iPad, but with no sound. Does anyone have any ideas why this is? I have rebooted the Drifta as well as the iPad; checked all the settings against those of my iPhone, but still nothing … help.
29.12.2010 14:15
Great article, very useful and the comments are useful as well. Will be looking out at getting one as im a gadget junkie. Tnx . Ps..does this work with the iphone 3G 8GB?
29.12.2010 11:32
Cannot pick up signal/reception – I’m in Winston Park which just makes it in on the coverage map, but alas no joy. I notice the review was done from Westville – I also tried from Essex Terrace in Westville and still no reception – maybe dud drifta device? Hope they broadcast from more locations in the near future.
29.12.2010 10:56
@tebza : I use mainly Blackberry and Nokia E71 and don’t currently own an iPhone or iPod touch. My current ipod 5th generation 30 gig works just great and i am loathe to replace it. The multichoice forums and other comments seem to indicate that the phone software will be made available for Blackberry, Android and Symbian (Nokia) sometime around April next year. I really hope they get it right, then the device will be much more useful. In the meantime I still eye out that iPod touch. Maybe if a friend goes to the US or Hong Kong get them to bring one back. The quality of picture being broadcast is much less than that of the N8 or the Iphone 4, so it will be scaled up either way. Let’s wait and hope they deliver.
29.12.2010 01:22
I bought the drifta on the first week of its availability. I was interested in using it on the phone because of strict rules with laptops and notebooks in our company. Multichoice has added an insult to an injury by choosing only Apple products. My phone choice is Nokia N8 because of its picture clarity and bigger screen. If Multichoice doesn’t come with the solution of smartphone variety before the free viewing expires, i really don’t see the reason for any payment thereafter.
28.12.2010 23:23
@blessing When it says it does not pass the test you still have to allow it to install otherwise the drivers are not installed and then it won’t work.
Once it is installed you have to phone multichoice and get it activated. No picture will be displayed unless you have activated it. This my problem initially when i plugged it it. Works like a dream after the activation.
28.12.2010 16:08
guys help ive done all the connections but i keep on getting error messages , CAN NOT DISPLAY PIC , when i added the application on my laptop i got message that said this application did not pass microsoft logo test , please help guys before i sell this drifta thing email me tbkalinda@gmail.com
28.12.2010 14:00
Useful review – thanks…
27.12.2010 16:04
Bought my DSTV Drifta today,quite a nice device. Only problem is the picture is toooooo small. Tried everything but found it works better if run this program in 640 *480 screen resolution. Hope DSTV upgrades the viewing size
26.12.2010 20:36
The picture does look small when using with the laptop. It certainly can’t be used as full-screen, it would just be way too pixelated.
It seems that the resolution is limited by the transmission protocol being used. This was designed as being a mobile tv standard, and it really looks quite good on the iphone. It is very unlikely that there will be any upgrades in size any time soon.
27.12.2010 09:11
Has DRIFTA been introduced in Nigeria? ……….please does anyone know?
25.12.2010 04:40
From comments I read on the dstv/multichoice website it looks as though it has only been introduced in South Africa at this time.
27.12.2010 09:12
The original review of the DTSV Drifta was done at my house in Westville (Dawncliffe area). Just out of interest, I was also able to get really good signal at the Waterfront in Capetown. Will keep adding further feedback as I try it out in other places.
22.12.2010 13:34
Thanks for the feedback guys.
@Johan, I have no idea why they would have done that. I did hear an advert for some kind of bundle deal with an iPod touch 8gb and the Drifta for a discounted price. Not sure if Apple and Multichoice have teamed up in some way on this to block the jailbroken devices.
22.12.2010 13:32
Great review – most helpfull. Almost got one today, but wanted to hear what other people thought of it first.
19.12.2010 22:54
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Marc Forrest. Marc Forrest said: RT @jjza: Some thoughts on DSTV mobile and the Drifta #in http://j-j.co.za/?p=327 […]
19.12.2010 22:33
Very nice review. I just wonder why DSTV is blocking Jailbroken devices? Everything was fine bu after the recent Mobile Decoder app update all I get is a message saying Jailbroken devices are not supported.
So I guess I’ll be stuck at ver1.0 forever.
Other than that I’m thankful for Supersport but it would be nice if MC added some channels worth watching.
19.12.2010 21:55