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Sharing thoughts and ideas on business, security and photographyMy thoughts on the USB DStv Drifta (Review)
Posted on August 05, 2011Update : The new iDrifta has been released (iDevice only) – unboxing here. Review to follow.
First reactions from my son :
- Aww Dad, it’s so cute. Look how tiny it is compared to the old one.
- Dad, I can’t plug in the memory stick next to the Drifta.
That, in a nutshell, sums up the new USB DStv Drifta. It’s small and cute, not quite the size of a memory stick (just a tad fatter), so overlaps a second USB slot when plugged in (a cable is supplied to solve this). It works, and well, but doesn’t really cure any of the inherent problems with the first Drifta. That said, in the right scenarios it is a great device.
USB Drifta with Aerial extended
Onto the review proper :
Back on 14 July 2011 DStv announced (officially) the new USB DStv Drifta (release here). The release and the pictures made the device look interesting. A week later their PR team mailed me and offered me a Drifta to test out and review (well, they just offered to send me one, my assumption it was to test and review).
This review doesn’t intend to rehash all of the detail from my review last year. This in many ways is just a simpler, smaller, cheaper version of the Drifta and it works much in the same way. Go and read that review if you want to understand more about the DStv mobile product as opposed to the USB Drifta itself.
DStv USB Drifta Unboxed
Posted on July 29, 2011DStvs Public Relations company were kind enough to send me a USB Drifta to review. My love/hate relationship with DStv mobile is well documented on this site. I don’t hold back when they mess up, and try to be fair at other times. I am still “banned” on their DStv mobile forums. So kudos to the PR department for moving past all of that and sending through the device for review. After some delays to the courier (snow, roads closed between Jhb and Dbn) the device finally arrived. Below are the unboxing pictures. The detailed review will follow in due course (detailed review available, click here).
The parcel arrived from the courier double bagged and in a sealed envelope.
Inside the parcel was a personalised letter saying how the DStv mobile team would love me to try out the USB Drifta and providing instructions on whom to call to get it activated.
The box itself was tied up in cute red ribbons.
As predicted, new DSTV Mobile Decoder released (USB Device)
Posted on July 14, 2011As predicted back on the 4th June (based on firmware contained in the last Windows 1.3 client released), DSTV Mobile have now come out and announced the availability of a brand new decoder, known as the “Dstv Mobile USB Drifta” decoder.
This uses the same DVB-H functionality as the wifi drifta, it just comes in a much smaller an convenient package for those who don’t need to use WiFi connectivity (to iPhones/iPads/Ipod’s) and just want to use it with their PC’s.
The device plugs straight into the USB port, doesn’t need charging, pairing or any of the complications. It is claimed to be available now at a price of R399. Good deal if you are only ever wanting to use it with a laptop. The device is available on Kalahari.net already, with an 8 day delivery time. It may be coincidence or could explain the half price Drifta special that was available yesterday. They are back to full price today 
In addition to the new decoder, DStv mobile also announced the launch of the M-Net Series channel to the DStv mobile lineup. Im not sure which channel is to be dropped (since they claim to be using up all channels allocated to them by ICASA), but we shall see. Hopefully it is the full channel and not a gimped version full of week old repeats as Cartoon Network is.
Sadly there is still no news on the Blackberry or Android client software for the existing Drifta. Just how serious are DSTV about sorting out the problems with the existing product if they are launching new ones? Your guess is as good as mine.
The press release is available here on the www.dstv.com website.
I have updated the Drifta FAQ to include the new USB Drifta. Find it here.
Don’t get your hopes up, your mobile device probably won’t be supported by Drifta anyway
Posted on June 23, 2011A lot of people having been waiting in (vain) hope of being able to watch DSTV on their mobile phones (other than iPhones). Information and updates on progress on getting the promised clients for Nokia, Blackberry and Android has varied between slow and non-existent. The “promises” of 1 April 2011, 30 May 2011, Early 2011 etc have all been broken and no new real information or deadlines provided.
A user by the name of “eel” posted on the 13th June on the mybroadband.co.za forum (link here) : (slightly edited)
- There is an Android client in the works (no timeline yet)
- There is a blackberry client in the works ( no time line yet)
- There is a Nokia S60 version in the works (sooner than the other 2, but will only be ready when the coding is done). This version will utilise the Drifta with wifi support but the CPU needs to be above 700mhz.
I don’t know who “eel” is or how reliable his information is. However, if it is true, then it will come as a shock to many Nokia users, myself included. Very few Nokia’s run at a speed of 700mhz or above. In fact, I am not sure that ANY released before the Drifta itself was released in fact run at that speed.
The Nokia E71 runs at 381Mhz, the N95 at 330Mhz, the E72 runs at 600Mhz, N97 runs at 434Mhz. So speed requirement is true, then only Nokia S60 phones released in late 2010/2011 like the N8 and E7 (only 680Mhz) may well work with the Drifta.
So I don’t hold out much hope then as my E71 is well below the requirement. Wish they had just told me this long ago.
This also makes me worry about which Blackberry Devices will be compatible with the Drifta. The 8520 runs as 512Mhz, as does the 8900. The 9700,9780 and Torch all runs at 624Mhz. Maybe they will just be able to squeeze this to work? Still, most people have the 8520 so this doesn’t look promising.
A lot of the current Android devices run at 1Ghz or more, so it is far more likely that Android users will have a happier experience if the client gets released for them.
I wish DSTV would just come out and say what is planned. The waiting sucks when after the wait you still probably won’t be able to use the device you want when the clients eventually get released. Maybe that is the plan after all? If you wait long enough the devices people have will have caught up with the specifications you actually require but never told them? Too much conspiracy theory in there, but don’t say I never said it.
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