PETALING JAYA, Nov 13 — Astro has unveiled its new Astro Ultra Box, fit with a 4K UHD viewing experience.

The "Ultra” experience includes 4K UHD, a Cloud Recording system and a fresh new user interface, similar to the one on the Astro GO app.

With the new Ultra Box, customers can enjoy over 50,000 videos on demand, improved content recommendations, the ability to record multiple shows at the same time and a new "play from start” function.

The Ultra Box also ensures that customers can experience four times the clarity compared to HD as it uses a hybrid system of satellites and internet technologies to deliver the best 4K UHD quality which will be available for all Ultra Box owners and Astro GO subscribers.

Sports fans will also be thrilled as the English Premier League, Formula 1 and next year’s Euro 2020 are all available in 4K UHD with the Ultra Box.

"We are on a journey of continuous improvement to provide our customers with a better experience from customer service, to content, to OTT for mobility and to the experience at home,” said Astro Group chief executive officer Henry Tan at the launch. 

"Over half a million homes have 4K TV’s, of which, 70 per cent are Astro customers, so the launch of the Ultra Box is timely to meet the growing demand for 4K UHD viewing.”

Astro Group’s chief executive officer Henry Tan showing off the new Ultra Box and its accompanying remote control. — Picture by Ahmad Zamzahuri

With the seamless and unified interface across both the Ultra Box and Astro GO, customers can now make use of the many new features that Astro has introduced to enhance their viewing experience simply by connecting the Ultra Box to the internet.

One of those features is the new Astro Could Recording system which allows customers to record multiple shows at the same time, on the Ultra Box or on Astro GO, and stores their recorded shows in the Astro Cloud which can be accessed on their television or smart devices simultaneously.

Customers will also be entitled to 200 free hours of HD storage for their recordings with the option to increase the storage space to 1,500 hours for RM15 per month.

A look at Astro’s fresh user interface, made to make viewing easier and more enjoyable for its customers. — Picture by Ahmad Zamzahuri

Another feature that is bound to excite customers is the new "Play from Start” ability which enables a viewer to watch the show from the beginning if they tuned in midway through.

All you’d have to do is click the restart icon to watch the show from the start.

Astro also took measures to make searching for shows and content seem more effortless as it revamped its "Search” feature so that customers can now search by show title, cast members, directors or even channels to stream content on their vast catalogue.

There is also a new multi-screen feature called "Stop Here, Continue There”, whereby customers can now pause on one screen and continue watching from the exact moment they paused on another screen, like their smart devices.

The new Ultra Box is nearly half the size of the standard Astro decoder, while the remote control has also been slimmed down for added customer comfort. — Picture by Ahmad Zamzahuri

Customers with existing Astro subscriptions of RM100 and above can upgrade to the new Astro Ultra Box for free, while customers with a subscription of RM100 or lower will have to pay an RM199 installation fee.

New Astro subscribers can purchase the Ultra Box for RM99 for installation with a monthly pack subscription of more than RM100.

To enjoy the full benefits of the Ultra Box, customers will also need a 4K compatible television and a minimum internet connection of 10 Mbps to enjoy videos on-demand, cloud recording and other benefits.

For more information on Astro’s new Ultra Box surf over to www.astro.com.my/ultra.