Australian Review: Telstra TV – Simple pleasures

Australia's streaming revolution is well and truly in full swing, and despite owning part of Presto, Telstra is hedging its bets with a small, overtly branded box that gives its subscribers access to Netflix, Stan, Presto and more.

The Telstra TV is explicit in its purpose: provide Telstra customers with easy access to streaming services, catch-up services, and Telstra's own pay-per-view video on demand service. It's not an overly ambitious goal, but the Telstra TV's simplicity is a double-edged sword.

At launch, Telstra TV will ship with apps for Netflix, Presto, 9Jumpin, SBS on Demand, Plus 7, YouTube, GoPro, BigPond Movies, and Red Bull TV to name a few. Stan will follow in November, which will make the Telstra TV the only set-top box or console with access to apps from the Australia's big three players in streaming. iView and Tenplay are both absent for the time being.

Of course, you still need subscriptions for each streaming service you want to use, but to sweeten the deal, Telstra is throwing in three months of free Stan, three months of free Presto, and an AUD$15 BigPond Movies gift voucher to anyone who buys the AUD$109 box before Christmas. This amounts to AUD$90 of value, and could easily off set the outright price for some.