Newbie - Foxtel over the internet using a decoder

[gadgets]

hey all,

I live in a unit and cannot get Foxtel - no connection points.

So I was talkin to guys at work about putting a dish on the balcony - balcony faces the wrong way.

Someone said you can decode the signal over the internet, someone you know has foxtel, you install and setup and BOX at there end, and a box at your end and you get foxtel over the net. The code that is getting decoded is sent over the net.

Is this true? Does it work? Can a novice set it up?

cheers

gadgets

[Fernbay]

Have a bit of a search for slingbox

[Mysterex]

PAY TV operator Foxtel will partner with Microsoft to launch 30 of its channels via the Xbox 360 games console using the internet.

There were no pricing details announced this morning but Foxtel chief Kim Williams told journalists it would be "magnificiently affordable" since there would be no installation charges.

He said the offering is not dependent on the internet company a user had and there will also be an "on-demand" capability to allow users to download programs when they want.

Foxtel is 50 per cent owned by Telstra, and News Limited (publisher of The Australian) and Consolidated Media, controlled by James Packer, own 25 per cent each.

Not surprisingly, there will be no NRL or AFL streaming of matches through the Xbox since Telstra owns the digital rights to those sporting codes.

Today's partnership is just the third of its kind that Microsoft has launched with a mainstream media player. Last year it launched a similar tie-up with the News Corporation controlled pay TV player BSkyB in the UK. Microsoft also struck a deal with Canal + in France.

The launch is set for the fourth quarter of this year.