Beta Research, the subsidiary of German media company Kirch Group responsible for the d-box technology, has started to develop the third generation of the digital set-top-box. According to Gerrit Huy, chairwoman of the Kirch Group management board, the d-box 3 will be much more advanced than the current versions. In an interview with German trade magazine Sat-Report, she revealed that the box would include more powerful processors, work extensively with digital signal processors and will at least be prepared for an integrated hard drive.

Additionally, d-box 3 will feature a second tuner, so that a different channel than the one being watched can be recorded. Huy did not elaborate on the date of the market launch. However, she stressed that support the two previous generation d-boxes would continue with an over-the-air software update for d-box 2 due to happen soon. She said that the next upgrades for the second generation d-box would enable to box to cope with interactive elements such as Internet surfing, e-commerce and data services.

Asked about whether Beta Research would start producing Betacrypt CAM modules for Common Interface (CI) boxes, Hay replied that “a CI solution would obviously be possible with regard to the technical side”. However, she pointed out that the company’s clients preferred embedded solutions as they were “cheaper, more secure and more customer friendly”. Currently, the only way to subscribe to Premiere World, the digital pay-TV package operated by Kirch-Group and BSkyB, is by renting or buying a d-box as no CAMs with the Betacrypt conditional access system (CA) used by the broadcaster are available for CI boxes. Critics accuse Kirch Group of aiming for a monopoly in the set-top-box and CA market.