Sky Q to get Voice Control this month

“Play The Walking Dead.” Tell your TV what to do with new Sky Q Voice Control

Brand new features are coming to Sky Q this month, giving customers more control and personalisation than ever before.

Sky Q customers will be able to enjoy brand new features including enhanced Voice Control via the Sky Q touch remote, a personalised menu of favourite channels and an Ultra HD section in My Q.

With the new Voice Control features, viewers will be able to speak into their remote and use a range of commands to quickly and easily get to the TV they love. These include changing channels by simply saying “change channel to Sky Atlantic”, playing any show from their Recordings by saying, for example, “play Tin Star”, or asking to “skip back 30 seconds” or “watch from the start”. Voice Control makes it even easier for customers to find their favourite sports, movies and shows, with phrases like: “go to Sky Store”, “go to Sky Sports”, or other sections of the Sky Q menu.

Customers can also change their accessibility settings using only their voice by saying “turn on audio description”, for example.

Arriving on Sky Q boxes over the coming weeks, Voice Control adds to the existing voice search function which was launched earlier this year and has already proved incredibly popular, with Sky Q customers making over 9m voice searches to date.

Luke Bradley-Jones, Sky’s Chief Marketing Officer, commented: “Our customers already love Voice Search on Sky Q and we think they are going to love Voice Control even more. You will be able to find your recordings, rewind an amazing goal to watch again or change channel all through a simple voice command. It’s a quicker, easier and more fun way to get to the shows, sports and films you want to watch.”

Also launching as part of the latest software update is a bespoke ‘Favourites’ menu in the TV Guide, where customers can prioritise their most-loved channels. Initially Sky Q will suggest a range of favourite channels based on what the household has been watching, but customers can edit the list easily, adding up to 99 channels which can be organised into whatever order suits them best. Plus, Favourite channels will be numbered 1 to 99, making it quick for customers to search for and find their favourite ‘Favourites’!

Sky Q customers with a 2TB box will also get a dedicated Ultra HD section within My Q, meaning they can find the widest range of UHD content easier and faster than before. Current Ultra HD content includes new Sky Original Productions like Tin Star and Riviera, blockbuster movies such as The Revenant and X-Men: Apocalypse and 124 Premier League games this season.

The Sky Q 2TB box stores over 1,000 hours of TV and for those who want to watch Sky TV in up to three rooms at the same time, the box will deliver a seamless viewing experience, as well as the ability to record six shows and watch a seventh live.

Voice Control and Favourites join a number of existing features on Sky Q that are changing the way people watch TV, from ‘find my remote’ to the ability to pause a show on the TV and pick up on a tablet, around the house. With the Sky Q app, customers have the flexibility to take their recordings with them to watch even when they’re out of the home.

Sky Q, the next generation box, opens up a whole new way of watching TV. Wirelessly connecting a family of advanced products, Sky Q makes it easier than ever to access all your favourite TV around the home, and brings an even wider range of entertainment to the big screen.