Just days after Register Hardware was told by telly chiefs that no Freeview HD kit will be available in the UK ahead of the service’s switch-on next month, manufacturer Humax has announced the impending launch of its first Freeview HD-compatible set-top box.

Humax's Fox-HD-T2 is set up for Freeview HD

As its name suggests, the HD-Fox-T2 will feature an integrated DVB-T2 tuner, essential to pick up a Freeview HD signal. DVB-T2 is not compatible with the DVB-T system currently used for standard-definition Freeview broadcasts.

Freeview HD will begin transmitting from the Winter Hill site - serving Manchester and parts of Liverpool - and London's Crystal Palace transmitter on 2 December.

But at that point there will be no kit you can buy to watch the transmissions.

Admittedly Humax’s Freeview HD STB won’t be available to buy until “early 2010”, but the company will formally unveil the product on 9 December. ®

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