Watch Pay-TV On Your Laptop Or PC January 19, 2008

Read more Entertainment , Gadgets , Gizmodo UK , Laptops , PC , TV

Anyone with a burning desire to watch Pay-TV on their computers should probably check out the latest offering from Hauppauge Digital.

The new WinTV-CI is a card reader module that you can use alongside the company’s range of TV tuner cards and which allows you to receive subscription-based TV on whatever computer you like.

The idea is that you hook this up to your tuner card and insert a CAM (Common Access Module) which reads the smartcard you get with many Pay TV services. While the card promises to decode lots of Pay TV channels like Setanta and Top-UP TV over Freeview – as well as lots of European services – it will not do Sky since there’s no third-party CAM for the service.

Compatible CAMs include AlphaCrypt, AstonCrypt, Conax, CryptoWorks, Dragon Irdeto, Mediaguard and Viaccess.

"There are hundreds of subscription TV channels being broadcast to the UK, some mainstream, others specialist," commented Yehia Oweiss, Hauppauge Digital’s Vice President of Sales EMEA. "With our new product it is now possible to enjoy these broadcasts on a PC or laptop."

WinTV-CI costs £80 and you can find out more here.-Martin Lynch

TV laptop tuner hauppauge